MONTREAL - Tributes to legendary actor Tony Curtis and powerhouse producer Alan Ladd, Jr., along with a master class conducted by director Brian de Palma will be among the highlights of the Montreal World Film Festival, organizers announced Tuesday.

The punk rock band Iggy and the Stooges said their instruments and equipment were stolen from a rented truck they had parked outside a Montreal hotel.The band had played the Osheaga Festival in the city Sunday night. The rockers told Billboard.com their stuff was taken Monday morning from a rented 15-foot truck they had parked outside an Embassy Suites hotel.The group’s tour manager told …

Actor Tony Curtis and producer Alan Ladd, Jr., will be celebrated for their lifetime achievements in separate tributes at the Montreal World Film Festival that runs Aug. 21 to Sept. 1.

Kelsey Grammer checks out of hospital. Newly discovered Beatles tape sells for $23,000. Rapper Lil John signs deal with The Orchard. Country duo Brooks & Dunn get Hollywood star; Jackie Chan to star in “The Spy Next Door.”

TV producer Norman Lear and author Maya Angelou are the 2008 recipients of the Marian Anderson Award, which celebrates artists who have furthered humanitarian causes.

This year’s Montreal World Film Festival will include two Quebec films in official competition, it was announced Tuesday morning by fest president Serge Losique. The local films competing for the Grand Prix des Amériques are writer-director Benoit Pilon’s Ce qu’il faut pour vivre, a drama about an Inuit man suffering from tuberculosis in the 1950s, and director Stéphane Géhami’s En plein Coeur, …

British soul singer Joss Stone will add a period role to her burgeoning acting resumé, with the 22-year-old set to play one of Henry VIII’s wives on racy TV hit The Tudors.

Born in Montreal, John Labelle has been a jazz fan for as long as he can remember. From an early age, he listened to the great big band vocalists, including Tony Bennett, Mel Torme, Rosemary Clooney; and, of course, Frank Sinatra, who would later become one of his greatest influences.