• October 19, 1998
• Vol. 50
• No. 14

Insider

By Danelle Morton

Taking a break from their hectic schedules, Barbra Streisand and hubby James Brolin turned up in Paris last weekend for a romantic getaway. They carefully eluded paparazzi ("She's a pro who beats us all the time," says one photographer) as they strolled along the Seine, shopped for antiques and dined intime at the Left Bank's Le Vieux Bistro. "They were very simple, like ordinary people," reports their waiter. "When another diner recognized [Brolin] from his TV series Pensacola, he asked for an autograph. Brolin signed for him and only afterwards, when the fan was leaving their table, did he realize the woman was Barbra Streisand." Adds the waiter: "I think he was just too flustered to ask her for an autograph."

Could Ally McBeal use a few McMeals? Ever since her appearance at the Emmys, people are talking about Calista Flockhart's weight. The Ally McBeal star has always been thin, but lately she seems to be moving from waif to wafer. A spokesperson for the 5'5½ actress says, "Ms. Flockhart is in superb physical condition, works out regularly with a personal fitness trainer and consults with a nutritionist—all to ensure her preparedness for the extraordinary physical demands of her performance on Ally McBeal"

Robin Williams squared off against Andre Agassi in a bidding war for a pair of earrings shaped like tennis players and a matching necklace at an auction during a recent two-day fund-raiser for the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation held at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. The two men drove the price up to $37,000 before the event's host, joined by wife Brooke Shields, graciously bowed out, allowing Williams to buy the jewelry for his mother. While Agassi's charity bash raised nearly $3.3 million for local children's programs, the couple are not yet ready to start a family. "There are no immediate plans," says Agassi. "But we enjoy practicing very much."

Actor Jim Carrey is stinking up the set of Man on the Moon, the Andy Kaufman biopic he is filming in Los Angeles. I hear that Carrey has taken to carrying Limburger cheese in his pockets when he portrays Kaufman's alter-ego, unctuous lounge lizard Tony Clifton. When people visit the set, Carrey steps into his Clifton character by rubbing the cheese and then shaking hands—creating a long-lasting olfactory memento.

• Contributors:
• Hugh McCarten.