POP/ROCKStreisand Funds Kelley Memorial: Barbra Streisand will...

POP/ROCK

Streisand Funds Kelley Memorial: Barbra Streisand will memorialize “the spirit and optimism with which Virginia Clinton Kelley fought the breast cancer that took her life” with $200,000 in seed money to create the Virginia Clinton Kelley Breast Cancer Research and Education Fund at the Arkansas Cancer Research Center, part of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Kelley, the mother of President Clinton, died in her sleep Jan. 6. According to the university, she spent her last weekend in Las Vegas attending Streisand’s concerts there, and was informed of Streisand’s contributions and plans for the fund prior to her death. And Streisand reportedly spoke to Kelley just before she went to sleep on the night she died. Said Streisand: “I am deeply saddened by her passing, but she died as she lived, with grace and dignity, full of enthusiasm and the joy of life. . . . (She) leaves her optimism, tenacity and compassion as a legacy to her son, to the nation and to all of us privileged to have known her.” President Clinton has requested that memorial gifts in his mother’s name be made to the new fund.

*Springsteen Joins APLA Benefit: Bruce Springsteen will sing his title song to the AIDS-themed film “Philadelphia” at the Jan. 27 AIDS Project Los Angeles fund-raising benefit at the Universal Amphitheatre to honor First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and Walt Disney Studios Chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg. Springsteen, who made a recent $30,000 donation to APLA, joins a host of other celebrities scheduled to appear including Lily Tomlin, Angela Lansbury, Boy George, Richard Gere, Barbra Streisand, Doris Day, Jennifer Holliday, Patti LuPone and Whitney Houston. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.

TELEVISION

‘Tales’ Rates With Viewers: Armistead Maupin’s three-night “Tales of the City”--the controversial six-hour PBS miniseries about the lives and loves of a diverse cast of 1970s San Franciscans--carried an estimated 7% of the national viewing audience, according to early Nielsen ratings. The ratings were double what PBS usually gets in prime time but would be considered low for a commercial network. In Los Angeles, “Tales,” based on Maupin’s international best-selling novel derived from his long-running San Francisco Chronicle column, drew between 250,320 and 290,371 homes each night, ranging from 7% to 9% of the viewing audience. San Francisco’s numbers were much higher, drawing 21% to 28% of viewers--topping all four networks on Monday and Wednesday and trailing only ABC on Tuesday.

*Is This Your Show-Biz Break?: KTTV Channel 11’s “Good Day L.A.” morning show is seeking demo tapes from unsigned singers and bands to be delivered through the close of business today. Finalists will perform on the program the week of Jan. 24, and the winner gets a development deal with Fox Records. Tapes can be delivered to 5746 Sunset Blvd. . . . The CBS game show “The Price Is Right” will hold open auditions for on-air models today at Los Angeles’ CBS Television City. Further “Barker’s Beauty Search” auditions will be held later in the week in Dallas, Detroit and Miami. Four finalists will be chosen. For information: (800) 423-CBS1.

MOVIES

Actor Accused of Harassment: A film executive filed a sexual harassment suit against actor-director Maximilian Schell, accusing him of assault, infliction of emotional distress and violation of her personal rights, among other charges. Diana Botsford, 32, vice president for post-production at Kushner-Locke International, alleges the harassment took place during the production of Schell’s TV movie “Candles in the Dark,” which Kushner-Locke distributed. A spokeswoman for the 63-year-old Academy Award winner said he had not seen the suit and therefore could not comment.

*Snowing for the Dogs: Walt Disney Pictures will cover a portion of Los Angeles’ Hollywood Boulevard with snow today for a noon dog sled race celebrating the opening of the studio’s film “Iron Will,” about a young man who ran in a dog sled marathon in 1917. Two seven-dog racing teams, lead by KZLA-FM (93.7) deejay Shawn Parr and TV and radio traffic reporter Paul Johnson, will compete on a 100-foot course leading to Disney’s El Capitan Theatre.

QUICK TAKES

Los Angeles alternative rock station KROQ-FM (106.7) was named radio station of the year by Rolling Stone magazine. It’s the second year in a row that the magazine’s readers have chosen KROQ. . . . Cable’s Court TV will have live coverage of today’s pretrial hearing in the much-talked-about civil case in which a now 14-year-old Los Angeles boy accuses Michael Jackson of molesting him. The plaintiff and his attorney seek to compel Jackson to answer written questions about minors he has entertained since 1983. The coverage is scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. . . . Former Rolling Stone bass guitarist Bill Wyman, 57, and his third wife, ex-model Suzanne Acosta, 34, are expecting a baby late next summer. It will be the first for Acosta. Wyman has a 31-year-old son.