OXENBERG--FROM ONE DYNASTY TO ANOTHER

If a fledgling actress moves to Madrid to be with her Spanish fiance and then, after a couple of years, bids him adios because the urge to act again is too strong to resist, it seems fair to assume she’s ambitious.

“No,” says Catherine Oxenberg, who did just that and now appears in “Dynasty.” “Dedicated, perhaps; not ambitious.”

Well, a lot of people seem to think that Spain’s loss is American television’s gain. Among them is George Hamilton, who says of Oxenberg: “She has the makings of a new Grace Kelly.”

That may be going a little far, but she certainly doesn’t look as if she was just discovered reading comic books at a soda fountain. She looks just what she is: a stylish young sophisticate who’s equally at home in London, New York and Los Angeles.

Because her mother is Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia and she is distantly related to British royalty, Oxenberg crops up in the gossip columns all the time. Particularly in Britain, where the country went mad when she made her acting debut as Lady Di in the 1983 TV film “The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana.”

It was just after that project that she took off for Madrid to be with her fiance. “I was madly in love with him and planned to marry him,” she said the other day, “but after a while the need to see if I could make it as an actress became too strong. I felt I had to give myself a chance if I was ever to be happy.”

So she came to Los Angeles, found herself an agent and soon landed the role of Amanda in “Dynasty.”

“When I got the show, some people said it was a mistake getting locked into something for such a long time. But if I’m any good, it won’t hurt me; if I’m not, then I’m lucky to be on TV at all.”

Her mother, who once trifled with the acting profession herself, is particularly pleased with her daughter.

“Mother was engaged briefly to Richard Burton years ago and did a tiny part with him in the film ‘Jackpot’,” said Oxenberg. “Unfortunately, it was never released (shot in the South of France, the project ran into financial difficulties and was never completed). She even went to acting school in New York at one point. But she has many interests and is easily sidetracked.”

Oxenberg’s royal connections, apart from providing fodder for the columnists, have stood her in good stead in other areas.

“Until last year I had an arrangement at Claridge’s hotel in London where I paid just 15 pounds a night for a room,” she said. “They’ve always been wonderful about the relatives of exiled royalty. And I use my grandmother’s name (Princess Olga) quite shamelessly. Last time, I was there the doorman said, ‘Welcome home, Miss Oxenberg.’ I thought that was wonderful.”

IN THE NECK: It’s hard to avoid Shari Belafonte-Harper these days. Her photograph stares out from half a dozen magazines (Vogue and McCalls among them) and she’s a regular on ABC-TV’s “Hotel” as Julie the information manager.

However, in her new project she doesn’t look so good--unless you care for gray-skinned women with fangs and wild eyes. For in the “Midnight Hour” airing Oct. 27, she’s a 17-year-old high school student who turns into a vampire.

Seventeen?

“Isn’t that great,” said the 30-year-old daughter of Harry Belafonte. “Some of my family insist it’s a terrific stretch, but everyone else seems happy.”

Constant exposure on “Hotel” is helping her lose that “just a model” tag, she feels. But if she seriously wants to act, shouldn’t she give up modeling completely?

“I don’t see why. It’s a great source of revenue. I really feel I can do both. And it was doing those Calvin Klein jean commercials that brought me to the attention of the ‘Hotel’ producers.”

Now, her brother David Belafonte, 27, has also begun modeling.

“I’m older than he is,” said Shari Belafonte-Harper. “But my agent insists I must lie about my age now. So, I’m 25. All right?”