Hollywood splits over Democrat candidates

With Californian voters trooping to the polls today to decide who will win the biggest prize in the Democratic primaries race, two members of Hollywood’s old guard issued their endorsements yesterday: Robert De Niro joined the serried ranks of Barack Obama supporters, while Jack Nicholson phoned into a radio station to voice his support for Hillary Clinton.

De Niro joined Obama at a rally in New Jersey, and spoke before the candidate made his entrance. "What am I doing here?" he asked. "I'm here because finally one person has inspired me. One person has given me hope. One person has made me believe that we can make a change."

Obama later joked that De Niro had been the one person associated with his campaign to really impress his secret service security detail: "Those guys never smile. They're always cool. But I noticed when De Niro walks in, they're all like elbowing each other." De Niro joins George Clooney, Halle Berry and David Geffen in endorsing the Illinois senator.

Meanwhile, on the West Coast, Nicholson made an early call to the Rick Dees in the Morning show to praise Clinton's sangfroid and composure in the difficult week between the Iowa and New Hampshire contests. "I wanted to, as a performer, see how she dealt with the glee that [her opponents] exhibited in their desire to bury her candidacy," he said. "I must tell you: when I saw her sit down, and she said she 'found her voice in New Hampshire', that was it for me. She's the one to get the job done that needs to be done."