When it comes to world records, these three are coasting
Focus
Everyone has their ups and downs, but three Georgia thrill-seekers can't seem to get enough of either. Since climbing aboard the Scream Machine roller coaster at Six Flags amusement park near Atlanta on March 13, Darthy Brown, Dion Hughes and Jonathan Thompson have hurtled more than 6,000 miles and shattered the old world roller-coasting record of 23 days. All this for one of them to win a $16,000 sport-utility vehicle offered by a local radio station and Atlanta-area Jeep dealers. "We've all come way too far" to give up, says Hughes.
The three—who have outlasted 21 other contestants—spend their days knocking around in a wood and metal box for 17 hours—from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. with lunch and dinner breaks, five-minute pit stops each hour and a short rest period in sleeping bags alongside the ride. Reading and music are prohibited, but the diehards seem un-fazed. "I'm having a blast," says the ponytailed Thompson, 22, on leave from his job as a technician and, like Hughes, 29, a customer service rep, a single guy. Brown, 20, a computer operator, misses her husband, Shane, but plans to go the distance to replace her run-down Nissan 240 SX. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her," says supportive Shane, a forklift driver who has taken a second job to make up for his wife's lost income. "I'm not going to blow it," he says, by asking her to come home.
The three, who share the last car and have learned to doze at speeds up to 55 miles per hour, have stayed friendly. "Dion and John are real fun to be around," says Brown. Meanwhile, Hughes enjoys meeting the paying customers who have been joining the fun on weekends until the park opens full-time May 11. "I'm meeting a lot of nice young ladies" he says. "Maybe someday when I get off I can call somebody."
Operation Centerfield
Women, gamblers and threats fill The Mick's FBI report
It's no news that late New York Yankee great Mickey Mantle was a free swinger in more ways than one, cutting as wide a swath through the nightclub scene as he did through the American League from 1951 to '68. It turns out that his off-the-field carousing was being watched by the FBI, whose file on Mantle, who died in 1995, includes accounts of his ties to gamblers and an affair with a married woman that led to extortion attempts against the future Hall of Famer.
The FBI summary—which covers Mantle's activities from 1956 to 1963—stresses that Mantle "has not been the subject of an investigation by the FBI." Nevertheless, the document, released following requests by the news media, includes allegations that a "well-known Dallas" gambler called the Yankee slugger for inside dope on games, and that Mantle helped a Dallas nightclub owner bankroll the purchase of a Dallas club. The report also relates the Yankee slugger's visits to a brothel in Washington (sometimes in the company of his teammates), arranged by a well-known gambler and bookmaker; and his fear, triggered by a 1960 letter from a parent who, claiming to have lost a son in military service, accused Mantle of being a draft dodger and threatened to shoot him in the knees.
The file says Mantle denied ever being found in a compromising position with a married woman, who is not identified. "Mr. Mantle readily admitted that he had 'shacked up' with many girls in New York City, but stated that he has never been caught," the file states.
Mantle's widow, Merlyn, refused to comment on the FBI files, though longtime family attorney Wayne Miller says, "The family was dumbfounded" by the FBI connection. Mantle's old pal Whitey Ford says, "I've known Mickey since 1950.1 never heard anything about the FBI."
Game Boy
The hardest part of being a chess whiz is the scheduling. Ten-year-old Hikaru Nakamura, the youngest U.S. chess master ever, must fit his one hour of daily chess practice around schoolwork, trumpet lessons and rooting for the Yankees. Since he beat international master Jay Bonin, 42, in December and was awarded master status last month, the fourth grader from White Plains, N.Y., has also had to squeeze in a guest shot with Regis and Kathie Lee.
Nakamura has been playing competitive chess since age 7, at times with his brother Asuka, 12, a non-master who will participate in this month's Pan-Am Youth championships. Both were taught by their stepfather, Sunil Weeramantry, a pro chess coach. "I didn't expect both of them to go for the same thing," says Nakamura's mother, Carolyn, an adult-education teacher who doesn't play chess.
