Anka’s Long In The Tooth, And Now We Know Why

Imagine you’re in Las Vegas. You’ve saved your money, you’re staying at a posh casino hotel, and as a special treat you’re attending the high-powered show of popular entertainer Paul Anka.

OK, so you couldn’t get tickets to anything else. But you’re happy anyway, sitting here listen to the 55-year-old singer/songwriter belt out such tunes as “Lonely Boy” and “Diana.”

And then, during one song, a tooth inexplicably flies out of Anka’s mouth and lands in your drink.

OK, so it doesn’t land in your drink. But that’s the only embellishment of a mostly true story. A crown did fly out of Anka’s mouth during a June 20 Vegas show, and he’s suing the offending dentist for “unspecified damages.”

Loose talk

Kristin Scott Thomas on the the often ridiculous practice of asking movie stars for their opinions (in Interview magazine): “I’m an actress, and I think actresses shouldn’t be allowed to give interviews.”

And other strong guys are green with envy

Lou Ferrigno turns 44 today.

Maybe he should worry about when they won’t shoot him

Here’s the latest word on George Clooney’s refusal to cooperate with Paramount Television, owners of “Entertainment Tonight” and “Hard Copy.” “I’ll tape ‘Hard Copy,”’ Clooney says. “Every night. And if what they promise comes true, I will be the first to end this boycott. Proudly.”

Changing diapers all by themselves was a painful chore

Dr. Benjamin Spock may know best about babies, but his son doubts his abilities with older children. “My father really does like babies, but he thinks it’s a shame they grow up,” says John Spock, 53, a Los Angeles architect. “As babies we weren’t expected to know the difference between right and wrong. But once we could talk, our behavior had to shape up. It was a painful childhood.”

Now she really does have to guess who’s coming to dinner

Katharine Hepburn’s brother-in-law, Ellsworth Grant, says the 89-year-old actress is getting quite frail. “She could live like she is for five years or more or she could die tomorrow,” Grant says, noting that Hepburn has given up her Manhattan apartment for a home in Connecticut. “She has no life-threatening diseases… but she has the disease of old age. She walks a little, talks a little. Her memory is pretty much gone.”

Mommy will have her own wing of Neverland Ranch

If you’re interested, the mother-to-be of Michael Jackson’s child works as a nurse in the office of Beverly Hills dermatologist Arnold Klein. Debbie Rowe is 37 and, according to a fellow office worker, she has worked 15 years for Klein and is “very pretty and blond.”

Now, isn’t that an intriguing coincidence …?

The late actor/rapper Tupac Shakur had a short but interesting film career. His last movie, titled “Gang Related,” is due out in January. In it, reports say, he gets killed.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Photos (1 Color)

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