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Hollywood hues
LEAD by Kirk Douglas’s son, Michael, the merry band of star sons is taking over the reins of the dream city from their respective fathers. Sean Connery’s son Jason, John Wayne’s son Ethan, Martin Sheen’s son Charlie, Clark Gable’s son John and Steve McQueen’s son Chad are just a few examples of how Hollywood is being over-run by the son brigade. Most are cleverly hitching a ride on the popularity of their respective dads. John has re-christened himself John Clark Gable, Chad McQueen has made his debut in Bullit II, a take off on his dad’s sixties megahit Bullit and Ethan Wayne is looking for tough roles the kind his legendary dad performed in the fifties. But Jason Connery would like to stay away from the influence of his father. "Initially, some producers tried to cast me in James Bond-kind of roles. I said a firm no. In a way I’m thankful I have inherited my mother’s looks, not my father’s. If I had I would have probably changed my name." Ironically, father Sean Connery at 70 continues to ride the popularity wave while the son is still struggling. Out-of-this-world role
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Back in 1992, it was an unlikely kind of a Hollywood debut, but Catherine Oxenberg was convinced it was the role of a lifetime. After all not everyone gets to play Lady Diana. Though Unhappily Ever After didn’t ignite the box offices, a sequel is being made now. The yet untitled film will cover the turbulent life of Lady Diana from 1993 till her tragic death. It picks up exactly where the first film left off. Scion of the royal family of erstwhile Yugoslavia, Catherine is a distant cousin of Prince Charles and like Diana, she too has been a victim of anorexia bulimia. In those days she met the royal couple regularly but invitations stopped abruptly once she signed the film. "Given their scenario it was impossible not to feel uncomfortable in their presence," she recall and adds, "I enjoyed doing the film but I can’t say the same about the sequel. That was about life this is about death." By George Some people never learn. Over a decade after the storm he kicked up about his views on rape, which cost him an Oscar in 1991, French and American actor Gerard Depardieu is back in the wrong kind of news again and seems to get into trouble again and again. Dining at New York’s snooty Mayflower recently, the sozzled Depardieu swayed upto the pianist and asked him to stop playing as he wanted to sing. The pianist refused to oblige. The inebriated actor banged on the keys with his elbows and bodily lifted the pianist and flung him to the floor. Kicks and punches followed as guests ran for cover. Though the swank eatery has dropped charges, the pianist has filed a million-dollar damages suit for injuries and obstruction of duty.
No hassles for Hasselhoff Though women around the world may flip for Baywatch hunk, David Hasselhoff, in private life he’s a three-women man. And the three women happen to be wife Pamela and daughters Taylor Ann, 6 and Hayley Amber, 4. Few know that the star who’s made his millions by being TV’s best known lifeguard, is also a successful pop star in Europe. But singing has to take low priority as Baywatch takes up most of his time. Now that Hasselhoff has a steady fan following around the world he plans to graduate to the big screen like Pierce Brosnon and Tom Hanks. Ford is Actor No 1
— Newsmen Features |
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Stunner Jessica Lange is
still shaking cold from an eerie experience of the spooky kind.
Oscar-winning star had recently gone to Sam Shepard’s country house in
Virginia. On a stroll the first evening, Jessica wandered into the
village cemetery and was so struck by the stillness of the place that
she sat there almost in a trance. Till the time she stayed there,
Jessica says, she was strangely drawn to that cemetery every day. On her
return to Los Angeles, she was offered the lead role in a new movie Songs
of Love in which she was to play the late country singer Patsy
Cline. While reading the script Jessica suddenly broke out in cold sweat
when she discovered that the country singer lies buried in the Virginia
cemetery which beckoned her so hauntingly every day of her vacation. And
now wherever she goes the first place she visits is the cemetery. Who
knows there may be another lucrative role lying buried there!
Even as his latest film The
Widowmaker becomes a huge hit Harrison Ford can look back in
satisfaction. Much like Dr Richard Kimbley, the eminent and talented
surgeon, he played in The Fugitive, Harrison Ford’s life too is
a truly amazing saga of success. Beginning life as a carpenter in Los
Angeles, Ford started accepting small-time stand-in roles during the ‘60s
to augment his income. A decade later, tiring of playing on the fringes
of big films, he began seeking meatier and more meaningful roles. The
first starring assignment came after George Lucas decided to risk him in
the role of Bob Alfa in the 1973 sleeper hit American Graffiti.
They teamed up again in Star Wars, the cinema event of the 70s.
Since when he’s been on a one-way ticket to the Hollywood Hall of
Fame, having starred in some of the most successful movies of all times.