For Immediate Release on Entertainment Drive Released by Beck/Smith Kate Jackson Better Than Ever Since Heart Surgery Hollywood -- Jan. 1, 1996 -- "I feel better than I ever really felt," says Kate Jackson, who last year had successful surgery to correct a congenital heart defect. The former "Charlie's Angels" star explains, "I was born with a hole in my heart that was only discovered last year." She says it never presented a problem before, but "what happens is that holes in your heart get bigger and bigger. They just sewed it up and now I have a perfect heart." Television viewers will see that Jackson is none the worse for wear in CBS' "Cold Blooded Murder" telepic airing Jan. 9. She plays a musher in the Iditarod, Alaska's annual grueling, 1,100-mile dogsled race, who gets involved in a murder mystery. She did most of her own mushing. Jackson was trained by real-life Iditarod musher Kate Persons, and says she'll never forget the experience. "I went up there a couple of weeks early and we worked days and nights. It was, honest to God, such a good experience and so much fun. I met people who really do the Iditarod....They're really adventurers and really unique, different people. They all have their reasons for trying to go the distance. It was fascinating to get into their world." Jackson says she also fell in love with Alaska. "It is so incredibly different and beautiful....In spring and summer it stays light five minutes longer each day. When the movie was over I traveled all over Alaska and by the time I'd left, the sun didn't go down until midnight. It's the greatest trip." Kim Fields Directing Episode of "Living Single" in February Hollywood -- Jan. 2, 1996 -- Kim Fields-Freeman reports she'll be directing her first episode of Fox's "Living Single" sitcom in February. And the rest of the cast -- Queen Latifah, Erica Alexander, Kim Coles, John Henton, and T.C. Carson -- couldn't be happier for her. "Our characters have become like an extended family on the show and what's really great is that we have that on and off the set," says the former "Facts of Life" actress, who added the Freeman after marrying business executive Franklin Freeman in July of last year. "Some people have a lot of turmoil on their shows and amongst the cast members, but in all honesty, there are no egos here. And what's really cool is that we're each others' biggest fans. We were fans of each other before we even came to work together. We can sit around and just crack each other up talking about, 'Erica, remember when you did this?' or 'Kim, you looked so cute when that happened.' Everyone has a mutual respect and love for each other." Fields-Freeman is no stranger to directing. In 1994, she co-wrote, produced, and directed "Silent Bomb," a 40-minute docudrama about a female police officer who contracts AIDS through a blood transfusion. She's since started her own Victory Entertainment production company. "We've got a lot of projects in development," she says. "I've just hired a terrific lady to head our feature film division, both for TV and for features, and I'm real excited. Keep your eye on Victory Entertainment in '96." Robin Cook's Acting Menu Was No Winner, He Finds Hollywood -- Jan. 3, 1996 -- Bestselling author Dr. Robin Cook does his first on-camera performance in the telepic adaptation of his novel "Terminal," which airs on NBC next month. He says the gig gave him a new appreciation of what actors actually do. "It's harder work than I originally thought," he admits. "As a writer, you think an actor just reads the menu" -- so to speak. "You know, they add a little sugar here, mix it up there. But now I know, you really have to have your wits about you! To perform your role, get the timing and the emotional state right, and not think of the camera...It's hard." Cook confesses that his book publisher has been after him to try an acting role "for years. They thought it would be a valuable experience for me. And now, I see they were right." So, did he have a tough part? Cook scoffs at the very notion. "Oh, terribly difficult," he responds with a laugh. "First, I was to interrupt the conversation of two of the more important characters, and say, 'Excuse me...Margaret, I have to talk to you.'" Hmm. So far, no Emmy material there. Anything else? "Yes," says Cook. "When I return, I can see that a particular medical emergency is happening, and I call for manatol and decatron," he says. "Then they come in with the drugs and I say, 'Here it is.' They had to redo it many times, and not because of me, I must say. We were adding a little more excitement to the scene, putting in some things that weren't in the original script, trying to get some of the others a little more used to barking out orders." As a real-life doctor, acknowledges Cook, he was used to doing that. Milchan Extolls the Mann Behind "Heat" Hollywood -- Jan. 5, 1996 -- Jet-setting Israeli entrepreneur Arnon Milchan owns 30 companies, including the film firm New Regency Productions. He and/or his company has produced more than 40 films. And, he says, his current hit "Heat" was "one of the toughest films I've had to put together. To get Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in one movie and have them be in the same scenes -- it was pretty amazing. There was nothing about the script that is the kind of thing that normally sells a project to an actor. You know, like when guys can see a part takes place over years and they'll have to age. Or something requires special makeup, or period costume. This one was very simple, regular guys next door. It was a lot like a painting in which the texture is everything." Milchan gives credit for that texture to filmmaker Michael Mann. He says Mann described "Heat" to him, practically frame by frame, at the very outset of the project. "He knew exactly what he wanted to do. Four cases I remember in my life when the director had a total vision up front. Those were 'Brazil' with Terry Gilliam, 'JFK' with Oliver [Stone], Sergio Leone with 'Once Upon a Time in America,' and now Michael on 'Heat.' He had thought out every single shot." Despite his respect, Milchan makes no bones about the fact that Mann -- who first came to the public's attention for his super-stylized shooting of "Miami Vice" -- is "not the easiest guy to work with. He knows exactly what he wants and he doesn't compromise at all." Milchan adds that once Pacino and De Niro were set, as you might imagine, "Heat" became something of a film actor's E-ticket -- with "everyone trying to get into the film to work with them. Val Kilmer begged and begged to be in it." So now you know. Diahann Carroll in Toronto Hollywood -- Jan. 5, 1996 -- Diahann Carroll, starring in "Sunset Boulevard" in Toronto, blasts those "who make the mistake that the only real theater is in New York and London. It's sheer snobbism. I'm starring in a glorious production in Toronto -- and it just so happens that Canadians appreciate theater more than we do. They have an educational system that makes them culturally advanced." Carroll is talking about the possibility of taking "Sunset Boulevard" on to Los Angeles, although she says, "That is anything but a theater town." She has nothing but raves for Toronto, where, she says, husband Vic Damone has visited her on four occasions since she started rehearsals for "Sunset" last October. She and Damone used to work the nightclub stages together, and she vows she'll never do that again. She would like to spend more time with him, however. Copyright (c) 1996 Beck/Smith Ent.