The Associated Press has reported that actor Jeffrey Jones (Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Beetlejuice, Amadeus) was arrested Thursday in Los Angeles on charges of using a minor for sex acts and possession of child pornography. Jones, 56, surrendered himself to Los Angeles police and was freed on $20,000 bail, according to police authorities, with an arraignment scheduled for November 21. L.A. authorities had begun investigating Jones last November after a minor came forward and "alleged criminal acts of a sexual nature," with a subsequent search of Jones's home revealing "numerous items of evidence." Both the L.A. Police and District Attorney's office refused to comment further, other than saying the alleged victim was a 17-year-old boy. Jones has been unavailable for comment. --Prepared by IMDb staff

Pretty Woman star Richard Gere married girlfriend Carey Lowell last weekend in a secret ceremony. The couple tied the knot in with only their two-year-old son Homer and Lowell's daugher Hannah, 12, as witnesses. Gere, 53, a Buddhist, was previously married to supermodel Cindy Crawford, and will next be seen in the movie musical Chicago, alongside Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Light-fingered actress Winona Ryder has pleaded with a judge not to send her to jail - and revealed her terror of prison to a close friend. The Heathers actress, who was found guilty of grand theft of personal property and vandalism in a Beverly Hills court last week, has made a personal plea to presiding judge Elden Fox ahead of her sentencing. According to British tabloid The Daily Sport, Ryder was distraught while talking to a close friend about the incident. She told the pal, "I just want to curl up in a ball, open my eyes and everything goes away. I really can't take any more. This is the worst experience of my life. How could anyone come to terms with being locked up. I really, really don't want to go there. I would be the victim of sexual abuse and God knows what else. My career in Hollywood is on the line, surely that's enough punishment in the circumstances?" She concludes, "I would sooner die rather than face the prospect of being kept behind bars like some sort of caged animal."

Die Another Day beauty Halle Berry feels great sympathy for convicted shoplifter and fellow actress Winona Ryder - and has even sent her letters of support. Berry, who plays Jinx in the twentieth installment of the Bond series, particularly feels for the Heathers star because she's been through a similar public trial herself. In February 2000, Berry sped off after she ran a red light and crashed her rental car into another driver on Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles - leaving the driver of the damaged vehicle with a broken wrist. In a judgment which may give hope to Winona, Berry was not jailed, but forced to pay $13,500 and given 200 hours of community service. The Swordfish star says Ryder "lives at the corner of my street, so I left her a couple of notes along the way. I just wanted to tell her, 'Hang in there. Hold your head up, and it's all going to be okay - no matter how it works out.'"

Oscar winners Die Another Day beauty Halle Berry and Training Day star Denzel Washington are in the frame to take the lead roles in a remake of hit eighties British comedy Educating Rita. The original 1983 film starring Billy Elliot actress Julie Walters and Alfie legend Michael Caine is set to be remade in the US with an all African-American cast. Original director Lewis Gilbert is set to helm the new version. He says, "My view was that you couldn't make a new film as good as the original unless you did something very different to it. That's why I find the idea of making it with a black cast so appealing. Making it a black film will take it sufficiently away from the original to make it fresh, but not too far away. There are so many good black actors in America. You only have to think of the two black actors who took the best actor awards at this year's Oscars (namely Berry and Washington)."

Hollywood actress Demi Moore is looking stunning at 40 - thanks to a $400,000 total-body makeover. According to sources, the Ghost star had Botox injections in her face at a cost of $4,000 three times per year, $10,000 surgery to replace her breast implants with smaller ones, $15,000 liposuction to suck fat out of her stomach, buttocks and thighs, and collagen injections in her lips, plus other skin treatments for $6,240. On top of that, the ex-wife of Bruce Willis also hired a nutritionist at a coast of $22,000, a personal trainer for $25,000, a $15,600 yoga instructor and kickboxing coach costing $230,000. And Demi has even had her teeth whitened with porcelain veneers, costing her a whopping $16,000, according to experts' estimates. A pal of Demi - who is making a new comeback in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, tells American tabloid the Star, "Her body is her fortune. She can't afford to let herself go if she wants to stay in show business. She's spent like crazy to keep that youthful figure, but when you consider the millions she's made that's nothing. She's magnificent. But she's really worked at staying beautiful. She has the body of a woman 20 years younger, thanks to exercise, good diet - and some plastic surgery."

