iStockphoto/Thinkstock(MONTGOMERY, Ohio) -- Daniel von Bargen, perhaps best known as Mr. Kruger on Seinfeld, was hospitalized this week after shooting himself in the head in a botched suicide attempt.
The Montgomery, Ohio, resident shot himself in the temple with a Colt .38 gun on Monday. He called Hamilton County 911 after his attempt failed.
According to the call, Von Bargen shot himself to avoid going to the hospital. After the dispatcher asked if the shooting was accidental, von Bargen responded, "No, I was supposed to go to the hospital today, didn’t want to … well, I shot myself.” Von Bargen is a diabetic and was supposed to have two of his toes amputated that day.
The harrowing call was caught on tape. Entertainment site TMZ has the call.
One can hear Von Bargen painfully describing what happened to the dispatcher.
“Yes, I shot myself in the head and, uhh, I need help,” he said.
Unable to open his eyes or move to open his door, he was able to stay on the phone until police and fire officials arrived at his home five minutes after he called 911. Apparently worried that Von Bargen may have other weapons around, police can be heard yelling at Von Bargen to stay still and keep his hands where they could see them.
According to Montgomery Police Srgt. Greg Vondenbenken, Von Bargen was “seriously injured.” They took him to Bethesda North Hospital, where Vondenbenken says that his condition is improving.
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) -- Lindsay Lohan's future is looking brighter. A day after news broke she'd be playing Elizabeth Taylor in a Lifetime movie, a Los Angeles judge said the actress is sailing through probation with flying colors.
"You're in the home stretch," Judge Stephanie Sautner told a beaming Lohan in court Wednesday morning. "You seem to be getting your life back on track and that's what we all hoped for."
Sautner explained as long as Lohan keeps her nose clean, and completes 14 more days of community service and five therapy sessions by the next progress hearing March 29, her formal probation on DUI charges will be considered successfully completed. Her probation on a theft case will require her only to "obey all laws," Sautner said.
Ingram Publishing/Thinkstock(KAMPALA, Uganda) -- American television producer Jeff Rice was found dead in a hotel in Uganda and police told ABC News he died of an apparent cocaine overdose.
Rice’s body was discovered in a luxury hotel in the capital city of Kampala on Friday. His assistant Katheryne Fuller was found unconscious and is now recovering at a hospital.
Police say hotel staff noticed a man hanging on a balcony. When they went to the room, they found Rice’s body on the balcony and Fuller lying in the room. Staff called police and rushed the victims to a hospital where Rice was declared dead, police said.
“Ms. Fuller is slowly recovering, and when she is recovered enough we will be able to talk to her and find out more about what happened,” said Uganda Police Force spokesman AsumanMugenyi.
Police initially believed Rice and Fuller may have been sickened by some type of food poisoning. Mugenyi denied reports that Rice was poisoned after he rebuffed a shakedown attempt from local thugs.
Rice was a veteran producer who worked on the latest season of the hit reality series The Amazing Race and the Emmy-nominated Animal Planet series Whale Wars. In addition to raising two young kids, he and his wife Sally Blackman operated a television and film production company called SB Productions in Durban, South Africa. Fuller was an employee of their company.
Rice and Fuller were not working on Amazing Race in Uganda. Fuller’s father Stuart Fuller said they were shooting a documentary and other crew members who were with them should know more about what sickened them.
Dan MacMedan/WireImage(LONDON) -- Adele’s trophy shelf is already groaning under the weight of the six Grammys she won earlier this month, but now she’s got two more bits of hardware to add to it. The singer picked up two honors at the Brit Awards, the British equivalent of the Grammys, held Tuesday in London. Her album 21 was named Best British Album and she was named Best British Female Artist.
According to the BBC, Adele, who performed “Rolling in the Deep” at the ceremony, told the audience, “Nothing makes me prouder than coming home with six Grammys and then coming to the Brits and winning album of the year. I’m so proud to be British and to be flying our flag.” Someone then came up to Adele on the podium and cut her off mid-speech. She accepted the diss with a smile, but threw her middle finger up. According to Idolator.com, she said afterwards, “It was for the suits, not for my fans. Sorry if I offended you.”
ITV -- the British equivalent of the FCC -- later issued a statement about the incident, saying: “The Brits is a live event. Unfortunately the programme was over-running and we had to move on. We would like to apologise to Adele for the interruption.”
A spokesman for the show added, “We regret this happened and we send our deepest apologies to Adele that her big moment was cut short. We don’t want this to undermine her incredible achievement in winning our night’s biggest award. It tops off what’s been an incredible year for her.”
George Doyle/Stockbyte/Thinkstock(LOS ANGELES) -- Tuesday night's episode of Glee didn't live up to the show's title: as the finale ended, viewers witnessed what was quite possibly the death of Quinn Fabray.
