The leader of horror’s splat pack, Eli Roth, has revealed that his barmitzvah had a ghoulish theme to it and that when his parents told the rabbi their son would grow up as a Hollywood director he laughed.

Recalling his coming of age, Roth says the barmitzvah cake was shaped like a clapperboard with blood on it and his party saw him being cut in half with a chainsaw by a magician.

Las Vegas star James Caan has started his own film production company, which aims to make movies for mature audiences.

The Godfather star admits he isn’t fussed with most modern movies and believe blockbusters today are too sex and violence orientated.

The Daily Mail reports Caan and actor pal Robert Duvall will aim to produce films with “great old-fashioned storytelling”, using scripts by veteran writers “who know how to do it”.

Socialite Paris Hilton was rightly jailed for violating probation, according to TV star Judge Judy Sheindlin.

The heiress is serving 45 days after she was caught driving with a license that had been suspended after her arrest for driving under the influence in 2006.

Los Angeles authorities have been accused of treating Hilton harshly - but the star of Judge Judy, herself a former family court judge, insists her sentence was fair.

Grammy-winning singer Paula Abdul is set to team up with popular motivational book series Chicken Soup For The Soul - in a bid to help inspire young girls around the world.

The American Idol judge will create both books and greeting cards with the self-help franchise, and is aiming to lend her support to her fellow females through the medium of the written word.

Veteran filmmaker Woody Allen is to direct an opera in California.

Spanish tenor Placido Domingo, general director of the Los Angeles opera, has invited Allen to direct an epic in September 2008.

“I have no idea what I am doing. But incompetence has never prevented me from plunging in with enthusiasm,” Allen says.

Allen will direct Gianni Schicchi, part of Puccini’s Il Trittico opera trio.

Stormy weather forced Barbra Streisand to postpone her date in Austria on Thursday night.

Promoters for the outdoor show at Schloss Schoonbrunn in Vienna decided the elements were too hazardous and cancelled the show.

That concert will now take place today.

Meanwhile, Streisand has been breaking records on her European tour - she recently shattered the concert house record at Zurich’s Hallenstadion, where she kicked off her first ever dates on the continent.

Music producer Jonathan ‘JR’ Rotem has confirmed he dated Britney Spears just weeks after she separated from ex-husband Kevin Federline in 2006.

Rotem claims he and Spears decided to end their brief romantic involvement, which took place in December, for the sake of their careers.

“Britney and I were in a relationship. We were dating for about two weeks but decided for both our careers that it wouldn’t be cool to have a romantic relationship,” he told Blender magazine. “She was really emotional and distressed at the time.”

Victoria Beckham’s former fashion boss has slammed her latest designs as “cheap and tacky”.

Robert de Keyser - who sold Beckham’s last range of denim for label Rock + Republic in the UK - claims her new jeans are massively overpriced.

“The new Beckham range appears to be seriously overpriced for a line made out of a cheap fabric,” he says.

William Shatner is furious with Star Trek movie bosses for failing to offer him a cameo role in the new film, according to reports.

The actor, who played Captain Kirk in the iconic TV show, is said to be “very upset and has been lobbying for a role” in Star Trek XI after learning his co-star Leonard Nimoy has been cast in a minor role, writes the New York Daily News.

Sexy Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson has been approached by politician-turned-environmental activist Al Gore to help promote his forthcoming Live Earth gigs.

The star was contacted by the climate-change philanthropist during a ten-day visit to Asia with charity Oxfam earlier this year, with Gore leaving a message on her mobile phone to request her support.

American Idol judge Paula Abdul is desperately searching for Mr Right, insisting all her fame and fortune can’t make up for the lack of a man in her life.

The Grammy-award winning singer wants to share her success with someone else - and finding love is her top priority.

She says: “(My wish is) to find my one true love. I’m feeling more in control and comfortable in my life these days, so I hope to find someone special.”

French performer Jean-Michel Jarre and his father Maurice have repaired the rift that has kept them apart for more than half a century.

Maurice, now 82, left France for Hollywood to become a movie composer when 59-year-old Jean-Michel was just five years old - and the pair have had little contact until they were recently reconciled.

Actor Shia LaBeouf is struggling to pump up his physique for the new Indiana Jones movie - because he can’t eat enough to pack on the pounds.

The Holes star, who plays Jones’ sidekick in the new action film, was hoping to appear buff and toned in the movie - but fears he’ll have to settle with “athletic.”

Late rocker Marc Bolan’s unfinished songs will finally see the light of day after they were completed by one of his tribute acts.

In a deal to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the T-Rex’s frontman death in September 1977, the music star’s estate has agreed on a deal with tribute band Hot Love to turn unfinished 39 pieces of music into 15 songs.

Jewish stage talent will be celebrated this weekend at London’s biggest free theatre festival West End Live. The event is expected to attract more than 150,000 people, eclipsing last year’s 130,000 people.

Among the shows which will be featured at the event, which takes place on a giant stage in Leicester Square, will be 60s musical Dirty Dancing, which was written by Eleanor Bergstein, the successful adult Sesame Street-style musical Avenue Q, co-created by Jeff Marx, and the Wizard of Oz prequel Wicked, which features music by Stephen Schwartz.

