TV & VIDEO - Feb. 6, 1989

The family of Leon Klinghoffer, who was killed by Palestinian terrorists aboard the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro in 1985, made it a “mission” to ensure that NBC-TV’s version, which airs Sunday, was authentic, according to a family friend. So Lisa Klinghoffer, a daughter of the wheelchair-bound New Yorker who was shot by terrorists and thrown overboard, visited Australia to talk to the actors, said the friend, actress Neva Small. “The Hijacking of the Achille Lauro” stars Karl Malden as Klinghoffer, a 69-year-old stroke victim, and Lee Grant as his wife, Marilyn, 58, who died of cancer four months after her husband was killed. Small, who appeared in the movie version of “Fiddler on the Roof” as well as several Broadway and off-Broadway productions, plays Lisa, her friend of 15 years. Italian courts convicted terrorist ringleader Abul Abbas in absentia for the killing.