Supporting the cast

Producer Oprah Winfrey (second from right) joins new cast members (from left) BeBe Winans, Chaka Khan, and LaKisha Jones at a post-show reception Wed- nesday for their Broadway debut in "The Color Purple" at the Broadway Theatre.

Kanye West's mother most likely died of heart disease coupled with complications after plastic surgery, but the exact cause of death can't be known, coroner's officials said yesterday. Donda West, 58, died Nov. 10 at a Los Angeles-area hospital, a day after she had breast reduction, tummy tuck, and liposuction procedures. A long autopsy report noted that West had coronary artery disease. The 5-foot-2, 188-pound woman also had developed several complications after surgery, including bronchopneumonia in one lung. "It is my opinion Ms. West died from some preexisting coronary artery disease and multiple postoperative factors following surgery," Dr. Louis A. Pena, a deputy medical examiner, stated. (AP)

Dennis Quaid and his wife denounced the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles over a "lack of candor" about medical errors they believe caused their newborn twins to receive overdoses of a blood thinner. The couple said they were particularly upset to learn from a state investigation that their babies were given dosages of Heparin that were 2,000 times stronger than what was prescribed. "We find it outrageous and totally unacceptable that we are learning for the first time . . . exactly what transpired," the actor and his wife, Kimberly, said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times. (AP)

Former "Lost" star Michelle Rodriguez (inset) has found her way out of jail. Rodriguez was released from a Los Angeles County women's jail in Lynwood after serving 18 days of a 180-day sentence for violating probation in a drunken driving case, authorities said. She was released early under a program that deals with jail overcrowding by allowing nonviolent female inmates to serve as little as 10 percent of their sentence. (AP)

The Weinstein Co., one of Hollywood's largest independent filmmakers, said yesterday it expects to reach a deal with striking Hollywood writers that would allow the company to resume production. The company was anticipating that an interim agreement with the Writers Guild of America would be signed by the end of the day, company spokesman Matthew Frankel said. The writers guild did not immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers also did not immediately respond for a request for comment. The deal with Weinstein would be the second reached with big-screen producers. United Artists made an agreement with the guild Monday to resume production. (AP)

A man who tried to extort $1.3 million from Tom Cruise in exchange for stolen wedding photographs of the actor and Katie Holmes was sentenced to two years probation yesterday in Los Angeles. Marc Lewis Gittleman, 34, also was fined $3,000. He pleaded guilty Sept. 21 to interstate transportation of stolen property. Gittleman, a computer technician, told the court he was sorry and wrote a letter of apology to Cruise's attorney. (AP)