Russell Brand speaks to dad again

Russell Brand has attempted to reconcile with his father.

The 'Arthur' star has not spoken to dad Ron Brand - who split from Russell's mother Barbara Elizabeth when he was a child - for some time and even declined to invite him to his wedding to Katy Perry last year, but he has now reached out to try to repair their relationship.

He said: "I left a message for him the other day. I've not spoken to him for ages but I want to talk to him. I feel a lot better about my dad. I just hope we'll finally be happy together."

Along with attempting to reconcile with his father, Russell - who has battled alcohol and drug addiction in the past - was delighted to be able to take his mother to the Oscars in Los Angeles in February as a thank you for the support she gave him when he was in rehab.

The 35-year-old star explained in an interview with The Sun newspaper: "I remember when I was in rehab on Christmas Day in 2002, with my mum visiting and sat on my bed - you could see she was scared and disappointed.

"I was a broken person and I had broken my family. So being able to take her to the Oscars - a bit of payback for the stuff she went through when I was a kid - was good."