PEOPLE

007 visits UK troops

Actor Daniel Craig poses for photos as he arrives for the premier of the latest James Bond film, "Skyfall" in Sydney, Australia.

James Bond actor Daniel Craig surprised British troops in Afghanistan on Sunday by turning up at Camp Bastion in Helmand Province to introduce the latest 007 movie Skyfall as 800 soldiers sat down to watch it.

After giving a brief speech ahead of the screening, the 44-year-old actor was given a tour of the camp and met soldiers to see some of the training they underwent before being deployed to forward operating bases. He also fired some of the machine guns used by British forces in Afghanistan and visited Bastion Role 3 Hospital which specializes in treating trauma patients.

Skyfall, the 23rd official James Bond movie in the 50-year-old franchise, is now the highest-grossing installment in the series with a global box office take of $669 million, surpassing the $599 million taken in by Casino Royale in 2006.

Craig has starred in the last three Bond movies.

Chaplin’s bowler hat, cane fetch more than $60,000

One of Charlie Chaplin’s bowler hats and a cane, the staple of Hollywood silent-era comedy, were auctioned for $62,500 on Sunday, said New York auction house Bonhams.

Chaplin’s hat and cane, which fetched more than the initial estimate of $40,000-$60,000, are synonymous with his “Little Tramp” character in films such as City Lights and Modern Times.

Bonhams memorabilia specialist Lucy Carr said earlier it is unknown how many of Chaplin’s bowlers and canes still exist. Those auctioned on Sunday are from a private collection but have a direct link to Chaplin, Carr said.

The waddling and bumbling “Little Tramp” character propelled Chaplin to global fame. The character, Hollywood legend says, was created by accident on a rainy day at Keystone Studios, first appeared in 1914’s Kid Auto Races at Venice, and lastly in 1936’s Modern Times.

Chaplin’s hat and cane are the highlights of an auction of popular culture artifacts that is still in progress. Other items include a handwritten letter from John Lennon in which the Beatle sketched himself and wife Yoko Ono nude. There is also an archive of Marilyn Monroe photographs, an early Charles Schulz “Peanuts” comic strip, and a wicker chair from Rick’s Cafe in Casablanca.

Style center stage

“We’re trying to get the worst dressed award.”

That’s Andy Biersack, frontman of the Los Angeles-based rock band Black Veil Brides that’s been touted as the next Motley Crue. And as it turns out, the pierced rocker and his Junker Designs-clad bandmates fit nicely into the fashion parade that rocked the red carpet Sunday night at the Nokia Theatre for the American Music Awards in leather, metal studs, and low-crotch jeans. “Rock ‘n’ roll at its core is about believing in yourself and having fun and doing your own thing,” Biersack said. “We’re here to remind people that it’s OK to be a freak, and it’s OK to be different.”

Different was the thing, whether it was Nicki Minaj in a fluorescent ball gown or Jenny McCarthy dressed as Pink, complete with a pompadour. Cyndi Lauper managed to slip in her trademark plaid as a ruffle on her patchwork leather jacket that she wore over slashed skin-tight pants.

$9 million baby

Oscar-winning actress Hilary Swank has put her Mediterranean-style house in Pacific Palisades on the market for $9.495 million.

Built in 1928, the 6,722-square-foot home has six fireplaces, six bedrooms, and 6 1/2 bathrooms in three stories.

Features of the ocean-view house include a step-down living room, a dining room that can seat 20, a theater, a cigar room/wine cellar, a gym, and a separate office or maid’s quarters.

Swank, 38, most recently completed Mary & Martha, which will air next year on HBO. Swank won Oscars for her work in Million Dollar Baby (2005) and Boys Don’t Cry (1999).

She bought the property in 2007 for $5.8 million, according to public records.