movies

Abbe Lane Dead: Singer, Actress, Wife of Xavier Cugat Was 93

Published

15 minutes ago

August 6, 2026

Abbe Lane, the glamorous entertainer who starred in movies with Glenn Ford and Cornel Wilde and built a thriving singing career alongside her onetime husband, famed bandleader Xavier Cugat, has died. She was 93.

Lane died April 25 of natural causes in Los Angeles, her son Steven Leff told The Hollywood Reporter.

Lane starred in nearly two dozen Italian movies, working with the likes of Vittorio De Sica and Totó, and with Tony Randall toplined the 1958 Broadway musical comedy Oh Captain! (1958), directed by José Ferrer.

Once called the “Swingingest Sexpot in Show Business,” the redhead made a 3D splash in Wings of the Hawk (1953), starring Van Heflin and Julie Adams. She also appeared with Audie Murphy and Dan Duryea in Ride Clear of Diablo (1954), with Ford in The Americano (1955), with Dennis O’Keefe in Chicago Syndicate (1955) and with Wilde, who also directed, in Maracaibo (1958).

The Brooklyn native had married the Spanish-born, Cuba-raised Cugat in Miami in 1952 after he had spotted her singing in a Broadway show when she was nearing 16 and he was approaching 49. She fronted his Latin music orchestra and toured with him throughout Europe before she initiated their Mexican divorce in June 1964.

She quickly remarried, and two years later Cugat wed another much younger entertainer, Charo, the last of his five wives.

Lane wrote about her marriage to Cugat in the 1993 roman à clef But Where Is Love?, which publisher Warner Books promoted as a “riveting, glitzy, star-splashed tale of passion, obsession and one young woman’s poignant search for happiness. Peopled with Hollywood luminaries both real and imagined, it features tantalizing lore and gossip only a true insider could provide.”

In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Lane said she suffered “constant mental abuse” from Cugat. “He told me when to eat, when to sleep, when things had to be done,” she said. “I never argued with him. There was no point. His will prevailed in all cases.”

Abigail Francine Lassman was born in Brooklyn on Dec. 14, 1932, and raised in Manhattan. She sang on the radio and modeled, attended the High School of Music and Art for a year and then, billed as Abbe Marshall, performed on Broadway in 1947-48 in George Abbott’s Barefoot Boy With Cheek and in Michael Todd’s As the Girls Go.

“That’s when I met Cugie,” she said in 1963. “He was looking for a new vocalist when he saw me doing a calypso number in the stage show one night. The very next day Cugie was a guest with Vincent Lopez [on Lopez’s TV show, where she was a performer], and he saw me again. He liked my style and voice and asked me to audition the next day. I did and he hired me.”

Abbe Lane with bandleader Xavier Cugat in the 1950s.

Courtesy Everett Collection

After being accompanied by her mother on the road for about a year, she and Cugat wed — “I figured, I’ll marry him and travel, I didn’t realize that there would be other things involved,” she explained in a 2005 interview.

The couple toured Italy and performed as themselves in cha-cha-cha nightclub acts seen in Lo Scapolo (1955) and Donatella (1956). Soon, she was heading such Italian films as The Lady Doctor (1957), Honor Among Thieves (1957) and Roulotte e roulette (1959).

In 1957, Lane performed backed by her husband on NBC’s The Xavier Cugat Show and on The Ed Sullivan Show, and a year later, she was paired with Tito Puente and his mambo orchestra on the album Be Mine Tonight. A review of the LP notes that she “commands the spotlight from start to finish, galvanizing otherwise innocuous lyrics with wit, sophistication and sheer lust.”

Lane also partnered with bandleader Sid Ramin on a 1959 album of pop tunes as she recorded for RCA Victor and then Mercury Records.

She had become a cultural icon, and in the original 1960-61 Broadway production of Bye Bye Birdie, Chita Rivera‘s character sings “Spanish Rose” with these lyrics: “I’ll eat the tacos and the enchilada; I’ll drink tequila till I feel no pain; The only song I’ll sing will be ‘Granada’; I’ll be more español than Abbe Lane.”

