Joaquin Phoenix is back.

On Thursday night at Soho House I ran into the gifted actor who’s been nominated for Oscars twice–in “Gladiator” and “Walk the Line.”

Joaquin never looked better–clear eyed and clean shaven, a 180 degree turnaround from his digression into rapping and riffing last year on talk shows.

He told me with certainty that he will likely return to acting now after a relatively short break. He’s just hoping to read some good scripts. “Why don’t you write one?” he asked facetiously.

We can’t! We’re too busy scooting around Hollywood looking for scoops!

Phoenix is much missed from the acting scene. Let’s hope it doesn’t take long to find him a good new role.

Meanwhile, Soho House was ablaze with stars last night. The evening’s official purpose was a party given by Elton John (and sponsored by RADD–Rockers Against Drunk Driving). That dinner went off without a hitch, with Jane Fonda and Richard Perry, “Avatar” director James Cameron and Suzy Amis, and Elton’s partner David Furnish in the house along with Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, Quentin Tarantino, Dustin Hoffman, and Harvey Weinstein all on the scene.

But soon after dinner Elton and Furnish vacated the room and it seemed rather sudden. It’s not known if there was cause and effect, but none other than Madonna had popped up on the magnificent Soho House terrace that’s dotted with olive trees brought in from Palm Springs. Later I was told that Elton–who famously does not get along with Madge–made a point of saying hello to her before he left. Elton is classy. Madonna is brassy.

Madonna certainly energizes a room; the weight of the Soho House crowd was suddenly surrounding her and business partner Guy Oseary. Juliette Lewis was right in there, and in time we saw former Oscar nominees Clive Owen and Clifton Collins Jr., Jason Lewis (no relation to Juliette), as well as singer James Blunt, Oscar nominee Maggie Gyllenhaal, Emil Hirsch, Eva Longoria, Ryan Phillippe, Jason Bateman, Piers Morgan and TV powerhouse David E. Kelley.

Whew!

Also in Madonna’s orbit: hit pop songwriter producer Mikkel Eriksen without his partner Tor Erik Hermansen. The pair, as Stargate, provide half the hits were hear these days on pop radio. They’re in town working with Rihanna, and getting ready to do some work for Beyonce. Is Madonna their next client? We shall see.

And so Soho House rolls on. There are lots of other parties in town every night (the Hollywood Reporter had a nice one last night at the home of LA’s stargazing mayor) but Soho House is A List Central this week. The food is great and the chairs are the most comfortable for miles!

Exclusive:

My favorite show, “Lost,” won’t come to an end without bringing back a few favorite characters.

I am told exclusively that the actors who play Desmond, Penny, Charles Widmore, and the French doctor, Rousseau, are all on their way back to the island.

That means we’ll see Henry Ian Cusick, Sonya Walger, Alan Dale and Mira Furlan, respectively, all returning. I am told that the trouble with getting back some of the recurring, non contract players to reprise their roles is that either ABC or Bad Robot Productions is offering very little money. Ironically, “Lost” will sell and sell for years on DVD and in syndication. Why not pay these actors appropriately for their contributions?

Anyway, let’s hope everyone from the six seasons gets to make one last visit to the island …

… Other TV news: I’m told ABC has renewed “Brothers & Sisters” for a fifth season. The Sally Field soap opera has had, I think, five show runners in four seasons. Maybe they can somehow get back to the show’s basic premise, from which it has seriously drifted, next fall …

Conan O’Brien is hitting the road.

Sources tell me the great comic and talk show host will hit the road beginning in mid-April. The first stop will be on the West Coast, probably San Diego or Seattle. Details are being worked out now.

The tour will not start in Phoenix, despite a TMZ report today. Indeed, my sources say that the Phoenix date announced by TMZ was from overzealous promoter. “It might not even happen now,” my source says.

O’Brien will likely have sidekick Andy Richter with him on the dates. Plans are also being worked out now for a live band, hopefully with Max Weinberg. But that part is still being sorted out, says my source.

The national tour will of course eventually include Los Angeles, where Jay Leno is located, and O’Brien’s stomping grounds of New York. I’m also told right now that several promoters including AEG Live and Live Nation are involved.

More to come shortly … but talk about a hot ticket. This will be THE event of the spring, without a doubt …

You’d think with 10 best picture nominees, you’d see somebody from one of the films on the first night of real Oscar partying.

But the lone nominee who made an appearance was “Precious” director Lee Daniels, at the Artists for Peace and Justice cocktail party thrown by Vanity Fair at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Daniels was the only nominee but not the only celeb, as director Paul Haggis, so involved with Haiti even before the earthquake, has rallied more and more bold-faced names to the cause. Among those crammed into the BHH’s bar were Gerard Butler, Maria Bello (a steadfast supporter), Ben Stiller, Jon Hamm and Jennifer Westfeldt,  Nia Vardalos and Ian Gomez, Matthew Bomer, Kristen Bell, and Paula Wagner and Rick Nicita. That’s what they call a nice crowd in Hollywood.

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Sad news this afternoon: Bill Murray — the real Bill Murray, not the actor — has passed away.

Bill was one of the most beloved figures in New York showbiz history. Just shy of his 70th birthday, Bill ran Celebrity Bulletin and Celebrity Service since 1979. (He actually started answering the phones there in 1977.)

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It’s no surprise to some insiders that Michael Jackson’s kids are being investigated by the Los Angeles Department of Family Services.

Remember the YouTube video I showed you a couple months ago? It showed the Jackson kids romping around a luxurious suite at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas on Thanksgiving.

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Wolverine is heading to Japan, for real.

The next episode of the Hugh Jackman starrer is ready for a start next January.

Christopher McQuarrie, of “X-Men” and “Valkyrie” fame, has finished the script that THR reported he was starting last August.

No director has been signed. And the script is a little different than originally thought.

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Is the singing over at Disney?

Think of Jiminy Cricket warbling “When You Wish Upon A Star.” Or Angela Lansbury and her friends toasting “Be Our Guest” from “Beauty and the Beast.”

Well, those days may be a thing of the past. I am told that Disney Animation has put the kibosh on Alan Menken’s planned “The Snow Queen,” from the directors of “Tarzan.”

The reason? “The Princess and the Frog” was a disappointment, insiders say. Even though it was nominated for an Oscar and got pretty good reviews, “P & F” is considered a bust in Toon Town.

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It was just three and three quarter years ago that Sumner Redstone kicked Tom Cruise out of the Paramount nest. Cruise’s crime? Jumping on Oprah’s couch, picking a fight with Matt Lauer — acting, basically, nuts.

Redstone didn’t like that stuff. He ended Tom’s deal at Paramount, and pretty much sealed him off from another “Mission: Impossible.” Tom went to MGM, took over United Artists, and made the dreadful “Valkyrie” after the boring “Lions and Lambs.”

Now, as Cruise awaits release of “Knight and Day,” with Cameron Diaz, Redstone is a fan again. Maybe he’s seen an early cut of “Knight and Day” and really liked it. All I know is this: Cruise and Katie Holmes, mother of Suri, were seen once again dining with Redstone over the weekend. This time the setting was Il Piccolino on North Robertson.

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It’s March 1, and that means plenty of well-known names are arriving (or have recently arrived) on Broadway. It’s Tony season, with new plays and lots of A-list actors filling up our dance card through June.

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