• January 18, 1999
• Vol. 51
• No. 2

Insider

By Nancy Perry Graham

Julia Roberts nearly ran away during a scene for Runaway Bride in a Berlin, Md., diner. While sipping coffee with Richard Gere, her costar in the romantic comedy, Roberts suddenly broke from the script. "Oh, my God, I'm going to be sick," she said, after she found a live fly in her coffee. Enter Gere, who, true to his Buddhist beliefs, scooped up the fly and carried it outside. Says Wolfgang "Max" Feiler, who owns the diner with his wife, Aida: "He acted like it could have been his grandmother."

Male fans of former MTV fave Jenny McCarthy will be happy to learn she's no longer spoken for. McCarthy, who just wrapped filming on Diamonds, a drama with Kirk Douglas and Lauren Bacall, has split from her boyfriend of four years, manager Ray Manzella. The decision to separate was mutual, according to McCarthy's publicist. Word is that Manzella will continue to manage McCarthy, at least for now.

Antonio Banderas's wife, Melanie Griffith, paid $16,000 recently for a four-day crash course en español with famed New York City language teacher Michel Thomas, who counts Mel Gibson and Emma Thompson among his past clients. The reason? Thomas tells me that Griffith wanted to communicate with her Spanish in-laws, who speak little English. He adds that Banderas is "very happy" with Melanie's progress and now wants to take the quickie course himself—en français.

Tom Arnold put his Santa skills to work when he dressed up as the big bearded one at a Christmas party for 150 homeless kids at the Children's Time Machine, a high-tech "edutainment" center in Sherman Oaks, Calif. After nearly 100 children had sat on his lap, Arnold just had to tell it like it is. Staffers giggled when they overheard Arnold say abruptly to a cute little boy, "Get off me, kid! Santa needs some air."

Also reaching out to others is Arnold's ex-wife Roseanne. For the past several years she has been a student of Kabbalah, the ancient mystical branch of Judaism. Now she has started teaching a free, one-hour introductory course at the Kabbalah Learning Center in L.A. If the class is successful, she will continue as an instructor. Among her topics: how Kabbalah has affected her life, career and romances.

Guests at the fourth annual Bertolucci children's charity gala in Aspen last month were treated to a starry night—and one of the stranger duos of recent memory. Tim Conway emceed and, following performances by country crooner Faith Hill, saxophonist Kenny G and others, celebrities bounded onto the stage to cap off the evening with a few impromptu Christmas carols. The most unlikely duet came from Cindy Crawford and Joe Cocker, who sang "Silent Night."

• Contributors:
• Hugh McCarten.