Lane, who spoke four languages, also headlined a Las Vegas act, performed often on The Tonight Show, The Hollywood Palace and The Merv Griffin Show and acted on Naked City, Burke’s Law, F Troop, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., The Flying Nun, The Brady Bunch — as a spoiled perfume heiress — and Hart to Hart.

She said that the dominating Cugat told her “for so many years that, ‘Unless I’m behind you on the bandstand, you will not be able to perform, you will just melt away,’” she said. “It was not true, but I bought into it.”

Six months after divorcing Cugat, she married Perry Leff, a Creative Management Associates agent who represented the likes of Barbra Streisand and Gilligan’s Island creator Sherwood Schwartz, in a ceremony at the Plaza in New York. He died in 2020.

She also is survived by another son, Andrew, a music industry veteran and attorney, and a granddaughter, Kaia.

movies

VIZ Media & Gotham Group To Develop Film & TV Adaptations Based On VIZ IP

Published

7 minutes ago

August 6, 2026

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EXCLUSIVE: VIZ Media, a leading global producer of anime, manga and original graphic novels, has teamed with The Gotham Group to develop film and television adaptations based on titles from its original intellectual property. The deal includes the company’s acclaimed VIZ Originals graphic novel line and its landmark animated RWBY franchise.

VIZ is behind some of the most prestigious anime brands in the industry, including One Piece, Demon Slayer, Naruto, and Jujutsu Kaisen.

Under the agreement, The Gotham Group—whose credits include Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Search for WondLa, Washington Black, the Maze Runner franchise and biopic Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere—will identify and package projects drawn from VIZ Media’s library of original IP.

At the heart of the collaboration is RWBY, created by the late Monty Oum. Since its debut in 2013, RWBY has amassed more than 350 million views globally while expanding into publishing, video games, consumer products and multiple spinoffs, including RWBY: Ice Queendom and two Justice League x RWBY animated crossover films.

Widely recognized as the first anime series produced in the United States—and the first Western-produced anime to be dubbed and distributed in Japan—RWBY helped pave the way for a new generation of globally developed anime-inspired storytelling.

RWBY, set in a world filled with horrific monsters bent on death and destruction, humanity’s hope lies with powerful Huntsmen and Huntresses. Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long are four Huntresses in training whose journeys will take them far beyond the halls of Beacon Academy. Together, they must overcome powerful enemies and protect the world of Remnant.

“From the beginning, our vision for RWBY has been to build a global franchise that connects with fans across every medium,” said Brad Woods, President and CEO VIZ Media. “With Volume 10 officially underway, we’re excited to take the next step by partnering with The Gotham Group to develop RWBY, alongside our growing portfolio of original graphic novels, for film and television. Together, we look forward to bringing these stories to new audiences around the world.”

The deal also includes VIZ Originals, VIZ Media’s original manga imprint. Featuring works from acclaimed creators Rem & Bikkuri (Devil’s Candy), author Rainbow Rowell (Fangirl), Eisner nominee Sam Sattin (Lynx), and renowned artist Acky Bright (Galaxic Baseball League) among many others.

“We are thrilled to be working with the iconic VIZ on RWBY and beyond,” said The Gotham Group’s Founder & CEO Ellen Goldsmith-Vein. Its titles have captivated audiences for decades and VIZ has been instrumental in bringing the global phenomena of manga and anime to the US. The RWBY franchise is one of the most prolific out there and we’re excited to be a part of bringing new stories to life.”

movies

Live-Action Series Starring TikTok Phenom Lala Sadii Set At Disney+

Published

23 minutes ago

August 6, 2026

qasimgillani

A live-action scripted series about controversial social media star Lala Sadii is in development at Disney. LALA IRL,with Sadii set to star and executive produce, is targeted for Disney Channel and Disney+. The series, described as having a comedic bent, hails from Good Trouble co-creator Peter Paige and Endemol Shine North America.

LALA IRL, inspired by the extraordinary true story of TikTok phenomenon Lala Sadii, gives us a “behind-the-screens” look at the girl whose dreams went supernova, and the collateral damage from the blast.

