The Philippine phlap . . .
Though reports from Hickam Air Force Base have former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos strolling around with a law book, demanding privileges of a president in exile, U.S. State Department representative Pat Norton says, ”Marcos never acted in that manner at all.” . . . The money-counting machine brought in to help count all those newly minted Philippine pesos–reportedly about 26 million of `em–brought in by the Marcos folks gave up the ghost after several million, leaving the task of counting the rest to U.S. Customs employees who had to finish the job by hand. . . . Some members of the homeless Marcos entourage have taken to calling themselves ”the plane people,” a sort of high-rent version of ”the boat people.”
TV trivia . . .
Gladys Knight`s mother answered the phone last week when the wardrobe master for Tuesday`s ”People`s Choice Awards” on CBS-TV called Gladys` Las Vegas home to get an idea of what she planned to wear for the show. According to mom, Gladys didn`t know what she would wear, because she hadn`t gone shopping yet, and she wouldn`t go shopping until after she ate her breakfast. . . . David Letterman hosting the Emmy Awards? Stranger things have happened. But not many. . . . An NBC-TV staffer, responding to INC.`s item stating that Danitra Vance ”could be happier” with her role on ”Saturday Night Live,”
says that Miss Vance ”is perfectly happy at `SNL.` ” Gotcha. . . . Chicago actress Betsy Randle just landed the role of Kate Mulgrew`s best friend in an ABC-TV sit-com pilot tentatively called ”Carly Mills.” . . . Producers of
”The Mystery of Al Capone`s Vault” have been unable to find a single photograph of the interior of the South Michigan Avenue hotel during its heyday in the `20s and `30s. Wouldn`t it be a stitch if they opened the vault for the live TV special on April 21–and the only thing in it was photographs of the hotel`s interior?
Media madness . . .
Jay Newman of WBBM-TV (Channel 2) went on vacation the week after the ratings ”sweeps,” as TV station news directors often do. But while he was gone, he missed all the fireworks: the Wednesday resignation of station manager Ken Hall, who took a position with a media buying company, and the
”resignation” two days later of vice president and general manager Gary Cummings, who, according to a press release, ”had not yet decided on his future plans.” That`ll happen when your resignation sneaks up on you. A two- man ”interim management team” has been brought in from New York to pick up the pieces. . . . Dr. Ruth (”As long as you use contraceptives”) Westheimer was unwilling to comment Friday on reports that her syndicated column had been dropped from the Sun-Times because Ann (”Girls just wanna be hugged”)
Landers objected. Pierre Lehu, Dr. Ruth`s public relations person, confirmed that the column had been pulled and said that, although he really didn`t know why, ”We have heard it`s because of Ann Landers. Her column is syndicated by the same people who own the paper, so that gives her a lot of clout, I guess. I really don`t know.” Maybe not, Pierre, but INC. thinks your guess is probably pretty close.
Star tracks . . .
Cannon Films has signed Diane Keaton and Linda Evans to three-picture deals. . . . Barbra Streisand bought the film rights to ”The Normal Heart,” a play about AIDS. Guess who will be directing. . . . The folks who were seated near porn queen Seka at Thursday`s opening of ”Big River” might not be able to give you a whole lot of details about the musical because they were distracted every time adult film actress Seka and her escort expressed their affection in the French manner, if you get our drift. . . . ”BR” composer Roger Miller`s new MCA album, due for an April release, will include several numbers from the musical. . . . Robert Blake says he`s ”going the distance” for the eight-month, cross-country Pro-Peace March, which stepped off last weekend from Los Angeles. Blake and about 1,000 other marchers are scheduled to reach the California-Nevada border Monday and to hit Washington, D.C., in November, at which point the number of marchers is expected to reach 5,000.
The Wilder life . . .
The highlight of the American Film Institute`s Thursday salute to Billy Wilder, which will be broadcast April 26 on NBC-TV, was a rather special rendition of ”I Enjoy Being a Girl” by Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, who did a drag routine in ”Some Like It Hot” for Wilder in 1959. . . . Johnny Carson and ex-wife No. 3 Joanna came thisclose to running into each other at the event, but, says an INC. source, ”They seem to have some kind of radar that keeps that from actually happening.” . . . Lemmon, who worked for Wilder in seven movies, recounted the heart attacks, injuries and problems that have plagued Wilder`s films and said, ”I can`t tell you how pleased I am to be here.” . . . Whoopi Goldberg, in a form-fitting black dress, looked downright glamorous. . . . Ernest Borgnine approached Wilder after dinner and said,
”Why the hell didn`t you ever cast me? I can wear high heels.” . . . As celebs and film execs crowded around to chat with the 79-year-old director, one producer said to a writer: ”The sad thing is that tomorrow, nobody in this room will return his phone calls.”
INC.lings . . .
Great America`s new attraction for the 1986 season will be Splashwater Falls, a water ride with 20-passenger boats that go up an 80-degree incline and wind up with a ”huge” splashdown. The ride will open May 24.
. . . Sunday birthdays: Mickey Gilley, 50; Marty Ingels, 50; Raul Julia, 46;
Trish Van Devere, 41; Mickey Spillane, 68; Aidan Quinn, 27. . . . Fourteen-year old Ryan White, who suffers from AIDS, is back to monitoring his classes by telephone for what looks like the duration of the spring semester. But on Monday, it will be with a different twist. For a change, White`s fellow students from Kokomo, Ind., will be the ones monitoring the class by telephone hook-up. His 7th-grade science teacher will join Ryan at home to conduct a grasshopper dissection, while the class listens in over an amplified telephone circuit.
No place like home . . .
Former U.S. Atty. Dan Webb has emerged relatively unscathed after doing battle with some pretty formidable opponents. But that very red right eyeball he`s sporting resulted from a confrontation with his 13-year-old son and some of his pals, who ambushed Webb with snowballs as he was getting out of his car a few days back. ”It doesn`t hurt,” says Webb. ”It just looks awful.”
