The Thalians 52nd Anniversary Gala

The Legendary Sir Roger Moore to be Honored at The Thalians 52nd Anniversary Gala On October 21, 2007 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel to Benefit The Thalians Mental Health Center at Cedars Sinai

Sir Roger Moore, considered by millions worldwide as the most elegant and debonair "James Bond," will be honored by The Thalians at their 52nd Anniversary Ball on Sunday evening, October 21 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, it was announced by The Thalians founding members and ball co-chairs Debbie Reynolds and Ruta Lee.

The annual gala honors a legendary individual for their achievements and charitable contributions and raises funds to support the Thalians Mental Health Center at Cedars Sinai Hospital. This year, Moore will make a rare visit to the U.S. to accept this prestigious honor.

In keeping with the "James Bond" ambience of the evening, The Thalians will orchestrate a landmark reunion of some of the most celebrated "Bond Girls" and co-stars to fete Moore, including Maude Adams, Nancy Allen, Lois Chiles, Stefanie Powers, Gloria Hendry, Lynn Holly, Pam Shriver, Luciana Paluzzi, Serena Scott Thomas, Lana Wood, among others to be announced.

The special evening honoring Moore will also feature a live auction hosted by television's "Deal or No Deal" host Howie Mandell and the "Deal or No Deal" girls and a special guest performance by pop music legend Neil Sedaka.

Previous honorees have included Mary Tyler Moore, Sally Field, James Stewart, Liza Minnelli, Burt Bacharach, Angela Lansbury, Whoopi Goldberg, Carol Burnett, Jack Lemmon, and Phyllis Diller to name a few.

Founded in 1955, The Thalians continues to raise over $500,000.00 annually to support The Thalians Mental Health Center at Cedars Sinai, considered one of the top and most respected mental health centers in the world. As the main support group for the Department of Psychiatry at Cedars Sinai, The Thalians has proven to be an outstanding facility performing clinical care for in and out-patients as well as cutting edge neuroscience research and medical advances in the areas of Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, depression, substance abuse, bi-polar disorders and autism.

For information and tickets to this year's ball, please visit http://www.thethalians.com or call (310) 423-1040.

Hope for the Holidays

Saturday, December 8, 6:30pm

HOPE FOR THE HOLIDAYS –
A S.T.A.G.E. SEASONAL CELEBRATION
Each spring, the Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event (S.T.A.G.E.) benefits AIDS Project Los Angeles with an all-star gala that salutes Broadway’s most respected names. Now, enjoy this special, holiday-themed edition of S.T.A.G.E. with perennial cast favorites and surprise celebrity guests. Enjoy dinner and a live auction before the show. (Stefanie will be appearing).

Location
The Key Club
9039 West Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90069
www.keyclub.com

Contact
For more information, please call Madonna Cacciatore at 866.679.0958 or send an e-mail to mcacciatore@apla.org

Buy Stef Stuff

Stefanie Powers Premieres 'One From the Hart' at OCPAC

Stefanie Powers will step into a new starring role when she premieres her one-woman show, "One From the Hart," an evening of song and story, running November 8-11 at the Orange County Performing Arts Center’s Samueli Theatre. "One From the Hart" will take audiences on a romantic holiday brimming with anecdotes and visual images from Powers’ extraordinary life, underscored by some of the most evocative love songs ever written.

Powers, who last month starred in the Reprise! production of “On Your Toes” at UCLA’s Freud Theatre, actually began her career at age 15, dancing for legendary choreographer Jerome Robbins. She soon found her musical skills overshadowed by a remarkable film career, working with many of Hollywood’s greatest talents, among them Lana Turner, Helen Hayes, John Wayne, Tallulah Bankhead, Bing Crosby and David Niven. She has starred in three television series, including “The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.” and the long-running hit “Hart to Hart” with Robert Wagner, and in mini-series such as “Mistral’s Daughter” and “Beryl Markham: A Shadow in the Sun.” She has also regularly returned to her first love—the musical theatre—with star turns in the revival of “Applause—The Musical All About Eve” and “The King and I” in which she toured in England and throughout the United States in 2005. Her collaboration with noted jazz pianist/arranger Page Cavanaugh yielded the CD “On The Same Page,” a collection of great American standards.

