Congress often perks up when Hollywood's famous come a-calling
Focus
The streets of Washington, D.C., may have been emptied by Hurricane Floyd, but inside the Dirksen Senate Office Building there is hardly a vacant seat as members of the Subcommittee on Public Health listen attentively to a distinguished visitor urging support for the Pediatric Autism Research Act. Their guest? No famous scientist. Not even a doctor (though he plays one on TV). Testifying is Anthony Edwards, ER's Dr. Mark Greene. Afterward, a female observer asks for his autograph. "I love your show," she confides. This is what happens in the nation's capital when celebrities promote causes.
About six stars a month address congressional hearings, officials say. When the topic is Tibet, count on an appearance by Richard Gere. If it's the plight of the farmer, don't be surprised to see Neil Young or Willie Nelson. John Travolta has testified on behalf of Scientology. Johnny Cash shared his own concerns about copyright infringement. Christopher Reeve has spoken out on behalf of people who, like him, have suffered spinal cord injuries.
Edwards's lobbying interest stems from his friendship with producer Jonathan Shestack, whose son Dov, 7, is autistic. "The attraction of doctors on TV" makes him an ideal lobbyist, he says. But one senator, whom he declines to name, told Edwards he hated celebrities stumping on Capitol Hill because it looked "like Hollywood was controlling legislation." Edwards's reaction? "I will be the best-versed celebrity on this issue."
In general, actors bring an infusion of glamor into a very but-toned-down town. "Let's face it," says one charity official, "the Hill is incredibly starstruck." And Sen. Slade Gorton of Washington, a cosponsor of the bill to allocate more federal resources to the battle against autism, says, "Celebrities give us the opportunity to get our message out." Or, as Edwards puts it, "I'm here to bring that attention that can open doors."
The Latest Model
Plenty of actresses—Rene Russo, Cybill Shepherd and Charlize Theron, to name just a few—began their careers as models. Daryl Hannah seems to be following the familiar route in reverse. The onetime Splash star, 38, has signed to model hosiery and lingerie for Bhs, a chain of British department stores, through the fall and winter.
The 5'10" actress was chosen, according to a Bhs press release, for her "famous 44-inch legs" (measured heel-to-hip) and to bring "a touch of Hollywood glamor" to the mid-priced chain's new "sexy and sophisticated" line. Hannah, whose career has cooled in recent years—witness this year's My Favorite Martian—modeled before, in a 1994 campaign for Karl Lagerfeld perfume. This time around, in just her underwear, she's sure to make an even bigger splash.
RSVP 2000
Who: Hugh Grant and Elizabeth Hurley
How they'll greet the millennium: "We'll probably be at home with the TV," says Grant.
Why: Inertia. "I don't believe we have any plans, and it's too late to plan something now."
An Evening for Linda
At times, the seven-hour benefit for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals on Sept. 18 was a somber affair. A video tribute to longtime PETA supporter Linda McCartney, who died last year, left many of the 2,000 guests at L.A.'s Paramount Pictures lot in tears. Among them was her husband, Paul McCartney, who struggled to compose himself before telling the crowd, "Linda was most admired for holding firm to her beliefs." Yet the former Beatle's mood improved later that night (during which $2 million was raised), and he gave a 45-minute performance. He also managed a joke about the first Linda McCartney Memorial Award winner: Pamela Anderson Lee, an antifur campaigner. "Now we are going to watch the Pamela Anderson Lee video," said McCartney, who added with a smile, "Not that video."
A Coach of His Own
Kevin Costner did not have the size to play college baseball, says Augie Garrido, coach of the University of Texas Longhorns: "He was kind of small, and he grew late. He missed out on sports, and this is a way to recapture it." This, of course, being the baseball film For Love of the Game, in which the actor pitches a great nine innings in Yankee Stadium. Garrido, who met Costner in 1992 while coaching at the star's alma mater, Cal State-Fullerton, trained him for the role. "By the time he was through, he could not lift his arm," Garrido says. "He was in a tremendous amount of pain." But could he really get the ball over the plate? Yes—although in one scene, it took Costner 140 pitches to get the two they used on film. Still, Garrido praises Costner: "What you see onscreen is what you get in real life. He threw every pitch in this movie." Replies Costner: "It's very flattering that he thinks that way. But when he boasts that I threw 140 pitches to get two on film, I'm thinking some might say, 'It took you 140 pitches to get two right? Maybe you're not so good.' "
Prez Attends Xena Summit
So what's the agenda when a Commander in Chief summons a warrior princess? The answer, in New Zealand, is Hollywood. "We talked most about Harrison Ford, who the President knows well," says actor Temuera Morrison, who dined with President Bill Clinton, his daughter Chelsea and native actress Lucy Lawless (Xena, Warrior Princess) at the Boardwalk in Queens-town last week. "A very small dinner party in a local restaurant, with regular patrons whose jaws hit the floor," recalls Lawless, whose show is shot in New Zealand. She found him "incredibly engaging." Morrison says Clinton, in town for an economic summit, is "a big fan of Lucy's."
A Beastie and a Gentleman
At last month's MTV Awards, Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz surprised some by shedding all rap posturing for a moment and asking other musicians to help curb violence against women at concerts. Was anybody listening? Fellow rapper Will Smith says "it's difficult to control the human spirit," adding, "I don't think that music can make people do things." Metallica's Lars Ulrich, however, admitted that "when people incite an audience to do certain things, that may not be a smart thing to do." But the members of Limp Bizkit, whom some blame for inciting violence at the Woodstock '99 concert, remain unbowed. "Our shows are intense," says Bizkit's Fred Durst. "We're still going to do what we do."
ON THE BLOCK
A NEW CHAPTER
A local businessman has purchased the Encino, Calif., home where comic Phil Hart-man's wife, Brynn, shot her husband to death before killing herself on May 28, 1998. The anonymous buyer purchased the NewsRadio and Saturday Night Live star's property for almost $1.2 million. The 4,100-square-foot rustic country home, designed by architect Robert Byrd, sits on half an acre and features a lagoon-style pool, four fireplaces, four bedrooms and a two-room guest suite above the garage.
- Contributors:
- Larry Sutton,
- Mike Neill,
- Dan Jewel,
- Erik Meers,
- Liza Hamm,
- Kelly Carter,
- Sona Charaipotra,
- Diana Clehane,
- Michael Fleeman,
- Susan Gray,
- Suzanne Male,
- Dennis Passa,
- Patricia Smith,
- Robert Stewart,
- Cynthia Wang,
- Ulrica Wihlborg.
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!
