Ralph McQuarrie, the cinematic designer known for the famous "Star Wars" characters such as Darth Vader, Chewbacca and R2-D2, has died at age 82, his website announced Sunday.

McQuarrie, who died Saturday, collaborated with George Lucas on the original "Star Wars" trilogy in the 1970s and with Steven Spielberg on films including "E.T," and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."

Fadel Shaker, a Lebanese pop star turned outspoken supporter of Salafism, an ultra-conservative branch of Sunni Islam, on Sunday stressed the “need” for artists to support the beleaguered Syrian people, urging them to “reject the massacres” taking place in Syria.

Speaking at an anti-Syrian regime sit-in organized in Beirut’s Martyrs Square by Salafist Sheikh Ahmed al-Assir, imam of the Sidon’s Bilal bin Rabah Mosque, Shaker said: “Haven’t they seen the massacres in Homs, Daraa, Deir al-Zour and other regions?”

The buzz at Paris' ready-to-wear shows on Friday wasn't just about the clothes.

Bill Gaytten, former designer John Galliano's temporary replacement, was again at the helm of Christian Dior's fashion collection, directing a demure, play-it-safe show that channeled the powerhouse's bread-and-butter New Look-inspired gowns with cinched 1950s waists.

Director Julie Taymor has hit back at her former creative partners in "Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark," arguing in court papers that she was the victim of a conspiracy to unfairly push her out of the production and that her one-time collaborators were secretly working on a rival script behind her back.

Taymor's legal team on Friday defended the Tony Award winner against claims in an earlier countersuit from producers, the latest installment in their bitter legal battle over financial rewards for Broadway's most expensive show.

Oprah Winfrey has landed an interview with Whitney Houston's daughter and other family members for a TV special that will air on the Oprah Winfrey Network.

"Oprah's Next Chapter" will feature an interview with 18-year-oldBobbi Kristina, Houston's only child. It will also include Patricia Houston, who's the singer's sister-in-law and manager, as well as the singer's brother Gary. It is scheduled to air March 11.

Sayed Elham sits at the piano lost in Chopin as he dreams of becoming Afghanistan's first famous concert pianist and one of the original graduates of the country's only musical academy.

Rare photographs of Bob Dylan, shot over a year-long period in the mid-1960s, go on show in Paris next week in an exhibit that captures the moment the protest folk singer morphed into cult rock star.

From 1961 to 1966, Dylan wrote seven albums that marked the history of pop, but also underwent a radical transformation between the first, "Bob Dylan," and the last, "Blonde on Blonde.”

The owner of the New Jersey funeral home that handled services for Whitney Houston says the home had nothing to do with a photograph that surfaced showing the singer's body in an open casket.

But Carolyn Whigham of Whigham Funeral Home and two pastors say they do know who took the photo that ran in the National Enquirer. They just aren't identifying the person and say that's up to the Houston family.

If my own friends couldn't afford it, then something is wrong: that is the mantra adopted by Guillaume Henry, the young French designer who put the Carven fashion house back on the map.

On Thursday the 33-year-old sent out a fresh-colored, clean-lined collection, showcased inside a former Paris convent on day three of the French capital's marathon of fashion shows for next autumn-winter.

Veteran singer Engelbert Humperdinck, best known for his 1960s smash hit "Release Me", will represent Britain at this year's Eurovision Song Contest, the BBC announced Thursday.

Humperdinck, who was born in India but brought up in Leicester, central England, will perform a song written by Sacha Skarbek, who achieved success as co-creator of James Blunt's global chart-topper "You're Beautiful".