(MCT)— Is there a “Dancing With the Stars” curse? First Jane Seymour’s mother passed away. Now Marie Osmond’s father, both while the women were competing on the ABC show.

George Osmond, patriarch of the wholesome showbiz clan, died Tuesday at 90. He and his wife, Olive, who passed away in 2004, had nine children, most of whom became performers.

Alan, Wayne, Merrill and Jay Osmond first became famous as The Osmond Brothers, a barbershop quartet singing at Disneyland and on “The Andy Williams Show.”

Their brother Donny Osmond joined the group at age 6 and later hosted “The Donny and Marie Show” with his sister. The youngest son, Jimmy Osmond, is also a singer. The whole family is scheduled to appear on “Oprah” on Friday.

OUT OF THE WAY—Hollywood stud-puppet Keanu Reeves was socked with a lawsuit by a paparazzo for damages incurred when the actor struck him with his sports car in March. Brazilian photographer Alison Silva filed the claim Monday.

The “Matrix” star was pulling out of a parking spot at a clinic in Rancho Palos Verdes, south of Los Angeles, when he hit Silva in the knee, allegedly knocking him down. No charges were filed. Silva was transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital.

A lawyer for Reeves told the Associated Press in March that Silva was blocking Reeves’s way and that if there was a collision, it was too minor to have caused injury.

KAZOOS OPTIONAL—When “American Idol” resumes its dominance of the prime-time schedule in January, there will be a few changes in the Fox juggernaut.

There is a chance the contestants will not be just singing. The producers have decided that anyone who can play an instrument will be permitted to.

And the use of celebrity “mentors”—last season’s mentors included Diana Ross and Bon Jovi—will be scaled back.

“We did make something of a mistake with ‘Idol’ by focusing so much on the mentors,” executive producer Nigel Lythgoe said. “We got such good mentors [last season] that we forgot about...getting across who these kids were, their backgrounds and families. There are legends in our business that hopefully will come along as mentors on ‘Idol’ this season—but not every single week.”

SNAKES IN A TUB—Jackie Bibby, “The Texas Snake Man,” broke his own world record Monday by sitting in a see-through bathtub for 45 minutes with 87 rattlesnakes.

The feat was timed to qualify for Guinness World Records Day, which was yesterday. Bibby’s previous mark was 75 rattlers in a sitting.

The snakes slithered about freely, but none of them struck.

“They can go wherever they want as long as they don’t start biting,” Bibby said. “The key to not biting is for me to stay still. Rapid movement scares a rattlesnake. If you move real slow and gentle, that doesn’t seem to bother them.”

© 2007 The Philadelphia Inquirer