Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman sell stage vests for charity

Daniel Craig

Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman have raised 7,000 dollars for charity—by auctioning off their sweaty stage vests on Broadway.

After the pair were given a standing ovation for their performance in A Steady Rain at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on Tuesday night, they offered to sell the vests off their backs for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids.

After receiving 3,000-dollar and 4,000-dollar offers, Daniel and Hugh decided to sign each of their vests and agreed to sell them to the two women bidders for 3,500 dollars each.

At one point, a female audience member screamed “how much for the pants?”, to which Hugh responded: “By pants, we are talking about the trousers right?”

After laughter from the audience, Hugh considered losing his trousers but came up with the agreement for the two vests instead to increase the amount raised to 7,000 dollars.

The pair also offered to meet audience members backstage and pose for pictures if they stumped up 2,000 dollars.

After the show, signed programmes were also on sale to punters for 60 dollars, as well as signed posters for 300 dollars.

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Sir Roger Moore named PETA Person of the Year

Sir Roger Moore has been named person of the year by an animal charity for his public campaign against foie gras.

Sir Roger Moore in 2007

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) said it was honouring the 82-year-old Bond actor for his “vigorous support in exposing the ‘rather ugly’ conditions in which ducks and geese suffer”.

Sir Roger has narrated films highlighting the cruelty in its production, fronted poster campaigns and has also written to every member of the House of Commons asking them to ban its sale in the UK.

On receiving the award, Sir Roger said: “I am deeply touched and thrilled to be awarded the Peta UK person of the year.

“When I first saw their video footage on foie gras production three years ago, I felt compelled to do something to help put a stop to this cruel delicacy.”

He added: “I have since become a passionate campaigner against foie gras, and am most humbled that my passion has helped make a positive difference in the lives of these animals.”

Although it is illegal to produce foie gras in Britain, it is still legal to sell it – an anomaly which led Sir Roger into a public battle with department store Selfridges.

Earlier this month the actor paid for a poster to be placed directly outside the shop’s Food Hall which showed him holding a sign reading: “Force-Feeding Birds Is Cruel, Not Yule”.

A Selfridges spokesman confirmed on Wednesday it no longer stocks foie gras.

Previous Peta person of the year winners include fashion designer Stella McCartney and X Factor winner Leona Lewis.

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Special benefit performance added for Daniel Craig's A Steady Rain

At the request of Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman, A Steady Rain will add one additional performance on the final day of their limited engagement, Sunday, December 6th at 7pm, to benefit New Yorkers For Children and the NYCPBA Widows & Children’s Fund.

All proceeds generated by this additional performance at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre (236 West 45th Street) will benefit these two wonderful local charities. This is the final opportunity to see one of the most celebrated theatrical events of the season. This acclaimed, record-breaking play has been virtually sold out since the beginning of its limited 14-week run.

A Steady Rain tells the story of two cops who are lifelong friends and their differing accounts of a few harrowing days that changed their lives forever.

Tickets are now available for purchase exclusively through NYFC by phone. Please call 646-257-2927 to buy tickets. These special tickets are priced at $500 for Premium Orchestra seats and $250 for Preferred Orchestra and Front-Row Mezzanine seats, of which $140 per ticket is non-tax deductible.

Beginning this Friday, November 20 at 9am, the remaining tickets for this absolute final performance of A Steady Rain will also be available via Telecharge (www.telecharge.com and 212-239-6200) and the box office ranging from $66.50 to $140.00 (non-tax deductible).

New Yorkers For Children (NYFC) is the non-profit organization that partners with the Administration for Children’s Services to improve the lives of children in foster care in New York City. Since 1996, NYFC has made a difference in the lives of these youth through college scholarships, tutoring programs, job training, and networking opportunities. There are almost 17,000 children in foster care in New York City, and NYFC is committed to providing them with the essential tools to become successful, self-sufficient adults. For more information about New Yorkers For Children, please visit www.newyorkersforchildren.org.

The NYCPBA Widows’ and Children’s Fund provides aid and assistance to widows, widowers and eligible dependents of police officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty. Eligibility is defined as all widows, widowers and children of active police officers who lose their lives in the line of duty as the Directors may deem either worthy of or otherwise in need of relief or assistance. For more information about the NYCPBA Widows’ and Children’s Fund, please visit www.nycpba.org/fund.

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Sir Roger Moore's PETA foie gras campaign a success

Earlier this month, CommanderBond.net reported that former James Bond star Sir Roger Moore had aligned with PETA UK to protest against the sale of foie gras as Selfridges markets.

In a new press release today, the campaign has been declared a success, with Selfridges finally announcing that they will stop stocking the product.

The PETA release follows below:

Sir Roger Moore’s Campaign Proves Successful As Selfridges Drops Foie Gras

Sir Roger Moore

Two years ago, PETA UK began urging Selfridges to drop foie gras from its shelves so that it would stop contributing to the fatal force-feeding of ducks and geese. PETA UK and its supporters dauntlessly demonstrated, sent more than 5,000 e-mails to Selfridges, and placed thousands of phone calls to the retailer. We are thrilled to announce that all this hard work has paid off: Selfridges has pledged to stop selling foie gras forever.

