Fred Rogers, the man who welcomed generations of children to his neighborhood as the host of the long-running PBS series Mister Rogers Neighborhood for more than 30 years, has died of cancer at the age of 74. According to family spokesman David Newell, who also played Mr. McFeely on the show, Rogers died at his Pittsburgh home on Thursday. Rogers had been diagnosed with stomach cancer after the holidays, according to Newell, who also said, "He was so genuinely, genuinely kind, a wonderful person. His mission was to work with families and children for television... That was his passion, his mission, and he did it from day one." Rogers, an ordained Presbyterian minister, produced Mister Rogers Neighborhood in Pittsburgh from 1968 to 2000, with the last new episode airing in August 2001; PBS stations across the country continue to run back episodes. Rogers is survived by his wife Joanne, their two sons, and two grandsons. --Prepared by IMDb staff; Associated Press contributed to this report

American talk show host David Letterman took a sick day off his top-rated program yesterday - due to an eye infection. Actor Bruce Willis was an emergency replacement, and interviewed venerable journalist Dan Rather about his interview with Saddam Hussein. A Late Show representative said that apart from his time off following a heart bypass operation - it's the first time Letterman has called in sick in 20 years.

Tom Cruise is finally making progress on his remake of hit 1940s movie I Married A Witch - he's signed up Danny DeVito to direct it. The film, a remake of the 1942 comedy that starred Fredric March and Veronica Lake, originally caught the eye of the Mission: Impossible star five years ago. He had hoped to headline the new movie alongside his ex-wife Nicole Kidman. And although the Moulin Rouge beauty will no longer be attached to the picture, Cruise is still considering starring in the flick, in addition to producing it. In the original film, a witch burned at the stake in the 1660s puts a curse on her tormentor's family to ensure that his male descendants always marry the wrong woman. DeVito says he hopes to begin production toward the end of the year. Other cast members have yet to announced. Kidman, meanwhile, has a witchy role of her own to concentrate on, when she stars in a movie version of the classic TV show Bewitched.

She may play a humble maid in her latest movie, but Jennifer Lopez has laid down a list of diva-like demands with a London hotel - including demanding she's not placed in the room once used by her old flame Sean 'P Diddy' Combs. The curvaceous star is in the English capital to promote her latest flick Maid In Manhattan, which had its premiere in Leicester Square last night. And the sexy Latina is said to have flown into a rage upon hearing she had been checked into the same room at The Metropolitan her ex-boyfriend Puffy once used - instead insisting she was placed as far away from that suite as possible. A hotel staff member told British paper The Daily Mirror, "The whole thing was a farce. We had to lug all of her stuff from one room to another - it took forever. She was saying that she wouldn't be able to sleep in that room and that she didn't like the view. But no one had the guts to tell her to grow up and stop being so silly. Everyone was just bending over backwards to keep her happy." J.Lo's lengthy list of pre-requisites for staff at the swanky London hotel has also been revealed - where she has rented the entire top floor at a cost of $13,500 a night. The singer arrived with 60 suitcases, and has ordered that hotel staff should not talk to her - leaving any food outside her room, which is lavishly decorated with white lilies, white linen and white curtains. Other orders stipulate that only Cristal champagne can be served to Lopez and her staff - costing $390 a bottle - and that sushi and chocolate cake must be available at all times. A source close to the star tells The Sun, "She doesn't really talk to many of her staff but she sets out her demands very particularly. She's not a bad boss because she leaves us to do her work. As long as everything goes smoothly, then she's happy - but if it goes wrong she can be prickly."

