At 41, she is best known for her roles on the television series Home Improvement, Baywatch, and V.I.P. Then there is the eleven-time record for Playboy Magazine cover, and the fact that she is the most downloaded woman on the internet.

And what is one of People Magazine’s 100 Most Beautiful People in the World up to these days? Kicking it with Joe Swash, of course. So, to help you brush up on your Pammy know-how, we have compiled a list of things you might not have known about the mother, actress, entrepreneur, and sex goddess.

1. Anderson married her third husband Rick Salomon between acts, assisting Hans Klok in his 2007 Las Vegas magic show. She has recently petitioned the courts to annul her marriage.

2. Pamela made a homeless man happy in Dublin by giving him $35,000 in July 2006 for the Dublin AIDS charity Open Heart House.

3. A vegetarian in her early teens when she saw her father cleaning an animal he had hunted, the PETA spokesperson opened Prime 333 steakhouse in April 2009.

4. Pammy entered the 2008 Australian Big Brother house of a three-day visit.

Sure, he was a bit odd. But thanks to MJ, we have classics like Thriller, Billy Jean, Beat It and Bad.

Ultimately selling 750m albums worldwide, with 13 Grammy Awards to his name, Michael Jackson was one of the most commercially successful and influential entertainers of all time.

Four months after his death, This is It has premiered (check out our inspired 5 Most Shameless Movie Cash Ins Ever).

The much-anticipated documentary features rehearsal footage of the London O2 Arena comeback concert which never happened.

So whether you are a die hard fan or merely a pop culture patron, OTB brings you things you may not know about Michael Jackson.


1. Jackson was renowned for sleeping in an oxygen tent.

2. His favorite superhero was Morph from the X-Men.

3. He once disguised himself as a woman while shopping in a French market.

4. In 1984, Jackson’s hair caught on fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial.

One of its rising stars, acclaimed for his work on Brokeback Mountain, The Dark Knight (for which he won a posthumous Oscar for Best Supporting Actor), he was working on Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (review here) when he met his untimely death.

Imaginarium is out on the 16th of October with Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell stepping in to fill the gaps that Ledger’s death left in the filming. So, in memory of Heath Ledger, here are 10 things you might not have known about the multi-talented star.

1. He and his older sister Kate were named after the leads in the Emily Bronte classic Wuthering Heights (Cathy and Heathcliff)

2. Ledger’s first acting experience was as Peter Pan in a school play at the age of 10.

3. He was an avid chess player and won Western Australia’s Junior Chess Championship at the age of 10 and often played with other chess enthusiasts in Washington Square Park. He was planning to star and direct an adaptation of Allan Scott’s chess-related 1983 novel, The Queen’s Gambit.

4. He excelled at sport, making the first U17 State Team in field hockey and was touted to be one of the sport’s up and coming young stars but elected to study acting instead.

5. He had aspirations to become a director. His first forays into directing started with music videos and he directed a video for Australian hip hop group N’fa called Cause An Effect.

6. He was planning on making a documentary about the ill-fated life of Nick Drake, a celebrated musician who suffered from depression and committed suicide at the age of 26. He created and acted in a music video for Drake’s song about depression, Black Eyed Dog.

7. Before getting into movies, he acted in the Australian soap, Home and Away, which has had several ex-cast members who have gone on to bigger things including Guy Pearce, Naomi Watts, Isla Fisher and Melissa George (seen in the new Chris Smith thriller Triangle).

8. He had a rather turbulent relationship with the Australian press which led to him relocating to New York City. He was accused of spitting at Australian journalists, something which he strongly denied but in 2004, journalists squirted him with water pistols on the red carpet of Brokeback Mountain.

9. He met Michelle Williams, the mother of his child born after his death, on the set of Brokeback Mountain. His co-star Jake Gyllenhall is the child’s godfather.

10. He’s only one of eight other actors to win the grand slam of awards for the same performance (in his case for The Joker in The Dark Knight). These are the Academy Award, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors’ Guild (SAG) Award.


