Widow of 86-Year-Old Movie Extra Sues Studio

The line forms at the rear . . . Probate wide open . . . Domestic relations . . . Ratso gets an afterlife.

The widow of an 86-year-old extra who collapsed of a heart attack and died on a San Francisco film set has filed a wrongful death suit against Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, several movie production companies and a casting company.

Court papers also allege elder abuse and discriminatory employment practices.

Barbara Bowers charges in Los Angeles Superior Court that her late husband, Robert Leon Bowers, was told the work would not be strenuous. But he later was forced to walk nearly a mile wearing a heavy costume, even though he made it clear he was recovering from open heart surgery, the suit says.

Bowers, costumed in robes, was to play a cardinal in a Vatican scene June 30, 1998, for a movie called “Stigmata,” the suit says.

During the hike to the set, undertaken by a herd of 100 extras, Bowers fell behind, “became disoriented, out of breath and physically exhausted” and collapsed, court papers say.

Clutching his chest and gasping for air for seven to 10 minutes, he died where he fell along a roadway, according to the suit. Paramedics arrived 15 to 20 minutes after Bowers collapsed, and pronounced him dead at the scene, the suit says, adding that at no time was production suspended to investigate the death or pay respects to Bowers.

Bowers wasn’t a professional extra, says the widow’s attorney, John J. Uribe. “He was a retired tax assessor. He was called by a casting company. He and his wife thought this would be a fun way to pass some time.”

MGM isn’t commenting.

PIECEKEEPERS: When the doors swing open to the downtown Los Angeles County Courthouse on Tuesday, they will be fewer and fitted with airport-style metal detectors.

The heightened security at the rambling building where probate, divorce and other civil cases are heard is the result of four years of study, debate and budget crunching. The call for a more secure courthouse came in September 1995, when Harry Zelig, a Woodland Hills physician embroiled in a bitter divorce, pulled out a gun on a second-floor escalator and shot his estranged wife, Eileen, to death in front of their young daughter.

The nine-story courthouse at 111 N. Hill St. is the last in Los Angeles County to beef up security. Nearly 2 million people pass through the 17 entrances every year. Now, a dozen public entrances will be locked. Henceforth, weapons screenings will take place at the following public entrances: Hill Street, first floor; Grand Avenue, fourth floor; Olive Street at 1st Street, second floor; the mall entrance, north side, second floor; Parking Lot 18, north side, first floor.

In recent years, metal detectors have become commonplace at the county’s criminal court buildings. Now civil lawyers also can expect early morning lines, and are advised to keep pocket knives and nail clippers--not to mention that heater--at home.

FINAL AFFAIRS: Even as his last film, “Eyes Wide Shut,” starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, opens in theaters this month, the late director Stanley Kubrick’s final affairs are coming before a Los Angeles probate court.

His attorney, Bruce M. Stiglitz, recently filed a petition to probate the U.S. portion of the director’s will. Kubrick died in March in England, where most of his assets are, and where trust funds already have been established for his children and other heirs. But according to court documents, he left about $31,500 worth of personal property here.

Under his 1974 will, the legendary director bequeathed to his wife, Christiane, the following: $100,000, his clothing, jewelry and personal effects, household furniture and furnishings, automobiles, artworks, property and insurance.

Kubrick left his sister, Barbara Kroner, $75,000 in trust, as well as $7,500 a year. His adult children also have trust funds.

THE NANNY: Kiss rocker Gene Simmons and actress Shannon Tweed have been sued by their former housekeeper, who claims she endured three years of offensive racial remarks before she was laid off in February.

Paula Vallardes says in her Los Angeles Superior Court suit that she is a victim of racial discrimination. She worked for the couple as a nanny and housekeeper from April 15, 1996, until Feb. 28. During that time, she contends, Tweed continually berated her and made racist remarks.

Tweed, who starred in such films as “Hot Dog: The Movie,” is accused of criticizing her Salvadoran employee’s English-speaking skills and characterizing Latins as lazy, stupid people who “don’t want to get ahead.” A spokesperson for the actress could not be reached.

RATSO REVISITED: The producers of the Academy Award-winning film “Midnight Cowboy” are suing MGM, claiming that the studio cheated them out of $3 million in profits from the 1969 film classic.

Jerome Hellman Productions alleges fraud, breach of contract and antitrust violations. The Los Angeles Superior Court suit claims that MGM underreported home video profits and diluted the worth of the acclaimed film, starring Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman, by distributing it in packages with inferior movies.

The suit, filed by entertainment attorney Barry Langberg, seeks compensatory and punitive damages and an accounting. No comment from MGM.