Last Night On Dave
Rudy's Top 10
New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, left, is congratulated by talk show host David Letterman after the
mayor presented the Top Ten "Things I Will Miss About Being Mayor" on "The Late Show with David Letterman,"
Monday, Nov. 26, 2001, in New York.
Photo by J.P. Filo
Entertainment News
Alex's Entertainment Report
Alex
TV Academy Chief Proposes U.S. Drop Videos On Afghan Foes
At the Nov. 11 meeting between top Hollywood executives and White House senior adviser Karl Rove, the chairman of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences proposed that videocassettes be rained down on Afghan forces in much the same way as propaganda leaflets were dropped on enemy forces in prior wars. As reported by the current edition of the The Nation, the Academy's Bryce Zabel remarked, "Why not ask some of our very best filmmakers to do a three-minute piece on the theme 'My Country 'Tis of Thee' and then compile them together on video and airdrop them over areas hostile to us?" Zabel told the magazine that that was just "one idea of about twenty" that he brought to the meeting.
Let me get this straight, make videos and drop them across so-called enemy areas, main one being Afghanistan. I see, and does Mr. Rove have any suggestion as to what these people supposed to do with videocassettes? Where exactly are they supposed to insert them to watch whatever might be on these tapes? Did it occur to the Hollywood execs that probably not many people have VCR's in Afghanistan, if any at all. How can Mr. Rove find time to run the country and meet with Hollywood execs is beyond me. What a great man, he can multi-task so well!
`````
Demi Denies Pregnancy
Demi Moore has slammed reports she's expecting a baby by her martial arts instructor boyfriend. The actress, who used to be married to fellow Hollywood star Bruce Willis, emailed the New York Daily News after it published a story suggesting she was carrying beau Oliver Whitcomb's child. She wrote, "I hope you didn't have to pay a lot for this tidbit of information, because as far as I know I'm regular and I'm not missing anything, period. Unless, of course, you know something I don't."
`````
Snoop Dogg To Be Huggy Bear?
Rapper Snoop Dogg is being set to play Huggy Bear in the new Starsky and Hutch movie. Ben Stiller will be playing Starsky, with Owen Wilson as Hutch in the remake of the 1970's cult classic. Stiller says of the film, "It's going to be cool. There hasn't been a really good buddy cop movie since the Lethal Weapon series." Snoop has been making waves in the film industry recently, starring in Halloween horror Bones and comedy The Wash. Huggy Bear was played by Antonio Fargas in the original TV series.
`````
Schwimmer Considers Post-friends Life
David Schwimmer is considering what to do after the final season of Friends - and may quit the acting scene altogether. Amongst the options are returning to college to train to be a teacher. He says, "I've made a good amount of money. I'm very happy that I can now support my theatre company and support friends and family, and I'm ready to maybe go back to school and change careers." He continues, "I think we can really use more - and better - teachers in this country. I would like to teach in public school. I think I have a lot to offer in this area."
David, let me just say this, you WON'T be missed! Best of Luck!
~~ Alex
Alex's Site
Putin's Puppet
Marc does some of the most innovative 'toons on the 'net.
Check them all out at Marc's Toons/Toon Review
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
After Georgia pulled her Rams out of LA, and the Raiders went home, this area
has been pretty much an NFL free-zone. Not that I'm complaining, but, at this point
we root for whomever the Rams are playing.
Caught some of 'The King Of Queens', but no Jerry Stiller, so little reason to stick out
the half hour. Then watched 'Weakest Link', the 'Star Trek' edition.
Also watched most of 'Raymond' on CBS, and some of 'Becker'.
Stuck around for the 'Carol Burnett'. Appreciated that it was in its old time slot -
Monday at 10 pm. It was one of my favorite shows back when I was growing up in the backwoods of PA.
Wonder where Lyle Waggoner was? Last I heard he had a company that supplied mobile dressing rooms (very
upscale dressing rooms), to the show business industry, called Star Wagons.
Tonight, Tuesday, CBS has its 3 one-hour dramas ('JAG', 'The Guardian', and
'Judging Amy').
