ARTISTS TO BE CELEBRATED
Legends to be Honoredcolor>size>
WASHINGTON - President Clinton has named the 1999 National Medal of Arts honorees including TV producer Norman Lear, singer Aretha Franklin and folk singer Odetta. The Medal of Arts honorees are chosen by the president in recognition of their contributions to the excellence, growth and support of the arts in the United States, according to statement released by the National Endowment for the Arts. (REUTERS)
Bening Says the Play's the Thing color>size>
LOS ANGELES - Annette Bening says her return to the stage was hard work after a decade away from the theater. She starred last spring in Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler in Los Angeles.
"I was in the middle of rehearsals and I was in probably the third act, and I thought, `Oh my gosh, I've been acting for I don't know, an hour and a half,' Ms. Bening said. "`I can't stand up anymore, I can't concentrate.'"
On movie sets, the work comes in fits and starts, Ms. Bening said during a recent media tour to promote her new movie, American Beauty. Before going full time into film work with such movies as The Grifters, for which she earned an Oscar nomination, Ms. Bening had mostly done plays. (AP)
Heston Admits Carelessness With NRA Stancecolor>size>
BYRAM, Miss. - Charlton Heston acknowledges that he was careless in suggesting that more guns in the hands of school authorities could help end classroom violence.
He talked with more than 500 law enforcement officers in Jackson for an NRA-sponsored police shooting competition.
"Arming teachers is perhaps not a good idea," Heston said. "Perhaps that was a careless statement on my part."
After the Columbine High tragedy in Colorado, which left 15 dead, including the two teen-age gunmen, Heston said there should be armed guards in schools.
"If there had been even one armed guard in the school, he could have saved a lot of lives and perhaps ended the whole thing instantly," he said at the time. (AP)
New Hall of Famerscolor>size>
HOLLYWOOD - Eric Clapton, Aerosmith and Queen head up the short list of nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall Fame class of 2000. Also on the ballot of performers whose debut album was released at least 25 years ago are Black Sabbath, Solomon Burke, Earth, Wind & Fire, the O'Jays, the Moonglows, Lovin' Spoonful, Bonnie Raitt, Lou Reed, Steely Dan, James Taylor and Ritchie Valens. (REUTERS)
Cuba Gooding, Wife on Equal Footingcolor>size>
NEW YORK - The irrepressible Cuba Gooding Jr. says
Hollywood appears tolerant of his interracial marriage.
"If anything, Hollywood is like `What are you doing married? I don't care what color she is man, come on! The cubs on Sunset Strip are open!'" said the black actor, who won an Oscar for his supporting role as a football star in Jerry McGuire.
They met at a party when Gooding was in high school.
"She was the strongest girl I'd ever met, so I said, `Oh my God, your arms are so strong.' So I hit her, and she hit me back," he said in the October Cosmopolitan Magazine.
They didn't start dating right away. "But every time I saw her," he said, "I'd punch her in the arm, and she would punch me. When I finally met Sara's mom, she said, `So this is the kid who gave you those bruises?'" (AP)
