It seems Kathleen Turner has finally smartened up a bit. Turner infamously accused actor Nicolas Cage of some crazy stuff back in the day – everything from saying he was arrested twice for DUIs to stealing a Chihuahua. Most of this was mentioned in the context of their working relationship while filming “Peggy Sue Got Married” in 1986. Imagine if one of your old coworkers from twenty years ago publicly accused you of stealing tiny purse dogs. It’d be hard to know how to react. Cage filed a libel lawsuit against Turner in the UK, and today she and her publisher apologized to the actor.

Cage’s UK solicitor Simon Smith said the Oscar-winning actor was “extremely pleased” with the outcome of the case “since he has never been arrested for drink driving, dog theft or anything else. As an actor who stars in many family-friendly films and who has a young child and teenager of his own, Mr Cage was understandably upset at having been wrongly depicted as condoning that sort of reckless, dangerous and criminal behaviour.” The actor, he continued, was “gratified that the defendants have done the right thing by acknowledging their errors and making amends”.

The actress, UK publisher Headline and Associated Newspapers, which extracted the book in the Daily Mail, have also made a substantial donation to charity. The donation will be made to the National Adult Protective Services Foundation, a US charity which benefits vulnerable adults. The Daily Mail has agreed to publish an apology and remove the article from its website. Headline [UK publisher] has also agreed to insert a correction and apology into copies of Turner’s book.

[From the BBC]

So we know that Kathleen Turner has officially apologized to Nicolas Cage in the UK, as have her UK publishers. I wonder if Cage will seek similar amends here, or if Turner’s general apology is enough. I’m still shocked that Turner’s publishers agreed to let her write that. Obviously they got a lot of press for it and increased sales, but I can’t imagine that would outweigh the cost of potential litigation. On the one hand, I can’t imagine a relatively sane adult thinking it’s a good idea to just make up random stories. On the other… why in the world would Nicolas Cage steal a Chihuahua? Turner has struggled with some drinking issues of her own; perhaps her memory of the time is a bit shaky. No matter what, it’s good that Cage has cleared his name, though I’m not sure many people gave the accusations much credence.

Yesterday we got some heat for saying that Kathleen Turner seemed drunk on “The Today Show.” Many of you pointed out that she has a debilitating disorder, rheumatoid arthritis, and that any head-bobbing or speech slurring we picked out could be due to the effects of her medical condition and/or the medications she takes to cope with the pain. She’s been very outspoken about both the chronic pain she has and the way she’s tried to cope by self medicating with alcohol, a subject she covers in her new biography. Some of you commented that she looked fine in the video and that you could see nothing wrong with her while others said that she did look drunk and they recognized the signs from their loved ones.

Today on The View she again seemed a bit out of it, but she got through the interview fine and clearly explained herself, talking about her book and her chronic illness. She said that “living with chronic pain everyday is like torture… and that really led to the discover that alcohol kills pain. And then of course it went to excess, and I was drinking too much.” She said that when she did the play The Graduate she called a meeting with the cast and told them that she would take a pill every day, which sounded like Antabuse, so that they knew she could not drink.

Barbara Walters did question her directly about whether she still drinks and she admitted to wine occasionally. The moment where Barbara asked her about her drinking is at 1:05 into the clip, and she said she has “none of these urges” where she felt the “need to completely escape.”

As for Nicholas Cage being miffed about what she wrote about him, she repeated the same thing she told Matt Lauer yesterday. She said “I’m very sorry to have caused him any discomfort. It was over 20-some years ago, so it certainly wasn’t my intention to harm, and I think that’s all I’m supposed to say about it.”

Turner’s book, “Send Yourself Roses,” is currently available through Amazon.com.

Matt Lauer interviewed Kathleen Turner on “The Today Show” this morning and the 53 year-old actress looked less than sober. She licked her lips repeatedly and slurred her words, bobbing her head and gesturing with her hands.

