Tony Award-winning deaf actress Phyllis Frelich dies at 70

Plus: Abhishek Bachchan keen to produce a sports film; Divergent finale to be released in two parts; Art Garfunkel inducts Yusuf Islam into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; and Mickey Rooney to be laid to rest in Hollywood

The actress Phyllis Frelich, who starred in the Broadway version of Children of a Lesser God, died on April 10 at the age of 70. Justin Walters / AP Photo

Phyllis Frelich dies

Phyllis Frelich, a Tony Award-winning deaf actress who starred in the Broadway version of Children of a Lesser God, has died. She was 70. Frelich died on Thursday at their home in California, said her husband Robert Steinberg. She suffered from a rare degenerative neurological disease. "She was extraordinary, the finest sign language actress there ever was," he said. "We were married for 46 years. I would have been happy with 46 more." Frelich also appeared in the Hallmark Hall of Fame miniseries Love is Never Silent and on such TV shows as CSI, ER and Gimme a Break! – AP

Abhishek Bachchan keen to produce a sports film

Abhishek Bachchan has expressed interest in producing a movie on sports. "It's my dream to produce a sports-based film. In India, we have not done justice to the sports genre," Bachchan said. The actor recently announced his association with the Jaipur franchise of Pro-Kabaddi, a professional kabaddi league. Sport is not a popular theme in Bollywood films but is slowly becoming a new trend. Last year, Farhan Akhtar starred in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, a biopic on the Indian athlete Milkha Singh that won several Filmfare awards, inclu­ding Best Film, and Best Actor for Akhtar. Mary Kom, the Indian boxer, is the focus of a forthcoming drama starring Priyanka Chopra. – IANS

Divergent finale to be released in two parts

Lionsgate says the final book of the Divergent trilogy will be made into a two-part movie, following the lucrative formula it has used for Twilight and is repeating for The Hunger Games. The first film in the series based on Veronica Roth's novels has grossed US$117 million (Dh430m) in its first three weeks of release. Part one of the finale, called Allegiant, will be released on March 18, 2016, followed by part two on March 24, 2017. Insurgent, the second film in the series, begins production next month and is set for release on March 20 next year. – AP

Garfunkel inducts Yusuf Islam into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The musician Art Garfunkel inducted his friend Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Thursday. Garfunkel pointed out why the artist's music was so enduring: "Sensitivity with a bass voice – I should have thought of that," he lamented cheekily at one point. Later, he quipped: "This guy's better than Paul Simon." The Dubai-based Islam also appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last week, where he performed with The Roots. Read our full interview with Islam. – The National staff

Mickey Rooney to be laid to rest in Hollywood

Mickey Rooney will be laid to rest alongside Hollywood royalty. A judge signed off on an agreement between Rooney's survivors to have the actor buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, the final resting place of such luminaries as Cecil B DeMille, Jayne Mansfield and Douglas Fairbanks. Rooney died on Sunday at the age of 93. He had purchased a burial plot in Ventura County, California, where he and his estranged wife, Jan, lived, but his estate's lawyer said Rooney really wanted to be buried in Hollywood or at a cemetery for veterans. – AP