While Nakamura enjoys the recent attention, he isn't sure about pursuing chess as a career. "I'd rather play for the Yankees," he says. "You get more money."
Double Duty
A lot of people have fallen for Oprah, but only Kym Washington has been paid for it. Washington, 40, was Winfrey's stunt double in 1985's The Color Purple. In 17 years of tumbling down stairs and outrunning bad guys, Washington has also stood in for Whoopi Goldberg (in Ghost and Burglar), Tisha Campbell and Alfre Woodard. Though she once doubled for a white actress—Catherine Bach in The Dukes of Hazzard—black stars who need to crash a car or catch on fire are her bread and butter. "It is all in a day's work," she says.
Washington, who grew up in L.A., was inspired by her father, Richard, a pro stuntman. Her riskiest stunt was leaping between two seven-story buildings, 18 feet apart, in Burglar. She was seriously injured only once, when her car crashed during a Rescue 911 episode in 1996, putting her into a neck brace for three months.
Usually she emerges unscathed. "I've never had a fear," she says. Indeed, she and toy-company exec John Longino plan to try marriage—a stunt that only about half the population pulls off successfully.
Mary GreenWANTS TO KNOW
Two big asteroid movies are due soon, Deep Impact and Armageddon. What would you do if an asteroid were hurtling toward Earth?
Deep Impact producer Steven Spielberg
"I'm going to Disneyland!"
Baywatch's Gena Lee Nolin
"I know this is very cheesy, but I'd take my family and run like hell to Neiman Marcus, because let me tell you, it is THE place."
ER's Eriq La Salle
"I'd move up my wedding date [to consultant Angela Johnson]."
Party Animal
Making Hay
When the horsey set straps on the feedbag, stand back. On the eve of the Kentucky Derby, 700 guests boogied at Louisville's Barnstable Brown bash. "It's the most extravagant thing I've been to," said model Niki Taylor, surveying the Louis XVI-themed decor and a crowd including Robert Duvall and Jerry Springer. What was he doing in the land of the julep? Said Springer: "I'm going to pick a fight with one of those horses."
UNREAL ESTATE
Saxophonist Kenny G, 41, is flying his Bellevue, Wash., coop. The manor Kenny shares with his wife, Lyndie, and their two kids has a pool, seven bathrooms and a recording studio. According to Brian Losh at Ewing & Clark, Inc., Kenny has listed the place for $26.5 million.
You Red It Here First
Call it a red-aissance. Ever since Kate Winslet stole Leo's heart as the copper-haired Rose in Titanic, it seems redheads have been all the rage. But no two carrot tops share the same shade. Consider Neve Campbell's cherry red-streaked tresses in Wild Things, Wynonna Judd's red-orange locks and Ginger Spice's decidedly, well, ginger do. Says L.A. stylist Matthew Boger, whose clients include Lauren Holly, when she was red: "Red is urgent and sexy—the danger color." Which is why bad guys should watch out for Uma Thurman in this summer's The Avengers: She's a copper-topped spy.
Suspendered Animation
When Bulworth opens on May 22, Warren Beatty will get most of the attention, but, really, how many movies has the star been in lately? About two. He's just not there week-in, week-out for the average film fan. Larry King, on the other hand, is. Despite having a show on CNN, numerous heart attacks, a few marriages and a column in USA Today, King has appeared in 15 movies since 1984, usually playing himself in cameo roles. Bulworth? He's in that one. Primary Colors? There, too. Contact? Some people think he blew Jodie Foster off the screen. His fee, King says, is "not 2 million dollars, but it ain't scale." The Academy has not yet been sufficiently impressed with his portrayal of Larry King to proffer an Oscar nod. But King hopes it starts a category for "a person playing himself in a scene less than six minutes."
Larry's Cameo Kingdom
1 Ghostbusters (1984)
2 Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives (1989)
3 Crazy People (1990)
4 Dawe (1993)
5 The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)
6 Contact (1997)
7 Mad City (1997)
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!
