Free Women's Blog

Past “Dancing With the Stars” winner Brooke Burke is set to be Tom Bergeron’s new partner when the series launches again later on this month.

Burke will take the place of Samantha Harris as co-host. The announcement was made by Bergeron Monday at ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

As a competitor, Burke was the winner during the season which ended in November 2008. She was hosting various television shows, such as “Rock Star” and “Wild On.” She has four children and a business on parenting topics, having on online baby products store. She is also the “mommy correspondent” on ‘The Doctors” show and has over 1.7 million followers on her Twitter page.

The current season’s competitors include former “Baywatch” star Pamela Anderson, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, reality show celebrity Kate Gosselin and gold medalist figure skater Evan Lysacek.

The list of competitors also include sportscaster Erin Andrews, reality TV star Jake Pavelka, football star Chad Ochocinco, singer Nicole Scherzinger and actors Aiden Turner, Shannen Doherty and Niecy Nash.

The new season of the show is set to begin on March 22.

Singer Dave Navarro has joined the ranks of celebrities who’s removing it all for PETA to protest again Fur!  The Jane’s Addiction guitar player tells PETA in an interview that he is a reformed anti-fur believer.

The provoking advertisement hopes to spare millions of animals from being killed for their fur…all in the name of fashion.

“There was a time in my life where I would wear over-the-top outfits, and some of those outfits contained fur. Then several years ago, I saw video footage of animals being skinned alive and screaming, and it honestly is the most horrific, inhumane thing I’ve ever seen—a dying, twitching, skinless animal in such terrified shock crying, screaming blood-curdling screams that are so hard to watch and listen to.”

I’m happy you are comfy in your own skin, Dave!

Happy Birthday to “American Idol” winner Carrie Underwood (1983)

Actor/martial artist Chuck Norris (1940)

“Basic Instinct 2″ star Sharon Stone (1958)

Czech supermodel Eva Herzigova (1973)

NASCAR driver Matt Kenseth (1972)

Singer Edie Brickell (1966)

Football player Rod Woodson (1965)

“A Different World” star Jasmine Guy (1964)

Swedish singer Neneh Cherry (1963)

“Pearl Jam” bassist Jeff Ament (1963)

French actress Marina Vlady (1938)

“Jan and Dean” singer Dean Torrence (1940)

American actor Matt Knudsen (1957)

Canadian actress and model Shannon Tweed (1957)

American actress Paget Brewster (1969)

“Iced Earth” singer Matt Barlow (1970)

American actor Jon Hamm (1971)

Rapper Timbaland (1971)

American dancer and actress Bree Turner (1977)

“Taking Back Sunday” musician Matt Rubano (1977)

American singer Robin Thicke (1977)

English actress Rita Simons (1977)

“Breaking Benjamin” musician Ben Burnley (1978)

American actress Olivia Wilde (1984)

American actress and singer Emily Osment (1992)

Boston guitarist Tom Scholz (1947)

Mobster portrayer Joe Viterelli (1941; d. 2004)

German-American actress Betty Amann (1905; d. 1990)

English actor Richard Haydn (1905; d. 1985)

American singer Marion Hutton (1919; d. 1987)

Jazz musician Bix Beiderbecke (1903; d. 1931)

American actor Sam Jaffe (1891; d. 1984)

Actor Broncho Billy Anderson (1880; d. 1971)

Happy Birthday All

Sami

Stage and movie actor Nan Martin has died due to emphysema complications, at age 82.

Martin’s performance in the original production of Archibald MacLeish’s J.B. earned her a Tony Award nomination. Her other Broadway appearances include ‘Summer Brave’, ‘The Eccentricities of a Nightingale’, ‘Under the Yum Yum Tree’ or ‘The Great God Bown’. Further stage credits include several performances with the New York Shakespeare Festival.

On television she starred in series such as ‘The Twilight Zone’, ‘The Defenders’, ‘The Fugitive’, ‘The Untouchables’, or more recently in “The Drew Carey Show’, ‘The Practice’, ‘Gideon’s Crossing’, ‘Chicago Hope’, ‘E.R.’ and ‘Golden Girls’.

Martin also appeared in numerous films such as ‘For the Love of Ivy’, ‘Toys in the Attic’, ‘Dr. Detroit’, ‘The Other Side of the Mountain’ – parts 1 and 2, ‘Some Kind of a Hero’, ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ – part 3 and ‘Castaway’.

Besides acting, she was chairperson of the theater committee for the Department of State for Cultural Exchange. Martin taught acting at El Cerritos College and Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum. She was also involved in the AFI Program for Women Directors and directed two short films.

R.I.P.