NBC starts with a 'celebrity' version of 'Fear Factor' (watch Coolio & Donny Osmond get
jerked around - big time) - WARNING - 'Fear Factor' is being allowed to run over by 5 minutes...
so, 'Frasier', 'Scrubs', and 'Dateline' will be starting 5 minutes late.
ABC has all fresh episodes of 'Dharma & Greg', 'Spin City', 'NYPD Blue', and
'Philly'.
The WB has new episodes of 'Gilmore Girls' and 'Smallville'.
Faux has fresh episodes of 'That 70's Show', 'Undeclared', and '24'.
UPN has new 'Buffy' and 'Roswell'.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
At The Brooklyn Academy Of Music - ''POEtry''
Lou Reed
Rock musician Lou Reed, who gained fame writing about drugs and the seedy underbelly of New York, has
a kindred spirit in Edgar Allan Poe.
On Tuesday, in collaboration with avant-garde theater director Robert Wilson, Reed will usher in a new
song cycle based on Poe's works. He has written the play and 13 songs for ``POEtry,'' which runs through
Dec. 8 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
``I realized that when I was younger, I had really missed out on Poe - the subtleties, the nuances, the
psychology,'' the 59-year-old said in Sunday's editions of the Daily News. ``You can't just say he was
macabre and had a sense of dread. He was interested in psychology - why you do things. It's very easy
for any contemporary person to relate to Poe and the psychological things that he's interested in.''
``POEtry'' was inspired by famous Poe works such as ``The Tell-Tale Heart'' and ``The Fall of the House of
Usher'' but Reed reinterprets them for a modern audience.
Lou Reed & ''POEtry''
Updated!
BartCop TV!
Visit the site at BC TV
The 'Vidiot' never seems to rest - and doesn't let little things like laundry or
housekeeping get in the way!
Damn near every show on TV must is listed - days & days worth of great reading.
If you have any questions about nearly any tv program, check out
BC TV!
A Name We Should All Know
Philo T. Farnsworth
HBO Pictures has signed Christian Darren to write an original teleplay about Philo Farnsworth, the
little-known electrical engineer who invented television.
The movie, still untitled, will outline the checkered life of Farnsworth. The inventor's natural
genius led him to the concept of television in 1921. But Farnsworth spent years in court trying to
extract royalties out of RCA, which claimed it was the first to invent the medium and thus didn't owe him anything.
Philo T. Farnsworth & HBO
In what seems to be corporate tradition, Farnsworth WAS screwed by RCA, which is GE, and as we all know they bring
good things to life...
Some More Auction News
''The Spitting Image''
`Spitting Image'' creator Roger Law has unveiled his final celebrity puppet -- a latex model of Osama bin Laden.
Law, speaking ahead of a sale of some 250 puppets of celebrities, politicians and other figures from the
1980s TV satire by auction house Sotheby's, said he made the bin Laden figure to raise money for charity.
Proceeds will go to victims of the September 11 attacks and to Afghan refugees.
Auctioneer Kerry Taylor said puppets of Madonna, complete with singing navel, John Lennon and the Thatcher
family, sold as a threesome, are expected to fetch between 2,000 and 3,000 pounds each.
Law told reporters he hated the puppets from the series, which at its peak drew 14 million viewers. ``I
hate them all,'' he said. ``I wouldn't have one in my house.''
Law said he had toyed with the idea of burning the puppets, which together could raise 150,000 pounds.
``I ended up with about 2,000 puppets in a bunker in the East End of London which I couldn't quite bring
myself to burn for the insurance money,'' he said.
The auction will take place on November 29.
''Spitting Image'' Auction
For More Info:
www.mbcnet.org/ETV/S/htmlS/spittingimag/spittingimag.htm
www.giovanni.guarino.btinternet.co.uk/show_pages/spitting_image_1.htm
Fun Link
''Dr.'' Laura PARODY
hometown.aol.com/druidoaks/alicelookinglass.html
Taking A Dive In The Ratings
'Ally McBeal'
The quirky, working-girls comedy has taken a serious downturn and the reason can probably be
summarized in four words - no Robert Downey Jr.
David E. Kelley's five-year-old drama, which airs Mondays at 9 p.m., was burning brightly last
year when Downey joined the cast - but has lost as much as one-fourth is audience since
its season premiere last month.
So far this fall, "Ally" has been averaging about 6.8 million households, compared to the 9 million
households it averaged last year at this time.
