To Be Or Not To Be True: That’s The Real Question

At age 37, Gary Oldman has enjoyed more fame and fortune than most men dream of.

Since winning a best actor award for his London stage work 11 years ago, Oldman has played a variety of roles. They’ve ranged from punk-rocker Sid in “Sid and Nancy” to Arthur Dimmesdale in Roland Joffe’s version of “The Scarlet Letter” (co-starring Demi Moore).

And then there’ve been the women. Married twice, the second time to Uma Thurman, Oldman has been seeing Isabella Rossellini, his “Immortal Beloved” co-star.

But he’s not sure that a third marriage is in the works. Not while he’s still acting.

“It’s the separation, the long-distance relationships over the phones,” he says. “You’d have to be Francis of Assisi not to just get lonely, bored, tempted. It’s so wearing on the spirit.”

Loose talk

Dr. Ruth Westheimer on her new book “Sex For Dummies”: “The French could learn from me a little bit. The Americans should keep their mouths shut more often and not talk about everything. The British should admit the topless women in their tabloid newspapers are gorgeous and admit they are as interested in sex as anyone else.” Some old Cougs just won’t fade away

Keith Jackson turns 67 today.

Speaking of up-and-out, how is Larry Fortensky doing?

Elizabeth Taylor, fresh off surgery to correct a leg-length problem, is back home. “She decided to just up-and-out,” her publicist, Chen Sam, said. “She’s looking forward to standing on her own two feet.” Taylor, 63, has had both hips replaced. But the second operation, in June, left one leg shorter than the other.

He has so much yet to teach her

Clint Eastwood, 65, is keeping time with a 29-year-old television newscaster named Dina Ruiz. She’s wearing a ruby ring that he gave her, and she’s been seen driving his cars. But marriage, an Eastwood friend says, “right now, is the last thing on his mind.”

Yesterday, all their troubles seemed so far away

They once were friends. They’ve even performed together. But Paul McCartney isn’t happy at Michael Jackson’s peddling of Beatles tunes for commercial use. Jackson, who owns rights to the music, has yet to answer McCartney’s complaints. “I have written to him three times and he hasn’t replied,” McCartney told Newsweek.

Maybe she’ll play herself in the pending miniseries

Tracy Hampton parlayed her role as a dismissed O.J. Simpson juror into a nude modeling session for Playboy magazine. But she wants more. Much more. “I’d like to do serious dramatic roles,” said the 26-year-old flight attendant.

If that’s the case, then we nominate ‘Showgirls’

After declaring, “I don’t know what the definition of pornography is and nobody else does either,” novelist Erica Jong then provided a definition to Lilith magazine. “Pornography is somebody’s else’s erotica that you don’t like,” she said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color Photos

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