The splendid news comes from Sir Roger Moore, PETA UK’s committed celebrity spokesperson, who received the call directly from Selfridges. Moore’s unwavering dedication, along with the inspiring passion of PETA UK’s campaigners, attracted endless attention on television, in newspapers, and around the Internet—wherever you turned, PETA UK was there, spreading the message to give up foie gras.

This towering triumph is proof that every e-mail, phone call, and letter matters. Please help spread the success by writing to managers of local restaurants that still sell the vile food. Alert them to the gross cruelty behind foie gras, and ask them to remove it from their menus.

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Sir Sean Connery undergoes shoulder surgery

Sir Sean Connery

Sir Sean Connery has reportedly undergone surgery to fix his damaged shoulder.

The former James Bond star was said to be recovering at his home in the Bahamas following the procedure in October.

‘Sir Sean is in fine shape and recovering well,’ IMDB.com quoted a source as saying.

The 79-year-old purportedly went in for the operation because the injury was keeping him from playing his favourite sport—golf.

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007 scribes Neal Purvis and Robert Wade join UTA

According to an update from Variety, James Bond screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade have been signed to United Talent Agency (UTA).

The screenwriting duo, who were previously repped by the WME agency, have been the regular 007 scribes since 1999’s The World is not Enough and are currently attached to Daniel Craig’s Bond 23 along with Peter Morgan.

Purvis and Wade continue to be repped by UK-based Jenny Casarotto.

For CommanderBond.net’s complete coverage of Bond 23, visit our dedicated section on the main website. Be sure to also check out our Discussion Forums to catch up with all the latest news and topics.

Daniel Craig confirms Bond 23 is due in 2011

Daniel Craig is James Bond in Quantum of Solace

In mid-October, CommanderBond.net was the first site to report on Daniel Craig’s recent comments that work was set to begin on Bond 23 towards the end of 2010. Since then, the James Bond star has confirmed his statement once more when 007 was brought up for discussion on his 29 October appearance on Live with Regis and Kelly.

While the overwhelming majority of the talkshow segment was dedicated to Craig’s performance in the Broadway play A Steady Rain opposite Hugh Jackman, as expected, the topic of his third James Bond film came up.

When asked what the plan was for the next Bond, Craig responded: ‘The plan is to start shooting the next one at the end of next year so it’ll be ready for 2011. So we’ve got a lot of work to do.’

Click here to watch the entire video segment [James Bond is brought up at the 4:40 mark].

For CommanderBond.net’s complete coverage of Bond 23, visit our dedicated section on the main website. Be sure to also check out our Discussion Forums to catch up with all the latest news and topics.

James Bond's Willy Bogner to head Munich bid for 2018 Winter Olympics

Willy Bogner has been named head of Munich’s bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

The former two-time Olympian skier, who won the famed Wengen downhill as a 17-year-old, later became a movie maker and directed and filmed skiing scenes in four James Bond movies [On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only and A View to a Kill], as well as movies from several Winter Games.

Bogner was responsible for some film scenes used in the Russian city of Sochi’s successful bid to land the 2014 Olympics.

The 67-year-old was a longtime member of Germany’s National Olympic Committee. The sports apparel company he inherited from his father has supplied clothing to German Olympic teams for years.

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Sir Roger Moore protests foie gras sale in new advertisement

Sir Roger Moore

Sir Roger Moore has paid for and appears in a Peta protest ad opposite Selfridges’ food hall to appeal to the retailer to stop selling foie gras.

The six-sheet ad went up on a Clear Channel-owned Oxford Street bus stop site yesterday and will stay up for two weeks (click here to view).

The animal rights charity attempted to use an ad featuring a photograph of a bird being force fed. It says up to two kilograms of mash are pumped into the stomachs of ducks and geese through a pipe two or three times a day.

It claims Clear Channel rejected the ad on the grounds it would be “offensive to the general public”.

A different ad was cleared, which shows Moore holding a protest sign and bears the strapline “Force-Feeding Birds Is Cruel, Not Yule”.

The James Bond actor has decided to use advertising after failing to change Selfridges’ position on foie gras with previous tactics.

He wrote to the store in 2008 and this year offered to buy all the foie gras it had in stock if it would agree to stop permanently selling the product. Selfridges chief executive Paul Kelly has written back to Moore, a spokeswoman for the store confirmed.

Moore, now 82, is best known for starring in James Bond films in the 1970s and 1980s, including ‘Live and Let Die’ and ‘A View to Kill’.

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Sean Connery Star Collection DVD featuring Never Say Never Again

Sean Connery’s renegade 1983 James Bond film Never Say Never Again is featured in a brand new DVD collection released this week from MGM Home Video.

Entitled The Sean Connery Star Collection, this four-film set brings together the aforementioned 007 title along with Cuba, A Bridge Too Far and Shalako.

The Sean Connery Star Collection (Region 1-encoded) retails for $24.98 and can currently be ordered at a discounted price from Amazon.com:

• Order the Sean Connery Star Collection DVD from Amazon.com

There is currently no listing for a Region 2 counterpart on Amazon.co.uk.

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