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For Immediate Release on Entertainment Drive
Released by Beck/Smith
Foxworthy/Sinbad Teaming on American Music Awards
Hollywood -- Jan. 29, 1996 -- Comic-turned-sitcom star Jeff
Foxworthy says tonight's co-hosting gig with Sinbad on the
American Music Awards marks a reunion for the two comedians. "The
day I quit IBM, I drove to a comedy club in Birmingham, AL, for my
first gig. I was the opening act and Sinbad was the headliner,"
recalls Foxworthy. "At that point I used to get so nervous I
couldn't eat the day I would have to go on stage, and when I
introduced him he was walking up to the mike shoving an egg roll
in his mouth. I went to the back of the club and told my wife,
'That is my goal!'" Foxworthy warns that anything could happen on
tonight's live telecast. "I'm pretty good at keeping to a script
but Sinbad just throws it out the window." The comedian, whose
latest "Games Rednecks Play" comedy album has been nominated for
a Grammy, is looking forward to going back to doing standup when
his "The Jeff Foxworthy Show" goes on hiatus. He says he went
through a little withdrawal after being away from the stage for
so long last year because of his series duties. "I didn't do
standup from July until November. Then I did a weekend at the MGM
Grand Hotel and the first night I was like nervous again. But
once I got on stage everything was fine. Comedy is like my first
love outside my family. I can't ever imagine not doing it."
Comic Louie Anderson's New Show Deals with Fat Issue ASAP
Hollywood -- Jan. 30, 1996 -- Comic Louie Anderson plays a
therapist in his new "The Louie Show" sitcom. Some would ask how
a therapist with a glaring weight problem can be very effective
if he hasn't been able to help himself lose weight. Anderson
points out that very issue is dealt with in the first episode of
"The Louie Show." "A patient asks me, 'How can you be of any help?'
and we talk about that. I say, 'I can help you,' and talk about how
I used to eat 12 donuts, but now I'm down to 2.'" Anderson, who's
made a living doing comedy about his lifelong struggle with his
weight and his dysfunctional family past, says his new sitcom "is
about love and relationships and family. What I try to do is make
us look at ourselves in a funny way that isn't judgmental. I
think the fact that my assistant [Nancy Becker Kennedy] in the
show is a paraplegic and I treat her as an equal is a really
important part of the show, too. When you first see our
characters you think we are both disabled, but I think when you
really look at us we're not disabled. I may be fat and she may be
in a wheelchair but we don't give up on life." Anderson says he
was adamant about not "using an actress who was just a character
in a wheelchair. I don't think you can portray it honestly. We
would have changed the part. But we were lucky to find a great
actress who was funny and happened to be in a wheelchair."
Anderson was so impressed with Kennedy, he says, "she's opening my
show in Las Vegas March 7."
Diamond Recalls Painful Years
Hollywood -- Jan. 31, 1996 -- Neil Diamond, who's setting off on
tour to promote his new "Tennessee Moon" disc, says he's looking
forward to being on the road. "Performing," he says, "is easier
than recording." He recalls as one of the easiest times of his
life a time that was also one of the most terrible times for
him. It was the 70s. He started suffering a loss of sensation
in his right leg. By the next year the pain grew so acute he
was sure he was going to die. Finally, the doctors discovered
an enormous tumor inside the vertebrae, crushing the spinal cord.
Neil underwent surgery. The tumor proved to be benign -- but it
took Neil over a year to learn to walk again. "First I used a
walker, then I used a cane for three or four months." Then came
the offer to star in the movie "The Jazz Singer" -- and Neil
pulled himself together and returned to work. He recalls the
many months of inactivity and physical therapy and said, "Oddly
enough, that was a good period in my life because I was able to
put everything aside and concentrate on me. I was able to relax
and not be stressed out. It was a wonderful feeling. Then I
threw myself right back into the rat race."
Caroline Goodall Tells of Real "White Squall" Drama
Hollywood -- Feb. 1, 1996 -- "I was SQUALLED," says Caroline
Goodall, explaining how she could have left her purse containing
all her i.d., credit cards, and money at a theater the other night
-- and not even realize the loss until she got a call from the
movie house's security at 4 a.m. Caroline plays the wife of
Jeff Bridges in the adventure movie "White Squall," which opens
today. (Her purse was recovered at a theater where the film was
screened pre-opening.) She's also the only female in the cast,
which includes 13 young actors -- "Party of Five's" Scott Wolf
among them. The picture, about a 1961 brigatine sailing trek
that went seriously awry, put all aboard through their paces.
Caroline says, "I heard about the film about a year ago, and I was
thrilled to be in it because my family are all sailors. The
idea of being able to get aboard a tall ship and learn how to
sail it was tremendously exciting!" The "Disclosure" and
"Schindler's List" actress continues, "The extraordinary thing
about this film is that the majority was done on board the ship.
Very unusual for a Hollywood movie, there were no chairs or
trailers for the stars, no backup at all. You got on board the
boat at 6 a.m. and there you stayed until the filming day was
done. And if you were not on the half of the boat where they
were filming, you were sitting on equipment on the other side."
Caroline and the rest of the cast did train in sailing the tall
ship -- "these boats were flying the seas in the 17th and 18th
centuries," she points out -- prior to starting filming. The
story demanded that they encounter 40-foot waves. After most of
the shoot was finished in the Caribbean, according to Caroline,
the decision was made to sail the ship to South Africa (it was
sailed there by its regular crew). There, the film company,
including the actors and director Ridley Scott, reboarded -- and
found the gargantuan waves they needed. Caroline reports
everyone aboard was terribly seasick. "They'd call 'Action!'
You'd do a brief bit. They'd call 'Cut!' and then you'd go throw
up over the side. And it wasn't just the actors, the camera and
sound and everyone else were rushing to the side to throw up
between takes, too." The British/Australian actress says she
felt quite at home on board the vessel by then, and yet "you were
aware that only a few planks separated you from death."
Ted & Mary's Euro Adventure
Hollywood -- Feb. 2, 1996 -- Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen are
in Europe to tout their giant-sized NBC "Gulliver's Travels"
miniseries -- which finishes its U.S. airing on NBC Sunday and
Monday (Feb. 4 and 5). Their trek will take them through a press
event in London and a special "Gulliver's" screening involving
members of the royal family in Monaco. "We have about six
different stops," notes Mary. She also says she and Ted haven't
had much time for relaxation since their October wedding, "but
we're having a wonderful time. We love being married. I've
never been so happy in my whole life." The one thing that's
making Steenburgen unhappy in this storybook period of her life
is the treatment being accorded her longtime friend, First Lady
Hillary Clinton, who of course has been in the hot seat as the
Whitewater case unfolds. "It's sad and very strange watching
people put traits on her that I have never seen -- what they
fear, or what is politically expedient," Mary complains. She
says she's been approached by people on the street who ask her to
relay their support to the embattled Mrs. Clinton. She also says
she and Hillary have "left messages for each other" but not
connected in the last couple of weeks. "I wish that everyone
could know the real person I know, and have known well for years.
I'm very proud of her."
Copyright (c) 1996 Beck/Smith Ent.
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