PEOPLE WATCHTaking Over at SAG: Sumi Haru,...

PEOPLE WATCH

Taking Over at SAG: Sumi Haru, a longtime national board member of the Screen Actors Guild, has been named acting president of the guild, replacing veteran incumbent Barry Gordon, who is resigning today to run for Congress. Haru, a New Jersey-born Filipina American, is the first person of color to head SAG and will serve until board elections are held in the fall, officials said. Haru is a founding member of the guild’s Ethnic Employment Opportunities Committee and is also a founder and current president of the Assn. of Asian Pacific-American Artists. Her acting credits include “MASH,” “Hill Street Blues,” “Krakatoa, East of Java” and “The Young and the Restless.” She has hosted various talk shows, including “Up for Air” on KPFK Pacifica radio, and has been a producer and moderator on the KTLA Channel 5 public affairs program “Gallery.” Haru, who currently serves as first vice president of SAG’s board, has announced she will seek reelection to that post when ballots are mailed out to guild members on Oct. 11. The three members who have announced they will seek the presidency of the guild are Richard Masur, Angel Tompkins and DeWayne Williams. . . . Meanwhile, Gordon, a Pasadena Democrat, has announced plans to run for the 27th Congressional District seat of Carlos J. Moorhead (R-Glendale). Gordon has been a Tony Award nominee and appeared on the TV series “Archie Bunker’s Place” from 1981-83, playing Archie’s lawyer and business manager, Gary Rabinowitz. He has served as SAG’s president for seven years.

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Home Alone: A frowning Elizabeth Hurley encountered a crowd of reporters at London’s Heathrow Airport Saturday after flying home alone from Los Angeles. She refused to say whether she has forgiven Hugh Grant, her longtime boyfriend, for hiring a prostitute. “Why do you ask such irritating questions?” Hurley said. “I don’t think you should ask questions like that. I wouldn’t ask you if your wife had done something bad.” Hurley, who made a grim appearance with Grant at the Los Angeles premiere of “Nine Months,” wouldn’t comment when asked if the apologies Grant made on the slate of talk shows he appeared on last week will save their relationship.

TELEVISION

Their So-Called Deal: The critically acclaimed drama “My So-Called Life” may have lost its life on ABC, but its creative team has found a home on NBC, entertainment president Warren Littlefield told reporters Sunday. Creator Winnie Holzman co-executive produced “My So-Called Life” with director Scott Winant, and they both will create a new mid-season drama for NBC. Holzman and Winant, who also worked together on “thirty-something,” will do a show about “the human condition,” rather than a franchise show about doctors, lawyers or cops, Littlefield said. The two are now in pre-production on a feature film written by Holzman. Littlefield apparently passed, though, on picking up “My So-Called Life,” the ongoing story of an adolescent girl played by Claire Danes. “The quality of it was just outstanding,” Littlefield said. “Conceptually it was a challenge. It was a concept that would be very difficult to get a large audience to.”

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Techno MTV: MTV is going interactive with a slate of new on-line programs. The network will launch “MTV Prime Time On-Line,” a nightly hour of original on-line shows, tonight at 5 p.m. The live programs include a talk show hosted by MTV veejay Kennedy, a dating game based on the network’s “Singled Out,” a music trivia show and a talk show about relationships. All of the shows require on-line user participation. MTV On-Line is available on America Online.

MOVIES

The Scarlet Movie: Demi Moore can count at least one moviegoer out when her film “The Scarlet Letter” hits theaters this fall. Yale professor Harold Bloom, a cultural critic, bemoaned the changes made in the adaptation of the Nathaniel Hawthorne classic. “Hawthorne would have been horrified,” he said when he found out that the film reportedly takes liberties with the story about 17th-Century adulteress Hester Prynne (played by Moore), who was made to wear the letter “A” after her affair with Rev. Dimmesdale (Gary Oldman). Hawthorne’s novel begins as Prynne struggles with her shame. But the movie version will start with her arrival in colonial America and flesh out the entire affair, according to Entertainment Weekly magazine. “What was interesting for us wasn’t to do a straight reproduction,” director Roland Joffe said.

LEGAL FILE

A Real Gem: A fight over a necklace ended with a generous donation as actress Sharon Stone settled her $12-million lawsuit against jeweler Harry Winston. Winston will make a donation to the American Foundation for AIDS Research to resolve the feud which started in 1993, when Stone wore a $400,000 Winston necklace during the promotional tour for her movie “Sliver.” Stone claimed the diamond necklace was a gift from Winston; the jeweler called her contention “mind-boggling.” Stone sued Winston in June, 1994, charging misrepresentation and breach of contract. The necklace was returned to Winston. The amount of the donation and other terms of the settlement were not disclosed.