A gaggle of celebrities followed Jonathan Rhys Meyers home to Ireland on Friday to attend the funeral for the actor’s mother, Geri Meyers-O’Keeffe, who died Tuesday at the age of 50 after what has been specified only as a short illness.

Celebrities at St. Joseph’s Church in Glanmire, County Cork, included fellow actors Colin Farrell and Cillian Murphy. Rhys Meyers attended with his girlfriend, Reena Hammer; his father, John O’Keeffe; and his brothers, Alan, Jamie and Paul.

The parish priest, the Rev. Noel O’Sullivan, described Meyers-O’Keeffe, a former charity worker, as a “loving, caring mother who would go out of her way to help people.”

“She was a small woman, with a big heart.”

Rowling named entertainer of year

Author J.K. Rowling, whose Harry Potter books have sold 400 million copies, has been named Entertainment Weekly’s entertainer of the year.

Rowling was lauded by the magazine for getting “people to tote around her big, old-fashioned, printed-on-paper books as if they were the hottest new entertainment devices on the planet.”

The magazine’s list of the year’s other top entertainers is broken down into five categories: prodigies, class clowns, most popular, most buzzed-about and valedictorians.

Valedictorians include George Clooney, who “deftly balanced box-office viability with personal responsibility,” and Will Smith and Angelina Jolie.

Tina Fey was honored as a class clown for her portrayal of Liz Lemon on NBC’s “30 Rock,” the show she created.

Shatner absent from cast line up

Even as more and more actors are added to the cast roster for J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek” prequel, one name stands out for its absence: The original Capt. James T. Kirk himself, William Shatner. Abrams reportedly offered original Trekker Leonard Nimoy a small part, but won’t give the 76-year-old Shatner a cameo. That has Capt. Kirk pretty steamed.

“How could you not put one of the founding figures into a movie that was being resurrected?” Shatner asks celebrity show “Extra. “That doesn’t make good business sense to me!”

Still, Shatner concedes Abrams’ flick will “be a wonderful film.”

Eagles release one more record

Famed guitarist Glenn Frey tells CBS’ “60 Minutes,” for a report to air Saturday night, that he and his bandmates would have retired the Eagles were it not for the inspiration to make their first new record in 28 years.

“We were going to be done,” Frey says. “And I wouldn’t want to have it end … where … you’re just sort of doing a caricature of yourself.”

Rather than die, the band gave birth to “Long Road Out of Eden,” which last month opened at No. 1.

“It came out better than I thought,” says Frey’s bandmate, Don Henley.

Pitt pulls out of ‘State of Play’

Variety says box office titan Brad Pitt has inexplicably pulled out of “State of Play,” which was about to begin shooting. Pitt was cast as a journalist who investigates the death of a congressman’s mistress. Universal Pictures said in statement: “We remain committed to this project.” No comment from Pitt’s representative.

Kid Rock on marriage

USAToday.com has posted these wise words from American poet Kid Rock, who divorced Pamela Anderson early this year: “Getting married was a ball. Being married was a nightmare!”

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(This column contains information from wire services.)

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(c) 2007, The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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AP-NY-11-23-07 1837EST