Jez Sands

Amazingly, we have to wait until nearly half-way through the second episode for him to start lecturing the other cast members on the trials of a childhood in working-class Glasgow.

However when he’s not waxing lyrical about the ship-yard, he is doing some good acting and adds a nice British flavour to a very slick American sci-fi.

So we decided to grant him the honour of an OTB lowdown. The timing was perfect.


1. About a year before being cast in the role of Dr Rush, Carlyle approached television companies in Los Angeles asking them if they had anything going. They offered him several parts, but he chose Stargate Universe. Rumours that TV bosses were only so kind because they had just finished watching Trainspotting are said to be untrue.

2. To prepare for playing Hitler in a television mini-series, he listened to the entire works of Richard Wagner (Hitler’s favourite racist composer) – that’s a lot of opera.

3. Carlyle was inspired to get into acting after buying a copy of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, with a birthday gift voucher at the age of 21. It’s probably a good job he didn’t see the film starring Winona Ryder.

4. Who can forget his appearance as Renard, the smallest Bond villain since Nick Nack, in The World Is Not Enough? Following an earlier attempt on his life by MI6, Carlyle’s character was left with a bullet lodged in his brain. After murdering the doctor who saved his life, the terrorist was informed that the bullet would gradually kill him, but would kill off his senses until that day, effectively making him immune to pain. Of course it would.

5. The Scottish actor supports Rangers Football Club.

6. Carlyle featured in the music video for the 2002 Oasis song, “Little by Little”, which bemoaned the fact that the Labour government had lost its way.

7. It took him six years and an illegal war before he eventually ditched the party, and in June 2008, the actor let it be known that he would be voting for the Scottish Nationalist Party for the first time.

8. His portrayal of Francis Begbie in the 1996 smash Trainspotting, is arguably the most curse-ridden in British film history. One of his most infamous lines was: “It was f****n’ obvious that that c**t was gonnae f**k some c**t.” Swear jar anybody?

9. He was raised by his father, Joe, and has not seen his estranged mother, Liz McDonald, since he was four years old.

10. Carlyle was ranked seventh in the 2001 Orange Film Survey of greatest British actors.


Sean Marland

Following in the footsteps of countless flavour-of-the-months before him, we at OTB are answering the questions on confused lips up and down the country…

Who the hell is Derren Brown – and why does he freak us out so much?

1. He first took to the stage at Bristol University under the name Darren V Brown – the V stands for Victor. This came as a surprise to one fan who assumed his middle name was f**king – as in, “It’s Derren f**king Brown, run for your life!!!”

2. Unbelievably, Derren is the patron for The National Parrot Sanctuary and it’s registered Charity – Parrot Line. He also has a parrot named Mephisto.

3. The man to thank/blame for the unstoppable rise of Derren Brown is Jerry Sadowitz. They first met in a magic shop in London and after swapping a few tricks soon became pals, with Sadowitz helping Brown get his first lecture gig for magicians.

4. Sorry ladies, but he did come out last year and revealed he was in ‘the perfect relationship with a man’ – which has surprised many women who assumed it to be impossible.

5. Brown claims to be flattered that Kenny Craig, the magic act in Little Britain (‘look into the eyes, not around the eyes’) might be based on him, considering Kenny to be better looking than himself. Just buy a razor Derren.

6. He has to sleep in a cold room – presumably to ensure he does not burst into flames.

7. He has two giraffes at home. One is a six-foot stillborn baby which is stuffed and stands in his hallway and the other is an adult neck and head skeleton which spans the wall of his office at home.

8. Although there’s never any question that his helpers on the TV shows are plants, he often becomes friends with those he has tortured. The guy who loaded the gun in Russian Roulette once accompanied Brown to a screening of Team America to the suspicion of many onlookers.

