Christian Bale on Tuesday denied allegations of assault made by his mother and sister, hours after the star of "The Dark Knight" was arrested, questioned by London police and released.

The 34-year-old Bale spent four hours at a police station, but was not charged and was released on bail. British media reported that Bale's mother and sister complained he had assaulted them at the Dorchester Hotel in London on Sunday night, a day before the European premiere of "The Dark Knight."

Bale's London-based law firm, Schillings said Bale, issued a statement denying that an assault took place.

"Christian Bale attended a London police station today on a voluntary basis," the statement read. "Bale, who denies the allegation, cooperated throughout, gave his account in full of the events in question, and has left the station without any charge being made against him by the police."

A woman thought to be Bale's sister Sharon told reporters "it's a family matter" from her home in Corfe Mullen, 110 miles southwest of London. A man who answered the door at the home of his mother Jenny Bale in nearby Bournemouth said she did not want to comment.

GETTY DIES AT 84

Estelle Getty, the diminutive actress who spent 40 years struggling for success before landing a role of a lifetime in 1985 as the sarcastic octogenarian Sophia on TV's "The Golden Girls," has died. She was 84.

Getty, who suffered from advanced dementia, died at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday at her Hollywood Boulevard home, said her son, Carl Gettleman of Santa Monica.

NEW MOVIE REVIEWERS

Over the years, TV's best-known movie review show has gone from hosts Siskel and Ebert to Ebert and Roeper to Roeper and guest critics -- and now it's Lyons and Mankiewicz.

Ben Lyons, a Hollywood reporter and film critic for "E! News" and others, and Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz will take over "At the Movies" when its new season begins in September, Disney Domestic Television said Tuesday.

DOWNEY WAITING ON MEMOIR

The "Iron Man" will not be wielding a pen: Robert Downey Jr. has postponed plans to write a memoir and has returned his advance to publisher HarperCollins, a spokeswoman for the actor told The Associated Press.

Britney Ross of Rogers & Cowan declined to say Tuesday why Downey wouldn't be writing the book, originally scheduled to come out this year. HarperCollins had billed it as a "candid look at the highs and lows of his life and career" when the publisher announced the project two years ago.

Downey, 43, has struggled often with drug abuse, but has also received much acclaim for his acting, including an Academy Award nomination for his starring role in "Chaplin" and strong reviews for his title performance in "Iron Man," one of this year's biggest hits. He next will be seen in "Tropic Thunder," along with Ben Stiller and Jack Black.

KID SENTENCED

Officials in Georgia say Kid Rock has been sentenced to a year's probation and fined $1,000 for his role in a fight at a suburban Atlanta Waffle House last fall.

The DeKalb County solicitor's office says the 37-year-old was also sentenced Monday to six hours of anger management counseling and 80 hours of community service.

The entertainer, whose real name is Robert J. Ritchie, pleaded no contest to one count of simple battery. Four counts of battery were dropped.