Did ‘Frasier’ Suffer From Toxic Turkey?

Tossed salad and scrambled eggs . . . $11 million: My Sweet Lord! . . . Hawkeye’s royalty pains . . . Cupid’s broken arrow.

A former NBC creative executive and members of the “Frasier” cast and crew are among 21 people suing Jerry’s Famous Deli, saying that the popular Studio City restaurant gave them food poisoning.

According to court records, the plaintiffs seek $1.5 million in damages for pain and suffering, medical costs and lost wages. They contend that Jerry’s served them contaminated deli platters in August 1994 that made them violently ill.

Jerry’s, you might recall, received some unwanted publicity when it was briefly closed for health code violations in November.

If the trial begins as scheduled March 16, attorneys say that we can expect testimony from dozens of people who claim to have been sickened by salmonella--a nasty little microbe that can cause bouts of extreme stomach and intestinal distress, as well as chills, dehydration, muscle aches and high fever.

The cases of alleged food poisoning occurred after Jerry’s catered an Aug. 21, 1994, spread at NBC studios in Burbank, where the “Frasier” cast and crew were filming promotional shots. Others who fell ill attended a child’s birthday party at Jerry’s, or simply dined at the Studio City restaurant that day.

Turkey was the common denominator.

Within a day or two, ill people started turning up at doctors’ offices and in hospital emergency rooms, said attorneys Howard K. Alperin and Mark E. Fingerman. A pediatrician concerned about the sudden surge of sick children linked the cases to Jerry’s, Alperin said.

Among those who say they were stricken is Peri Gilpin, who plays “Frasier’s” sultry producer, Roz. She is expected to be a witness at the trial, the lawyers said.

In a health department questionnaire, Gilpin said she ate turkey and chicken soup, then came down with body aches, nausea and cramps two days later.

“It did not hit me until Tuesday night during the taping of ‘Frasier.’ It lasted until Saturday,” she wrote on the questionnaire, which was included in the court file.

Stuart Weiss, a former vice president of Creative Services at NBC, said that afterward he was “unable to take business lunches,” a key part of his job, according to court records. Others complained of lasting effects such as weight loss and food phobias.

No response from Jerry’s.

BY GEORGE: George Harrison’s $11-million judgment against his former business manager has been upheld on appeal, and his lawyers say the former Beatle is very pleased.

“He feels vindicated,” said Robert S. Chapman, one of Harrison’s attorneys.

The manager’s attorney, Bruce Adelstein, said: “Needless to say we’re disappointed.” He said they are deciding whether to take the appeal further.

In a 15-page opinion, the state Court of Appeal affirmed Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kathryn Doi Todd’s judgment granting Harrison $10,929,640.28--half the amount of a debt for a soured deal over a film called “Cold Dog Soup.”

Harrison had contended that the ex-manager, Denis O’Brien, backed out of a 1978 agreement to cover half the losses incurred by their company, HandMade Films. O’Brien, who also had managed actor Peter Sellers’ financial affairs, had worked for Harrison since 1973 before they became business partners.

By the mid-1990s, their relationship grew strained. Harrison sued O’Brien in January 1995 in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging that O’Brien had never intended to honor the repayment agreement.

Harrison also accused O’Brien of converting his assets to finance a “lavish lifestyle.”

O’Brien and his lawyer appealed the judgment, arguing that the case should have been tried in England.

But the appellate court found that California was an appropriate forum because O’Brien spent a week each month here, had a California driver’s license and owned a home in Encino, allegedly purchased with some of the funds in question.

HAWKEYE VS. THE FOX: Alan Alda contends in a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court that he’s losing out on royalties because 20th Century Fox is licensing “MASH” reruns to its own cable network at a huge discount.

Alda sued the studio for breach of contract, contending that Fox decided to air the long-running syndicated series on the FX cable network “without actively seeking competitive offers from other cable networks with far more subscribers.”

By owning “MASH” and discounting licensing fees to its own subsidiary, Fox is “engaging in self-dealing,” alleges Alda’s suit, filed by attorney Marcia Harris.

Royalties that would have gone to Alda “remain instead within the Fox empire, in the form of cost savings and increased profits to the Fox broadcasting entities,” Alda’s complaint states. The series may saturate some markets, damaging its long-term commercial viability, the suit added.

“We don’t agree with Mr. Alda’s position,” Fox said in a statement. “The fact is that we have achieved tremendous value for this classic series, benefiting Mr. Alda as well as the other profit participants and creative people involved in the series.”

Alda earned four Emmys playing smooth-talking, gin-swilling, woman-chasing surgeon Capt. Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce in the Army medical comedy set during the Korean War.

THE EX FILES: If only Ben Thomas hadn’t tied one on to ring in the New Year, his Valentine’s Day might have been much cheerier. But as things now stand, on what would have been his third wedding anniversary, Thomas is not allowed within 100 yards of wife Roseanne or their 2 1/2-year-old son, Buck.

The sitcom queen-cum-talk show host filed for divorce Jan. 7, after, she alleges in court papers, Ben came home at 4 a.m. on New Year’s Day “in a major state of intoxication.” He’d been out celebrating by himself while she stayed home sick, Roseanne said in a declaration contained in the court file, which identifies her as Roseanne Thomas a.k.a. Roseanne.

She contends that he became belligerent when she refused to talk to him, ripped a telephone out of the wall and smashed up a few light fixtures; their shattered state was dutifully documented by photographs in the court file.

In the declaration, Roseanne portrays her estranged spouse, as “a binge drinker” who once wrecked a kitchen table with a baseball bat while in a rage over her not being home. Saying she feared that her husband would make good on his threats to abscond with little Buck, she sought and obtained the court order keeping him at least 100 yards away from her homes in Encino and Lake Arrowhead, her cars and, of course, herself and the boy.

A copy of the couple’s prenuptial agreement in the file indicates a clean, cheap dissolution. Ben is not entitled to support or any share of Roseanne’s property, including her marketing value as a celebrity. All he’s entitled to, according to the prenup, is 10 days to vacate the premises and $150,000 for relocation expenses.

Roseanne’s attorneys, Robert S. Kaufman and Lance S. Spiegel, had no comment. Neither did Thomas’ lawyer, Frank Garfield. The parties are due back in court at the end of the month.

15 MINUTES OF FAME, $7 MILLION: A schoolmate of the late Andrew Cunanan, who police believe killed Gianni Versace and three others before killing himself, is suing the Arts & Entertainment cable channel for $7 million.

Matthew Rifat contends in his Los Angeles Superior Court suit that he was defrauded out of profits from video sales of a “Biography This Week” segment in which he appeared.

Rifat, who attended the Bishop’s School near San Diego with Cunanan, was interviewed for the segment and supplied photographs, according to his Los Angeles Superior Court suit, which alleges fraud and breach of contract.

“Since we haven’t seen the complaint, we can’t comment,” responded a spokesman at A & E.

The segment aired Aug. 2, shortly after Cunanan’s cross-country killing rampage ended when he killed himself aboard a houseboat a few days after allegedly gunning down Versace on the steps of the fashion designer’s South Beach mansion.

Rifat says he was promised $300 each time his interview or his photographs of Cunanan were broadcast. He’s alleging that although he was paid $6,000 initially, he hasn’t received a dime from the 1,200 videos that have been sold, according to the suit.

Times staff writer Andrew Blankstein contributed to this column.