Actor learns fame’s limits

Press, 15 August 1988, Page 19

Actor learns fame’s limits

David Hartnells

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I’m not one to gossip but ... recently Blair Underwood, who plays the cool cocky Jonathan Rollins in “L.A. Law,” met his hero, actor Sidney Poiter, on a plane. They sat and chatted for a while then Sidney asked Blair what he did, and can you believe he’d never seen “L.A. Law,” Blair was very disappointed, as he wanted some acting advice from his hero.

Hollywood publishers have brought out a book called "Famous Last Words.” Some of the stars in the book may not have been aware they were saying their last words, but those who heard them passed them on for everyone to hear, according to the book’s author, George Gipes. Legendary swash-

buckler Douglas Fairbanks must have been totally confused before giving up the ghost back in 1939, because his last words were “Never felt better.”

Outspoken Hollywood superstar Joan Crawford heard her housekeeper praying at her deathbed in 1977 and let loose with a command: "Damn it, don’t you dare ask God to help me.” Phineas T. Barnum, believed by some to be the greatest ballyhoo artist in history, was interested by the almighty dollar right up to his last moment on earth. His last words: “How were the receipts today at Madison Square Gardens?” Legendary dance queen Ginger Rogers is gravely ill and confined to a wheelchair in her home,

but the 77-year-old star flatly refuses to see a doctor. She is a devout Christian Scientist and it is against her religion to put her health in the hands of any doctor or hospital. Ginger married five times and won an Oscar in 1940 for he role as Kitty Foyle. She has no children.

When Sylvester Stallone’s mother Jackie met up with Shirley Temple Black former American ambassador, she said: “Shirley you’re with the State Department; why don’t you throw Brigitte out of the country?” I hear that Shirley just smiled and commented on the way Jackie looked, Shirley is always a lady.

By the way Jackie is still running her stable of

female wrestlers. Not only this but she has made a recording promoting them all. It goes something like this:

I’m Mama Stallone, listen to me sing.

My girls are champions in the ring. They’re on the go, they

never stop. That’s why they're headed for the top. She is working on taking a team of women wrestlers to the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. Cher is the latest entrant in the celebrity perfume stakes. A French perfume house is negotiating with her to use her name to launch their $lOO-an-ounce fragrance. The French company already has perfumes endorced by Catherine

Deneuve, Oscar de la Renta and Perry Ellis. Unlike Elizabeth Taylor, who recently peddled her “Passion” perfume around the world, Cher is expected to keep a low profile. New Zealand’s bestdressed TV sports announcer Trish Stratford has just landed herself a co-hosting job with the top American TV show, “Eye on L.A.” The programme will be seen by 16 million people every week and is shown in Los Angeles and New York. Trish starts shooting for the programme this month. It’s nice to see that her professionalism has finally been noticed, but it’s sad that again a New Zealander has to go for an overseas market ... but my lips are sealed.