Turner was on the show to promote her upcoming biography, “Send Yourself Roses” in which she talks about her life and loves and dishes on her leading men including Burt Reynolds, Anthony Perkins, and Nicholas Cage. Cage is suing her for her claims she made about him in the book. She says he was difficult on the set of their film Peggy Sue Got Married, and that he stole a chihuahua and was arrested twice for drunk driving. Cage says he’s never been arrested nor has he ever dog napped, and that his former co-star’s claims are damaging to his reputation.

In her biography Turner talks about her battle with alcoholism and says that she turned to vodka to cope with the pain from rheumatoid arthritis. She said that she preferred that people thought that her problem was drinking and not a disease, because auto-immune disorders were still largely misunderstood and kept secret. From the looks of her in this video, she’s still having some issues with either alcoholism or prescription medication. Get well soon, Kathleen. You’re sounding and behaving like Paula Abdul.

Update: Many commentors have pointed out that Turner could be showing signs of her debilitating rheumatoid arthritis or the medication she legitimately takes for it and that it is unfair to judge her based on this. Others says she does look drunk and they recognize the signs. Whatever is going on with her, she is awesome for writing this book and promoting it.

It looks like Kathleen Turner’s tell-all memoir, Send Yourself Roses, is ruffling a few feathers in Hollywood, especially those of her former co-star, Nicolas Cage. In the book, Kathleen says that Cage was deliberately difficult during the filming of their hit movie, “Peggy Sue Got Married,” and that the actor drank excessively and stole a chihuahua.
Nicolas Cage caught wind of Kathleen’s story. I am sure someone told him about it rather than him, you know, actually reading the book. First, he denied the story by telling TMZ, “I have never been arrested for anything in my life, nor have I stolen a dog. I am reaching out to my fans — many of whom are children — so they know that I do not condone drunk driving or theft. The reason why you’ve never seen a mug shot of me is because it does not exist.” Wait, his fans are children? They must have really enjoyed his work in “Leaving Las Vegas” and “8mm.”

Apparently, a simple denial wasn’t enough for the action star. Now, Cage is fighting back– Hollywood style– with a libel lawsuit.

Nicolas Cage is suing Kathleen Turner over comments she made about him in her autobiography Send Yourself Roses.

The actress accused Cage of causing problems on the set of 1986 comedy Peggy Sue Got Married in a bid to prove that he had not won the role because director Francis Ford Coppola was his uncle.

She also said he was arrested for drunk-driving and stealing a chihuahua.

Cage spoke out to dismiss the allegations and has since issued libel proceedings against her at the High Court in London.

A spokesman said: “The libel action follows false allegations that appear in the forthcoming autobiography. As legal proceedings have been commenced, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

[From Digital Spy UK]

This feud suddenly got very ugly– and very interesting. In fact, this may be the most interesting thing that Nicolas Cage has done since “Valley Girl.” If this case makes it to trial, it’s going to be difficult to prove anything on either side of the argument, since the alleged incident happened in 1986. How does one prove or disprove that another person stole a chihuahua, anyway?

Picture note by Celebitchy: Nicholas Cage is shown at the premiere of World Trade Center on 8/3/06. Kathleen Turner is shown at the Monster House premiere on 7/17/06, thanks to PRPhotos.

The Daily Mail has more excerpts today from screen legend Kathleen Turner’s upcoming biography, and she sure dishes the dirt on her former co-stars. She reveals that the late Anthony Perkins, who is best known for his role in Psycho, did amyl nitrate in front of all he case and crew on the film Crimes of Passion, which came out in 1985. Perkins passed away in 1992 at the age of 60 from complications from AIDS.

Crimes Of Passion, in which I played a whore, was directed by Ken Russell, who’s a mad, self-sabotaging genius, and my co-star was the actor Anthony Perkins, of Psycho fame.

Ken was drinking a great deal at the time, and as the days went on, things got increasingly out of hand. Anthony, who had an appalling drug habit, was taking illegal substances in front of all of the crew. You could see his heart beating a mile a minute.

