LOS ANGELES (AP) – Holly Hunter, who voiced the role of superhero mom Helen Parr in “The Incredibles,” will have maternal experience to draw on if there’s a sequel.

The Oscar-winning actress has given birth to twins, People magazine reported Tuesday, citing Hunter’s publicist. Telephone messages left Wednesday for publicist Nicole Caruso were not immediately returned.

People magazine reported the children are the first for Hunter and her partner, British actor Gordon MacDonald.

The 47-year-old Hunter won a lead actress Oscar for her role in 1993’s “The Piano.”

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On the Net:

http://people.aol.com/people

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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) – Lance Armstrong told South Africans that a positive attitude helped him during his battle with cancer.

“You have to believe you are going to get better. You have to believe you are going to survive,” he said Wednesday.

The seven-time Tour de France winner plans to visit community health facilities and attend a fundraising dinner. All of his Tour victories came after he was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1996.

“Without the illness I would never have been forced to re-evaluate my life and my career,” Armstrong said. “I know if I had not had cancer, I would not have won the Tour de France.”

Armstrong said the most important thing for people with a serious and life-threatening illness is to stay positive.

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NEW YORK (AP) – Caroll Spinney, the puppeteer who plays “Sesame Street” icons Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, will receive the lifetime achievement award at this year’s Daytime Emmy Awards.

Spinney was chosen for his work entertaining and educating children for nearly four decades, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced Wednesday.

“I am elated and amazed to receive this honor from those who are committed to the best of what television and media have to offer, for doing what I’ve always wanted to do,” Spinney, a puppeteer since he was 8, said in a statement.

Spinney has played the 8-foot-2 lemon-feathered Big Bird and garbage-can dweller Oscar the Grouch since the children’s public television series debuted in 1969. He chronicled his experiences portraying the characters in “The Wisdom of Big Bird.”

The 33rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards will air April 28 from the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles on ABC.

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On the Net:

http://www.sesameworkshop.org/sesamestreet/

http://www.emmyonline.org/

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LOS ANGELES (AP) – Laurence Fishburne’s former personal assistant is suing him for allegedly firing her because she was pregnant and single, her lawyer said.

Kristal Crews filed the lawsuit against the actor in Superior Court on Tuesday, seeking unspecified damages.

“He told her that he didn’t think single women should have children,” Crews’ attorney, Nikki, Tolt said Wednesday.

Fishburne’s attorney, Lawrence Gartner, denied the allegations, saying in a statement that during Crews’ employment “she was always treated in a fair and professional manner.”

“It is unfortunate that the visibility of actors causes people to say all kinds of things about them for what we can only assume are their own purposes. We are confident that Mr. Fishburne will be vindicated in these proceedings,” Gartner said in the statement issued by the actor’s spokesman, Alan Nierob.

Tolt alleged that several months after Crews became pregnant and requested special accommodation for a film shoot in New Orleans, Fishburne told his assistant she would be fired.

“He told her he was going to fire her on her due date. What a sweetheart,” Tolt said.

Tolt said Crews worked for Fishburne on the day she gave birth, a month early, in November 2004, and that stress forced the woman to have an emergency Caesarean section.

Crews’ termination date was then extended to Jan. 17, 2005, the day she was supposed to return from her pregnancy leave, Tolt said.

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CANBERRA, Australia (AP) – Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe says he and his wife, Danielle Spencer, are expecting their second child, a newspaper reported.

“Yes, Dani is pregnant again,” Crowe told TV cameras on the red carpet at the 63rd Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Monday, Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper reported Wednesday.

“She’s due in July,” he said.

Crowe, 41, and Spencer, 34, have a 2-year-old son, Charles Spencer Crowe.

The actor won an Oscar for his role in 2000’s “Gladiator.”

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LOS ANGELES (AP) – Brad Renfro pleaded not guilty to attempted possession of heroin after being arrested for investigation of trying to buy the drug on Skid Row.

Renfro, 23, wearing a black suit and tie, entered the plea to the felony charge in Superior Court on Wednesday. He was ordered to return Feb. 23 to see if the case can be resolved without a trial.

The actor’s lawyer said he hopes Renfro will be sent to a drug diversion program.

“He’s looking forward to resolving it all as soon as possible so he can get back to acting,” lawyer Richard Kaplan said.

Kaplan said Renfro is in drug treatment.

Renfro was arrested Dec. 22 during a police sting targeting drug dealing along downtown’s Skid Row. He is free on $10,000 bail.

His screen credits include roles in the movies “Ghost World,” “The Jacket” and “The Client.”

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LOS ANGELES (AP) – Former teen idol Leif Garrett pleaded not guilty Wednesday to drug possession charges after he was arrested for allegedly trying to ride the subway without a ticket.

Garrett, 44, was charged with felony possession of heroin and fare evasion.

He was held without bail for allegedly violating terms of his probation for a previous drug offense. He pleaded guilty in March to attempted possession of cocaine-based narcotics and was placed on probation.

An e-mail seeking comment from a spokeswoman listed on Garrett’s Web site wasn’t immediately returned.

Garrett was arrested by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies Saturday evening on the platform of the Pershing Square Red Line station downtown for allegedly not having a ticket to ride the train.

Deputies then allegedly found suspected narcotics on the musician-actor, officials said.

If convicted, Garrett probably would avoid jail time under a law that sends some convicted drug users to treatment, authorities said.

Garrett has appeared in three dozen films, mostly in the 1970s and 1980s, and has released 10 albums.

In 1979, he rear-ended another car while driving a Porsche, leaving his passenger disabled.

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