Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry disclosed a surprising fact about herself this week: She is related to former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

“You wanna know who I’m related to? Sarah Palin!” the “Cloud Atlas” actress told “Extra” in a video interview, laughing as she spoke. “That’s what I said, ‘Nooo!’ Some twisted way — somebody sent me this information that she was my distant [relative].”

Thanks to popular shows like NBC’s “Who Do You Think You Are?” and the website ancestry.com, more celebrities are finding surprising genealogical connections with other famous faces. Researchers recently tied Justin Bieber to fellow Canadian superstars Celine Dion and Ryan Gosling, making some wonder if there were such a thing as a “celebrity gene.” And on the political front, President Obama’s family tree was linked to Dick Cheney, George Bush and — you betcha — Sarah Palin, who is his tenth cousin.

Eric Clapton proved this week that his art collecting skills are anything but amateur. The guitarist sold a Gerhard Richter painting at Sotheby’s for £21.3 million ($34.2 million) on Friday, amounting to the highest price ever paid at auction for a living artist. The best part though? Clapton originally bought the painting for £2million ($3.2 million) in 2001, only to sell it for 10 times the price tag 11 years later, the Daily Mail reports.

The painting, titled “Abstraktes Bild,” was expected to sell between £9 million and £12 million ($14.5 million and $19.3 million), according to the Sotheby’s listing. But a bidding war erupted between two anonymous buyers, catapulting the Richter squeegee painting to double that amount. The sale, which took place on Friday in London, broke the previous record for a work by a living artist, which was established by Jasper Johns in 2010 after his “Flag” sold for £17.8 million ($28.6 million) at Christie’s.

Richter’s work has performed well at auction lately, particularly in the wake of recent retrospectives at London’s Tate Museum and the Neu Nationalgalerie in Berlin. A sale of his works at Christie’s earlier this year resulted in a total hammer price of $21,810,500. In a recent article, Georgina Adam at The Telegraph describes the allure of Richter’s paintings as follows:

“Richter’s late, abstract works are particularly sought after because of their broad appeal: colourful abstracts which can fit into any interior, cannot offend anyone (unlike some of his tougher earlier works which deal with death or politics) and are recognizable trophies which give the owner immense bragging rights.”

*It was January 1992 when I got the call from Tunis Wilson who had been the road manager for the former trio of lead singers of The Temptations – David Ruffin (who had died just seven months prior), Eddie Kendricks, and Dennis Edwards. He said Eddie wanted me to come down to a location in the South Bay of California to talk about some songs I had written.

This would not be the first time we’d met. Back in the ‘70’s he and Ruffin had become aware of my songwriting abilities. We had kept in touch through the years.  After Ruffin died I had met with Eddie where he was performing at The Strand in Redondo Beach and gave him a copy of several of my songs, so I was looking forward to his call.

It was a great meeting even though I could see that Eddie was pretty exhausted. We reminisced, and played some old Temptations songs. He was surprised that I really loved his performance on the Smokey Robinson tune “You’re Not An Ordinary Girl” which was the ‘B’ side of “Beauty’s Only Skin Deep.” We talked about old friends, and some of the hang-outs in Detroit. We high-fived, joked – laughed at some things, cussed about some others.

I remember telling Eddie that he and all his other Motown co-horts were so busy making history that they did not really fully grasp the impact they’d made. I promised him I would do whatever I could to try and let the world know of their sacrifices and hard work, and the struggles they went through to bring us their wonderful music…how it encouraged and elevated us. He thanked me for that.

As we were listening to my songs he nodded and gave his feedback – told me which ones he liked – then when the tribute song I wrote for Ruffin called “Soul Man (A Song For David)” came on, he really responded to it and said he wanted to record it! He even autographed the lyric sheet of the song that I still have. Sadly, I was told by Wilson that Eddie had been working on the song but had not finished it at the time of his death several months later.

Eddie (center) with Temptations

Eddie’s voice came on the national scene as a lead singer with “The Way You Do The Things You Do.” What many fans don’t know is that on another Smokey Robinson-penned tune “Two Lovers” by Mary Wells, it was Eddie harmonizing with her on the chorus (listen to it again with new ears). Eddie went on to record “Girl Why You Wanna Make Me Blue,” “The Girl’s Alright With Me,” “What Love Has Joined Together,” “Get Ready,” ‘Just My Imagination,” and many, many other hits with The Temptations. His duet with Ruffin on “You’re My Everything” is classic (See Eddie and the Temptations perform the song below)! And who can forget his timeless inimitable version of “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

It’s been reported that during one period, Eddie was the top grossing male solo artist on the Motown roster.

Afterwards, he had a stream of hits as a soloist with “Can I,” “Keep On Truckin’,” “Boogie Down,” “Happy,” and so many others. It’s been reported that during one period, Eddie was the top grossing male solo artist on the Motown roster. One song he recorded that I love so much – I first heard it in October 1974 – is “Tell Her Love Has Felt The Need.” My Aunt Jacqui brought the song over to our house on her birthday October 5th and played it for us. It was a rainy October night there in Detroit, and Eddie’s voice…his emotion in that song will live on in my mind forever. Eddie died October 5^th 1992. God bless him, and may his music live forever.

Larry Buford is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer. Author of “Things Are Gettin’ Outta Hand” (Steuben Pub) www.amazon.com. Articles frequently appear (among others) in the Los Angeles Sentinel Op-Ed section. Visit the author at www.larrybuford.com. (213) 220-8101

Damien Hirst refers to ‘Verity’ as a “modern-day allegory for truth and justice.” Those who have to look at it, like Northam resident Gwyneth Barnes, call the 66-foot bronze statue of a half-exposed pregnant woman “soft porn masqueraded as art.” After two years of planning and production, the controversial sculpture has finally arrived in Devon, and the once quaint beach town will never be the same.

And one for good luck…

A 21-year-old from Rochester, N.Y., has earned the title “Play-Doh Artist of the Year” after creating a pair of timely political sculptures.

Ian Williams, who modeled 2012 presidential candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney solely out of Play-Doh, received both an award and a $5,000 tuition stipend from Hasbro, Play-Doh’s parent company.

Williams is a student at the Rhode Island School of Design, studying in its Sculpture and Ceramics Department.

“I’m passionate about sculpting and grew up playing with [Play-Doh] so I’m truly honored,” Williams said.

He’ll work with Hasbro to create additional Play-Doh sculptures and images will be posted to Play-Doh’s Facebook page.

According to a Hasbro press release, all the contest entries were judged on five criteria: realism, craftsmanship, creativity, presentation and incorporation of the Play-Doh brand personality.