9. He lists his occupations as: Magician, psychological illusionist, artist and mentalist. Nice work if you can get it.

10. As a child he set fire to an unfortunate neighbour’s boat when playing with matches. The Scamp.


Sean Marland

Has Derren Brown gone where no magician has gone before? Maybe. So we managed to think of some fresh challenges for the man who seems able to do anything…

Dorian Gray’s Ben Barnes is a rising star and has definitely peaked the attention of the ladies of the OTB office.

We can’t decide if we like him because of the luscious hair, his dimpled chin or the fact that he’s joined the pack of Brit totties that are making an impression on Hollywood.

Whatever the reason: it’s deep and it’s real.

Robert Pattinson could be old news. Probably not though. But James McAvoy should be worried.

When we first laid eyes on Ben in 2007’s Stardust we knew it was the start of big things for him and we anticipate that he’ll soon be the talk of the town so we thought we’d get in there first.

So until the restraining order gets cancelled and we can get an interview for you, we hope you’ll enjoy our top 10 facts about Ben Barnes.

You’re welcome.

1. Ben was a member of boyband Hyrise in 2004 and was in the running to represent England in the Eurovision song contest with their song Leading Me On. As well as singing Ben can also play the drums and the piano as well as holding a membership at the National Youth Music Theatre.

2. No stranger to the stage, Ben starred in the cast of The History Boys on the West End. He had to cut his run short though when he accepted the role of Prince Caspian in the Chronicles of Narnia sequel.

3. In 2004 Ben earned a degree in English Literature and Drama from Kingston University.

4. Greatly admires fellow actor Colin Firth whom he has acted with twice. And while he calls him one of his favourite people, he has also called him a “terrible mentor”. Whenever Ben asks him for advice, all Colin can offer is “I don’t know.”

5. Ben based Prince Caspian’s Spanish accent on The Princess Bride’s Inigo Montoya. He found the film the night before his audition and was looking through his DVD collection for something to help him get the part. He also had to shave twice a day to keep himself young looking and had to wear hair extensions as he had short hair at the time.

6. Ben will be doing some Shakespeare in one of his upcoming projects, Ophelia – a retelling of Hamlet, played by Ben, from the point of view of his long suffering girlfriend.

7. With classic good looks Ben tends to be cast a lot for adaptations of period novels or plays: Dorian Gray, Prince Caspian, Easy Virtue and Ophelia. “I have gone straight from Alan Bennett to C.S. Lewis to Noel Coward to Oscar Wilde. I seem to be doing them all. Next I’ll be totally butchering Hamlet!”

8. He featured briefly in the video for The Sofa Song by The Kooks.

9. Despite having a few fan sites dedicated to him, Ben is no fan of the Internet. When asked if he Googled himself he said, “Yeah, well, a little while ago. I don’t like it; I don’t like the Internet. No. It’s not a healthy place to go if you’re in the public eye. Because there’s too many people who have too many opinions about you, and about your acting. And, you know, everyone wants to be a critic.”

10. You can hear recent musical offerings from Ben on the soundtrack to Easy Virtue in which he stars with Jessica Biel. She’s on the soundtrack as well but…um…she should stick to acting.


Emily Moulder

See what all the fuss what about by reading our review of Dorian Gray. Go see what happened when other bright young things are slaughtered in Sorority Row.

LA-born Zooey Deschanel has been (quietly) dazzling us on screen for the best part of a decade.

Since making her film debut in 1998’s Veronica’s Closet, she’s opted for more obscure productions, later taking roles in Almost Famous, Elf and guesting in ganja drama Weeds.

This year she has her first major lead in the superb (500) Days of Summer opposite old pal Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and is rumoured to be appearing with sister Emily in Bones.

We all love her with her blue doe eyes and effortless grace, but she remains something of an enigma. OTB set off to discover what she’s all about. Just don’t mention the Katy Perry comparisons.


1. Acting is just a day job for Zooey. She plays the piano, banjo and ukulele, appearing in jazz cabaret act If All The Stars Were Pretty Babies with fellow thesp Samantha Shelton. Her first album with band She & Him, named Volume One, came out last year.