Everywhere he went, he carried a little bottle that I was told was benzyl nitrate. We’d rehearse a scene, then before the call to ‘Roll camera’, he’d take out his bottle and sniff it with each nostril.

His face would go red and he’d break into a sweat - and suddenly I’d have no idea whether he was in control of himself or not. It was scary. I was quite worried about getting hurt.

[Excerpt from Send Yourself Roses by Kathleen Turner, available on The Daily Mail]

Turner also reveals the other co-stars that made her on-stage career difficult, Nicolas Cage and Burt Reynolds. Case was deliberately obstinate on the set of Peggy Sue Got Married, and seemed to think that he should show his independence from his uncle, the director Francis Ford Coppola, by being a pain in the ass. He was wasted a lot and even got arrested for trying to steal a dog!

Another co-star who left a lot to be desired was Nicolas Cage, who played my boyfriend and husband in Peggy Sue Got Married, about an unhappily married woman who jumps back in time to her high-school days.

Now, Nicolas happens to be the nephew of Francis Ford Coppola, who was directing the film. And my contrary co-star was absolutely determined to prove that he wasn’t there as the result of nepotism.

So, everything Francis wanted him to do, he went against - to show that he wasn’t under his uncle’s wing. Which was ridiculous. Oh, that stupid voice of his and the fake teeth! Honestly, I cringe to think about it.

He caused so many problems. He was arrested twice for drunk-driving and, I think, once for stealing a dog. He’d come across a chihuahua he liked and stuck it in his jacket.

On the last night of filming, he came into my trailer after he’d clearly been drinking heavily. He fell on his knees and asked if I could ever forgive him. I said, “Not right now. I have a scene to shoot. Excuse me,” and just walked out.

She says that Cage has tried to apologize to her whenever he’s seen her since, and that she’s told him she’s over all that and it’s in the past. Of everyone she’s worked with, though, Burt Reynolds was the worst and went out of his way to give her a hard time on set daily. They starred in Switching Channels together in 1987:

For whatever reason, the first thing Burt said to me was: “I’ve never taken second billing to a woman.”

I excused myself, ran to my hotel room and called my husband, breaking into tears. Jay said: “Dry your eyes, be cool, go back, just do the film.”

I did go back. But, oh, every day there were nasty little digs. For instance, because of my pregnancy, the production team had given me a golf cart so I didn’t have to walk around too much - and Burt even made fun of that. He was just nasty!

One day, we started shooting a scene that Michael Caine and I had rehearsed, where we finish each other’s sentences like old married couples do. Making that dialogue work needed real skill. It had to be fast; it had to be sharp. But Burt just couldn’t do it.

The director finally said: “Look, why don’t we just shoot line by line?” And, idiot that I am, I shot back: “Because it’s called a scene, that’s why.”

From that day on, Burt and I were sworn enemies. He later accused me of trying to get him sacked every day and publicly declared that the sound of my name made him want to vomit.

Reynold’s career is right about where it should be if he treated his co-stars like that. I love that Turner is basically spilling everyone’s secrets now. Turner has found success on stage, but doesn’t have much of a film career to speak of at 53. That seems to be due to the fact that there aren’t enough decent roles in Hollywood for older woman along with some personal issues that she’s been facing. We reported yesterday that Turner also admits in her biography to battling alcoholism, and says she started to turn to vodka to cope with the ongoing pain from rheumatoid arthritis. She’s a talented actress and deserves some more opportunities and maybe her new book will help bring her back into the spotlight.

Turner’s new book, Send Yourself Roses: Thoughts on My Life, Love, and Leading Roles, is available for pre-order through Amazon and is out in the UK on February 8, according to the Daily Mail.

