TELEVISIONIt’s Not Angie Dickinson’s Life: Actress Angie...

TELEVISION

It’s Not Angie Dickinson’s Life: Actress Angie Dickinson walked out of a surprise tribute at NBC Studios Tuesday night, leaving behind those who had come to honor her--including Bob Hope, Burt Reynolds and Jackie Collins. Dickinson, best known for the ‘70s series “Police Woman,” was to be the subject of a “This Is Your Life Show” being taped for NBC. She’d been told she was at the Burbank studio for a tribute to filmmaker Brian De Palma, for whom she had starred in the earlier “Dressed to Kill.” On Wednesday, Dickinson offered no explanation, saying merely that she had “great regret” that she “just couldn’t do the show.” Dickinson’s actions made history: With about 600 “This Is Your Life Shows” held since 1952, Tuesday’s was the first to be canceled by the honoree.

Poundstone Pulled: After two disastrous airings, ABC pulled the stool out from under “The Paula Poundstone Show” Wednesday. Last Saturday night, the new one-hour variety and comedy show, hosted by the comedian sitting on a stool, finished No. 96 in the weekly ratings out of 97 prime-time programs. Only two episodes of the series were made, ABC said, adding that it has not yet filled the 9 p.m. time slot.

POP/ROCK

Sinatra Can’t Beat Pearl Jam: Maybe on his next duet outing, Frank Sinatra ought to consider inviting Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder to share a mike with him. The Chairman of the Board’s new “Duets” collection sold an impressive 174,000 copies during its first week in the stores, but that wasn’t enough to unseat reigning champ Pearl Jam’s “Vs.” from the top of Billboard’s pop album sales chart. Pearl Jam sold about 269,000 copies last week and will continue to command the No. 1 position when the trade magazine hits the newsstands Saturday, with the much-hyped “Duets” entering the chart at No. 2.

Streisand Answers Labor Leaders: Barbra Streisand responded for the first time Wednesday to a national group of women labor leaders upset with her upcoming New Year’s performances at Las Vegas’ new MGM Grand Resort by affirming her support for unions while distancing herself from MGM’s non-union policy. “I personally think that unions are in the best interest of working people and this country. Nothing in my decision to perform at the MGM Grand is inconsistent with these beliefs,” Streisand said in a six-paragraph statement stressing that MGM management had assured her that workers would be allowed to vote for union representation if they so wished. “I believe it would be patronizing and improper for me to dictate . . . what these specific workers should do,” she said. “My concern is that the workers are ensured of all their legal rights to make that choice themselves.”

Suit Alleges ‘Racial Cleansing’: An ex-vice president at Motown Records has sued the company and two top executives, alleging he was fired during an effort to “racially cleanse” his department. Stephen E. Meltzer, Motown’s former vice president of creative services, alleges in a Los Angeles Superior Court suit that he was fired in January because he is white and gay. The suit also alleges that Motown chief executive officer Jheryl Busby did not properly investigate the actions of executive consultant Jonathan Clarke, who fired Meltzer. The suit seeks unspecified general and punitive damages, as well as compensation for medical expenses and lost earnings.

ARTS

Market Continues to Rebound: A multicolored abstract painting by American artist Arshile Gorky sold for a record $3.8 million at Christie’s Tuesday in the auction house’s most successful sale of contemporary art since the boom years of the late 1980s. “Year After Year,” painted shortly before Gorky died in 1948, far surpassed the previous Gorky record of $880,000, set in 1989. The total sale of major postwar artists including Jackson Pollock, Francis Bacon and Frank Stella netted nearly $16 million--well within the auction house’s pre-sale estimate of $15.3 million and $20.2 million. It was the first time since 1989 that totals for the biannual contemporary art sales had topped the low estimate, which Christie’s heralded as a signal that the art market is picking up steam.

MOVIES

Festival Will Honor Phoenix: San Francisco’s 18th annual American Indian Film Festival opens tonight with a tribute to actor River Phoenix, who died suddenly last week at the age of 23. The nine-day festival will debut Phoenix’s Western film “Silent Tongue,” in which he plays a man unable to cope with overwhelming grief for his dead Indian wife. The film is scheduled to open in theaters in February.