Hollywood Headlines: A crazy week in review

“Police Academy” actor and NFL star Bubba Smith, whose real name was Charles Aaron Smith , was found dead Wednesday. He was 66.

The actor, who became known for his Miller Lite commercials and role as Moses Hightower in the “Police Academy” films, and won the Super Bowl in 1970 with the Indianapolis Colts, was found dead at his home in Baldwin Hills by his caretaker.

Photo: Bubba Smith, right, and Tim Kazurinsky appear in a scene from “Police Academy 3: Back in Training.”   (Warner Bros. / Getty Images)

Oh, those kids on the Internet and their shenanigans. Despite a flurry of Twitter activity late Wednesday and early Thursday that said otherwise, legendary soul singer Etta James is still alive. The rumor appeared to start via a site that was designed to look like a fake TMZ page. Some news outlets said they received a vague email announcing the death, but it contained no contact information.

It was all a hoax. “She’s fine. I just saw her last night and she was fine,” said son Donto James.

The 73-year-old singer remains seriously ill and is being cared for at her suburban Riverside home. James has been diagnosed with dementia and is undergoing treatment for leukemia; she has been in and out of the hospital over the last two years.  (Nick Ut / Associated Press)

Up until this week, everyone thought Jerry Lewis would get one more chance to swagger around that Las Vegas TV studio, do some shtick, get teary-eyed and close out with one final performance of “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” Then, that all came to an end when the Muscular Dystrophy Assn. released a statement confirming rumors that Lewis was out of this year’s telethon and no longer the organization’s national chairman. When asked about his involvement with the event this week, Lewis said “none of your business.” Sounds like a nasty divorce. One question: Who gets the kids?   (Eric McCandless / Associated Press)

In May, Oprah Winfrey capped off months of build-up with a much ballyhooed farewell to daytime TV. Now, it appears she’s out to triumph over the film community (or at least take their awards) when she will show up at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Governors Awards to accept an honorary Oscar, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. Acting legend James Earl Jones and makeup legend Dick Smith will also be receiving honorary Oscars that night as well, but Oprah’s award has quite a few people in Hollywood scratching their heads.   (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

The British phone hacking scandal continues to widen. This week, Beatle Paul McCartney said to reporters, “Apparently, I have been hacked.” The former Beatle did not say what paper he thought had hacked into his phones. His former wife Heather Mills told the BBC that she had been called by a reporter from the Mirror Group, parent of the Daily Mirror, and was read verbatim from a message McCartney had left on her voicemail; she said it could only have been attained by hacking.   (Dominic Lipinski / Associated Press)

With a 500-point drop in the stock market and frustration with government near record highs after the debt ceiling battle, President Barack Obama‘s 50th birthday looked as if it was going to be a very grim affair, indeed. But despite some earlier speculation that his birthday party would be star-less, it turned out that Hollywood’s elite still love a little White House partying. Chris Rock, Jay-Z, Tom Hanks and Charles Barkley all attended the bash. Oprah Winfrey didn’t make it, but her BFF, Gayle King, did. The public may be frustrated with the president, but the big stars still love him (or at least the free food).   (Win McNamee / Getty Images)