The classic American songbook serves as the source for selections in "One From the Hart." Reminiscences from Powers’ often surprising, adventure-filled life supply the narrative. Powers is also internationally-renowned for her work in animal conservation and, this year, she is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the William Holden Wildlife Foundation, of which she is co-founder and president.

"One From the Hart" will play four performances, Thursday through Saturday, November 8-10 at 7:30 PM and Sunday, November 11 at 7:00 PM. The Samueli Theatre at the Orange County Performing Arts Center is located at 615 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa. Tickets are available through the Orange County Performing Arts Center box office, their website at www.ocpac.org or by calling 714-556-2787.

Powers to Debut One From the Hart Nov. 8-11 in California

Stefanie Powers

Stefanie Powers, most recently seen onstage in the Reprise! mounting of On Your Toes, will debut her new one-woman show this fall at the Orange County Performing Arts Center's Samueli Theatre.

Entitled One From the Hart, the evenings of song and story will play the Costa Mesa venue Nov. 8-11. The show, according to press notes, will "take audiences on a romantic holiday brimming with anecdotes and visual images from Powers' extraordinary life, underscored by some of the most evocative love songs ever written." Audiences can expect to hear tunes from the Great American Songbook.

Show times are Nov. 8-10 at 7:30 PM and Nov. 11 at 7 PM.

Stefanie Powers, who is best known for her TV work on "Hart to Hart," also starred in a U.K. revival and a U.S. national tour of The King & I. Her numerous stage credits include Oliver!, Annie Get Your Gun, My Fair Lady and the London production of Matador. She also starred as the legendary Margo Channing in a touring revival of Applause – The Musical All About Eve. She reunited with "Hart to Hart" co-star Robert Wagner in the play Love Letters in London's West End, followed by tours of the play in the U.S. and Canada.

The Samueli Theatre at the Orange County Performing Arts Center is located at 615 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa, CA. Tickets are available by visiting www.ocpac.org or by calling (714) 556-2787.

STARFAIR

Susan Stafford has been chosen as Ambassador of Entertainment for STARFAIR, founded by Bob Alexander, which will take place at the Palm Springs Convention Center Dec. 6-9, with countless stars like Stefanie Powers, Tab Hunter and Adam West to name a few. This is your opportunity to see great classic movies, and meet your favorite stars. For further info, please call 760-416-5811 or check out their Web site at www.palmspringswalkofstars.com.

On Your Toes Reviews

Variety

BroadwayWorld.com

Pitbullshark

Rodgers and Hart to Hart

The Reprise! Theater Group is an organization that stages musical revivals for short runs on shorter budgets. Four times per subscription season, they mount some semi-lavish production at Freud Hall at UCLA with minimal sets and even more minimal rehearsal time. But there's always a maximum of talent and it makes up for an awful lot.

About Stefanie Powers' performance in the revival of On Your Toes, the 1936 show by Richard Rodgers, Larry Hart and George Abbott:

Stefanie Powers played the rich lady who manages the ballet troupe and she seems to have aged about a week since she was The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. She had a nice star turn and handled her musical numbers quite well. (One joke was added to the script to reference her run as co-star of Hart to Hart).

LIVING Commissions New Show from Ginger Productions

LONDON, July 19: Virgin Media Television-owned channel LIVING has commissioned Ginger Productions to produce a new clip-based show with the working title Who Do You Want To Solve Your Murder?

The new show will air over two nights on LIVING in September. It reveals which TV detectives people would trust to investigate their own murders, and will interview the actors who have played some of the most famous and legendary TV detectives, such as Kevin Dobson (Kojak), Eric Estrada (CHiPs), George Baker (DCI Wexford), Stefanie Powers (Hart to Hart), and Peter Falk (Columbo), along with pundits such as Melissa Joan Hart, Michael Winner, Ian Hyland and Colin Dexter (the writer of Inspector Morse).

Clare Hollywood, LIVING’s head of commissioning, commented: “TV detectives can be a hot topic when it comes to who is the best, and this show focuses on why people would trust one detective over another—especially if it was for their own murder! There is some great talent in this show, and it is a fun twist on a tried and tested format.”

Stefanie Powers to Headline L.A. Reprise! Staging of On Your Toes

Stefanie Powers and Dan Butler will lead the cast in the upcoming Reprise! staging of On Your Toes at the UCLA Freud Playhouse in Los Angeles. The show will preview on August 14, open on August 15 and continue through August 26, directed by Dan Mojica. Jason Alexander recently assumed the artistic directorship of the Reprise! series.

