Names in the News

Mar 05, 07:02 PM

Current Headlines: Daniel Radcliffe may be growing up, but he hasn't outgrown Harry Potter.

The young thesp has signed on to star in the final two installments of the Potter film saga, based on the novels of J.K. Rowling.

Radcliffe will bring the young wizard with the round glasses and the lightning-bolt scar on his forehead back to the screen in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."

Warner Bros. will release the fifth installment _ "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" _ on July 13, a week before the book "The Deathly Hallows," the last in the series, is published. The show dates for the last two movies haven't been announced.

Radcliffe, 17, is in the London stage production of "Equus," playing a troubled stable boy who indulges in some very non-Harry behavior: he mutilates horses, swears, smokes and appears nude.

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HOME SHOPPING

Now that Anna Nicole has been laid to rest, the nation can turn its attention back to Britney Spears.

The celebrity Web site TMZ.com reports that Brit's efforts to sort things out in rehab have not impaired her shopping faculties. From deep within the Promises rehab center in Malibu, la Spears has reached out to the outside world, e-mailing her cousin instructions for purchases from shopintuition.com.

Brit, who famously shaved her head a few weeks ago, wanted a fedora. Perfectly understandable.

Other things on the Spears shopping list: Daisy Duke shorts, sunglasses, a dress that TMZ describes as "the `It' frock of the summer," and a shawl.

The tab: more than three grand.

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REALLY NEW REALITY

Actor Jason Wahler, who appeared on MTV's reality show "Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County," explored Carolina reality Friday night when he was arrested in Greenville, N.C. He was charged with underage drinking and resisting a public officer.

Wahler, 20, was arrested by an undercover state Alcohol Law Enforcement agent at a Greenville nightclub. He was released on $1,000 bond several hours later.

The charge of resisting a public officer stems from providing several false birth dates, according to the alcohol enforcement folks. Wahler wasn't carrying ID, but did tell the agent he was on a TV show. What more ID could you want in America?

The Associated Press was attempting Monday to reach a Wahler rep. The arrest was first reported on TMZ.com.

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(Philadelphia Inquirer wire services contributed to this column.)

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