'Wedding Crashers' star Owen Wilson in hospital

Owen Wilson was transported from his Santa Monica, Calif., home by ambulance. (will burgess/reuters/file 2006)

Comic actor Owen Wilson was in a Los Angeles hospital yesterday recovering from what some celebrity websites characterized as an attempted suicide.

Wilson, 38, had been rushed from his gated house in Santa Monica by an ambulance Sunday afternoon. He was treated and stabilized at St. John's Health Center and later transferred to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Fire Battalion Chief Jose Torres wouldn't comment on the actor's injuries or condition, but the Star and the National Enquirer, which were the first to report the story, said Wilson had cut both wrists and taken an "indeterminate amount of pills." (Star reported that the "Wedding Crashers" star was discovered by a family member.)

Yesterday, Wilson issued a statement through his publicist pleading for privacy. "I respectfully ask that the media allow me to receive care and heal in private during this difficult time," he said.

Wilson, who stars in the upcoming Wes Anderson movie "The Darjeeling Limited" and is currently filming the comedy "Tropic Thunder" directed by Ben Stiller, is not married. According to People magazine, he was visited at the hospital yesterday by his brothers Andrew and Luke, as well as his parents.

Wilson, famous for his long blond hair and crooked nose, tends to play charming rascals. In "Wedding Crashers," he and Vince Vaughn portrayed two guys who show up at weddings uninvited in order to score dates. Wilson and Anderson earned an Oscar nod for their screenplay for the 2002 comedy "The Royal Tenenbaums."

It just so happens that Wilson's former girlfriend, Kate Hudson, is filming "Bachelor No. 2" in Boston. However, the actress was keeping a decidedly low profile between takes yesterday at Centerfolds, the downtown strip club where director Howie Deutch was shooting. During a break in the action, Hudson walked outside and held the door for the scantily clad women playing strippers in the movie. When a reporter approached, Hudson was quickly ushered back inside.

Hudson and Wilson began dating last year after the release of their film "You, Me and Dupree." They broke up this May.

STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Phil Spector's often-absent lead lawyer, Bruce Cutler, announced yesterday that he is leaving the music producer's murder case because of "a difference of opinion between Mr. Spector and me on strategy." It wasn't immediately clear whether Cutler quit or Spector fired him. Cutler had been absent from the trial for many weeks so he could appear on a syndicated TV show. He told Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler that he was prepared to return and do the closing arguments for Spector, but now, Cutler said, "there's nothing I can do for Mr. Spector. I can no longer effectively represent him." The judge asked Spector if everything that Cutler said was accurate. "That is correct," Spector answered in a raspy voice. Defense attorney Roger Rosen has stepped in as lead lawyer. Spector, 67, is charged with killing actress Lana Clarkson in his Alhambra, Calif., mansion on Feb. 3, 2003. The defense maintains that Clarkson shot herself. (AP)

Former president Bill Clinton will appear on Oprah Winfrey's TV talk show next Tuesday, his first interview to promote "Giving," a book on philanthropy and civic action coming out the same day. Clinton's appearance was announced yesterday in an e-mail sent to members of Winfrey's book club. Winfrey, who interviewed Clinton in 2004 for his memoir "My Life," has good reason to think highly of the new book. "Giving" praises Winfrey's "Angel Network," which has donated millions of dollars around the world, and the book includes comments from Winfrey. (AP)

Novelist Cormac McCarthy has been awarded one of Britain's oldest literary honors for his tale of a father and son's travels through a post-apocalyptic America. The University of Edinburgh announced that McCarthy won this year's James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction for "The Road," which has already garnered the author a Pulitzer Prize. Author and journalist Byron Rogers took the biography category prize for his book on R.S. Thomas, a British poet. Each author wins $20,000. (AP)

Jackie Chan suffered back pain while wrapping up filming of "The Forbidden Kingdom," his first collaboration with Jet Li. Chan said in his blog that he aggravated an old back injury when shooting scenes last week in China that required him to throw someone upward. The 53-year-old Hong Kong actor said he was "in excruciating pain" when he woke up the next day, and "could barely get myself out of my bed." (AP)

Hulk Hogan's son was released from a Florida hospital yesterday, a day after a car crash that critically injured his passenger, authorities said. A Toyota Supra driven by Hogan's 17-year-old son, Nick Bollea, was traveling at a high rate of speed at about 7:30 p.m. Sunday in Clearwater, Fla., police said, when Bollea lost control and the car hit a median. It flipped around, and the back end hit a palm tree. Bollea's passenger, John J. Graziano, 22, remained in critical condition yesterday. Bollea appears on VH1's "Hogan Knows Best" with his professional wrestler-father, his mother, and sister.