PASSAGES: Pam Plans Hepatitis Treatment

By Stephen M. Silverman

Wednesday July 24, 2002 01:00 PM EDT

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REVEALED: Pamela Anderson, 35, told CNN's Larry King Tuesday night that she will take time away from her career to undergo a sometimes debilitating treatment for hepatitis C. "There's lots of side effects," she said. "It's going to be a year of basically having the flu. Your hair falls out. It's a little kind of chemotherapy." The former "Baywatch" babe, who claims she contracted the fatal liver disease after sharing a tattoo needle with her ex-husband, musician Tommy Lee, said, "I want to do it for my kids, because I don't want to die, basically" . . . ENGAGED: Former "Today" and "Early Show" host Bryant Gumbel, 53, and his companion of seven years, Hilary Quinlan, 42, applied for a marriage license two weeks ago in West Palm Beach, Fla., reports the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper. Earlier this year, Gumbel became divorced from his wife of 27 years, June, after a very bitter and very public fight . . . BORN: Academy Award-winning actress (1986's "Children of a Lesser God") Marlee Matlin, 36, gave birth to Tyler Daniel Grandalski on Thursday, her publicist told the Associated Press. This is her third child with her husband of eight years, Kevin Grandalski, a police officer. Tyler's siblings are Sarah, 6, and Brandon, 1 . . . DIED: Rabbi-turned-author Chaim Potok ("The Chosen"), 73, succumbed to brain cancer in his suburban Philadelphia home on Tuesday, says the AP. His works were highly regarded within the Jewish community. Folk singer-songwriter Dave Carter, 49, collapsed Friday morning and died later at a hospital, apparently from a heart attack, reports the AP. Among his albums with partner Tracy Grammer was "Tanglewood Tree." Australian-born "Rumpole of the Bailey" leading man Leo McKern, 82, died Tuesday in a nursing home near his house in Bath, England, after being ill for some time. His movies included "Help!," "A Man for All Seasons" and "Ryan's Daughter.",