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Ah, the season. Daffodils are in bloom. Spring--and divorce--is in the air. And last week brought a bumper crop of celebrity splits for divorce lawyers.
HIM Billy Bob Thornton, Oscar-winning screenwriter, as well as director and actor
HER Pietra Thornton, his fourth spouse
PRODUCT William, 3, and Harry James, 2
RUNNING TIME Four years
NATURE OF DENOUEMENT Nasty. She got a restraining order, claiming he hit her and was a manic depressive
OFFICIAL BLURB "Our marriage wasn't perfect, but I never exhibited the behavior she's accusing me of."
[HIM] Vince Gill, country singer
[HER] Janis Gill, singer in the duo Sweethearts of the Rodeo
[PRODUCT] Jenny, 14, plus several hit songs written by him after they'd squabbled
[RUNNING TIME] 17 years
[NATURE OF DENOUEMENT] Difficult. The status of the union has been tabloid fodder before
[OFFICIAL BLURB] "This is a private and personal matter," says Vince. "I would like to keep it that way."
[HIM] John Singleton, director, most recently, of Rosewood
[HER] Akosua Busia, actress, author and daughter of former P.M. of Ghana
[PRODUCT] Hadar, 12 days old at time of divorce filing
[RUNNING TIME] Five months, exactly
[NATURE OF DENOUEMENT] Friendly, or so it seems
[OFFICIAL BLURB] "They're in love with each other but saw no future for the marriage."
BRAVE HEART
Pumping iron he could do. Pumping blood was another matter. Not long after Maria Shriver was discharged from the hospital (she had hyperemesis, a pregnancy-related ailment), her hubby ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER checked himself in for voluntary heart surgery. He had a congenital defect in his aortic valve--the valve that stops blood from going back into the heart. Don't fret about those pecs, though. He's fine, and doctors say the scar will be barely noticeable.
BYE-BYE TO THE BUNDYS
MARRIED...WITH CHILDREN, the show that did for TV comedy what Velveeta did for cheese, is ending its long and profound run. Having hung its dirty laundry in public for 11 seasons, the Bundy family will bicker no more after May 5. Married, which got an early publicity break when housewife Terry Rakolta launched a national boycott against it for being "antifamily," drew more than 18 million viewers in its heyday but garners less than half that now. And for those who crave dysfunction, there's always The Honeymooners reruns.