Sunday, May 4, 2003		Hollywood Hues

WHAT do stars like Michelle Pfieffer, John Travolta, Tom Cruise, Elizabeth Taylor, Mia Farrow, Whoopi Goldberg and Burt Reynolds have in common? They have all adopted children although most of them have kids of their own.

Adoption has caught on like a fad in Hollywood. Today, everybody who is somebody in Hollywood is interested in keeping up with the trend. High - flying lawyers help strike megabuck deals with parents who want to give away their children in adoption to stars.

"We have to screen thousands of hopefuls who want to ‘sell off’ their children. Our job is to identify parents who have better reasons to give them away," says Harry Hamlin, a leading adoption lawyer.

But with alarming rise in adoptions, many states in the USA are planning to ban the practice. Some years ago, the adoption of a baby girl by Michelle Pfieffer kicked up a storm and it was alleged the actress paid a fortune to take home little Claudia Rose.

Though Pfieffer hotly denies the rumour, the truth is there are several stars who are ready to shell out handsome amounts to be one with the ‘in’ crowd in Hollywood.

Though 50 may hardly be the age to look light and sprightly, Amy Irving says she’s young all over again. The former wife of Steven Spielberg has been leading a low - key life after her split with Spielberg when Amy received over $ 100 million in settlement.

Spielberg too has steadfastly refused to comment on this aspect of his life. "I’ve never talked about my personal life to the Press. All of us make misjudgments at times," he says simply.

But recently, Hollywood was agog when the powerful film-maker made an unexpected appearance at Amy’s 50th birthday at Los Angeles’ swank Bistro Cafe Morpheus and gave his former wife a loving kiss.

Though both are happily re - married, Spielberg and Amy have been sharing an amicable relationship even after their divorce, thanks to their 17-year - old son Max. Both say they are very happy in each other’s company and still strike a pose when the son is around.

Wonder what Spielberg’s wife Kate Capshaw and Amy’s husband Brazilian filmmaker Bruno Baretto think about this lovey-dovey arrangement!

Richard Gere is facing a religious dilemma as his lucrative acting career has finally intersected with his Buddhist faith. In his new film Designing Heaven, Gere plays an architect who turns his back to the rat race after a car accident and becomes a Buddhist monk.

It would be interesting to watch how religiously inclined the ageless Hollywood sex symbol can remain as his co-stars are Sharon Stone and Peggy Davidovich who has made a name for herself as a movie stripper.

Designing Heaven is adapted from French author Jean Este’s little known novel Ciel Concevant. Most people hadn’t heard of the book but when producer Fredrick Vedal bought the adaptation rights and signed Richard Gere and Sharon Stone for the lead roles, Hollywood’s curiosity was aroused....And how!

Question: What’s the secret fear of Kim Basinger? Answer: Sun rays. The stunning star has been living in mortal dread of sun rays and fears she might get skin cancer. Her dark secret was revealed on the sets of Dangerous Encounter where she had an assistant carry an umbrella throughout the shooting.

She says her life changed forever when she was filming the James Bond thriller, Never Say Never Again under the blazing French Reviera sun. She went to see a doctor when her lips started to burn. He suspected she had contracted skin cancer. Though agonising tests revealed she was okay, the doctor told her she had been plain lucky as the sun’s rays had not penetrated deep enough.

Some months ago, she collapsed on the sets of Good Intentions after the blazing California sun got her when they were shooting on a silvery beach. Though she was back on her feet in ten minutes, the pictures of her lying in agony are being cleverly promoted to show her basking in the sand.

Making his day

Ever since he became father once again at 70, Clint Eastwood has one favourite sentence for the Press... "I am really a happy man. I may not have grandchildren but now I have two children who are like grandkids to me."

Clint has been married twice and has five children by four different women — Kimber, 39, with actress Roxanne Tunis; Kyle, 34, and Alison, 32, with his ex-wife Maggie Johnson, then there is 10-year-old daughter Francesca with Frances Fisher, his co-star in Unforgiven, and six-and-a half year old Morgan with his current wife Dina Ruiz.

"I like to joke that since my children weren’t giving me any grandchildren, I had two of my own. It’s a terrific feeling being a dad again at my age. (I am very fortunate. I realise how unfair a thing it is that men can have children at a much older age than women. But I love my kids and my wife."

Time was just a few years ago when Clint was dead scared of relationships after he burnt his fingers — and pockets — after former lover Sandra Locke filed a palimony case against him and he had to go for an out-of -court settlement.

Now with things having worked out with fourth wife Dina Ruiz, Clint is looking forward to a happy family life. "At last I’ve found contentment. I don’t want more kids or more wives any more!" NF