AZAR WEDDING: The Young and the Restless director Habib Azar and Carla Stuart, executive director of the nonprofit New York City Global Partners, had a Masai wedding Feb. 15 near Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania after a traditional ceremony Feb. 3 in New York. “We learned the next day that the Masai warriors kept watch over our lodging for protection the entire night,” Azar, who also directed the film Armless, tells THR. The globetrotting pair traveled to London and Kigali, Rwanda, before spending 10 days in Tanzania and Zanzibar and finally ending their wedding travels with four days in Rome “to decompress.”
WEDDING
Deborah Schoeneman, a writer for HBO’s upcoming series Girls, wed Joshua Groban, a senior adviser to California Gov. Jerry Brown, on Feb. 26 at the Colony Palms Hotel in Palm Springs.
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BABIES
Bravo and Sundance Channel sound mixer Raphael Laski and wife Jennifer, photo director at The Hollywood Reporter, welcomed a son,Max, on Feb. 23 in L.A.
Fromage Pictures president Kevan Peterson and wife Gillian Wee, also a Fromage executive, welcomed their first child, a son, Conrad Atlas, on Feb. 9 in Los Angeles.
CONGRATS
Hillary Harris was upped to executive director of Warner Bros. Special Events on March 1.
Nancy Kanter was named GM of Disney Junior Worldwide on Feb. 24. She also will continue in her role as senior vp original programming.
MTV Networks Entertainment Group said March 1 that Casey Patterson was promoted to executive vp event production, talent development and studio relations.
Kristin Cotich joined Relativity Media as vp corporate communications Feb. 28.
TLC on Feb. 23 promoted Howard Lee to senior vp production and development, overseeing both coasts.
Brooke Bowman was tapped as senior vp original programming and development at ABC Family on March 1.
James Goldston was named senior executive producer of ABC’s Good Morning America on Feb. 25. He replaces Jim Murphy, who left Feb. 23 to become exec producer of Anderson Cooper’s upcoming talk show, Anderson.
Elizabeth Casey was promoted to executive vp standards and practices at Fox Networks Group on Feb. 23, and Nicole Bernard was elevated to senior vp audience strategy at the Fox Group.
Univision Communications hired Roberto Llamas as executive vp and chief human resources officer Feb. 22.
Museum of the Moving Image promoted Carl Goodman to director March 1.
DEATHS
Fantastic Four comic writer Dwayne McDuffie died Feb. 21 of complications from emergency heart surgery in Burbank. The Milestone Media co-founder, who also penned Justice League Unlimited and All-Star Superman, was 49.
Darryl Morden, a music journalist who wrote for The Hollywood Reporter for nearly 20 years, died Feb. 25 of cancer in Los Angeles. He was 52. Morden wrote for many publications during his three-decade career and worked with Casey Kasem and Shadoe Stevens on radio’s American Top 40.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes star Jane Russell died Feb. 28 of respiratory illness at her home in Santa Maria, Calif. The actress, who became an overnight star after being discovered by Howard Hughes and cast in his 1943 Western The Outlaw, was 89.
Eddie Brandt, owner of the Saturday Matinee video store in North Hollywood, died Feb. 20 of colon cancer. Brandt, also a writer and cartoonist for Hanna-Barbera, was 89.
Cinematographer Don Peterman, a two-time Oscar nominee for Flashdance and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, died Feb. 5 in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. He was 79.
BIRTHDAYS
March 2: Peter Guber, Lou Reed
March 3: Julie Bowen, Jessica Biel
March 4: Patricia Heaton, Len Wiseman
March 5: Producer David Fury, Kevin Connolly
March 6: Rob Reiner
March 7: Michael Eisner, Bryan Cranston, Bret Easton Ellis
