Celebrity Scoop
Jerry Springer, who first burst into the public eye as a teen politician and later became mayor of Cincinnati, is keeping a hand in what some say is the biggest brawl of all: national politics. Springer donated at least $30,000 to Democrats running for Ohio House and Senate seats in the Nov. 5 election. The talk show host known for presiding over on-screen fights between lovers, neighbors and others says political donations are his way of staying involved in politics.
Springer also says if he does run for office again, it would be in Ohio. The next major statewide election in Ohio is in 2004, when the Senate term of Republican George Voinovich expires. That would be 30 years after the low point in Springer's political career: his resignation from the Cincinnati City Council after admitting in federal court that he wrote personal checks to pay prostitutes.
He turned that defeat into a victory for mayor and is confident that the reputation of his talk show wouldn't stop him in a run for office. "In the end, if I do not make a good case, then they will vote on the show," says Springer. "If I make a good case, if there are issues out there that affect their lives, that's what's going to carry the day one way or another."
Fans of Richard Gere and Carey Lowell knew the two were hopelessly in love, and far from available, but the couple's finally made it official: with wedding vows last week at their home in Pound Ridge, N.Y. The only way to get invited to this one was with a birth certificate. Here's the entire guest list: Homer, age 2, the couple's son; and Hannah, 12, daughter of Lowell and her ex-husband, actor/producer/director Griffin Dunne. Lowell has had many minor roles on the big screen but is a big name on television, best known for her former role as prosecutor Jamie Ross on "Law & Order."
Gere's latest - "Chicago," with Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Queen Latifah - hits the theaters this Christmas but fans in Point Pleasant, W. Va., prefer "The Mothman Prophecies." That's the thriller from last January in which Gere plays a reporter compelled to investigate the existence of an enormous moth-like creature said to inhabit Point Pleasant. Locals don't mind the apparently mythical beast's eerie reputation: it's said to be good for business. And maybe it is: a few hundred people turned out for the Mothman Festival, held over the weekend.
Tim Allen, riding high on the millions raked in from the "The Santa Clause 2," has reportedly got a few more reasons to indulge in a chorus of hearty HO HO HOs. Variety says Allen has signed a deal with ABC to create a new sitcom. He'll also be the producer but it's up in the air as to whether he'll actually appear on camera.
Debbie Allen, no relation to Tim, is also kicking up some dust. Looks like the actress, director and choreographer whose big break came in the 1982 movie "Fame" really will live forever - in the work of her many dance students. Allen, 52, founded the Debbie Allen Dance Academy two years ago in Los Angeles and is now directing five adults and 35 children - age 6 through 18 - in "Pearl." The musical, based on the Snow White fairy tale, is no ordinary school pageant. It premiered last spring at the Kennedy Center in Washington and opens this Wednesday at the Geffen Playhouse in L.A. In a Los Angeles Times interview, Allen confesses she's got a soft spot for "Pearl," which got her an A plus in 1971 when she wrote it as a school project at Howard University.
Barbra Streisand likes to be in control (and fans like the results) but Iceland's favorite diva takes a more laid-back approach. Bjork let her fans decide, via voting on the Internet, which songs would be on her new CD, "Bjork's Greatest Hits." The songs appear in the order they were chosen, opening with the biggest vote-getter ("All Is Full of Love") and ending with No. 15 ("It's in Our Hands"). "I was very pleased, when I saw the fans' voting, how similar it was to mine," says the 36-year-old singer, who was also happy they didn't ask for her biggest-selling song: the big-band whirlwind "It's Oh So Quiet." "I didn't write it," she says. "To put it on my disc and say it was some of my best work of ten years and it was somebody else's work, feels like cheating to me." Note to Americans unfamiliar with her music: you probably did notice her at the 2001 Academy Awards, wearing an outfit made of swan feathers. "I wore a more outrageous dress at Cannes," says the singer, "but nobody said a word."
Sick bay: Prince Rainier of Monaco, 79, is in the hospital in Monte Carlo with a chest infection. He's said to be on the mend. So is concert pianist Andre Watts, in fair condition in a Newport Beach, Calif., hospital after emergency surgery for bleeding in his brain. Watts, 56, has been a force in classical music for 40 years and made his television debut as a teen under the direction of composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein.