Brittany Murphy

The director of Gaga's epic new clip has also worked with Madonna, Christina Aguilera, Pink, U2.By Josh Wigler Lady Gaga and Beyonce in the "Telephone" video Photo: Eric Ford/ On Location News The long-awaited debut of Lady Gaga's sprawling epic of a music video for "Telephone" has no shortage of stars, including Gaga herself, Beyoncé and Tyrese Gibson. But there's another key ingredient to "Telephone" that stayed firmly behind the camera lens: the video's director, Jonas Åkerlund. From the late 1980s through much of the '90s, the 44-year-old Swedish filmmaker and video director spent his career working with Swedish acts such as Candlemass, Roxette, Sinclair and Whale. In 1997, Åkerlund made his first foray into the mainstream music video scene outside of his country in the form of "James Bond Theme" for Moby and "Smack My Bitch Up" for the Prodigy. Just one year later, Åkerlund experienced his single greatest achievement to date alongside Madonna with "Ray of Light." The celebrated music video won a Grammy for Best Short Form Music Video as well as seven awards at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards, including the top prize, Video of the Year. Although "Ray of Light" was their first and most celebrated collaboration, Åkerlund and Madonna continued their working relationship with videos for "Music" in 2000, "American Life" in 2003, "Jump" in 2006 and "Celebration" in 2009. He also directed Madonna in the 2006 documentary "I'm Going to Tell You a Secret," which chronicled Madonna's experiences during her successful Re-Invention World Tour. Åkerlund brought his trademark cinematic style into the world of feature filmmaking with 2002's "Spun." Focusing on drug culture and the effects of methamphetamines, "Spun" featured an all-star cast including Jason Schwartzman, John Leguizamo, Mickey Rourke and the late Brittany Murphy. Despite the high level of talent, "Spun" was widely panned by critics upon its release. Åkerlund resumed his focus on music videos but eventually gave feature filmmaking another shot with the 2009 thriller "Horsemen" starring Dennis Quaid and Zhang Ziyi. While the release of "Telephone" marks Åkerlund's first video of 2010, it's not his first collaboration with Lady Gaga. The two worked together on the video for "Paparazzi" which, like "Telephone," featured high-profile talent including Alexander SkarsgÅrd of "True Blood" fame. Some of the director's other acclaimed videos include Metallica's "Turn the Page," U2's "Walk On," Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" and Pink's "Sober." Related Videos 'American Idol' In 60 Seconds All The Buzz On Lady Gaga And Beyonce's 'Telephone' Related Photos The Evolution Of: Lady Gaga Related Artists Lady Gaga

'My patients are dying every day from medication prescribed by my peers,' Pinsky tells MTV News.By Gil Kaufman Dr. Drew Pinsky Photo: John Shearer/ WireImage Though a drug overdose is suspected, Los Angeles police have not yet determined what substance killed actor Corey Haim, 38. But for addiction specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky, Wednesday's (March 10) headlines offered a sadly similar refrain. "I never met Corey, but people brought his name up to me hundreds of times, and as I'm sure I've told you, this is just the beginning of a tidal wave of more of this," he said. "My patients are dying every day from medication prescribed by my peers. And it's not just young Hollywood but all kinds of people, and you don't need illicit drugs anymore because pharmaceuticals are just as powerful." Corey Haim: A Life In Photos Haim struggled with addiction to crack, alcohol and prescription medication for years. TMZ has reported that a number of prescription-medication bottles were found near the actor's body and that his mother confirmed that he'd long struggled with a pill addiction. Pinsky, host of VH1's "Celebrity Rehab," never treated Haim but said he was the kind of star who might have benefited from being on the show. "I can't confirm it, but I just heard that our producers had reached out to him, and he reacted enraged and insulted, like, 'How dare you!' " Pinsky said. "Which is a shame, because he would have really been helped. All I know is that our outcomes are pretty good, and there's something about the cameras and doing it publicly that holds people accountable and makes them want to be an inspiration to other people." Following on the heels of the deaths of Heath Ledger and recovering addict DJ AM, who died from a combination of legal and illicit drugs, as well as Brittany Murphy, who died from a combination of pneumonia and an over-the-counter-drug overdose, Pinsky said Haim's death is a sad continuation of a trend he's seen developing for more than five years. "It's so easy to get these medications, and sometimes well-meaning physicians who don't understand addiction prescribe them for legitimate reasons, like in DJ AM's case," said Pinsky, referring to the anti-anxiety meds AM took following the fiery plane crash in 2008 that he and Travis Barker survived. "But they start taking them and don't realize the trouble they're getting into." Sometimes, it's merely a form of denial on the part of the addict, Pinsky said, a feeling of "the doctor is prescribing them and I feel better, so it must be OK." But, especially with former addicts, that feeling subsides and it leads to the same escalating addiction behavior. "Addiction is a deadly disease, and the prognosis is worse than most cancers," said Pinsky, who predicted that some of the high-profile patients he's treated on his show may end up dying because of the disease. Related Videos Remembering Corey Haim Related Photos Corey Haim: A Life In Photos