Born in Los Angeles in 1928, Hamilton ran away from home as a teenager and wound up staying in someone’s garage and attending Oakland Technical High School, where he played football and got involved in acting.

Hamilton appeared in more than 20 films, including “The Young One,” “The Devil at 4 O’Clock,” “Synanon,” “The Swimmer,” “Walk the Walk” and “The Organization”.

He also had guest appearances on television series before becoming a regular on “Starsky and Hutch,” the ABC police drama starring Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul. Hamilton played the brusque, by-the-book Capt. Harold Dobey, a role that gave him wide recognition to this day, his son said.

After “Starsky and Hutch,” Hamilton spent the next 20 years in the music business producing R&B and gospel records under the record label Chocolate Snowman.

That breaks the previous mark of $10.2 million, set by “Ali” in 2001, according to Media By Numbers LLC.

And “Marley & Me” may not be alone: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and “Bedtime Stories” were also expected to move past the previous Christmas Day mark, according to some studio estimates.

Even “Valkyrie” had a strong Yuletide opening with more than $8 million, those numbers show.

Movie audiences greeted Jim Carrey and Will Smith with a lukewarm “yes’ as snowstorms undermined weekend debuts from both stars.

Carrey’s comedy “Yes Man” opened at No. 1 with $18.2 million in ticket sales, while Smith’s drama “Seven Pounds” came in second with $16 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Debuting at No. 3 with $10.5 million was Matthew Broderick’s animated family flick “The Tale of Despereaux.”

The new movies arrived in theaters Friday just as storms pounded the Northeast.

“Those markets back east just got hammered,” said Chris Aronson, distribution executive for 20th Century Fox, whose sci-fi saga “The Day the Earth Stood Still” slipped from No. 1 to No. 4 with $10.2 million. The movie starring Keanu Reeves raised its 10-day total to $48.6 million.

“Yes Man,” released by Warner Bros., stars Carrey as a loser who turns his life around by subscribing to a philosophy of saying “yes” to everything. Sony’s “Seven Pounds” casts Smith as a mysterious IRS agent doing good deeds for strangers, and Universal’s “Tale of Despereaux” features Broderick as the mouthpiece for a tiny mouse on a heroic mission.

In limited release, Mickey Rourke’s acclaimed drama “The Wrestler” had a heavyweight debut, taking in $209,474 in just four theaters for a whopping average of $52,369.

By comparison, “Yes Man” played in 3,434 theaters and averaged $5,288 per theater, while “Seven Pounds” opened in 2,758 and averaged $5,801 per theater. The No. 3 film “The Tale of Despereaux” played in 3,104 theaters and grabbed $3,385 per venue.

The film released by Fox Searchlight stars Rourke as a former wrestling champion struggling for one last taste of past glory. The comeback theme of “The Wrestler” parallels Rourke’s real life, with the actor in the running for an Academy Award nomination after his bad boy behavior virtually ruined his career in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

While winter came in with a bang, Hollywood’s solid year was going out with a whimper. The overall box office plunged for the second straight weekend as this season’s pre-holiday offerings continued to lag far behind the strong finish provided by such 2007 hits as Smith’s “I Am Legend” and “Alvin and the Chipmunks.”

The top 12 movies took in $82.8 million, down 44 percent from the same weekend last year, when “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” led with $44.8 million.

The last two ho-hum weekends have hindered Hollywood’s shot at breaking the domestic revenue record of $9.7 billion set last year. Revenues through Sunday were at $9.24 billion, virtually even with 2007 through the same date, according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers.

Given the sour economy, studio executives generally are satisfied with this year’s results. Hollywood tends to ride out recessions with solid business, since movies are relatively inexpensive compared to entertainment options such as concerts or sports events.

“The movie business may be recession-proof, but this weekend, it’s not weather-proof,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers.

The 20th Century Fox release also added $39 million in 90 overseas markets for a worldwide total of $70 million.

The movie updates the 1951 tale of an alien and his giant robot enforcer who come to Earth with a warning about the consequences of humanity’s destructive nature.

