Her Other Life Independence And Learning How To Drive Is What’s Most On Claire Danes’ Mind These Days

Steven Spielberg loves her. Her movie is an unexpected hit. And she just won a Golden Globe for her TV series.

So what is Claire Danes really excited about these days?

“Learning how to drive!” says the almost-16year-old star of ABC’s “My So-Called Life,” whose last original episode of the season - and maybe ever - airs at 8 p.m. tonight. ABC will decide in May whether to renew the highly acclaimed but low-rated drama.

“I’m from New York, where you take subways everywhere,” says Danes. “When I came to L.A., it was a huge shock to have my independence lost. I can’t wait till I can just go off and be in a space alone for a few minutes at a time.”

Danes turns 16 April 12. As for who will teach her the rules of the road, “hopefully, my mom or dad,” she said in a recent interview during the TV critics’ tour. “Or my boyfriend. (He’s an 18-year-old high school senior who writes music.) That would be the most fun.”

Danes’ next movie project is “How to Make an American Quilt,” with Winona Ryder, her costar in the surprise success “Little Women.” Danes plays Anne Bancroft’s character as a young woman. Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment is producing “Quilt,” but he’s a Danes fan from her work as precocious, angstridden Angela Chase on “My So-Called Life.”

Danes “is one of the most exciting actresses to debut in 10 years,” he says. “I don’t really understand why she’s captured my heart. She just has an amazing honesty in her presence. She’s a lot like my 18-year-old stepdaughter Jessica and all her friends.

“She represents a lot of what we parents like in our kids.”

Spielberg’s remarks “are flattering,” Danes says. “Hopefully, I can keep growing as an actress.”

ABC Entertainment boss Ted Harbert has been deluged with pro-“Life” pleas from viewers, critics and fans in cyberspace, via America Online. Closer to home, “Life’s” biggest booster may be Harbert’s wife, Susan.

“We watch the episodes together. By the end, she turns to me and says, ‘So, you’re gonna cancel this?’ I have people who work for me who are passionate about it, too. I’m getting pressure every day from all quarters.”

Second ‘Gone With Wind’ sequel a go

First there was “Gone With the Wind.” Then Scarlett O’Hara returned in “Scarlett.” Now a second sequel to Margaret Mitchell’s 1936 classic is in the works, the rights to which were acquired Tuesday by St. Martin’s Press for $4.5 million.

Not much is known about the novel, which is still untitled and scheduled for release in 1997, except that it promises to bring Scarlett and Rhett Butler back to the American South from Ireland, where they ended up in “Scarlett.” That book was written by Alexandra Ripley in 1991 and has sold 2.5 million hard-cover copies for its publisher, Warner Books.

The second sequel is to be written by a St. Martin’s author, Emma Tennant, who is a proven hand in the tricky sequel business, having written two follow-ups to Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.”

John Murphy, a spokesman for St. Martin’s, said Tuesday night that the sequel deal was struck by Owen Laster, executive vice president at William Morris, who acts as the agent for Margaret Mitchell’s estate, and Sally Richardson, president and publisher of the trade division of St. Martin’s press.

Rose Kennedy VCR alert

“Rose Kennedy Remembers,” a profile of the late Kennedy family matriarch, will air at 9 p.m. today on cable’s A&E. Kennedy died Sunday at age 104.

PBS’s Robert MacNeil narrates the documentary, produced in 1974 for the BBC. Now owned by A&E, “Rose” is part of its weeknight “Biography” series, hosted and updated by Peter Graves. “Rose,” which previously ran on A&E Nov. 22, bumps a previously scheduled segment on Howard Cosell. No new airdate.

Patti Davis nude video

Daddy’s Little Girl, Patti Davis, will turn up at your video store Feb. 8 as a “Celebrity Video Centerfold.” Former President Reagan’s daughter proves, once again, that her talent is two-dimensional as she did when she posed for nude photos in the July issue of Playboy.

New James Bond movie filming

Filming has begun in England on the 17th installment of the James Bond franchise, with Pierce Brosnan finally in the role of 007. Brosnan has been pegged for the part for some time. Now he not only inherits the mantle, he gets a good dose of heavyweight co-stars in the bargain.

On board for “Goldeneye” will be Robbie Coltrane (who took the lion’s share of ACE awards for his role as “Cracker”), Sean Bean and Judi Dench as M.

The movie is being shot in a former Rolls Royce factory in Leavesden, outside London. Of course, the crew will dog the steps of Carmen San Diego as they set up locations in Switzerland, St. Petersburg, the French Riviera and Puerto Rico.

Quincy Jones wins honor

Quincy Jones, the prolific music producer and entertainment mogul, will receive this year’s Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award on March 27 at the 67th Annual Academy Awards. Jones, the 29th winner of the award, follows in the footsteps of such film luminaries as Paul Newman (last year’s recipient), Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Howard W. Koch, David Wolper, Danny Kaye, Lew Wasserman and Frank Sinatra.

The Hersholt award was established in 1956 and is voted on by the academy’s board of governors to a person in the movie business “whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry.”

Jones is a seven-time Oscar nominee who has scored 35 films. He is a member of President Clinton’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities and the founder of the Listen-Up Foundation, a charitable organization that helps young people.

Directors award nominees

“Forrest Gump” director Robert Zemeckis (who over the weekend picked up a Golden Globe) and “Pulp Fiction” director Quentin Tarantino are among the nominees for the 47th annual Directors Guild of America feature film awards announced earlier this week.

Tarantino and Zemeckis are joined by Frank Darabont (“The Shawshank Redemption”), Mike Newell (“Four Weddings and a Funeral”) and Robert Redford (“Quiz Show”) as the other nominees. The awards will be presented March 11 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

The awards are increasingly perceived as a barometer for the Oscars. Only three times in DGA history has the DGA winner not gone on to win the Oscar.

O.J. flick yanked

CBS has pulled the movie “Naked Gun 2: The Smell of Fear” from its February sweeps lineup after affiliates expressed concern about airing a comedy movie with O.J. Simpson in it while he stands trial for the murder of his exwife.

CBS had announced last week that “Naked Gun 2” would air Feb. 8. CBS executives did not put up a fight with the affiliates and agreed to pull “Naked Gun 2” from the schedule, according to The Hollywood Reporter. They said they were not aware of Simpson’s appearance in the movie. No replacement movie has been announced.