Back from a medical break, Carey shifts—again—into high gear
Focus
Only three months after Mariah Carey checked herself into a Connecticut hospital for two weeks following what her publicist termed "an emotional and physical breakdown," the 32-year-old pop diva has returned to her punishing work schedule with a vengeance. In five days Carey headlined a benefit concert in Washington, D.C., performed at New York City's VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards and shot a guest appearance for Ally McBeal in Los Angeles (she also sang at the Sept. 21 Tribute to Heroes). So how is she handling the pressure?
Although her rep did not return calls, Ally executive producer Bill D'Elia says, "She's really great." Thanks in part to some old-fashioned star treatment. "We are a nurturing place," says D'Elia. "We found out who she likes to work with for makeup and hair. We made sure she was surrounded by people she feels comfortable with." The episode, which will air Jan. 7, features Carey as a key witness in a lawsuit against a dating service. She will also sing "Lead the Way," a track from her new album Glitter.
Not everyone is surprised by her rebound. "She's a talented musician and a wonderful girl," says designer Tommy Hilfiger, who heard her sing at the fashion gala. "For her to be down—and for everyone to be negative about her—was so wrong."
Emeril: Outta the Frying Pan
Bam! Is that Emeril Lagasse spicing up his chili with a shot of hot sauce? Nope, it's the sound of his new low-rated NBC sitcom, Emeril, getting slammed by peppery TV critics. So the show isn't to the pundits' taste. But what about the highly trained culinary palates of his fellow chefs?
While the Food Network's Cat Cora believes Lagasse is "naturally funny," she concedes the show "needs some time" to find its comic rhythm. Chef Rick Tramonto of the trendy Chicago eatery Tru suggests more realistic behind-the-scenes high jinks. "I would have more food predicaments," he says. "Where they're making something and it doesn't come out or drops on the floor, and they end up using it. Let's get real." The bigger problem, though, many say, is Lagasse's half-baked promotion campaign. "He needs a new PR person," says Manhattan chef Ulrika Bengtsson, whose restaurant proudly bears her first name. "I don't even know when it's on."
Not Camera Shy
Anne Heche, Holly Hunter and Joely Fisher have all married cameramen; Julia Roberts is dating one. Scoop had to ask: Why are women drawn to a man with a Panaflex? It's simple, says Paul Cameron, 43, director of photography for films such as Swordfish and Gone in 60 Seconds. In addition to being universally handsome, wise, funny and charming, cameramen "control the light and the photography. It's a very trusting relationship." An example? For a scene in Swordfish, he recalls, "I spent the whole day in a room with Halle Berry, who was basically dressed in her lingerie. It's a very intimate setting. You have to form a bond."
Working together breaks down the hierarchy of famous actresses and relatively anonymous cameramen, he adds. "It comes down to the fact that these are real women looking for real relationships." And the cameramen? "We tend to be a pretty crazy breed. It's such an intense job that you've gotta have a little bit of cowboy in you." Hi-yo, silver screen.
Say No to Stereotypes
"I'm half Arabic," actress Shannon Elizabeth (American Pie) says in a public-service announcement set to air in November, "but I'm 100 percent American." Elizabeth, 28, whose father is of Syrian and Lebanese descent, says she did the ads to make clear that "what is going on affects me the same as everybody else"—as it does millions of Arab-Americans. Her costar in the new film 13 Ghosts, fellow Arab-American actor Tony Shalhoub, 48, took a role in 1998's The Siege (which depicts a terrorist attack in New York City and its aftermath) because "the character was an Arab-American who was a well-rounded, well-written, positive image," and addressed "the idea of the civil liberties being compromised." Stereotyped roles are a problem, he says, but "I think everyone's awareness is actually heightened now, and in some ways [the current attention] might improve the situation."
Not Good with Names
You know your bad-boy rep is at risk when Jay and Conan—not to mention Regis and Kelly—mock your band's unfortunate choice of a name. Such is life for the heavy-metal group Anthrax. "Our music usually makes people happy," says lead singer John Bush. "Now people hear our name, and it's associated with fear and paranoia." In a weird twist, CD sales are up, and their Web site has had 8 million visits in two weeks, says guitarist Scott Ian, who picked the name 20 years ago because "it sounded metal." Today it just sounds scary. "I'd much rather be talking about a new record," says Ian.