Jewish eco-activists The Yes Men – who have made a name for themselves by highlighting corporate greed and social injustices, have struck again – and this time their target was an oil conference in Canada.

Posing as executives from ExxonMobil and the National Petroleum Council, Mike Bonano and Andy Bichlbaum delivered an outrageous speech – under the assumed names Sheppard Wolff and Florian Osenberg - to delegates at the conference. In the speech, they suggested in deadpan fashion that the industry could “keep fuel flowing” by transforming dead people into oil.

Jewish musical duo the Solomon Sisters are bringing their show to London, ahead of performing at this year’s Edinburgh Festival.

The Solomon Sisters - Yiddish Cabaret And Klezmer sees the pair reviving classic songs from the golden age of New York’s Yiddish Theatre.

They will be supported by Welsh Jewish comedian Bennett Aron.

A new album featuring a live performance from legendary singer Barbra Streisand is set for release to coincide with her forthcoming UK tour, which happens next month.

The album features the singer belting out such classics as Don’t Rain On My Parade, Evergreen, The Way We Were And Funny Girl, as well as other highlights from her recent US tour.

Hollywood film giant 20th Century Fox has come under criticism for a promotional stunt that saw its summer blockbuster Die Hard 4.0 starring Bruce Willis being promoted over a Jewish cemetery.

A helicopter holding a large banner flew above the Bushey cemetery in Hertfordshire owned by the United Synagogue with an image of Bruce Willis and the words Die Hard in large letters.

Members of the Jewish showbiz community have been paying tribute to comedian Bernard Manning, who died on Monday aged 76.

David Duchovny is set to shock fans with what is being called “the dirtiest TV programme ever.”

In new US cable show Californication, the former X-Files star plays an irreverent writer who enjoys sex with nuns and mums and offers expletives in every sentence.

In the opening episode of the dark adult comedy, which debuts in America in August, Duchovny’s character blasphemes in a church, allows a nun to unzip his pants, has sex with a married woman and introduces his 13-year-old daughter to a naked female “friend.”

Newspaper and TV gossip queen Claudia Cohen, who was once married to Revlon boss Ron Perelman, was laid to rest in New York yesterday after losing her battle with cancer on Friday.

Rocker Jon Bon Jovi and property tycoon Donald Trump joined Perlman at the star-studded funeral.

Perleman, who consoled his teenage daughter with Cohen throughout the ceremony, said: “She was the best. She was a fabulous girl, a fabulous mother, a fabulous friend and we’re all gonna miss her.”

Jazz songstress Amy Winehouse has scooped two Mojo Awards in London last night.

The newlywed singer accepted Woman Of The Year and Song Of The Year for Rehab at the star-studded ceremony in The Brewery venue.

He’s given us pasta sauces, soup. bread and just about every type of gourmet ready made food you can think of and now Boston-born, Britain-based Loyd Grossman has gone veggie with Quorn.

Two dishes are currently on offer: marinated dhania masala and marinated sundried tomato and basil pieces. Just add the appropriate accompaniment to each dish, rice for the masala and pasta for sundried tomato and you’ve got your meal all sorted.

Angelina Jolie is set to honour her late mother’s cancer battle by appearing in a new public service announcement with comedienne Fran Drescher.

Drescher, a cancer survivor, has founded the Cancer Schmancer movement and she has recruited Jolie for an upcoming publicity drive.

“Angelina is supporting me on the movement,” says The Nanny star. “Her mother had women’s cancer that she died from and I’m a gynaecologic cancer survivor and our organisation is dedicated to ensure that all women’s cancers get diagnosed in stage one, when they’re most curable because early detection equals survival.”

Acting legend Kirk Douglas loves to surround himself with beautiful women after growing up around Hollywood screen sirens.

The actor, who has been happily married to wife Anne for over 50 years, admits he has been fortunate to be exposed to so many famous beauties in his life.

“The young Kirk was too interested in sexual pursuits. That took a lot of time,” he says. “I was in an environment with incredibly beautiful women - Rita Hayworth, Lana Turner, Ava Gardner.”

Movie mogul Harvey Weinstein forced British journalists to apologise to Renee Zellweger at the London premiere of Bridget Jones’s Diary - after winning a bet they’d really like the film.

The producer tried to persuade British journalists to stop attacking the actress just because she was an American taking on a very English role.

Weinstein knew the critics would be suitably impressed in the end and he called the journalists offering them a gambit.

French musician Jean Michael Jarre almost walked onstage without his jeans on at a show recently - when he got so caught up in a backstage chat he forgot he wasn’t fully clothed.

The keyboard player’s trousers were getting pressed nearby when the call came he was expected onstage for the show.

Veteran rockers Kiss are offering fans the chance to vote for their favourite songs as the group plans a three-show U.S. tour.

Bandmates Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley will select 10 rare tracks, some of which the group has never performed live, and ask fans to select the tunes they’d like to hear live.

Kiss will then perform the song that receives the most fan votes on their official website.