Gwinnett Daily Post

'Spider-Man' producer Ziskin dies at age 61

LOS ANGELES -- Laura Ziskin, who produced the ''Spider-Man'' movie franchise among many other hits in a 35-year Hollywood career, has died. She was 61.

Ziskin, who fought a seven-year battle against breast cancer, died Sunday evening at her Santa Monica home, according to a statement from the Entertainment Industry Foundation.

Over a 35-year career, Ziskin was producer or executive producer of such crowd-pleasers as ''No Way Out'' with Kevin Costner, ''Pretty Woman'' with Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and ''As Good As It Gets,'' which won Academy Awards for Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt.

Simpson joins NBC show 'Fashion Star'

LOS ANGELES -- Jessica Simpson is taking on the role of mentor to aspiring designers for a new NBC reality series.

The network said Monday that Simpson will help guide contestants in the series ''Fashion Star'' as they compete for a multimillion-dollar contract to launch their own brand.

Elle McPherson will host the show, which NBC promises to be a ''true spectacle'' taped in front of a studio audience and featuring music, dancers and models along with weekly challenges for the contestants.

Simpson, 30, ("The Dukes of Hazzard,'' TV's ''The Price of Beauty'') is a fashion mogul as well as an entertainer, with a line that carries her name and includes 22 product categories.

Preacher who predicted rapture suffers stroke

SAN FRANCISCO -- The California radio preacher who predicted the world would end last month was recuperating Monday after suffering a mild stroke, his family and colleagues said.

Doctors have been monitoring the progress of 89-year-old radio host Harold Camping since he was taken by ambulance from his Alameda home on Thursday.

Camping's daughter, Susan Espinoza, said her father was recovering but had not been doing his regular live broadcasts from the threadbare headquarters of Family Radio International, near the Oakland airport.