“Audiences are moving to see `The Day the Earth Stood Still.’ It’s a visually stunning movie with timely issues everybody on this planet can relate to,” said Fox distribution executive Chris Aronson. “Basically, how we treat each other and how we treat this planet that we call home.”

The Warner Bros. holiday romp “Four Christmases” slipped to second place with $13.3 million. The Reese Witherspoon-Vince Vaughn comedy raised its three-week total to $88 million.

Another seasonal tale, Overture Films’ “Nothing Like the Holidays,” opened a weak No. 7 with $3.5 million. The movie features John Leguizamo, Debra Messing and Alfred Molina in the story of a Chicago family’s holiday reunion.

The overall box office plummeted compared with the same weekend last year, when “I Am Legend” opened with $77.2 million and “Alvin and the Chipmunks” debuted with $44.3 million. This weekend’s top 12 movies took in $83.3 million, down 45 percent from a year ago.

“This was predestined to be a down weekend given the incredible one-two punch of ‘I Am Legend’ and ‘Alvin,’” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. “There was no way this weekend could measure up.”

A rush of films opened with big numbers in limited release to qualify for the Academy Awards.

Miramax’s “Doubt” pulled in $525,030 in 15 theaters, averaging $35,002 a cinema, compared with $8,708 in 3,560 locations for “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” The film stars Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams in a war-of-wills drama between an old-school nun and a progressive priest.

Clint Eastwood’s “Gran Torino” played in six locations and took in $284,000 to average $47,333. The Warner Bros. film stars Eastwood as a bigot who becomes an unlikely protector for his immigrant neighbors against street thugs.

The Weinstein Co. drama “The Reader” rang up $170,000 in eight theaters for a $21,250 average. The Holocaust-themed story stars Kate Winslet as a former concentration camp guard standing trial years later.

Steven Soderbergh’s two-part, four-hour-plus film biography “Che” took in $60,100 in two cinemas to average $30,050. The IFC Films release stars Benicio Del Toro as Latin American revolutionary Che Guevara.

 A jury convicted pop singer Boy George Friday of falsely imprisoning a male escort.

Norwegian Audun Carlsen had alleged he was restrained with handcuffs by the musician at the singer’s London apartment on April 28, 2007.

Carlsen, 29, also accused the former Culture Club frontman of swinging a metal chain at him as he fled the singer’s flat after a naked photo shoot.

Boy George, who was tried under his real name George O’Dowd, admitted he handcuffed Carlsen while he investigated alleged tampering with his home computer. The singer said he believed Carlsen had removed photos of himself that were taken by the singer when the two met previously.

Jurors saw photos of welts on Carlsen’s head and injuries to his arm, which he said had been inflicted by O’Dowd, 46. O’Dowd said he couldn’t account for the injuries.

The ’80s icon was released on bail following the verdict. He is due to be sentenced Jan. 16.

Judge David Radford indicated jail was a real possibility for the singer. “This is a case where custody is the more likely option,” Radford said.

It’s not the singer’s first brush with the law. Two years ago, he was ordered to do community service in New York — sweeping streets— after pleading guilty to falsely reporting a burglary at his lower Manhattan apartment. The officers who responded found cocaine instead.

The Storm was sold out in the Rocky Mountain region by 10 a.m. Brenda Raney, a spokeswoman for Verizon Wireless, said the carrier expects all retail stores to sell out today, but assured that there are enough of the high-end devices available, so customers who order the device will have it within a week.

In a Golden, Colo., store, Kathy Harms said she has been waiting for months to buy the handset. “I’m so excited! I’ve been waiting since they told me in June.” Harms said she almost bought Apple Inc.’s iPhone available exclusively through AT&T Mobility, underscoring the competition between the nation’s two largest carriers. The Storm runs on Verizon Wireless’ 3G network and includes an 8 gigabyte microSD memory card. Initial reports on the device are mixed; reviewers generally have been impressed with the smartphone, but the touchscreen-haptics feature has been awkward for some users.

The debut also topped the previous opening-weekend record for a Bond flick, $47 million for 2002’s “Die Another Day”.

