Newsflash! Nicholas Galitzine Is Not a Real Royal
Nicholas Galitzine: The Artist Formerly Known as a Prince?
He’s played Cinderella’s Prince opposite Camila Cabello, the Prince of England in Red, White & Royal Blue and next will play He-Man, Prince Adam of Eternia, in Masters of the Universe. But is Hollywood’s latest “It” boy an actual prince? There has been a ton of speculation in the press that Nicholas Galitzine, 29, descends from a royal bloodline — specifically Russia’s House of Golitsyn (an alternate spelling of his surname), a noble family whose members were executed and exiled during the Russian Revolution. And many Galitzines did wind up in London, where Nick was eventually born in 1994. Unfortunately, that’s where the fairy tale ends. THR has unearthed documentation confirming that Nick’s paternal grandfather legally changed his name to Edward Ralph Alexander Galitzine on April 9, 1956. His birth name? Edward Ralph Alexander Tier. And while Nick’s financier father, Geoffrey Galitzine, is often said to be of Russian descent, the truth is that he is entirely English — just like his grandfather, Edward, born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, in 1913. (In fact, his father’s birth certificate, issued in Essex, England, in May 1949, reads “Geoffrey Tier.”) It’s not entirely clear why Nick’s grandfather chose to change the family name to Galitzine in 1956. A rep for the future He-Man tells Rambling Reporter that Nick isn’t aware of any royal relatives in his family tree. — SETH ABRAMOVITCH
Scut Farkus Is No Longer Bullying Kids — He’s Moved on to Directing 95-Year-Olds
Ever wonder what happened to Scut Farkus? You know, the little red-headed bully who made Ralphie’s life a living hell in the classic 1983 holiday movie A Christmas Story. What sort of malcontent did he grow up to become? A gangster? A huckster? A member of Congress? Turns out his fate wasn’t quite so dire. Zack Ward, the 53-year-old former child star who played Farkus (and, later, a slew of other roles, including horror movies like Freddy vs. Jason and Resident Evil: Apocalypse) has become a director. He’s currently preparing to unveil a G-rated fantasy adventure called The Keepers of the 5 Kingdoms — due on PVOD on June 18 — in which he shot 95-year-old James Hong (Everything Everywhere All at Once) in the nonagenarian’s first-ever leading man action role. “I’ve never seen it done, where a 95-year-old man is included in the adventure,” Ward tells THR of Hong’s physically demanding performance, which, judging from the trailer, includes running in forests, falling into caverns and battling giant green lizard-like creatures. He adds of Hong, who helped finance the picture: “I’m proud of the fact that I got a 95-year-old carrying scenes with 17- and 20-year-olds.” Ward last saw late A Christmas Story director Bob Clark in 2006 in Vancouver, a year before the filmmaker’s death. They spoke about how Ward wanted to be more than an actor waiting by the phone. Says Ward of Keepers of the Five Kingdoms: “I wanted to make a movie Bob Clark would have been proud of.” Not that Ward is ready to completely give up acting himself; he’s still appearing in front of the camera (most recently, in a small role in the Jean-Claude Van Damme thriller Darkness of Man), and even reprised his seminal Scut Farkus performance in Warner Bros. and Legendary’s 2022 feature A Christmas Story Christmas. — AARON COUCH
More from The Hollywood Reporter
A-List Assistants Party Almost Derailed by an Email
Up until last week, Ashlee Margolis was most famous for being a celebrity branding guru and for hosting fabulous parties for Hollywood assistants. The last one, two years ago, was a huge success, drawing hundreds of the town’s underappreciated, underpaid gophers to the Beverly Hills headquarters of Margolis’ buzzy marketing firm, The A-List, where they imbibed the night away and gossiped about their bosses. Last week, she threw another assistants’ party — same location — drawing another jam-packed crowd of more than 300, who also spent the afternoon sipping cocktails and gossiping … but this time not entirely about their bosses. Less than 24 hours earlier, it had been reported that Margolis had sent an email to her staff asking them to “pause on working with any celebrity or influencer or tastemaker posting against Israel.” The story, not surprisingly, blew up on social media. And it might have blown up Margolis’ party. Somehow, though, the afternoon went off without too much drama, with most attendees surely aware of the controversy but choosing instead to discuss the challenges in Hollywood after the strike. “My team knows I always come from a place of love,” Margolis tells THR. “They feel loved and supported here. They know that I’m someone who has never tolerated hate of any kind.” — CHRIS GARDNER
Missed Rupert’s Latest Wedding? Don’t Worry. You’ll Catch the Next One. Here, All the Mrs. Murdochs (So Far)
PATRICIA BOOKER
Years Married 1956 – 1967
Age Difference 3 years older
Occupation Flight attendant
Divorce Perks Unknown
Fun Fact Remarried Swiss jet-setter Freddie Maeder
ANNA MANN
Years Married 1967 – 1999
Age Difference 14 years younger
Occupation Journalist and novelist
Divorce Perks She got $1.7 billion
Fun Fact Her parents owned a dry cleaners in Glasgow
WENDI DENG
Years Married 1999 – 2013
Age Difference 38 years younger
Occupation TV executive
Divorce Perks She got the $44 million Fifth Avenue penthouse
Fun Fact Encouraged Rupert to dye his hair and dress younger.
JERRY HALL
Years Married 2016 – 2022
Age Difference 25 years younger
Occupation Model and actress
Divorce Perks She got the houses in Oxfordshire and the South of France.
Fun Fact Divorce terms included Hall promising not give story ideas to Succession writers.
ELENA ZHUKOVA
Years Married 2024 – Present
Age Difference 26 years younger
Occupation Molecular biologist
Divorce Perks TBD
Fun Fact Wendi Deng introduced her to Rupert.
This story first appeared in the June 12 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
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