The episode started with nasty Sebastian, the Warblers' frontman, telling Rachel that unless she dropped out of the Regionals competition, he'd post a Photoshopped image of Finn online, showing him naked and wearing women's heels. Rachel refused to give in to his blackmail, which ticked Finn off. But then, Dave Karofsky, the closeted gay student who used to beat Kurt up, takes center stage. After being outed by his classmates, he's so devastated that he attempts suicide by hanging himself; his father finds him in time and takes him to the hospital. He'll live, but his act has ramifications for all the other characters.
First of all, Karofsky's suicide attempt makes Sebastian withdraw his blackmail attempts -- we see in a flashback that Sebastian had contributed to Karofsky's misery by needling him at the local gay bar and telling him to stay in the closet. In fact, Sebastian tells New Directions that not only is he not going to post the picture of Finn online, but that the Warblers are going to dedicate their Regionals performance to Karofsky, and ask for donations to Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation at the event.
The suicide attempt also makes Finn and Rachel realize that life is too short to wait; they announce they're tying the knot right after they win Regionals, at the Justice of the Peace. At Regionals, New Directions destroy the competition with their renditions of "Fly/I Believe I Can Fly," "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" and "Here's to Us," taking first place. As Rachel and Finn's parents try to think of a way to stop the impending marriage, Coach Sue Sylvester, who announced she was pregnant earlier in the episode, tells Mr. Schue that she wants to help him win Nationals. She has yet to reveal the baby's father.
Meanwhile, Quinn, who was initially opposed to Finn and Rachel's marriage, tells Rachel she'd like to come after all, but she has to go home and get her bridesmaid's dress. The ceremony is supposed to start, and Quinn is heading to the courthouse, but she's stuck behind a slow-moving car. Rachel frantically texts her to find out where she is, and when she picks up the phone to text, "On my way," another car smashes directly into hers. The screen goes blank, then follows with a "to be continued."
Will Quinn live or die? Will Finn and Rachel tie the knot? Who's Sue's babydaddy? Find out when Glee returns April 10th.
Peter Kramer/NBC(LOS ANGELES) -- Will Ferrell is leaving his imprint on the Oscars, in more ways than one.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Tuesday that Ferrell and fellow funnyman Zach Galifianakis will present at the Oscars ceremony. They join a list of presenters that also includes Angelina Jolie, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks and many more.
The Academy Awards will air live on ABC this Sunday.
Toby Canham/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) -- Lindsay Lohan has scored the role of a "lifetime."
According to Access Hollywood, Lohan will portray Elizabeth Taylor in a Lifetime movie about the legendary star's romance with Richard Burton.
However, she reportedly could be yanked from the project if she were to run afoul of the law again.
Lohan's rep declined to confirm the story. It was reported last month that Lohan was competing with Megan Fox for the lead female role in the Lifetime movie, titled Liz and Dick.
Lohan is scheduled to host Saturday Night Live on March 3. But first things first: she must return to a Los Angeles court Wednesday morning for a progress hearing. If all goes well, she will complete her probation for previous DUI and theft convictions in late March.
Sandra Rose/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) -- With Whitney Houston's death still fresh in fans' minds, her ex-husband may try to revive a memoir he worked on years ago.
An unnamed publisher tells The Huffington Post that Bobby Brown shopped a tell-all book in 2008 but didn't draw much interest at the time.
However, the publisher says, "Now is the time for a book that details an honest look into the life of Whitney."
A friend of Houston's believes Brown would want to write a memoir just so he can make some money. However, The Huffington Post speculates that Brown might not go ahead with the project out of consideration for the ex-couple's teen daughter, Bobbi Kristina.
The report also states that he signed a confidentiality agreement when he divorced Houston.
ABC/RICHARD CARTWRIGHT(LOS ANGELES) -- Charlie Sheen has changed his opinion of Ashton Kutcher, his replacement on the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men.
Speaking with TMZ.com last week, Sheen said, “I’m tired of lying and tired of pretending Ashton doesn’t suck." He also said he "feels bad" for Kutcher because he's been, "saddled with such bad writing" on Two and a Half Men.
Sheen was more complimentary of Kutcher on Tuesday, when he wrote on his website, "Dear Ashton, My bad. I was disrespectful to a man doing his best. I got excited and threw you into a crossfire."
Sheen didn't bother trying to make amends with Kutcher's colleagues on the Two and a Half Men set.
He wrote to Kutcher, "The rest of my statement I stand behind. You, however, deserve better."
Sheen signed the message as "The 'late' Charlie Harper," in reference to his Two and a Half Men character, who was killed off the show.
Sheen was fired from Two and a Half Men last year due to his erratic behavior at the time. He then filed a $100 million lawsuit against Two and a Half Men producer Warner Bros. that was later settled.
Warner Bros. recently demanded that he stop using publicity photographs from his Two and a Half Men days to promote his upcoming FX comedy, Anger Management.
According to E! News, Sheen will begin shooting his new series on March 22. It debuts in June.
Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic(LOS ANGELES) -- There's some speculation that Drew Barrymore may be pregnant.
The 37-year-old actress was spotted leaving a Beverly Hills doctor's office last week carrying what may have been sonogram results, reports TMZ. Barrymore is engaged to art consultant Will Kopleman.