Among its competitive headaches this year has been ABC's "Monday Night Football" - which historically
drains away male viewers from "Ally" until January - and CBS' "Everybody Loves Raymond," arguably TV's
second-most-popular comedy behind "Friends," and which has been drawing bigger audiences nearly every year,
And they say that tonight's show - rumbling with A-list superstars Jacqueline Bisset and a musical
performance by Elton John - will help "Ally" turn a corner.
John is actually the first of at least three high-profile singers who will appear on "Ally" this season.
Jon Bon Jovi will stick around for a nine episodes later this season, and troubled songstress Mariah
Carey will guest star in January.
Ally McBeal's Anorexic Ratings
New!
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
To check out 'Train Station Chicken', and more (like 'Cranberry Autumn Tea'),
In The Kitchen With BartCop
The Longest Running Play - 50 Years!
''The Mousetrap''
``The Mousetrap'' on Monday launched into its 50th anniversary year as the world's longest-running play -- and
Agatha Christie's classic whodunnit showed no signs of flagging.
The ``old warhorse'' has defied the critics, rewritten theater record books and attracted 8.25 million fans
since it first opened in 1952, when Winston Churchill was British prime minister.
London theaterland was hit by falling audiences after the September 11 attacks in the United States. ``The Mousetrap''
was no exception, but Turner said: ``It has gone through the Gulf War and the (British) miners' strike and here it still is.''
The cast is changed annually to keep it fresh.
Oscar-winning director Richard Attenborough, who was in the original production, said: ``It's a
London institution -- like the ravens in the Tower of London. You must view the play as a classical
piece of theater. That is why it has run so long.''
Agatha Christie gave the stage rights to her grandson, Mathew Prichard, on his ninth birthday. He
has seen the show more than 20 times and is still sworn to secrecy on who the killer is.
Agatha Christie's ''The Mousetrap'' Celebrates 50th Anniversary
'Listen To Puffy' (Or Is It P. Diddy?)
Sean Combs
Hip-hop impresario Sean ``P. Diddy'' Combs on Monday kicked off a television documentary on AIDS, warning
teenagers that the sexually transmitted disease knows no frontiers and ``kills without conscience.''
The documentary tours the world from Stockholm to Goa, from Buenos Aires to Phnom Penh, chronicling the plight
of HIV and AIDS sufferers battling disease, ignorance and intolerance.
The hedonistic world of pop may be the ultimate symbol of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. But MTV believes it can
still educate its audience in between the sexy videos.
For its AIDS campaign every year, the international cable network tries to pick a star its youthful audience can
identify with. Latin heartthrob Ricky Martin may epitomize raw sex in his music video performances, but MTV believed
the hip-swiveling superstar was the perfect choice last year to preach safe sex to teenagers around the world.
This year MTV picked Combs. Bill Roedy, president of MTV Networks International, urged stations around the world
to pick up and broadcast the documentary the star is fronting.
MTV is airing the documentary to more than 365 million households in 139 countries. Other broadcasters have pledged
to put the film out to more than 200 million households.
MTV, HIV & Sean Combs
OK, OK, Just One Last Troll Wedding Story...
Wentworth - Stephanopoulos Nuptials
Alexandra Wentworth wasn't interested this spring when friends tried to set her up with
George Stephanopoulos, a notorious bachelor.
Last week, she married him.
Stephanopoulos, the 40-year-old ABC News political analyst, proposed to Wentworth, a 36-year-old
actress, three months after their first date.
They tied the knot on Nov. 20 at Manhattan's Greek Orthodox Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy
Trinity. The marriage is the first for both.
Stephanopoulos' father, Robert, a Greek Orthodox priest, performed the ceremony. Among the 200
guests were Peter Jennings, Barbara Walters, Paulina Porizkova and James Carville.
One Last 'Wentworth-Stephanopoulis Nuptials
Another Election Being Questioned
SAG
The Screen Actors Guild has launched an official inquiry into a dozen challenges to its election
of new officers but remains tight-lipped on details.
SAG's only official comments have been that it conducted the union election within U.S. Labor
Department guidelines and that all challenges are being reviewed by the elections committee, which
met last Wednesday for the first time in three weeks.