Also featured in the cast of On Your Toes will be Jeffry Denman, Beth Malone, Brett Ryback, Jonathan Sharp, Yvette Tucker and Diane Vincent. The ensemble features Shell Bauman, Seth Belliston, Quintan Craig, Jennie Ford, Casey Garritano, Jeff Griggs, Chelsea Hackett, Joey T. Marshall, Melissa Paris, Aaron Pomeroy, Mark C. Reis, Katie Rooney, Jean Michelle Sayeg, Leslie Stevens, John Todd, and Scott Weber. The show will feature musical direction by Gerald Sternbach and choreography by Lee Martino.

Celebrity Do Gooders

Check out this interview with Stefanie Powers.

http://tinyurl.com/2uo9fq

Hart to Hart in OK

Oklahoma's The Cox Channel is expanding. The station also has added syndicated programming, including "Gunsmoke,” "Hart to Hart,” "Bewitched” and "Designing Women.”

Misspelled Her Name

Check this out. Her name's misspelled.

http://tinyurl.com/ys9pfs

Stefanie Powers | AfterElton.com

Check this out:

http://tinyurl.com/2lwzv2

TV Land Canada Announces Its Fall 2007 Schedule

On TV Land Canada, everything old is new again! New to the TV Land Canada schedule this September is Fantasy Island; Hart to Hart; Love, American Style; and It's Garry Shandling's Show.

Rabbit Faver on DVD! Pre-order Now!

Rabbit Fever, starring Stefanie Powers, is out on DVD on June 11.

You can pre-order now from www.rabbitfeverthemovie.com.

The first 200 customers will receive a free RABBIT FEVER key ring, so hurry while stocks last!

A night of stars to benefit Family Services of the Desert

You could really become jaded with all the charity fundraisers that offer a stellar line-up of performers here in the desert.

Most charity events with star quality offer up one or two, and on rare occasion three, celeb performers to sell the high-end tickets.

Photographer and film producer Michael Childers goes one better by assembling 21 stars for One Night Only: A Benefit for Family Services of the Desert on Saturday at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert.

The lineup for the night includes Chris Calloway (Cab's daughter), Wilson Cruz, Loretta Divine, Joely Fisher, Betty Garrett, Sally Kellerman, Andrea Marocovicci, Rod McKuen, Robert Morse, Valerie Pettiford, Stefanie Powers, Brian Lane Green, Nancy Dassault, Freda Payne, KT Sullivan, Kevin Spirtas, Bruce Vilanch, Ronobar Lahiri, Channing Cook Holmes, Susanna Guzman and emcee Doris Roberts.

Just one night
What: One Night Only: A Benefit for Family Services of the Desert
When: 6 p.m. Saturday, April 21
Where: McCallum Theatre, 73-000 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert
Cost: $95, $135, $175
Other details: $350 VIP tickets include after-party with the cast at Piero's Acqua Pazza at The River, 78-100 Highway 111, Rancho Mirage
Information: 340-2787 McCallum Theatre

Orange County Performing Arts Center 2007-08 Season

In the cabaret series, Stefanie Powers will make her center debut November 8-11, 2007.

http://www.ocpac.org/cabaret/index.asp

“In addition to the right mix of reserve and stately beauty, she also possesses a lovely soprano voice.” –Variety

As a Hollywood star, Stefanie Powers is known for inimitable style and sophistication. Now she brings those same qualities to the American songbook and unveils yet another facet to her remarkable talent.

Stefanie Powers on Paul O'Grady

The Polish Americans

The Polish Americans
WQED, 9:30 p.m. Tuesday

Canonsburg's Bobby Vinton appears in The Polish Americans, along with actress Stefanie Powers; former U.S. National Security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski; Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Maryland; author Suzanne Strempek Shea; and others.

This program is filled with human-interest stories, some lengthy, of how Polish-Americans maintained their heritage in a brave new country.

Archival footage focuses on the immigrants and how they built churches and communities that resembled European villages within American cities like San Antonio, Cleveland, Baltimore and New York. The program briefly sifts through Poland's political problems, then concentrates on the development of Polish pride in its food, music, dance and, surprisingly, as members of Notre Dame's "Fighting Irish" football teams.