2. Deschanel is named after the male character in J.D. Salinger novella Franny and Zooey.

3. She went to the private preparatory school Crossroads with Jake Gyllenhaal and Kate Hudson. Deschanel later appeared alongside Gyllenhaal in 2002’s The Good Girl.

4. She appeared in the Offspring video “She’s Got Issues”.

5. Last December she got engaged to Death Cab for Cutie lead Benjamin Gibbard.

6. She trained for four months to sing in the style of Janis Joplin in preparation of playing her in a biopic about the singer, before the project was shelved in 2007.

7. She appeared on US culinary competition show Top Chef, on which the contestants had to rustle her up some dairy-, soy-, gluten-free fare for her vegan diet.

8. In his review of the film, Roger Ebert noted that two critics proposed marriage to her character of Allison in Yes Man.

9. On her iPod? Beach Boys, Nina Simone, and legendary country singer Skeeter Davis.

10. She penned and performed a little ditty about fabric for a cotton commercial in the US. Don’t believe us? Click here…

Leonie Mercedes

Click here for another taste of Deschanel’s musical credentials with the She & Him video, directed by (500) Days helm Marc Webb… and check out our (500) Days of Summer review…

One day she would give a heartfelt confession about her difficult past or brush with domestic violence, the next she would undo all that public sympathy with her sexual philanderings.

Depending on the weather it seemed, we either (secretly) loved her or hated her. This year’s Celebrity Big Brother proved however, she does have some fans out there.

The woman is so frank we thought we’d set ourselves an impossible task, to find things we don’t know about the Swedish beauty. But we have a duty to you so we prevailed, and in celebration of the return of Shooting Stars, enjoy a few things you might not have known about Team B captain Ulrika-ka-ka…

1. She was born Eva Ulrika Jonsson in 1967, in Solluntuna, Sweden, where Cuttin’ Eye Joe hit-makers Rednex are from. She moved to England at the age of 12. Born on August 16th, she shares her birthday with Madonna.

2. She cut her teeth in the broadcasting world becoming a weathergirl on TV-am in 1989. She confessed on Celebrity Big Brother that during her meteorological stint she was embarrassed to receive a phone call from the fusty political journalist and presenter David Frost, who asked her if the weather would be nice for his summer party that weekend.

3. Her grandfather was famous opera singer Folke Jonsson.

4. Allegedly she turned down a role in Doctor Who, claiming she didn’t have enough acting experience. Her past acting jobs have been a lead in 1991’s historical romantic drama L’annonce faite a Marie, and bizarrely a role on Bob the Builder as Jana von Strudel.

5. She is fronting a campaign to spread awareness about incontinence in adults, having suffered from it during her pregnancy with child number four. Apologies if we just put you off your Appletise. (There’s a trend emerging… Fellow Celebrity Big Brother winner Jack Dee once delivered incontinence pads for the NHS).

6. Ulrika is fluent in Swedish, English, French and German. And the language of love.

7. Picking up a rumoured £175,000 to take part, Ulrika is the highest paid contestant to enter the Celebrity Big Brother house. As she was announced the winner with 57% of the vote, she turned to runner-up Terry Christian to say: “It’s a fix”.

8. Her winnings probably went towards a £11,000 breast reduction, which took her cup size from a voluptuous 34I to a perky 32C. Really didn’t mean to come off all Nuts there.

9. 2002 saw the release of her autobiography “Honest”, which detailed her sexual assault by an, erm, unnamed television presenter. An anagram of Ulrika Jonsson Honest is: Oh, one’s journals stink.

10. Hopefully her next literary outing won’t. She is currently writing a novel due for release in 2011, reported to be a bout a woman approaching 60, having a multigenerational narrative. Cue Vic and Bob grabbing of the handbags: Oooooh!

Leonie Mercedes

Have a gander at our review of the All-New series of Shooting Stars. Let’s hope it doesn’t go down the way of the shows featured on TV Revamps That Fell Flat On Their Face…

It’s quite possible that the expression ‘larger than life’ was invented purely for the purpose of describing Quentin Tarantino.