Among those contesting the elections are two winning candidates -- secretary Elliott Gould and treasurer
Kent McCord -- who joined a challenge filed by presidential runner-up Valerie Harper.
SAG officials have refused comment on several issues, including:
-- How the guild can violate its own rules by forgoing the signature requirement from 24,800 New York ballots;
-- Why SAG staff remained silent about the violation for two weeks after discovering it on Oct. 16;
-- Why SAG staff said repeatedly to members and candidates that the deadline for voting was Oct. 31 when
it was actually two days later for New York ballots.
SAG Elections
It's All In The Numbers
Syndicated Series
Five syndicated rerun series -- ``Seinfeld,'' ``Friends,'' ``Everybody Loves Raymond,'' ``Frasier'' and ``King of the Hill'' -- all
soared by double digits in the ratings for the first full week of the November sweeps.
The sitcoms' surprise adrenaline shot was the most noteworthy occurrence among syndicated TV series during the week ended Nov. 11.
``Seinfeld'' rose by 12 percent week to week to a 6.7 rating. ``Friends'' climbed by 15 percent to a 6.1. ``Raymond,'' which
kicked off in rerun syndication two months ago, scored its best numbers yet, going up 10 percent to a 5.5.
``King of the Hill'' also saw its best rating since it premiered in reruns last September, shooting up 17 percent to a 2.8.
''Frasier'' zoomed by 19 percent to a 3.8 rating.
Compared to the same week a year ago, ``Seinfeld'' was up by 20 percent, mostly because TV stations are now stripping it
twice a day, not once a day as in 2000, when distributor Columbia TriStar's contract ruled out double runs.
Friends grew by 7 percent from last year, but ``Frasier'' fell off by 24 percent. Neither ``Raymond'' nor ``King of the Hill''
was in syndication in 2000.
Syndication Numbers, But, Not The Runner Style
Audio Files From BC
Bonus Page Link
Looking for some 'Garbage'?
Here are some MP3 files from BC
Aw, come on....isn't anyone curious?
Imagine Santa As Black & Female
Whoopi Goldberg
It took four years for Whoopi Goldberg and Garth Brooks to make the TV movie ``Call Me Claus,'' but
Goldberg said the delay wasn't because she'd be starring as a black female Santa.
``It never occurred to anybody that that was the problem. The problem was that it was an old-fashioned
story,'' she said. ``And if you're looking at something like 'The Sopranos' and 'Sex and the City,'
this comes up a little - you know, I don't know - old-fashioned.''
Goldberg said she's co-producing and starring in the movie because she wanted to make a holiday special
for her grandchildren.
``Call Me Claus,'' which features new music from Brooks, airs at 8 p.m. EST Sunday on TNT.
Whoopi & Garth Playing With TNT
FCC Erases Cable Porn Scrambling
From Your FCC
After a long delay, the Federal Communications Commission has complied with a court ruling and erased
from the books a regulation requiring cable companies to scramble sexually explicit programming.
Democratic FCC commissioner Michael Copps immediately called on the agency to study other ways Washington
can protect children from seeing porn and other sexual content.
``That the court found the statute overly broad does not obviate our responsibility to protect children
from indecent and obscene programming,'' Copps said.
Three years ago, a federal court agreed with Playboy Enterprises that the scrambling rule, passed by
Congress in 1996, was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court upheld the ruling last year, but it has taken
until now for the FCC to officially get rid of the regulation.
Congress had said there was a need to scramble because of ``signal bleed,'' allowing people who do not
pay for adult channels to see some of the programming anyway.
Your Porn-Friendly FCC
More Disney News, Good For A Change
Full Seasons For 'Philly', 'Jim' & 'Alias'
The network has picked up the back-nine segments of the Steven Bochco-produced legal drama, ensuring a full
season of 22 episodes for the rookie series.
``Philly,'' from Bochco and Paramount Network Television, joins spy drama ``Alias'' and the James Belushi
sitcom ``According to Jim'' on ABC's list of new series picked up for the entire season.
Still waiting word on a pickup: Warner Bros. Television's crime and romance series ``Thieves.''
