Sexiest' surprise

Hugh Jackman says wife Deborra-Lee Furness teased him after finding out he'd been named People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive." Recalling Furness's reaction, Jackman says: "God bless her, she said, 'I could've told them that years ago! And then she said, 'Obviously Brad [ Pitt] wasn't available this year.' " The magazine's executive editor, Jess Cagle, said Wednesday on NBC's "Today" show that Jackman is a "surprising choice," but he'd been on the editors' minds "for a long time and it seemed like this was the year to do him." Cagle pointed out that not only is Jackman's career at its peak, with the "X-Men" movies and his upcoming epic with Nicole Kidman, "Australia," but he's "built like a tank." (AP)

The Postal Service is posthumously telling Bob Hope: thanks for the memories. The beloved entertainer, who died in 2003, will be honored on a US postage stamp next spring. The stamp design will be unveiled Monday at a ceremony on New York's Ellis Island, the entry spot for thousands of immigrants like Hope. Born in England as Leslie Townes Hope, the singer, actor, and comedian was a youngster when his parents moved to the United States. Though never a member of the armed forces, Hope dedicated much of his time to entertaining men and women in uniform, from World War II through Operation Desert Storm. (AP)

Actress Winona Ryder was briefly hospitalized after falling ill on a flight to London's Heathrow Airport Wednesday, her publicist said. Mara Buxbaum said the 37-year-old was taken to a west London hospital "as a precaution" and had been released. "She's fine now," Buxbaum said. She declined to go into details of Ryder's illness. British Airways said a flight from Los Angeles to Heathrow requested priority landing after a female passenger "required medical attention" and was taken to a local hospital for treatment. (AP)