Bypassing the Star Stereotype
Marilyn Young and her husband were dining in Newport Beach the day that TV host David Letterman had heart bypass surgery. She overheard a man at a nearby table say, “Well, David Letterman had the BIG surgery today.” A woman at that table responded, “He had a face lift?”
THANKS FOR THE WARNING! Chris Koseluk and Cindy Mulkern of Never Dull Productions, which develops television projects, received a piece of junk mail from a music service that was trying to personalize the offer by writing on a first-name basis. Unfortunately for the music service’s pitch, the first name was “Never” in this case (see accompanying).
CAN’T MAKE UP HIS MIND: Kevin Costner, as you may have heard, plays an advisor to President John F. Kennedy in “Thirteen Days,” a new film about the Cuban missile crisis of 1962.
By coincidence, Costner has the odd distinction of having uttered contrasting Kennedy assassination theories during his acting career.
In “JFK” he was Jim Garrison, the New Orleans attorney who believed that Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone in the shooting of Kennedy.
And in “Bull Durham” he was Crash Davis, a minor league ballplayer who told his girlfriend (played by Susan Sarandon) that he believes in hanging curves and long, wet kisses and “I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.”
EAT YOUR HEART OUT, HOUSTON: Did you hear that the World Wrestling Federation says it’s going to organize a pro football league--the XFL? What’s more, one of the teams is going to be based in the L.A. Coliseum. And there’s no mention of Houston, the city that outbid L.A. for the next expansion franchise in that other pro league, the NFL. Details have been few, but the World Wrestling Federation’s football games, unlike their matches, apparently will not be scripted beforehand.
WAITING FOR FONZ: Director Carey Perloff of San Francisco got off this snobby L.A. insult in the New York Times the other day:
“I remember directing Beckett’s ‘Happy Days’ at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles in 1990. I remember saying, ‘We really have to have good program notes or something because they’re going to think it’s ‘Happy Days’ the TV series. If you walk in expecting the Fonz, you’re going to find it really hard to understand Beckett.’ ‘
That’s Arthur Fonzarelli to you, Perloff.
TRUMPED: If Donald Trump receives the presidential nomination of the Reform Party in Long Beach or St. Paul (the two cities are vying for the convention), he shouldn’t count on the support of fellow business mogul Steve Wynn.
After Trump derided the design of Wynn’s new casino in Biloxi, Miss., Wynn told the Wall Street Journal: “Donald Trump doesn’t know what he’s talking about, and I refuse to have my business shaped by anything that imbecile says.”
Gee, doesn’t anyone have respect for presidential timber anymore?
TIME-TRIPPING: In Thursday’s column, I mentioned the Bally’s health club sign in Pasadena that proclaims “Open 24 Hours,” while also giving closing hours of 10 p.m. on weekdays and 8 p.m. on weekends. Steve Wright and Frank Doft came up with the same explanation for the apparent paradox. The place is open 24 hours--but not in a row.
miscelLAny:
On a trip to Hollywood, Ron Keyson of Big Bear snapped a cynical sign in the night sky (see photo). I wonder if it’s just a coincidence that this is an election season.
Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, L.A. 90053 and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.