Over seven broadcasts, ``Philly'' is averaging 10 million viewers and a 4.0 rating/10 share in the key
demographic of viewers aged 18-49. With veteram cop series ``NYPD Blue'' now serving as its lead-in,
Bochco's newest drama has been showing signs of life.
``Philly'' stars former ``NYPD Blue'' star Kim Delaney as a Philadelphia-based attorney.
Full Seasons For 'Philly', 'Jim' & 'Alias' - What About ''Thieves''?
'Get High With A Little Help From My Friends'
Paul, Pot, Heather & Hemp
Paul McCartney may still get high with help from his friends — but not with his fiancée, Heather Mills.
"Pot isn't something I do as much," the 59-year-old ex-Beatle says. "Because Heather doesn't."
He credits Mills with curbing his taste for weed. "I don't want to be sitting there at a restaurant
and say, 'Hey, baby, I just have to run to the bog [aka the loo] and smoke a joint.'"
McCartney was arrested several times with his wife, Linda, for possession of marijuana; they also grew
cannabis on their farm in Scotland. Having spent 10 days in a Japanese jail on pot charges back in 1980,
he thinks the relaxation of marijuana laws in Britain is "a good idea."
As for cocaine, the wised-up rocker still rues his year-long habit.
"A lot of mates were quite shocked when I got coke," he admits in Britain's Q magazine. "I was lucky
enough to hate the sniff and the numbing and the ... 'Hang on, wait a minute, I need more now.'
Then everyone started doing it — record executives, bankers, milkmen. I thought, 'This is very
uncool,' so I stopped."
Paul & Pot
New! Updated!
(20 Nov, 2001)
The official BartCop Astrologer, Geneva, has provided another eye-opening set of charts!
A brief excerpt: " In January 2002, New York City Mayor, Rudy Giuliani will intimately know an experience and feeling that more and more of us are reluctantly facing: He'll join the ranks of the unemployed. Due to term limits Giuliani has not been able to seek re-election, after 8 years as one of New York's more popular mayors.
The question on most New Yorker's minds and lips is "What is Rudy going to do NOW?" Well, maybe The Stars can give us some clues.
"
Very interesting reading!
The Meeting Of A Queen & A Princess
Elizabeth & J-Lo
British Queen Elizabeth II meets American singer/actress Jennifer Lopez backstage at the Dominion Theatre in London Monday, Nov. 26, 2001, after this year's Royal Variety Performance. The annual show has since 1912 raised money for an entertainer's charity with the aid of top performers.
Photo by Roger Allen
7 Figure Deal
'Cedric the Entertainer'
Cedric the Entertainer has inked a seven-figure deal with Fox Searchlight to star in and produce
a family comedy feature.
Cedric (''The Original Kings of Comedy'') pitched the as-yet-untitled project to the studio with
sibling writers Todd and Richey Jones (''The Hughleys'').
While the plot is still being finalized, the film will portray the perils of parenting in today's
complex world, with Cedric starring as the father of several kids, including a truculent teen
daughter. He also will produce the movie with manager Eric Rhone and Paul Hall.
A longtime small-screen regular on ``The Steve Harvey Show'' and more recently a Budweiser
pitchman, Cedric is a regular at Fox.
''Cedric the Entertainer''
Another Hall Of Fame
Elvis
It was no secret that the king of rock 'n' roll preferred gospel music.
``It more or less puts your mind at ease,'' Elvis Presley once said of the music he first
heard as a boy attending the Assembly of God Church. ``It does mine.''
On Tuesday, Presley will be inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame during a ceremony
at The People's Church in Franklin, south of Nashville.
Already a member of the halls of fame for rock 'n' roll and country music, the gospel
addition will give Presley the distinction of being the only entertainer inducted into all three.
Presley won only three Grammys in his career, all for his gospel work. ``How Great Thou Art''
won Best Sacred Performance in 1967; ``He Touched Me'' got Best Inspirational Performance in 1972;
and a live version of ``How Great Thou Art'' won Best Inspirational Performance in 1974.
Elvis & The Gospel Hall Of Fame
''Kenneth, What Is The Frequency?'' Lives!
Dan Rather
It's been 15 years since Dan Rather was attacked by someone who posed the odd question, "Kenneth, what
is the frequency?" But some remain obsessed by the bizarre incident.