Per the official logline: Before she became a social media superstar, Lala Sadii was just a girl trying to fit in like everyone else. But now, as millions hang on her every post, she’s got plenty to navigate: jealous classmates, intrigued friends who’d love just a little of her clout, concerned siblings, and strict parents who are absolutely going to lose their minds if they find out what she’s been up to.

Sadii initially became known around 2020 with her postings on lifestyle videos, skits about adolescent life, and vlogs. She later moved into dramatic storytelling, personal anecdotes and day-in-the-life clips, as well as music, releasing tracks such as “Bubble” and “The One” just this year. Previous releases include “Internet”, “24/7″,”K4U” and “Down”, among others.

Paige serves as writer, executive producer and director. Sadii serves as executive producer along with Lauren Gellert and Billy Mann. Sharon Levy and Lisa Fahrenholt executive produce for Endemol Shine North America.

movies

‘Widow’s Bay’ Episodes To Screen At AMC Theatres (Exclusive)

Published

31 minutes ago

August 6, 2026

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EXCLUSIVE: Apple TV‘s Widow’s Bay became one of the surprise breakout hits of 2026, entering the pop culture conversation and making a mark at the Emmys with 19 nominations despite its late premiere date. Now the horror comedy starring Matthew Rhys is setting a milestone for the streamer as its first series to get a theatrical exposure.

Apple TV has teamed with Rutgers University, the alma mater of Widow’s Bay creator Katie Dippold, for free, one-night-only fan screenings of the first season’s final three episodes.

The screenings will take place Wednesday, August 12, at select AMC Theatres in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco. For more information to attend, click here.

With the promotional stunt, Widow’s Bay joins an elite club of streaming/premium series that have held fan screenings in theaters, including HBO’s Game of Thrones, Netflix’s Stranger Things and One Piece and Prime Video’s Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Rutgers University to bring Widow’s Bay to fans and give them a chance to experience the final episodes of the season in a shared setting,” said Matt Cherniss, head of programming for Apple TV. “Katie Dippold has created a uniquely entertaining world filled with unforgettable characters, sharp humor and surprising turns, and we’re excited for audiences to come together to celebrate the series and the incredible response it has received.”

Presented in collaboration with the Rutgers University Foundation, the screenings are designed to celebrate Rutgers alumna Dippold, creator, executive producer and showrunner of Widow’s Bay, which was recently renewed for a second season, with Apple TV signing Dippold into an overall deal.

Widow’s Bay‘s 19 Emmy nominations, the most for a freshman show this year, include Outstanding Comedy Series and acting nominations for Rhys, Stephen Root, Kate O’Flynn and Dale Dickey as well as writing and directing noms for Dippold and Hiro Murai, respectively.

“Katie Dippold’s remarkable success is a source of tremendous pride for the Rutgers community,” said Dr. Michael Kim, Dean, Mason Gross School of the Arts. “Through wit, imagination, and exceptional storytelling, she has created work that captivates audiences while affirming the enduring power of artistic imagination. Her accomplishments reflect the creativity, intellectual curiosity, and ambition that define Rutgers graduates, and her connection to New Jersey makes this recognition especially meaningful. We look forward to the stories she has yet to tell.”

In Widow’s Bay, something lurks beneath the surface. Mayor Tom Loftis (Rhys) is desperate to revive his struggling community. There’s no Wi-Fi, spotty cellular reception and he must contend with superstitious locals who believe their island is cursed. He wants these people to respect him. They don’t. They think he is soft and cowardly. And he is. But Loftis is determined to build a better future for his teenage son and turn the island into a tourist destination. Miraculously, he succeeds: tourists are finally coming. Unfortunately, the locals were right. After decades of calm, the old stories that seemed too ludicrous to be true start happening again.

Hailing from Apple Studios, Widow’s Bay is executive produced by Dippold, Claudia Shin and Rhys as well as Murai and Carver Karaszewski executive produce through Chum Films alongside , s. Murai directed five episodes in the first season, with the other episodes in the season directed by Ti West, Sam Donovan and Andrew DeYoung.