Well, his face at least.

And come to mention it, his film buffery as well. As I sat at the press conference for Inglorious Basterds, even film critics who prided themselves on having an encyclopaedic movie knowledge looked on blankly as he jabbered about the war-films that had influenced his latest piece.

It is an inescapable fact that he is an utter nerd. A very sweary, iconic nerd – but a nerd nonetheless.
Here’s the OTB lowdown on this one-man-guide to trash movies.

1. The director reportedly rejected an offer to direct an episode of Heroes, asking the interviewer: “What the f**k is Heroes?”

2. In all of his original screenplays the name of a police detective named Scagnetti is referred to at least once. Unfortunately the particular scene was cut from most final versions.

3. Credits which suggest that Tarantino had roles in Dawn of the Dead and King Lear are incorrect. He falsely listed these films on his acting resume many years ago to compensate for his lack of experience – in many cases these credits have subsequently been attributed to him. It almost makes my claim that I left my last job by ‘mutual agreement’ seem passable.

4. Briefcases and suitcases play an important role in most of Tarantino’s films. See Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Jackie Brown, True Romance and Kill Bill: Vol. 2.

5. Furthermore, what is in that briefcase in Pulp Fiction? One of the strongest theories is that it is Marsellus Wallace’s soul – hence the plaster on the back of his neck.

6. All his movies (including True Romance, which he wrote but did not direct) feature a scene in which three or more characters are pointing guns at each other at the same time. This is called a ‘Mexican Standoff’ and is a tribute to the Westerns which influenced Tarantino.

7. He turned down both Speed and Men In Black.

8. He is dyslexic, has an IQ of 160 and is a high school dropout.

9. It is widely reported that Tarantino helped write Tony Scott’s Crimson Tide – that’s one that definitely didn’t go on his CV.

10. In pretty much every one of his movies, you will find a character smoking ‘Red Apple’ cigarettes – the director hates product placement.


Sean Marland

Check out our review of Inglorious Basterds by clicking here.

Alan Tudyk, with all his boyish charm, thick crop of yellow hair, and a name that suggests he has one to spare is the name on our lips, and after all he’s done for us, frankly it would be rude to not give him the Lowdown treatment.

So without further ado, and with the first series finale of Dollhouse finally reaching UK screens this week, enjoy 10 things you might not have known about the show’s main villain.

1. After his sci-fi series Firefly was cancelled in untimely fashion by (guess who) Fox, he threw a “We Don’t Work For Fox Anymore” party for the cast and crew.

2. His most prized possession is a 1964 Mustang he’s named “Old Sock”.

3. In preparation for playing empathetic robot “Sonny” on I, Robot, he studied dance and mime to accurately portray the machine’s programmed movements.

4. He certainly does like to be prepared. To get himself ready for the role of Steve the Pirate in Dodgeball he joined a group of pirate role players called the Rumrunners, spending a week on pirate camp. In the interest of putting in a convincing performance, you know?

5. He can be heard swearing in Chinese on Halo 3, quickly followed by “I wish I was someone else right now”, in a nod to his character “Wash” on Firefly. Also voicing marines on the game are fellow Firefly stars Adam Baldwin and Nathan Fillion.

6. In 1999 he appeared nude as Adam in The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, a stage retelling of the story of Adam and Eve in which Eve is Steve.

7. On his iPod: Band of Skulls, Anthrax, Black Keys…

8. He is from a “long line” of actors who left the prestigious New York performing arts school Juilliard in their third year (the others including Val Kilmer and Robin Williams).

9. His favourite film is Smokey and the Bandit.

10. He will appear in a new series called “V”, based on a miniseries from the 80s. The show is about lizard-like aliens invading the earth in human form, and is due to air some time next year.

Leonie Mercedes

Check out our review on the once elusive final episode of Dollhouse if this all tickles your fancy.