Morning Report - News from July 12, 2001

THE ARTS

Kobe Bryant Shoots at ... the Getty? Watch for Adidas’ fall advertising campaign featuring Lakers star Kobe Bryant. If the backdrop looks familiar, it may be the Getty Center. The Getty wasn’t paid for the late-June shoot, staged in several locations on the hilltop site--but not with artworks or in galleries. “The request was granted based on an agreement that one of the photographs could be used to promote the Getty to the Greater Los Angeles community,” said Ben Bellinson, the Getty’s director of external affairs. “It could be used in an advertisement or as a direct-mail piece to schools. It’s also possible that Adidas won’t use any of the photographs and that we won’t use one either.” In any case, “it’s not something we plan to do again,” he said.

PEOPLE

Harrison Ford to the Rescue Again

Sounding like a character from one of his films, Harrison Ford starred as a real-life hero in a search-and-rescue for a missing Boy Scout on Tuesday. The actor, who offers his helicopter for rescue missions, joined a search for a missing Utah boy who had wandered off a trail Monday and spent a night alone in a secluded forest just south of Yellowstone National Park. After two hours of flying, Ford and another searcher found 13-year-old Cody Clawson about 10 miles from a Boy Scout camp at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. “Boy, you sure must have earned a merit badge for this one,” Ford said. “I already earned this badge last summer,” Clawson replied. This is the second time in a year that Ford guided his helicopter into the backcountry for a rescue.

TELEVISION

He Wants to Be a Millionaire

A former “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” contestant has sued producers and ABC, hoping to return to the show after he missed what he alleges was a faulty $16,000 question. If he is not allowed to return, Richard Rosner wants damages of more than $1 million in the L.A. Superior Court lawsuit filed Tuesday. A show spokeswoman said Wednesday the network does not comment on pending litigation. Rosner’s suit alleges ABC and Valleycrest Productions had a policy in which contestants could return if an error occurred. None of the four choices for “What capital city is located at the highest altitude above sea level?”--La Paz, Bolivia--was correct, Rosner contends.

QUICK TAKES

“Hair,” scheduled to run July 24-Sept. 2 at the Wilshire Theatre, has been postponed. Authors James Rado and Galt MacDermot have requested time to work on the script. Refunds are available at point of purchase.... In this week’s Old Master auctions in London, a drawing of a horse and rider by Leonardo da Vinci was sold for $11.9 million, a landscape painting by Dutch artist Meinhardt Hobbema commanded $9.1 million, and a pen-and-ink study of a shrouded figure by Michelangelo fetched $8.2 million. The buyers were not identified.... Comedian Wayne Brady (“Whose Line Is It Anyway?”) will host and star in a comedy-variety series, “The Wayne Brady Show,” premiering Aug. 8 on ABC.