Freddie Starr, a stalwart of British light entertainment most famous for a fabricated news story alleging he ate a hamster and lately implicated in historical sexual abuse scandals, was reportedly found dead today at his apartment in Spain. He is "definitely" dead, according to a person who has seen the body. The Guardian reports:

At the height of his fame, Starr was known by fans for his eccentric and often unpredictable behaviour.

In 1986 he was famously at the centre of one of the best-known newspaper headlines when The Sun splashed with: “Freddie Starr ate my hamster.”

The story claimed Starr placed the creature between two slices of bread and ate it at a friend’s home after returning from a performance in Manchester. But in his 2001 autobiography Unwrapped, Starr said the incident never took place.

Ard Gelinck poses celebrities with their younger selves. Fantastic. More on Instagram at: photo_time_traveling

(via Kottke)

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It was Michael Jackson's dream to go grocery shopping like a regular person, to experience what it was like, as he says, to "put things in a basket." Read the rest

Someone should get a large tattoo that says "Don't get tattoos of living celebrities unless you have the money for a cover-up." Behold, a gallery of suddenly recontextualized ink: Read the rest

Above, George Lucas has no time for professional autograph hunters out for a quick buck. Below is another recent clip of Lucas grumpy at the autograph hounds because they're "here to make money. They're not fans." I think he's right!

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How does TMZ get the videos and photos that celebrities want to hide? Because like any good intelligence operation, their spies aren't above paying for intelligence. TMZ pays its sources good money for tips on the dirty-doings of the rich and famous, and operates in Hollywood with the reach and stealth of an effective surveillance outfit. Read the rest

[My friend Peter Sheridan is a Los Angeles-based correspondent for British national newspapers. He has covered revolutions, civil wars, riots, wildfires, and Hollywood celebrity misdeeds for longer than he cares to remember. As part of his job, he must read all the weekly tabloids. For the past couple of years, he's been posting terrific weekly tabloid recaps on Facebook and has graciously given us permission to run them on Boing Boing. Enjoy! - Mark]

A sensational medical breakthrough means you’ll never have to go to a doctor or psychiatrist again for an accurate clinical diagnosis.

How else does one explain the extraordinary medical assessments of the stars in this week’s supermarket tabloids, based on just a photograph or two?

AMA could learn a few things from these tabloids medical experts.

TV’s Friends star Matthew Perry is suspected of a “drug relapse because the actor “looks horrible,” says Dr. Stuart Fischer, “who has not treated 46-year-old Matthew but reviewed recent photos of the actor,” according to the National Enquirer. “He looks ill-kempt and homeless,” says the doc, which as any dedicated tabloid reader will tell you, is a dangerous medical condition.

Angelina Jolie is an “anorexic wasting away,” alleges the Enquirer, riding one of its favorite rail-thin hobby horses. They enlist Dr. Art Mollen of Arizona to determine, based on photographs, that Angie needs hospitalization “immediately,” plus a team of “psychiatrists, cardiologists, nutritionists and even the family” to save her life. The Enquirer adds, in stark red headlines almost two inches tall, that she weighs "82 lbs” - an assessment that can only mean they are now hiring former fairground hucksters who used to “Guess Your Weight” at carnival midway stands. Read the rest

Norwegian illustrator ThatNordicGuy mixes celebrities faces together to create alternate universe stars. Above, Angelina Fox. Below, Nikolaj Coster-Dinklage. Read the rest

A collection of the best responses to the worst behavior. The slap returned to Piers Morgan by soccer star Gary Lineker is a work of beauty. Above, Jewel Staite catches up her backlog. Read the rest

Luminaries such as Sylvester Stallone and Signorney Weaver charge hundreds, but the thing that gets me are the nickel-and-dime (or, rather, $20) options you can have around it. $5 for a smile! Props to David Duchovny for having a nice flat rate...even if it is $80. [Gawker] Read the rest

Artist John Stezaker collected, cut up, and collaged vintage publicity photos of classic Hollywood film stars into provocative portraits of unreal celebrities in juxtaposed elegance. Simple but highly effective.

“Images in charity shops are like orphans,” Stezaker told the British Journal of Photography. “They’ve lost their context or culture, they’ve gone a little bit out of date. They’ve been neglected and overlooked for years and people have passed them by, then suddenly here I am, the alternative foster home, but unfortunately I then inflict terrible abuse down in the basement where I cut them up.”

"Two Faces, One Portrait" (Smithsonian)

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FaceMashups is a video project by someone named Chase who blends together two celebrities into a surreal amalgam of horror, beauty, and celebrity. Above, Natalie Portman blended with Will Ferrell. Co.Create interviewed Chase who came up with the idea as a way to teach himself Adobe After Effects.

"Face Mashups' creator explains how he's literally changing the face of celebrity" Read the rest

Come for Tom Hanks + Zooey Deschanel, stay for Mike Tyson + Michelle Obama, then run in terror from Sarah Palin + Honey Boo. The animated GIF has reached its apogee in Hybrid Celebrities, a collection of nightmarish video faceswaps at the distinctly NSFW DailyPicDump.com. [Thanks, Papa Fapa!] UPDATE: They're taken from this sketch. [Team Coco] Read the rest

The 52 Hertz Whale is the cetacean equivalent of a pop-culture phenomenon — a strange creature, known only through recording of whale songs picked up in the Pacific Ocean, who seems to not be a part of any identifiable whale group. Also known as The Loneliest Whale in the World it is a source of pity and fascination among the general public. At PLOS Blogs, Hannah Cheng has a three-part feature on what we do and don't know about the Loneliest Whale. Why, despite 20 years of tracking this thing in sound recordings, do we not have any direct observation of the Loneliest Whale? She's got the answers. Read the rest

Last year, Nicolas Silberfaden photographed superhero and celebrity impersonators in Los Angeles. If they look bummed out, it's because Silberfaden asked them to "to manifest feelings of genuine sadness – honest emotions that are a consequence of our current times." Each photo, he explains, "is a somber, striking visual image that contradicts the iconic nature of strength and moral righteousness typical in American superhero and celebrity imagery. Creating the illusion that Superman does exist – that he too was fallible and affected by America’s downturn." "Impersonators" (via Neatorama) Read the rest

Brett Cohen pranked NYC on the night of July 27th, 2012, and he has video proof: he "came up with a crazy idea to fool thousands of pedestrians walking the streets of Times Square into thinking he was a huge celebrity," and succeeded.

He is not a celebrity—or at least, he wasn't before this video went viral. He's a 21 year old SUNY New Paltz student. Snip from the project description: Read the rest

Actor William Shatner celebrates his 81st birthday today. He is best known for his role in the Star Trek television series and films, but has had a long and wildly varied career that... continues to... boldly go where no man has gone before, one might say.

Captain James T. Kirk was a constant presence in my home, growing up—my dad was a huge Trekkie. I think it's fair to guess that many Boing Boing readers also consider this character, and Shatner's broader body of work, a formative part of their lives as nerds.

I recently attended his one-man-show, "Shatner's World," in Hollywood. It was a hoot. You should catch it when it comes to your town. The fate of Star Trek: The Original Series was closely linked to that of the American space program in the late 1960s, and Shatner tells some wonderful anecdotes about the historic ties to NASA in his touring performance. My favorite? His visit to Kennedy Space Center to see the Apollo LEM up-close, and a funny prank the astronauts and engineers played on him. But I won't blog any spoilers, go see it yourself.

Also, his most recent book, Shatner Rules (2011), might help you make sense of the universe. To the extent that the universe really makes any sense, that is.

Happy birthday, Rocket Man.

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