A dingbat out of place in a think-tank? No way. No sooner had Jean (All in the Family) Stapleton arrived at Santa Barbara's Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions to bone up on Eleanor Roosevelt for an upcoming TV special than she was welcomed effusively by its director Robert Hutchins. Though the former president of the University of Chicago proved himself out of touch with the TV listings, he was obviously au courant with the tube itself. "I thought I'd lost you Saturday," he told Jean, referring to her new time slot. "But then I found you again on Monday."
No Pillow Talk
Richard Burton never goes dry—for words, anyway. He and Elizabeth Taylor now regard their 14-month split as "the most ridiculous divorce in history." "It had to happen to make what we have now," philosophizes Liz. Adds Burton, "It is an indescribable feeling to know that Elizabeth is curled up in bed in the next room." Richard's curled up, presumably, with a book.
Faces
In Hollywood hustling his book Bring on the Empty Horses (PEOPLE, Sept. 22), David Niven was invited to a dinner party. "I was going to make a joke," says Niven, "about how in the old days you could tell a man's tailor by the look of his suit—and how today you can tell a person's plastic surgeon by the look of his face. Then I glanced around the table and the words died in my mouth. I realized they all had it done, all of them."
Star Trek
Like so many other superstars TV rocketed from nowhere, Good Times' Jimmie (dyn-o-MITE) Walker has a short fuse and a swelled head. Though his TV name has been merchandised on royalty-spewing products from dolls to T-shirts, he refuses to grant autographs—or audiences—to the very constituency that made him. Kids and he don't get along well, J.J. informed a production staffer. So don't bring them around.
Looney Tunes
"I think the music of the last 15 years is horrendous—I can't stand the ridiculous, asinine lyrics coming out of human beings' throats," or so observes Eydie Gorme, 43. "Good music has become an endangered species." Of course that may be another way of saying that middle-aging middle-of-the-roaders like her and husband Steve Lawrence, 40, are an endangered species. "It's pathetic to reach a point where you achieve fame and recognition based on merit," she goes on, "yet the public is not permitted to hear your product." Seems she finds that radio stations get their programming on tape by the purveyors of what Eydie calls "computerized crap." But can't Steve and Eydie get around that? No, Gorme grouses, "We send albums to stations—and they're tossed in the wastebasket."
Uncloaked
Until last week, Rita Carpenter, a 26-year-old blond Texan, worked for a GOP task force aiming to knock off vulnerable Democrat incumbents. Carpenter suddenly left the group after the identity of her constant gentleman caller was discovered. It was in fact John Jenrette, a freshman Democratic Representative from South Carolina recently divorced from his wife and regarded by the GOP as a target of opportunity.
Furthermore
•Inflation note: In the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, the U.S. bought rights in perpetuity to all or part of 15 states for some $15 million. Recently, the Howard Hughes-owned Frontier and Sands Hotels in Vegas signed a deal in excess of $35 million tying up for seven years (39 weeks a year) the services of cabaret cherub Wayne Newton.
•He may be on the lee side of 61, but Prince Stanislas Radziwill isn't suffering any. The thrice-married Polish-born nobleman has a 28-year-old roommate at his home near Buckingham Palace, dishy University of Hawaii graduate Christine Weckert.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
