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

After All Of These Years, He’s Still Badgering Them

Compiled By Staff Writer Rick Bo

Given the recent torture of a Haitian immigrant, New York police haven’t changed much, former whistleblower Frank Serpico says.

“There are still a few good cops, but what’s the incentive for a good cop to come forward? They’ll end up getting what I got,” says Serpico, 61, who believes he was set up by fellow officers to get shot during a drug bust.

Serpico, played by Al Pacino in the 1973 film version of his life, has kinder words for “Cop Land,” the new police flick starring Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel.

“They are great actors who captured the slang, the activity, the attitude,” he says. “Everything about it seemed real to me.”

Counters Police Commissioner Howard Safir: “It bore no resemblance to any police officer or police department that I’ve ever known.”

Loose talk

Entertainment Weekly’s Jim Mullen, on “Cop Land”: “Sylvester Stallone gained almost 40 pounds to play the part of a small-town sheriff. Because he thought they said ‘small-town chef.”’

And his birthday cake will be a French confection

William Friedkin turns 58 today.

You could buy it, but you’d never be

Stallone Sylvester Stallone has put his 11-acre estate on Miami’s Biscayne Bay up for sale for a cool $27.5 million. Along with the main house - including four bedroom suites, nine bathrooms and two laundry suites - there are three guest houses, a boathouse, two complete fitness areas and staff quarters.

Sounds like your typical bazaar behavior

Maybe “Tootsie” wasn’t such a stretch after all. Dustin Hoffman, visiting a bazaar in Gocek, Turkey, was spotted taking more than a passing interest in a belly dancer’s dress on display.

From medicine woman to Miss Diagnosis

“Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” star Jane Seymour, in Puerto Rico filming a “Swiss Family Robinson” movie remake, came down with a disease originally diagnosed as dengue fever. However, doctors decided later it was actually leptospirosis, or swamp fever.

He already had one too many screwdrivers

Jan-Michael Vincent is suing a California fire department, claiming paramedics damaged his vocal cords while inserting a breathing tube after a drunken-driving accident last year. Vincent speaks just above a whisper and has lost roles as a result, says girlfriend Karen Thompson: “He’s struggling as an actor because he doesn’t have his tools.”

Forget crazy - the gods must be tone deaf

Still wondering why action hero Steven Seagal thinks he can succeed as a country musician? In his own words: “I have my spiritual reasons for doing this. My outlook is that all music is the language of the gods. It is nice to have a vehicle to make these spiritual offerings to the gods.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Photos

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Compiled by staff writer Rick Bonino