Just be prepared to go on humming Vinton's part-Polish "Melody of Love" for the next few days.

Stefanie on the Go

"I am en route to India for a conference on the Asiatic lion. I was asked to
replicate tour education center there and am giving a speech at the
conference. I go on to Hong Kong and Beijing for another set of meetings,
this time for the mutual funds, and then I go to Kenya so I am a bit busy
just now. Look on the site...www.sixdegrees.org and dial me up."

(Info from Nancy Dugan, Stefanie Powers On-line Fan Group).

Stefanie, the Correspondent

Stefanie is the USA correspondent/interviewer for the UK's Sir David Frost television program. She'll be doing 20 interviews for the program and, there is a possibility that the show will be airing in USA as well. Several interviews are already in the can, including Micky Dolenz and Jacqueline Bisset.

She's also done several documentaries and is now trying to hook up with PBS for funding.

(Info from Nancy Dugan, Stefanie Powers On-line Fan Group).

Wildlife is no 'wild guess' for these experts

Saving endangered species from extinction, that's what a group of wildlife experts from USA, African and European countries will talk about at a two-day international symposium which begins on February 27 at Karnavati Club in Ahmedabad.

The symposium on 'Conservation of Endangered Species' has been jointly organised by the State Forest Department and Mumbai-based Vanishing Herds Foundation.

"Our main objective is to deliberate on conserving endangered species across the globe. More importantly, we wanted to get inputs on preserving Gujarat's wildlife from renowned experts in the field," said Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Pradeep Khanna on Monday.

Among the prominent wildlife experts expected to participate in the symposium are Don Hunt, chairman of Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy; Iris Hunt, who established Mount Kenya Animal Orphanage; Dr Betsy L Dresser, who is considered to be the world's foremost specialist in 'big cat' reproduction and genetics; Stefanie Powers, a Fellow of the Los Angeles Zoo and also a member on the advisory board of the Atlanta and Columbus Zoos;

Dr Stephanie Dloniak, a Zoology professor at Michigan State University and also the Director of The Mara Carnivore Conservation project, and, Scotland-based

Dr Roger Windsor, an expert in veterinary wildlife science.Giving profiles of the experts, Khanna said: "Don Hunt was part of a Kenyan Government project to stop wildlife, especially the rare White Zebra and Bongo antelope, from decimating.

The project, which lasted 35 years, is one of Africa's greatest success stories as not only did the decimation stop, the numbers of wildlife also increased significantly."

"Don Hunt's wife, Iris, is credited with the setting up of the Mount Kenya Animal Orphanage, a privately-funded animal shelter and refuge for wild animals with special needs.

The orphanage has become a model for a number of wildlife projects across the world. She has also been assisting her husband with wildlife translocations," he said adding that during the symposium, she will talk about the importance of an animal shelter in cohesive conservation programmes.

"Dr Dresser has worked with the University of Cincinnati's Medical Centre and is the senior vice president of the Audubon Centre for Research on Endangered Species. Her goal is to save endangered species from extinction through use of high-tech reproduction such as embryo transfers and in-vitro fertilisation.

Ms Winnie Kiiru, another eminent wildlife conservationist to participate in the symposium, will speak on "man-animal conflicts" and "large mammal translocation".

Interview with Linda Evans

Not counting your battles on Dynasty, what's the meanest catfight you've ever been in?

I only did one other major catfight, in an episode of McCloud, before Dynasty. Stefanie Powers and I just went on for five minutes - beating the heck out of each other - and it was one of the best fights I've ever done with anybody. So when the Dynasty producers wanted Krystle and Alexis to have a fight, I told them what worked really well - what gave us the most punch for the least amount of injury. That was the pillows coming apart with feathers going all over the apartment.

I had learned to do my own stunts with Barbara Stanwyck on The Big Valley, because she's one of the few actresses who loved to do her own stunts, and it so pleased her when I did mine.

Of course, I love the fighting and Joan hates it. She hates being touched.

Special Screenings - February 1

American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Bl, Hollywood, (323) 466-3456. Egyptiantheatre.com. Overlooked and Underrated � Experiment in Terror, 7:30; followed by Mister Cory. Discussion in between films with actress Stefanie Powers.

Sidney Sheldon, 89; master of flashy, trashy bestsellers

Sidney Sheldon, a writer whose keen grasp of popular tastes fueled a string of feverishly romantic and suspenseful books that made him a perennial bestseller with millions of copies in print around the world, died Tuesday. He was 89. Sheldon died of pneumonia at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, according to his friend and publicist Warren Cowan.

A multifaceted writer, Sheldon won a screenwriting Oscar and a Tony award and had created popular television sitcoms before starting his first novel at the age of 52. But it was through the novels that he gained his overriding fame.

His books usually revolved around characters of great wealth, beauty, brilliance and bedroom prowess — none of which protected them from infidelity, betrayal and indiscretion. Sheldon's protagonists were usually women and his plots were so artfully constructed that his books are the very definition of a page-turner.

He was one of the world's most translated authors, selling more than 300 million books in 180 countries. They were printed in 51 languages, including Urdu, which is spoken in Pakistan and India, and Swahili.

With his second novel, "The Other Side of Midnight" (1974), Sheldon broke into the blockbuster ranks; the book remained on the New York Times bestseller list for 53 weeks — a record at the time.

About half of his 18 novels — with such titles as "Rage of Angels" (1980) and "Memories of Midnight" (1990) — were turned into television movies or miniseries. Demand for his stories was so great that CBS executives reportedly paid Sheldon $1 million for the rights to make a miniseries of 1985's "If Tomorrow Comes" before they had even read it.

Some critics said his dialogue was banal and his plots were unbelievable, but many grudgingly acknowledged the author's unusual talent at producing what the Washington Post once called "good junk reading time after time."

After Sheldon's 1987 novel "Windmills of the Gods" debuted at No. 1 on bestseller lists, Charles Champlin, then The Times' arts editor, wrote that Sheldon had found "a statistically wider audience each time, evidently satisfying everyone except most literary critics, who regard popularity and quality as incompatible."

Fans admired plotlines that were amazingly complex yet easy to follow — and the colorful characters who could never be counted on to do the expected.

"Sidney's longevity secret is that he is a great storyteller, a master of the narrative tale," his literary agent, Mort Janklow, told The Times in 2004. "Readers care about his characters, many of whom are women under threat. He has an instinctive ability to read women's emotions."

For his part, Sheldon said: "I don't write for critics. I write for readers."

From the early 1940s until almost 1970, he had written mainly for viewers.

Wins Oscar in 1948

His wry and witty script for "The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer" (1947) won him a 1948 Academy Award for original screenplay. The farce, which starred Cary Grant and Shirley Temple, was "uncloyed with cuteness," the New York Times review said at the time.

Sheldon was also a screenwriter for the Judy Garland-Fred Astaire musical "Easter Parade" (1948) and the Astaire-Ginger Rogers musical "The Barkleys of Broadway" (1949). After he helped adapt the Irving Berlin hit "Annie Get Your Gun" to the big screen, the 1950 Betty Hutton-Howard Keel vehicle received generally favorable reviews.

He wrote half a dozen plays for Broadway. His biggest hit was the musical "Redhead," starring Gwen Verdon, which ran for a little more than a year from 1959 to 1960 and brought him a Tony for co-writing the book.

After working on about two dozen films, he turned toward television, writing scores of episodes for two hit sitcoms he created — "The Patty Duke Show" (ABC, 1963-66) and "I Dream of Jeannie" (NBC, 1965-70), according to Sheldon's memoir "The Other Side of Me" (2005).

Creating a show for Duke was a challenge because "she was so extraordinarily talented I did not want to waste her abilities," Sheldon wrote. He decided she should play twin sisters but changed it to look-alike cousins to explain why the characters had grown up without knowing each other.

"Jeannie," which starred Barbara Eden and Larry Hagman, opened to mixed reviews but had a loyal fan base, Sheldon wrote. One episode, "Bigger Than a Bread Box and Better Than a Genie," featured Sheldon's wife, Jorja, as a fortuneteller and his mother as a character in a seance scene.

He also created the glamorous "Hart to Hart" series, starring Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers, that aired on ABC from 1979 to 1984.

He was born Sidney Schechtel on Feb. 11, 1917, in Chicago, the son of Otto, a salesman, and Natalie, a homemaker. Unable to pay the rent, the family kept moving and Sheldon attended about a dozen schools.

Sheldon later remarked that his career as a writer was rather improbable considering his background.

