Their Relationship Died Long Before She Did
Jay Leno finally breaks his silence about former manager Helen Kushnick, who died of cancer in August, in the new TV Guide.
Kushnick, who had guided the “Tonight Show” host’s career for 17 years, was fired by NBC in 1992 after she alienated guests amid a booking war with rival talk hosts Arsenio Hall and David Letterman.
“It’s too bad she died. Can we skip this?” Leno first told TV Guide. When pressed, he finally said: “It was a bad breakup. It had been coming for a long time. I was tired of pretending there wasn’t a problem.”
Later, Leno said, after both of his parents died, “I didn’t hear from her, not even a note … If she had written, I would have picked up the phone. After that, I thought, ‘That’s it.”’
Loose talk
Claire Danes, on her so-called life at age 17 (in W magazine): “I KNOW I’m sometimes goofy. I KNOW I’m young; I’ve come to terms with that. As a kid, I wanted to be a teenager so badly! Now I can’t wait ‘til I’m in my 20s.”
Horizontally-challenged Checker, to be PC
Chubby Checker turns 55 today.
It’s the last promise his career has shown
Following a pair of big-screen flops with “Kiss Of Death” and “Jade,” David Caruso is considering a return to TV as a crusading lawyer in a new CBS show based on New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a former federal prosecutor, Daily Variety reports. One hitch: When Caruso broke his contract to leave “NYPD Blue” two years ago, he promised ABC he wouldn’t work in television again until 1998.
That would really be an unnatural phenomenon
The lowdown on “X-Files” co-stars Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny at the Emmy awards, courtesy of Joan Rivers (on the Prodigy computer network): “(Anderson) just had a terrible attitude. David was adorable and wanted to play and answer questions. She was just very snooty … It’s very sad because people don’t realize how fast fame comes and goes. She should be a little nicer to the press and public.”
However, she would have to dress up like Mr. T
“Coach” star Shelly Fabares has been hired by the Mr. Coffee people to pitch their latest line of appliances, the Mrs. Tea hot- and iced-tea makers. Her contract leaves open the possibility she might also promote Mr. Coffee, a job that used to belong to Joe DiMaggio.
Glued to the tube? She doesn’t call that a life
Claire Danes, on modern society (in George magazine): “As adults, we have stopped singing and dancing, drawing and playing. Machines have made it more expedient to buy things than to make them, and instead of trying some creative venture ourselves, we are passively entertained by watching hours of television. By creating and enjoying art, people would open their minds to the world around them so we could improve tomorrow’s world.”
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color photos
The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Compiled by staff writer Rick Bonino