Friends beauty Jennifer Aniston is said to be fuming at the prospect of her husband Brad Pitt making a movie with sexy Nicole Kidman. The Hours star has recently signed up to star in film Mr. And Mrs. Smith alongside the Ocean's Eleven hunk - amid rumors that Jennifer and Brad's three-year marriage is under great strain. According to British newspaper The Sun, worried Jen has told friends, "This is the last thing I need, my husband spending lots of time alone filming with her." BAFTA award-winning Kidman was recently linked with her Cold Mountain co-star Jude Law, after it was revealed that his marriage to Sadie Frost was hitting the rocks. They both denied an affair - but this does not seem to be stemming Jennifer's concerns, as she reportedly asked her husband not to take the part. A source tells The Sun, "She's worrying herself sick and given recent events you can't blame her. Nicole is irresistible to her leading men. Jude seemed to become besotted and so did Ewan McGregor when they filmed Moulin Rouge together. Jennifer is very wary about Nicole. A lot of women in Hollywood are. Nicole is quite simply a man's woman. Men simply adore her."

American funnyman Steve Martin attempts at keeping his love life secret have failed - he's now romancing a journalist. The ex-lover of actress Anne Heche is currently dating New Yorker magazine's deputy head of fact-checking, Anne Stringfield. And just this morning, when the actor had been quizzed about his very private private life on American chat show The View, he avoided the question. Instead, L.A. Story star Steve joked about his fellow star guest, "Kathy Bates and I are married - that's why you never hear about our private lives." But according to American website Page Six, Martin and the journalist have been together since December, when the Housesitter star took Stringfield with him to the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington DC. Stringfield, 31, a devotee of sport fishing, has reportedly been the object of many a crush at the Conde Nast building since she began working there.

Actress Kate Hudson has taken to fining the director of her latest movie - because he constantly mistakes her for her mother Goldie Hawn. Film-maker Garry Marshall, who has known Goldie since she was just 19, is currently directing the Almost Famous star in Raising Helen, but his incorrect references are costing him dearly. He says, "I'm being fined! I keep saying 'Goldie' when I speak to Kate. It's been happening so much that they put a box on my chair, and I've got to pay a dollar every time I call Kate 'Goldie'. By the time the picture's over she'll be able to buy herself a nice purse. It's simply something in my head... She reminds me so much of her mother." And Marshall, who insists the name-switch isn't deliberate, adds that Kate doesn't mind his continued slip of the tongue. He explains, "I think Kate finds what I've been doing amusing. She's totally her own person and has, of course, made great strides in her own right."

Pop beauty Britney Spears is returning to work after a break from the music industry - and friends promise she will stay away from the party scene. The sexy singer was given a stern talking to by her mother Lynne and her manager who reminded her that her work must come first. The Crossroads star is now vowing to reform herself and shed her party-girl image. And that means hiding out, even from her friends. A pal says, "She is busy recording her new album due out in the fall. No one knows specifically where she is, but some of the album will be done in Los Angeles."

Michael Jackson's legal battle against controversial TV documentary Living With Michael Jackson is destined to fail because he signed a release form before it aired, according to reports. British media company Granada, who are defending journalist Martin Bashir against Jackson's allegations of betraying an agreement with him by broadcasting a negative account of the singer's life, claim the breach of contract case will flounder because the Thriller star signed to say it could be shown. However, Jackson is arguing that the verbal promises made by the British journalist haven't been honored and that the company is in breach of contract. A legal source says, "Michael's lawyers believe the signed agreement does not cancel out the verbal agreements."

Former Baywatch babe Carmen Electra has been dismissed from jury duty after just one day - because of the effect she had on the her star-struck fellow jurors. The sexy star was inundated by requests from female members of the Los Angeles jury to make surprise phone calls to their husbands and boyfriends. The flirty antics caused such high spirits in the somber trial that the judge had to remove the Scary Movie star. A source says, "Carmen was such a distraction for everyone in the courthouse. So it didn't make much sense to have her around the next day - and the judge made the wise decision to dismiss her."

A Los Angeles judge has refused to dismiss a misdemeanor charge accusing Pee-wee Herman alter-ego Paul Reubens of possessing child pornography. The 50-year-old's defense attorney Blair Berk had argued that state law enacted in 1989 does not apply to material produced before that year, and that the one-year statute of limitations for a misdemeanor crime expired before Reubens was charged in November. A trial date will be scheduled on Friday.