Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Names and faces
▪ Chuck Norris’ manager says the “Walker, Texas Ranger” star was not present at last week’s deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol. A photo of a man resembling Norris apparently with a member of the mob began trending online. “This is not Chuck Norris,” Norris manager Erik Kritzer told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “Chuck remains on his range in Texas where he has been with his family,” Kritzer said. He acknowledged that the man photographed looked somewhat like Norris but “Chuck is much more handsome.” “Walker, Texas Ranger,” in which Norris played karate-kicking lawman Cordell Walker, ran on CBS from 1993 to 2001. In 2016, he announced his support for President Donald Trump.
▪ The Ryan Coogler- produced film “Judas and the Black Messiah” will have its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival before heading to HBO Max and theaters, programmers announced Tuesday. Coogler, who directed “Black Panther,” has a long history with Sundance. His first film “Fruitvale Station” premiered at the festival in 2013, winning the top audience and jury awards. In “Judas and the Black Messiah,” directed by Shaka King, Daniel Kaluuya plays Fred Hampton, chairman of the Illinois Black Panther Party, and his “Get Out” co-star Lakeith Stanfield plays FBI informant William O’Neal who agrees to infiltrate the group in the late 1960s. Martin Sheen co- stars as J. Edgar Hoover, who headed the FBI during that time. “Judas and the Black Messiah” will premiere Feb. 1 on the Festival’s digital platforms and at various drive-ins like Birmingham, Ala., Columbia, S.C., and Atlanta. The 2021 Sundance Film Festival, which kicks off Jan. 28, is going largely virtual this year because of the pandemic. “Judas and the Black Messiah” is among the 2021 Warner Bros. films debuting simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max. It’ll be available for HBO Max subscribers in the United States starting Feb. 12.
▪ At age 19, Billie Eilish is already looking back. The Grammy-winning star is releasing a collection of hundreds of rarely seen photos in May, Grand Central Publishing announced Tuesday. The book is called “Billie Eilish” and, according to Grand Central, will “capture the essence of Billie inside and out, offering readers personal glimpses into her childhood, her life on tour, and more.” “Billie Eilish” includes text but is “predominantly” photos, the publisher said. In a statement Tuesday, Eilish said: “I spent many hours over many months poring through my family albums and archives, handpicking all of the photos in this book. I hope you love it as much as I do.”