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PEOPLE

Liza Minnelli

NEW YORK — Liza Minnelli is said to be resting comfortably in a California hospital after undergoing back surgery earlier this week and she’s thanking fans for their well wishes.

“I am overwhelmed with the amount of love and caring that has been sent my way from all over the world,” the award-winning actress and singer said in a statement Wednesday.

Minnelli’s back injury prevented her from performing most of the year or attending the funeral of Joan Rivers in New York this month. She is expected to make a full recovery.

The 68-year-old entertainer is one of the few artists to win an Oscar, a Tony, an Emmy and a Grammy. Perhaps her greatest role was as cabaret singer Sally Bowles in the film version of “Cabaret.”

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DALLAS, Ore. — A massively famous celebrity meets a young homeless man in Hollywood and introduces him to an audience of millions. Then, just when it looks like the man is going to triumph, his dark past comes back to haunt him.

As in any Hollywood script, there are two possible endings: The young man can overcome his past, or he can never escape it.

For 45 minutes Tuesday, it appeared Jesse Helt was choosing an unhappy ending.

The young homeless man who accompanied Miley Cyrus to the MTV Video Music Awards arrived 45 minutes late for his arraignment Tuesday on a charge that he violated his probation in Oregon.

Polk County Judge Monte Campbell was ready to wrap up his court hearings for the day, and likely issue an arrest warrant for Helt, when Helt’s lawyer announced that he received a text message: His client had arrived.

Helt, 22, gained worldwide attention last month when Cyrus let him accept her award for video of the year, to help raise awareness for youth homelessness. Reporters eager to learn the story behind the sudden celebrity discovered that Helt was wanted in his home state for a probation violation stemming from a 2010 arrest. Days after his moment in the sun, Helt returned to this farming community.

The hearing lasted only about a minute. Campbell told Helt to “bring a toothbrush” if he’s late for his next hearing Oct. 7.

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