I’m not that up on the gossip from when I was younger so I never knew that Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas had something going on during the filming of Romancing the Stone, which came out in 1984. It could have been common knowledge, but it’s news to me. The Daily Mail has some excerpts from Turner’s upcoming biography and she says that she had a “romance” with Douglas when they were on set at the time and he was still married. She doesn’t get into specifics, but claims she thought he was separated from this then-wife, Diandra Luker, to whom he was married from 1977 to 2000. Then Diandra showed up on set to try and patch things up with Douglas and Turner got the hint:

The film was being shot high in the mountains in Jalapa, Mexico. Up there, any entertainment and fun had to come from what we did together - which usually also involved the actor Danny DeVito…

Michael and I did some very challenging stunts together for the film, and the mutual trust and emotional connection we had enabled us to take on whatever hair-raising perils were necessary.

As shooting progressed, the spirit of adventure caught all of us. We were adventuring by day and by night. I knew that Michael and Diandra, his wife at the time, were separated, so I figured a romance was OK, it was fair. It was a very heady time and I thought: “Oh, I’m falling bad.”

Then Diandra showed up in Mexico, wanting to reconcile with her husband - and I saw that Michael wasn’t free to pursue another relationship. We couldn’t keep up the romance, but we kept our friendship. Michael always says very nice things about me. . . as well he should.

[Excerpt from Send Yourself Roses by Kathleen Turner, available on The Daily Mail]

Turner also talked about how she turned to alcohol, especially vodka, to cope with the pain of rheumatoid arthritis. She said it became a problem for her and that she ended up taking Antabuse to try and quit. She went to rehab and tried AA, where she found she wasn’t as anonymous as she hoped. She said the lowest point for her was in 2002 when she was working on the stage version of The Graduate:

When my pain from the illness was at its worst, I discovered that vodka killed it quite wonderfully. I didn’t want to take painkillers because I didn’t like the way they mucked up my mind, so I used alcohol instead. Stupidly, I didn’t consider that alcohol mucks up your mind, too.

The drinking fed a self-destructive spiral. Like the drugs I was taking for the arthritis, alcohol was a depressant - and when I took them in combination, their depressive effects multiplied. I started to question whether life was really worth living.

Like the drugs, the alcohol was also a disinhibitor. And, in my case, an intense and immense anger would come out of me when I was disinhibited.

Eventually, I became dependent on vodka. I never drank to excess before a show; alcohol didn’t damage my work, but it did damage me personally…

I hit my lowest point in 2002 during rehearsals for the play of The Graduate, which was about to open in New York after a successful London run. At the intermission, I peeled off to a restaurant to collect some shopping bags I’d left there earlier.

But when I arrived, I had a vodka. Then I had another vodka. And another. How many, I don’t remember. At some point, I collapsed in the bathroom. Very discreetly, the manager got me up to the office and called my husband.

Evidently, I fought Jay when he got there. He had to call a friend, who came to help bundle me into a car. Somehow, I’d turned from a charming drinker who could be the life and soul of a party into a really nasty drunk. Nor was it the first time I’d been drinking until I passed out.

The next day, after I’d apologised to Jay, I went to rehearsal and said to the cast: “I’m having a drinking problem. I have these pills that will make me desperately ill if I drink. I’m going to give them to the stage manager and he’s going to give me one a day. I will not be a problem again.”

[Excerpt from Send Yourself Roses by Kathleen Turner, available on The Daily Mail]

Turner says that she was “drinking to excess on occasion right up till two years ago. I’d be fine during the working week and then, on my day off, I’d drink too much.”

I saw her on stage in the one-woman show Tallulah in 2000, where she portrayed the actress Tallulah Bankhead and her decent into alcoholism. She was fabulous on it, and it seemed like she had a lot of personal experience to draw on. Turner, now 53, has gained some weight since she was on stage in Tallulah. She’s probably had some plastic surgery but it’s subtle and not overdone. Good for her for speaking candidly about her addictions and maybe she can help others by speaking out.

According to Turner’s website and IMDB, she had a guest appearance on Nip/Tuck in 2006 and was in stage performances in NY in “The Exonerated” in 2003 and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” in 2005.

Turner is shown below on 11/30/06, thanks to PRPhotos.