Rather himself declared that "the mystery has been solved" in 1997 when Daily News TV critic Eric
Mink presented him with mug shots of William Tager, who was convicted for the 1994 murder of an NBC technician.
But, for novelist Paul Limbert Allman, the case is still open. Allman contends in an arch essay in
December's issue of Harper's that Rather's attacker was the acclaimed fiction writer Donald Barthelme.
Or, at least, one of Barthelme's devotees.
Barthelme, who died in 1989, isn't around to respond to Allman's tongue-in-cheek theory. But Allman
observes that several of Barthelme's fabulist novels feature a mysterious character named "Kenneth,"
who is asked in one story, "What is the frequency?"
Our theory: Tager saw Ed Wood's 1958 trashterpiece, "Plan 9 From Outer Space," which, yes, contains
the line: "Kenneth, what is the frequency?"
Kenneth, Frequencies & Dan Rather
BC Entertainment Favorite Link
Moose & Squirrel Information One-Stop
http://geocities.com/mooseandsquirrel1
What a great site! Information and reference materials of the first order!
Between 'Moose & Squirrel' and 'Google', who needs 'refdesk'!
Are You Afraid Of Black Cats, Or Calico Ones?
Interesting Excerpt
Published on November 20, 2001
Turns Out It's Not the Black Cats You Have to Watch Our For
'' Shortly after becoming Attorney General, John Ashcroft was headed abroad. An advance team showed up at
the American embassy in the Hague to check out the digs, saw cats in residence, and got nervous. They were
worried there might be a calico cat. No, they were told, no calicos. Visible relief. Their boss, they explained,
believes calico cats are signs of the devil. (The advance team also spied a statue of a naked woman in the courtyard
and discussed the possibility of its being covered for the visit, though that request was not ultimately made.) ''
Read The Whole Column
Koresh! Thanks to my 2 years at a fundie college (Pepperdine), I knew Ashcroft didn't dance.
Had no idea that calico cats were an anathema....and they called catholics superstitious!
At Pepperdine, dancing was forbidden. We used to say that one could not engage in sex while standing
for fear of being accused of dancing.
Skanky Gossip
Rachel Hunter
Before she was married to Rod Stewart, Rachel Hunter saw the seamy side of rock excess as
the girlfriend of hair metal heartthrob Kip Winger.
"I remember there was this one girl on the crew bus who would give 40 [oral sex acts] a night,"
the supermodel-turned-actress shudders to Arena magazine. "She was really disgusting . . . When
I look back at those girls, what they had to do to get backstage - the sliminess and big boobs
and blonde hair and pink lipstick - it's just so smutty."
Rachel Hunter On Pink Lipstick
Currently, He Plays 'Frank Barone'
Peter Boyle
Frank Barone is an unrepentant clod.
On the CBS sitcom ``Everybody Loves Raymond,'' he's forever riding sons Ray and Robert, needling
daughter-in-law Debra, waging war with wife Marie, and unbuttoning his trousers for some after-dinner
breathing room as he settles in for a night of TV.
Boyle won this role as patriarchal foil to Ray Romano's title character after getting lost en route
to the audition. He arrived flustered and angry. Voila! thought the producers.
Since then on ``Raymond'' (Monday at 9 p.m. EST), Boyle has worn Frank as comfortably as Frank wears
his tatty cardigans, while dining out on lines like ``You can tell it's good art, 'cause it follows
you when you move'' and ``Try to please the wife? When are ya gonna learn?!''
Of course, Frank is just one in Boyle's long career of shrewdly off-center performances, also including
those in two of the best movies ever made. He was the tap-dancing ogre in ``Young Frankenstein'' and
the guru cabbie Wizard in ``Taxi Driver.''
But week in and week out for ``Raymond's'' six-and-counting seasons, ``I play a guy who sits at home
watching the Knicks on TV,'' Boyle says contentedly, ``and then I come back home and watch the Knicks on TV.''
``When I was in high school I wanted to be a leading-man guy, like Howard Keel,'' the Philadelphia native
recalls. ``But then God saw fit to take the hair off my head at age 24.''
Switching his focus to ``a variety of roles that were challenging and different,'' he settled on a new goal:
``To not be a bus driver - going the same route every day as an actor.''
