WALK OF MONEY

You saw that Tom Cruise was assigned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame--and you may have figured that somebody was hallucinating on an illegal substance.

No, it’s all true. It happened.

As if there hasn’t been enough hype on “The Color of Money,” the Disney people (via its Touchstone label) bought the star’s star for dedication on the day the film opened.

People who love Hollywood history may be offended, of course. But there’s no mystery on the selection process:

An actor or personality from show biz must first be officially nominated to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce (Touchstone did this). Then $3,500 must be paid for the installation costs (Touchstone did). And the star’s appearance must be guaranteed along with a PR campaign (again, no problem for Touchstone).

There was minor resistance from the Selection Committee of the chamber, we were told, because of Cruise’s youth (24) and because of the paucity of his filmography (eight movies in five years).

But chamber PR director Kathy Shepard asserted that Cruise’s was starred because of “his ascendance as a top box-office star, his all-American image and his emergence as an international star.”

(No, Cruise co-star Paul Newman is still starless. He made more than 45 movies and, a lot of people say, did a nice job: But “nobody at Touchstone even asked if Newman was interested,” said Warren Cowan, Newman’s PR man for 28 years. “In fact, nobody has ever asked or made that proposition to me.” A rep at Touchstone said the folks there had the feeling that Newman wouldn’t want a star.)

Recent honorees: Tina Turner, Everly Brothers, Forrest Tucker, Dennis Weaver and KABC morning talkers Ken and Bob.

Upcoming: George Takei of “Star Trek,” Chad Everett and telephoner Cliff Robertson.

Other ascendant stars in the Cruise age range also have similarly impressive filmographies. Like: Matt Dillon, with 11 films already; Emilio Estevez, 10; Sean Penn, 8; Ally Sheedy, 8; Nicolas Cage, 8; C. Thomas Howell, 8. Less impressive: Rob Lowe and Kevin Bacon with a paltry 7 each and Judd Nelson at 5.