Confessions of a Cabana Boy
If the cabanas at the Beverly Hills Hotel could talk, they would probably sound a lot like Svend Petersen, 71, who after 42 years is retiring as pool and cabana club manager—or, as he is known, its chief cabana boy—to take a desk job. Says Petersen: "I wanted to get away from the sun."
He'll miss the sun, but not the stars. "In the old days they didn't have bodyguards," he says. "It was easy to go up to Raquel Welch or Gene Kelly and talk about anything." He taught Faye Dunaway the crawl; when the Beatles—disguised in fake beards—needed to sneak into private cabanas, Petersen helped out.
Eventually the rules changed. One day in the '80s Eddie Murphy arrived with his entourage. Petersen recalls, "I said, 'Good morning.' He looked at me and said, 'I don't think I addressed you,' and walked on."
Still, mingling with the A-list won Petersen fans. He had cameos in The Prize with Paul Newman and in Alfred Hitchcock's Torn Curtain. In 1969, after actress Sylvia Miles was nominated for an Academy Award, she insisted on being seated in the front row of lounges. ("Svend, I do not sit in the back row—that is for presenters.") On Oscar day every year since, Petersen, at the actress's request, has paged Miles over the loudspeaker whether she is present or not. ("So everybody will know I'm alive," she instructed.) Now that he has retired? No worries, Sylvia. Svend will return for Oscar day. "Definitely," he says.
Microcameo
It's your 200th episode: What do you do for an encore? At Frasier, the solution was simple: Hire Bill Gates. The Software Sultan of Seattle will play himself, alongside Kelsey Grammer's neurotic shrink, in an episode to air Nov. 13. "Everybody on the set was hugely excited," says a show insider of Gates. "He signed a lot of people's scripts." He also, gratis, corrected a bit of computer dialog in one scene. "We had to write something he was comfortable doing," says Jeff Greenberg, the show's casting director. "As you can imagine, lots of e-mails happened. Happily, he's a fan of the show." Alas, the moonlighting will do little to help Gates cover the reported $15 million he recently paid for the right to use Madonna's song "Ray of Light" in new Windows ads. His Frasier paycheck, says one network exec, was "probably scale."
POP QUIZ
with Caroline Kennedy
The Best-Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis has made The New York Times bestseller list the past two weeks, to the delight of Caroline Kennedy, 43, who put the book together in honor of her mother. Poetry, Kennedy, told Scoop, is a family tradition.
How did your mother introduce you to poetry?
She taught me poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay when I was 3 or 4: "First Fig" and "Second Fig." I recited them for my father, and I was so proud of myself, and he was thrilled.
Your grandmother Rose Kennedy used to recite "Paul Revere's Ride" by Longfellow.
The poem combined her sense of patriotism and the belief that one person can change the course of history. She passed it down to her children and grandchildren, and it was a wonderful experience that we all shared—all the generations.
Any other family poetry traditions?
On special occasions, instead of buying a present, my mother would ask us to pick a poem we liked, and we would write it out and illustrate it, and she pasted them all in a special book.
What kind of poems did John pick?
Short and famous! And he liked the animal poems. Every kid likes poems about animals.
Do your kids like poetry?
They love to be read to, and they're getting to a point where they're discovering reading poems on their own. I don't do it all the time. I wouldn't want you to think we are reading poetry all the time.
You included several of your mother's own poems in this collection.
She might think it was unfair to stack them up against the great poems of the English language—some of hers were written when she was young—but I thought it might make people think [writing poetry] was something they could try.
What did this teach you?
Having my own children, I have become more conscious of what I want to pass on to them and what I got from my parents—they both loved the power of words and they believed in it.
ON THE BLOCK
LARRY'S LAIR
After only three years in residence, CNN talk show host Larry King has sold his McLean, Va., home for a cool million. King, 67, and his wife, Shawn, 41, felt the house's relatively small yard—one-fifth of an acre—was too cramped a play space for their sons Chance, 2, and Cannon, 1. Built in 1997, the five-bedroom house includes a spiral staircase, an exercise room and a marble bath and Jacuzzi. Another perk, says the real estate agent, is that the community, not the owner, is responsible for maintaining the grounds. Translation: King never even had to mow the lawn.
- Contributors:
- Ting Yu,
- Greg Adkins,
- Mark Dagostino,
- Monica Deady,
- Robyn Flans,
- Teena Hammond,
- Elizabeth McNeil,
- Valerie O'Barr,
- Sarah Skolnik,
- Jennifer Sobie,
- Pamela Warrick,
- 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!