``I'm fascinated by the subtext of everybody's life,'' he goes on. ``If I played Hitler, I'd play him as a guy
who cries when anybody's mean to a dog. Not a consistent guy, you know what I mean? The things that don't fit
together in people are what make them interesting.''
He lists some early phases of his life: ``I was a child during World War II, in high school during the Korean
War, went into a monastery in the mid-'50s'' - he was a monk in the Christian Brothers order - ``came out and
turned into a beatnik, worked as an actor, got into psychedelia.''
At the 1968 Democratic convention, ``which I still call the police riot, I knew Abbie Hoffman. I went from being
an anti-war liberal to being radicalized. Then I came back to New York and did `Joe,' playing this hard-hat hippie
hater. I thought it was a goof.''
Boyle became pals with John Lennon, whom he met through his wife-to-be, a friend of Yoko Ono. Lennon would serve
as Boyle's best man at his marriage.
He toured in an anti-war show with Jane Fonda, whom he remembers as ``very courageous'' - and then some.
``Y'know, one day we were rehearsing,'' Boyle wistfully recalls, ``and she had jeans on and she dropped her
script and bent down to pick it up. She looked really great.'' He brandishes a whattaya-want-from-me frown. ``She's Barbarella!''
In the intervening years, which, he jokes, turned him into a capitalist, Boyle has mostly
stayed busy with TV and movie roles.
The Ever-Fabulous Peter Boyle
In Memory
William Read Woodfield
William Read Woodfield, who produced and wrote episodes of television's "Mission: Impossible" and "Shaft,"
and photographed Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra and Jayne Mansfield, died Saturday of a heart attack. Woodfield was 73.
Woodfield apprenticed at Life magazine. His first professional photo assignment was a picture of Elizabeth Taylor.
His pictures of Mansfield for Playboy sold more than 1 million copies.
Woodfield's most memorable work included photos of Monroe on the set of her uncompleted 1962 film, "Something's
Got To Give." Woodfield captured Monroe as she shed her bathing suit by a swimming pool.
For Sinatra, Woodfield designed record albums and magazine layouts. He also masterminded marketing campaigns for
movies such as "Spartacus," "The Vikings" and "Judgment at Nuremburg." His photos appeared in magazines such as
Esquire, Harper's Bazaar and the Saturday Evening Post.
Woodfield also was a master magician in his teens and founded the magazine Magicana. He used his skills of
prestidigitation to create a 1966 TV show built on illusion and deception, "Mission: Impossible."
He most recently wrote a 1993 episode for television's "Diagnosis Murder." He also was credited as William
Reed Woodfield on the 1993 "The Return of Ironside," and "A Twist of the Knife." He also wrote episodes
of "Columbo," and "Sea Hunt."
William Read Woodfield
In Memory
Melanie Thornton
Melanie Thornton, an American pop singer who made a name for herself in Germany with the duo La Bouche,
was among the victims of an airliner crash in Switzerland. She was 34.
Thornton was traveling Saturday to Zurich as part of a European tour to promote her album "Ready to Fly"
when the Crossair flight from Berlin crashed, killing her and 23 others.
A native of Charleston, S.C., Thornton said in interviews that she got hooked on singing as a child,
mimicking the Motown classics that her mother listened to.
After performing with various acts in the United States and with just $15 in her pocket, she moved
to Germany in 1992 to join her sister.
Her career took off when she teamed up with rapper Lane McCray in the duo La Bouche, which
is French for "The Mouth."
La Bouche's greatest success was in Europe, but it also made the charts in America in 1995-98
with the dance singles "Fallin' in Love," "Be My Lover," "Sweet Dreams" and "You Won't Forget Me."
In 1996, La Bouche entertained some 4,000 young fans at an outdoor concert in Tirana, Albania.
The concert was described as the first by a major international musical group in the capital
of the former Communist nation.
Thornton went solo last year and released her first album in May. She eventually moved back to
the United States, settling in Atlanta.
Her new single, "Wonderful Dream," went on sale on Monday, and is being used in a Coca-Cola
television commercial airing in Germany through the end of December.
Melanie Thornton
"Boondocks" (9 Oct 01)
Still MISSING
Marc Chagall's "Study for 'Over Vitebsk'"
