Presenting the Presenters

On Jan. 12 at L.A.’s Century Plaza, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will induct 11 new music legends--those great divas of rhythm, blues, soul and early “rock influence” Ruth Brown, Dinah Washington, Etta James; the groups Cream, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Sly and the Family Stone, the Doors, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers; Van Morrison; producer Milt Gabler, a legend in the music industry; and Dick Clark, who is beyond legendary. Usually the evening’s presenters are kept under wraps until the night of the event itself--but we are here to puncture that balloon of secrecy!

Appearing to pay tribute, entertain and hand out awards: Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, Bette Midler, Stevie Wonder, Bonnie Raitt and Billy Crystal. It should be quite a bash, particularly as this has always happened in New York City. But L.A. got the nod this year, and everybody who is anybody in La La Land is fighting to attend.

1992 was the year of the vampire, with half-a-dozen bloodsucking movies filming or in release. It looks now as if the trend for this year will be the Three Musketeers! Several major movie projects on those famous cavaliers are now in various stages of development. These include a Jon Peters’ production at Columbia, one at Disney, another at Vision International and a TriStar swashbuckler.

There are probably plenty of athletic actors in Hollywood who could do justice to the Dumas heroes--and look good in tights, too (Kevin Kline and Tim Curry, for instance). But show biz will have to search a long time--and probably fail--before they find anybody to hold a candle to Lana Turner in the 1948 MGM version. As the wicked Milady DeWinter, Turner is the worst woman in France and doesn’t care who knows it.

Marla Maples jumped on the anyplace-but-Aspen bandwagon. Maples canceled her ski trip to Colorado and spent her holiday in New Mexico, “where all people have the same rights, regardless of their sexual orientation.”

Maples return to her showgirl role in “The Will Rogers Follies” tonight. (Maples is getting good press these days. Tommy Tune praised her from the stage in his recent Broadway act.)