Red Dragon star Anthony Hopkins has one film in the can that will never top the box office charts - because there is not enough money to finish it. The legendary star worked on The Devil And Daniel Webster, a version of Stephen Vincent Benet's supernatural short story, alongside screen beauty Jennifer Love Hewitt and under the direction of Pearl Harbor star Alec Baldwin. However, despite it's a-list credentials, the flick faces a bleak future, after filming wrapped in March 2001. Hopkins says, "They pulled the money out, apparently, so it'll never be seen. The producers have no money to finish it. (Alec's) good, a fine director. He's good to work with, but I don't know if Alec is even interested in (completing) it. We finished filming it a long time ago."

Just Married co-stars Brittany Murphy and Ashton Kutcher have sparked a huge buzz in Hollywood - with speculation that they are newlyweds in real life. The couple met up at the Los Angeles premiere to Brittany's new movie alongside Eminem, 8 Mile, sporting flashy rings on their wedding fingers. A source says, "Both Brittany and Ashton were wearing rings on their left hands and weren't trying to hide them at all. Brittany had on a sparkling ring set - one that looked like a wedding band and one that looked like an engagement ring. Ashton's ring was a simple band." Although Ashton's representative denies that the pair are married - or even engaged - sources tell American tabloid The Star that 25-year-old Brittany and her beau, 24, appear to have wed in secret.

Hollywood hunk Leonardo DiCaprio was spotted locking lips with a species far less attractive than his usual leading ladies - a gorilla. The Titanic star's inter-species kiss was part of his promotion for the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, an organization attempting to protect the species, for which he serves as a patron. The Gangs Of New York star says, "I'm truly honored to be a patron of this organization. They do so much good for a vanishing species that we have truly taken for granted."

Two of the world's leading fashion designers are fighting for the chance to dress Jennifer Lopez when she marries actor fiance Ben Affleck. The couple, who have been dating since they met on the set of movie Gigli earlier this year, only announced their engagement last weekend and have yet to name a date - but leading couturiers are already battling it out to clothe J.Lo on her big day. The twice married superstar opted for Valentino when she tied the knot with dancer Cris Judd last year and the 70 year old Italian is reportedly "going the whole nine yards" to secure a prestigious double. But sources also say Donatella Versace is keen to put her design on display at what will be the showbiz wedding of the decade - and the 47-year-old sister of murdered designer Gianni Versace is reportedly "making full court press" to be the lucky designer. A source explains, "This will be the most looked at wedding dress since Carolyn Bessette's. It would be an incredible coup for Donatella and she knows it. She's pulling out all the stops on this one." But it seems Versace may lose out to Valentino in the race of the great designers. Insiders feel Versace's daring designs may put Lopez off picking her. The source adds, "A wedding is not the time for safety-pin dresses or to-the- navel necklines."

Singer Michael Jackson has mysteriously failed to appear at the second day of his scheduled appearance in a breach of contract suit in Santa Maria, California. The superstar is being sued for allegedly pulling out of two of four millennium concerts organized by Marcel Avram. Jackson, 44, created a stir when he was made a hostile witness as he gave evidence on Wednesday, and revealed his reportedly surgically ravished face after being told to remove his surgical mask. However, Jackson failed to appear yesterday to give evidence in the $21 million suit, and Judge Zel Canter sent the jury home telling them, "Due to circumstances over which we have no control, Mr. Jackson cannot be here right now. We are waiting to find out when he can be here." The Thriller star's lawyer Steve Cochran told reporters, "I don't have any information to provide. I'm sorry."