The Duchess of York, the former Sarah Ferguson, or Big Red, as she`s sometimes known, is quickly becoming the people`s princess. While Princess Di is so perfect, Fergie, well, she`s a little too heavy, a little too loud and a little too absent-minded. The February Ladies Home Journal tells about the time a friend spotted her rushing out of the ladies` room at Harrod`s in London shortly after her engagement to Prince Andrew. A few seconds later, she ”burst back in, exclaiming, `Blast! I`ve forgotten it.` And there, sitting near the sink, was her fabulously expensive engagement ring!”
Chubby teenaged boys, take heart: You could turn out to be another William Hurt. In ”Caught in the Act: New York Actors Face to Face” (New American Library), Hurt tells author Don Shewey that he no more ”wanted to be an actor than he wanted to be a cowboy, fireman, cop, diplomat, statesman, artist, whatever.” ”Until I was 16,” he says, ”I was very chubby and a terrible athlete. My grades were – – – -. I didn`t have many friends. I had real trouble adjusting. One day a teacher walked up to me and said, `How would you like to try out for the school play?` I didn`t know him from Adam; he was just trying to help a kid. I was 14. I was nervous and said, `Okay.` I got this part, and I did it.”
For sheer hyperbole it would be hard to top ”Today” show executive producer Steve Friedman`s assessment of his weatherclown, Willard Scott. In
”The Today Show: An Anecdotal History of the First Thirty-Five Years”
(William Morrow), Friedman says: ”Scott is as important to `Today` as
(Marlon) Brando was to `The Godfather.` He may not be in every scene, but his presence pervades the show.”