Adjusting for inflation, Sony’s “Quantum of Solace” easily drew a bigger audience than that installment, the last Bond adventure featuring Pierce Brosnan. Based on 2002 admission prices, about 8.1 million tickets were sold for “Die Another Day” in the first weekend, compared to 9.8 million for “Quantum of Solace.”

Two years ago, Craig was an unknown quantity as Bond, a stage-trained actor with little action experience and a resume that tended toward small, artsier films. Many fans were unhappy with the casting choice, but the critical and commercial success of “Casino Royale” silenced the critics.

“Quantum of Solace” picks up where “Casino Royale” left off, with Bond seeking to avenge the death of his lover.

“With ‘Casino Royale,’ people were rediscovering the franchise in a way with Daniel Craig as James Bond,” said Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony. “Quite frankly, they loved it. They loved the movie, and they loved him in the role, so I think by the time `Quantum of Solace’ was ready, audiences in the U.S. as well as the world audience was way ready.”

“Quantum of Solace” began rolling out overseas two weekends before its U.S. debut, and its worldwide total now stands at $322 million.

DreamWorks Animation’s “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa,” which debuted at No. 1 the previous weekend, slipped to second place with $36.1 million, raising its 10-day total to $118 million.

“Quantum of Solace” gave a huge boost to overall revenues as Hollywood heads toward Thanksgiving, one of the year’s busiest weekends at theaters. The top 12 movies took in $142.9 million, up 54 percent from the same weekend a year ago, when “Beowulf” led the box office with $27.5 million.

Movie revenue is running 1 percent ahead of 2007’s record pace, when the industry took in $9.7 billion, according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers. Factoring in inflation, the number of tickets sold this year is 3.5 percent behind 2007’s, though.

The next two weekends will bring more likely hits, including the vampire romance “Twilight,” John Travolta and Miley Cyrus’ animated comedy “Bolt” and Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn’s holiday romp “Four Christmases.”

Ryan O’Neal and his son have delayed entering pleas in their felony drug cases until after the new year. The Oscar-nominated actor and his son appeared in court Thursday morning, where attorneys asked a judge for more time to review evidence. The 67-year-old actor and his 23-year-old son were ordered to return on Jan. 9.

They were arrested in September when Los Angeles sheriff’s deputies did a routine parole check on Redmond O’Neal, who was staying at his father’s Malibu home.

O’Neal, 67, was nominated for a best actor Academy Award for 1970’s “Love Story”. Redmond, 23, is his son from a relationship with Farrah Fawcett.

The actor’s attorney has denied the drugs belonged to his client.

In separate appearances, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake performed Thursday night during Madonna’s show at Dodger Stadium. The former pop power couple did not take the stage together, and it wasn’t clear if they’d crossed paths.

Rumors of the guest appearances swirled Thursday, making it a cant-miss event for some of Hollywood’s biggest stars: Elizabeth Banks, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Lopez and Lucy Liu were among those in the first few rows.

Britney took a moment from her turn onstage to lament the passage of a gay-marriage ban in California.

“I am the luckiest girl in the world,” she said, “but am sad because African-Americans are equal finally, but gay marriage is not.”

Final episodes of the half-hour series, now in its 13th year, likely will air during the 2009-10 season, Fox said Friday. The network recently ordered 13 new episodes, and animated series have a long production schedule.

“King of the Hill” chronicles the life of blue-collar family man Hank Hill of Texas and his family and friends. Hank is voiced by series co-creator and executive producer Mike Judge. Others in the cast include Kathy Najimy, Brittany Murphy and Stephen Root.

The picture is brighter for another Sunday night animated show on Fox, “American Dad”, which was renewed for its fifth season. It has posted single-digit ratings gains among advertiser-favored young adult viewers and total viewers.

Ratings for “King of the Hill” have been relatively flat early this season.

“American Dad” is about Stan Smith, a dedicated conservative, and his oddball family in Langley, Va. Series co-creator and executive producer Seth MacFarlane voices Stan in the series, which also features the voices of Wendy Schaal, Rachael MacFarlane and Scott Grimes.