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

Sounds like some sort of frontal-lobe malfunction


Janet Jackson
 (The Spokesman-Review)
The Spokesman-Review

Janet Jackson is seeking a restraining order against a man she says has been stalking her for nine years. Jackson says she has become increasingly frightened of Robert Gardner since he was stopped by security guards as he tried to enter a “Saturday Night Live” rehearsal last April.

He was carrying a box cutter and a knife, according to court papers.

“It is only a matter of time before he has the opportunity to harm me,” Jackson said.

She also is seeking to restrict Gardner from contacting her family, as well as current and former employees. A hearing is set for March 17.

Jackson said in her affidavit that Gardner had been contacting her since 1996 and has faxed her several letters, which “reference a fabricated personal history” between the two of them and “often contain disturbing sexual references.”

“I am extremely fearful that he will make another attempt to contact me physically while armed,” she wrote.

Maybe he slipped on a second banana?

Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson‘s former sidekick, was hospitalized after a fall in his Beverly Hills home left him with a mild concussion and a gash in his head that required stitches.

McMahon, who turned 82 on Sunday, tripped and fell Friday afternoon, his publicist said. She said he’s expected to be released from the hospital soon.

In addition to his work with the late Carson, McMahon was also co-host with Dick Clark of the “Bloopers” shows.

Dick’s not down for the count

Dick Clark, meanwhile, continues to recuperate at his beachfront home following a stroke three months ago,

“He is walking and talking, not to the extent that we would like to see it, but he’s progressing,” said publicist Paul Shefrin, adding that “doctors are telling him he will be there for the countdown this year” on his “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.”

As for reports claiming Clark, 75, is a demoralized recluse who’s ready to die, Shefrin said: “There has been no diagnosis of depression. He does business by telephone, and he leaves the house occasionally.”

Wishing you the best, darling

Zsa Zsa Gabor, seriously injured in a 2002 car crash, has settled her lawsuit against the driver for $2 million.

The 88-year-old actress was riding in a car being driven by her former hairdresser when it hit a light pole on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood.

Gabor is now partially paralyzed and uses a wheelchair, her attorney said. She spent months recovering from her injuries before returning to her Bel-Air home last year.

Look out, they’re back on the streets

Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys has been arrested for drunken driving just as the boy band has announced it will reunite for a tour.

Carter, 25, was stopped for a traffic violation Saturday and arrested following field sobriety tests. His publicist said he was “on doctor-prescribed medication and was unaware of its interaction possibilities.”

The Backstreet Boys, set to release their first album of original material since 2000, will begin a 13-city tour on March 21 in New York.

The birthday bunch

Actress Sue Ann Langdon is 69. Actress Lynn Redgrave is 62. Musician-actor Micky Dolenz (the Monkees) is 60. Singer Gary Numan is 47. Actor Aidan Quinn is 46. Actress Camryn Manheim (“The Practice”) is 44. Singer Shawn Mullins is 37. Actress Andrea Parker (“The Pretender”) is 36. Actor Freddie Prinze Jr. is 29. Actor James Van Der Beek (“Dawson’s Creek”) is 28.