Academy-Award winner Morgan Freeman says Mississippi is "starving" for the right leadership, so the actor is using his celebrity status to help his friend run for governor in 2011.

Actor Morgan Freeman is supporting his friend and business partner, Bill Luckett, as the attorney seeks the Democratic nomination for Mississippi governor in 2011.Rogelio V. SolisAssociated Press

Freeman has written a fundraising letter and is one of the hosts for a cocktail party in Los Angeles next week for Bill Luckett, an attorney seeking the Democratic nomination. Term limits prevent Republican Gov. Haley Barbour from seeking a third term.

Freeman lives in Charleston, Miss.

Freeman said in the fundraising letter that Luckett, who co-owns the upscale Clarksdale restaurant Madidi and Ground Zero Blues Clubs in Clarksdale and Memphis with the actor, will help the state improve education, health care and economic development.

"Holding on to the old politics of race, class and region has starved Mississippi for too long," Freeman wrote in the letter .

Freeman spotlighted the race issues in "Prom Night in Mississippi," a documentary that aired on HBO.

Next up for Freeman is a role as Nelson Mandela in the post-apartheid drama "Invictus." The film opens Dec. 11.

It's a girl for Klum and hubby Seal

German-born model Heidi Klum has given birth to a daughter, Lou Sulola Samuel -- her fourth child.

Klum, who is married to Grammy-winning singer Seal, says on her Web site that the baby was born on Friday.

Klum already has two young sons with Seal, whom she married in 2005. The 36-year-old also has another daughter from a previous relationship.

Underwood to host Christmas show

The Fox network says Carrie Underwood will host a two-hour variety special tentatively titled, "Carrie Underwood: An All-Star Holiday Special," to air Dec. 7.

The network says Underwood will perform new music from her upcoming album, previous hits and holiday classics. Musical guests will include Dolly Parton, Brad Paisley and David Cook.

Underwood won season four of "American Idol." The 26-year-old country singer is a four-time Grammy winner.

Her new album will be released Nov. 3.

-- From Our Press Services

Today's birthdays

Actor Roger Moore, 82; singer Thomas Dolby, 51; actress Lori Petty ("A League of Their Own"), 46; actor Steve Coogan ("Night at the Museum"), 44; singer Karyn White, 44; actor Jon Seda ("Homicide"), 39; country bassist Doug Virden (Sons of the Desert), 39; country singer Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks, 35; singer Shaznay Lewis of All Saints, 34; Usher, 31.