Grapevine: Soap opera legend Agnes Nixon dies at 88

Soap opera legend Agnes Nixon dies at 88

Agnes Nixon, creator of the soap operas “One Life to Live” and “All My Children,” died Wednesday in her Pennsylvania home, confirmed her former son-in-law David Hiltbrand to Philly.com, where he used to write. She was 88. TMZ reports the famed writer suffered from complications with Parkinson’s disease and pneumonia. In 2010, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences called Nixon “the grand dame of daytime serial drama” when she won the lifetime achievement award at the Daytime Emmy Awards. Susan Lucci, who starred on “All My Children” from 1970 until 2013, shared her sorrow Wednesday. “I am devastated to hear about the passing of the beloved Agnes Nixon. I am forever grateful to her,” she said.

Ex-Miss Universe speaks out against Trump

Former Miss Universe Alicia Machado spoke out against Donald Trump, a former Miss Universe co-owner, Wednesday on “Good Morning America.” The 1996 winner from Venezuela said the GOP nominee repeatedly called her “Miss Piggy” and “Miss Eating Machine” when she gained weight the year she won the crown, which only escalated her health issues. “I had a lot of problems,” she told GMA. “Like eating disorders, anorexic, bulimic — that kind of problems.” Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton brought up Trump’s weight comments in Monday’s presidential debate, adding “he called her Miss Housekeeping because she was Latina. Donald she has a name.” On Tuesday, Trump didn’t deny his comments on “Fox & Friends.” “She was the worst we ever had. The worst, the absolute worst ... she gained a massive amount of weight, and it was a real problem.” Machado, now 39, says she’s “very worried he could be president,” but Trump’s remarks won’t hurt her anymore. “Maybe he will be saying bad things about me, but it’s OK. I’m strong.”

‘Hamilton’ creator to host ‘SNL’ in October

NBC announced Wednesday that Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of the award-winning Broadway musical “Hamilton,” will host “Saturday Night Live” Oct 8. Twenty one pilots duo Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun will join him as the show’s musical guests. The 42nd season begins Saturday with host Margot Robbie and music from The Weeknd.

Cox: Brangelina split has nothing to do with Aniston

Courteney Cox is defending her “Friends” co-star, Jennifer Aniston, telling reporters Tuesday that Brad Pitt and AngelinaJolie’s recent split is “not about” Aniston. Pitt and Aniston divorced in 2005. When the news broke last week that Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt, the internet lit up with memes of Aniston reacting with joy. Aniston is now married to actor Justin Theroux. “I feel like we’re exacerbating it by even talking about it,” Cox said.

Goldie Hawn: No to movie-star marriages

Actress Goldie Hawn says she “would have been long divorced” if she had married actor Kurt Russell. The two have been together 33 years and have a son, 30-year-old Wyatt Russell, but have never tied the knot. Hawn made the remarks Monday on Britain’s ITV, saying not all Hollywood relationships work, and some have “a harder time because the camera is on them all the time.”

Poof! 20 years fly by for ‘Sabrina, the Teenage Witch’

The popular T.G.I.F. 90s sitcom “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch” turned 20 years old this week. Star Melissa Joan Hart, who played Sabrina, took to Instagram to celebrate the 20th anniversary by making an ice cream sandwich magically appear. The caption: “20 years later...looks like I still got it.” While other shows of the same era have been recently resurrected — “Full House” with Netflix’s “Fuller House” and the “Boy Meets World” sequel “Girl Meets World” — Hart, now a 40-year-old Nutrisystem spokeswoman with three kids, isn’t jumping to cast any new spells with co-stars Beth Broderick and Caroline Rhea (aunts Zelda and Hilda). “There’s a lot of talk about a Sabrina reboot. I feel like almost every day, somebody’s calling me about it. ‘Would we do it? Should we do it? How do we do it?’” she told ET. “I think the things about reboots is they’re really hard to do. They’re hard to do right. I think sometimes it’s better to just leave it in the past unless you do it really, really great.” “Sabrina” ran from Sept. 27, 1996 on ABC to April to April 24, 2003 on The WB.

Also ...

■Detroit Free Press artist Eric Millikin used over 1,000 M&M’s to create a portrait of cereal character Count Chocula. The portrait is featured in the new book “Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Unlock the Weird!” (Ripley Publishing, 2016). The piece is part of a series of monsters Millikin created out of Halloween candy.

Compiled by Stephanie Steinberg

ssteinberg@detroitnews.com

Thursday’s birthdays

Ian McShane , 74

Calvin Johnson Jr. , 31

Josh Farro , 29

Hana Mae Lee , 29

Halse y , 22