Bad Hollywood Movie, Good Political Windfall
When a New York City subway clerk was burned last month in an incident that appeared to be straight out of the movie “Money Train,” the bash-Hollywood bandwagon took off.
Prominent critics included Republican presidential candidate Robert Dole and Brooklyn district attorney Charles Hynes.
But now Hynes admits that the thieves who set 50-year-old ticket-taker Harry Kaufman on fire (he later died) say they did not get the idea from the movie (which stars Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson).
“‘Money Train’ had no influence on this crime,” Hynes told the New York Times.
“People think they have a license to beat up on the movie industry no matter whether their criticisms are rooted in fact or not,” responded Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America.
Loose talk
Marla Maples, describing her “most memorable brush with fame” (in InStyle magazine): “I have never really been that impressed by a celebrity, except the first time I saw Billy Graham. There is no other human being on this earth as charismatic.”
As they say, ‘When in Rome, do as a Roman does’
Ruth Roman turns 72 today.
And then there are all those Kelly Girls to audition
He quit in September, but ex-U.S. Sen. Bob Packwood has yet another week to vacate his senate office. According to the Washington publication Roll Call, Packwood has been given an extension on the typical 60-day time limit to pack up and go. “We need some direction on what stays, what goes and what goes to the historical society,” says Packwood press secretary Bobbi Munson.
And the moral is, you can win by losing
It probably isn’t necessary to suffer a personal tragedy to be named one of the 10 Best-Mannered People by the National League of Junior Cotillions. But it seems to help. The top three finishers for 1995 are actor Christopher Reeve, Israel politician Yitzhak Rabin and television host Joan Lunden. Reeve is paralyzed from the neck down, Rabin was assassinated and Lunden went through a bitter divorce.
At least he still boasts vocal cords of steel
Speaking of Christopher Reeve, he’s looking for work. Seems his health insurance runs out in 18 months. He’s been offered voice-over work from Warner Bros., and other projects are pending. “I’m not chained to this machine,” Reeve says of his air ventilator.
Who but a mayor’s wife to play a president’s sister?
Donna Hanover Giuliani, wife of New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, beat out a host of actresses - including Sissy Spacek - for the role of Ruth Carter Stapleton in the forthcoming film “The People vs. Larry Flynt.” Director Milos Forman cast Giuliani, an occasional actress, as the evangelist sister of ex-President Jimmy Carter.
And the world awaits these couplings with bated breath
Richard Gere-Cindy Crawford update: He’s seeing Carey Lowell, while she’s been seen with Val Kilmer.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color photos
The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Compiled by staff writer Dan Webster