Celebrity round-up for Thursday

LOS ANGELES (AP) " Dane Cook broke a Laugh Factory endurance record set less than a month ago by Dave Chappelle.

In what is becoming a heated battle between the two comedians, Cook told jokes at the Sunset Strip comedy club for seven hours, beating the record Chappelle set at six hours and 12 minutes on Dec. 4.

Cook went stage on Tuesday and continued until nearly 7 a.m. Wednesday, and at one point even sent out for food to keep the audience fed and happy.

"If this rivalry keeps up I'm going to turn the Laugh Factory into a bed and breakfast," club owner Jamie Masada said.

Last April, Cook set a record with an act lasting three hours and 50 minutes, breaking a mark set by Richard Pryor in 1980. Chappelle broke the record later that month, then broke his own record in December.

Cook, 35, most recently appeared with Steve Carell in the film "Dan in Real Life."

PARIS (AP) " American actor and director Sean Penn will head the awards jury at the Cannes Film Festival this year, organizers announced Thursday.

The festival's 61st edition is scheduled for May 14-25.

Penn said in a statement "that a new generation of filmmaking may have begun," citing "increasingly thoughtful, provocative, moving, and imaginative films by talented filmmakers" in what appeared to be "a rejuvenation of cinema building worldwide."

"The Cannes Film Festival has long been the epicenter in the discovery of those new waves of filmmakers from all over the world. I very much look forward to participating in this year's festival as president of the jury," Penn said.

British director Stephen Frears, known for "The Queen," "High Fidelity" and "Dirty Pretty Things," led the jury last year that awarded the top prize to Romanian director Cristian Mungiu for "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days," a harrowing portrait of an illegal abortion in Communist-era Romania.

Penn won a best actor Oscar for "Mystic River" for his role as an ex-hoodlum who reverts to his criminal ways to exact revenge for his daughter's death.

He directed "Into The Wild," considered a front-runner for major awards this year, about a young idealist whose journey to Alaska ends in tragedy. He also starred as a death row inmate in "Dead Man Walking."

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) " Call Luciano Pavarotti the Irreplacable Tenor.

The Three Tenors will never re-form with a new singer replacing the late Pavarotti, tenor Jose Carreras says.

The 61-year-old Spanish singer, who is visiting Australia to give concerts at the Sydney Opera House, said in Thursday's editions of The Australian newspaper that re-forming the immensely popular trio would be disrespectful to Pavarotti, who died of pancreatic cancer in September at age 71.

"For Placido (Domingo) and myself to do something would betray the memory of Luciano; I don't think that would be ethical," Carreras told the newspaper.

Carreras was diagnosed with leukemia in 1987 but overcame the disease to take part in the "Three Tenors" concerts from 1990.

Carreras told the newspaper he traveled to Pavarotti's home in Modena, Italy, and called him often as he was dying.

"It was important to show him that someone who suffered from such a severe disease was able to overcome the situation and win the battle. This is the kind of comfort I could give him," Carreras said.

NEW YORK (AP) " Elisabeth Hasselbeck will return to ABC's "The View" on Monday, and she'll bring along her infant son, Taylor Thomas.

Hasselbeck, 30, has been on maternity leave from the popular New York-based daytime talk show since Oct. 23.

She gave birth to Taylor Thomas on Nov. 9 at an Arizona hospital. Her husband, Tim Hasselbeck, is a quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals. The couple have a 2-year-old daughter, Grace.

The conservative co-host's first day back at "The View" will include "a big ticket item giveaway" for the studio audience and a full hour of "Hot Topics," show spokesman Karl Nilsson said Thursday.

"I miss my Republican pal," said co-host Joy Behar.

Co-hosts of "The View" also include Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg and Sherri Shepherd.

Hasselbeck is "never shy about expressing her view, so 'Hot Topics' will be getting a whole lot hotter " especially with the upcoming presidential election," ABC said.