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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Standing In The Spotlight, They Still Take Time To Sign

Compiled By Staff Writer Dan Web

OK, so we’re down on paparazzi (bad). And we’re firmly on the side of celebrities (good). No sweat. We can adjust.

But the world still is filled with fans who want to know everything they can about their favorite movie star, drug-abuser, headline-grabber, member of some country’s royal family, political machinist and/or Kennedy.

Just as those luminous personalities are struggling with just how much personal life to share and still command the high-profile interest and attendant payday.

For the record, Autographer Collector Magazine rates the following as the 5 Best Autographers in the biz: John Travolta, James Woods, Mira Sorvino, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Christopher Lambert. The 5 Worst? That would include Jerry Lewis, Kevin Costner, Tom Cruise, Alicia Silverstone, Demi Moore.

Loose talk

Diane Keaton on watching TV (in Total TV): “The problem with television is the attention you don’t give it. A movie forces you to pay attention because you left the comforts of your home and paid your money and you’re gonna give it two hours.”

Her celebration will take place at the river’s edge

Ione Skye turns 26 today.

I love, I love, I love a calendar whatever

Speaking of intrigue with celebrities, the Utne Reader rates four levels of the Blond Bombshell: Marilyn Monroe is “real (not bogus)”; Jayne Mansfield is “real fake (classically bogus)”; Anna Nicole Smith is “fake (merely bogus)”; and Dennis Rodman is “hyperfake (so bogus that he threatens the idea of the real).”

Actually Clint told us over breakfast that…

One way to beat the tabloid press is to force its hand on truth issues. Clint Eastwood, for example, won a $150,000 judgment from the National Enquirer for printing a combination of file quotes and outright fabrications that made it seem as if the action star had agreed to an exclusive interview. “False suggestion,” the judge ruled.

Good mornings no longer include a cup of java and Joan

Friday’s “Good Morning America” will spend its entire two hours as a valentine farewell to exiting co-host Joan Lunden. Those giving tribute to Lunden, who is leaving after a 19-year stay, include President Clinton, Billy Joel, Chevy Chase and Tim Allen.

He has no intention of ever running for California governor

Following Clint Eastwood’s lead (see above), Tom Selleck rebutted the claim by New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd that he was the target of Republican political recruiters. Dowd’s allegations are “half-truths and fabrications,” Selleck wrote the Associated Press.

They considered recasting Ford with Rupert Everett

The Harrison Ford-Anne Heche movie “6 Days, 7 Nights” is still in production, though director Ivan Reitman apparently has made it more action than romance. Heche, you’ll recall, recently announced that she was having an affair with sitcom star Ellen Degeneres.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Photos

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Compiled by staff writer Dan Webster