Becoming a writer

"Both my parents were third-grade dropouts," he said. "My father never read a book in his life and I was the only one in my family to complete high school."

Sheldon won a scholarship to Northwestern University. Although he was forced to drop out halfway through his freshman year because of the financial pressures of the Depression, he recalled having an epiphany of sorts as he walked on campus one day.

"I saw all these well-dressed students, and I thought that years from now, no one will ever know they existed," he wrote years later. "I wanted to leave a mark, I wanted people to know I was here."

He made up the last name of Sheldon in the mid-1930s when he entered an amateur radio contest as an announcer.

At first, he worked in Chicago as a theater usher, shoe salesman and attendant in a nightclub checkroom. After the club's bandleader, Phil Levant, played a song Sheldon wrote, Sheldon left for New York City to try to make it as a songwriter. While there, he saw a lot of movies and turned his thoughts toward Hollywood.

Soon, he was in Los Angeles — he wanted to be a screenwriter but had promised his parents he would return to Chicago if he didn't have a job within three weeks.

Repeatedly, he was turned away from movie studio gates. As time was running out, he learned that producers hired readers to help analyze scripts. Since he had just read John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men," Sheldon sent synopses of the classic to every studio and was soon working at Universal for $17 a week, he told The Times in 1992.

At his boarding house, Sheldon met a young writer named Ben Roberts and they began collaborating on "B" movies like "South of Panama," "Gambling Daughters" and "Borrowed Hero," all released in 1941.

"I can't even call them 'B' pictures," Sheldon once said. "They were 'Z' pictures. But we got paid and we got screen credits. We were professionals."

At the start of World War II, Sheldon enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces but within months he was discharged for medical reasons. He began collaborating with Roberts on a revival of the musical "The Merry Widow," which ran for nine months beginning in 1943.

Two other musicals they wrote, the comedy "Jackpot" and the fantasy "Dream With Music," had brief Broadway runs about the same time.

Back in Hollywood, Sheldon won an Oscar for "The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer" but couldn't wait to leave Shrine Auditorium.

"On what should have been the happiest night of my life, I was suicidal," Sheldon wrote in his autobiography of the paralyzing mood swings he experienced. A psychiatrist soon diagnosed him as manic-depressive, Sheldon wrote in his memoir.

In midlife, he turned to writing novels, a career change that came about almost accidentally, he often told interviewers:

"I had an idea for something complicated, that delved into people's minds and motives to a greater extent than I could put in any film or TV script. Trying to put it into novel form was the only answer."

"The Naked Face," published in 1970, did not sell well, but readers loved his second novel, "The Other Side of Midnight," the so-bad-it's-good guilty pleasure set in World War II. It centers on a beautiful French woman named Noelle Page who is spurned by a dashing American pilot and spends the rest of her life obsessed with him.

Almost all of Sheldon's books hit the bestseller lists after that.

In his fourth novel, "Bloodline," a beautiful heiress becomes the target of the man who murdered her father. In his sixth, "Master of the Game," the Blackwell family rises to riches in the diamond mines of South Africa. In 1991's "The Doomsday Conspiracy," a naval intelligence officer must find witnesses to the crash of a weather balloon that could actually be a UFO.

His 18th novel, "Are You Afraid of the Dark?," which was published when he was 87, was a New York Times bestseller shortly after its release in 2004.

In his personal life, Sheldon was the opposite of the love 'em and leave 'em cads who populate so many of his works.

A family man

After a brief first marriage, he was married to his second wife, Jorja Curtright, for 33 years; she died in 1985 of a heart attack. In 1989, he married Alexandra Kostoff. Besides his wife, he is survived by a daughter from his second marriage, Mary, who is a novelist; two grandchildren; and his brother Richard.

During most of his writing years, Sheldon and his family traveled the world together, researching and taking photos of the locations where he planned to set his next novel.

"If you read the description of a hotel, or of a restaurant meal, you can bet we actually stayed at that hotel or ate that exact meal…. That's what makes my books so realistic," he told an interviewer.

He wrote every day, first "ad-libbing" an initial and very long draft, which was transcribed by a secretary, and then rewriting and editing what he had written.

Over the years, he also wrote popular children's books. He owned a string of luxurious homes, finally settling in Beverly Hills and in a five-house compound in Palm Springs.

He told the Times in 2000 that he thought the profession of author suited him best.

"In a book, your imagination has no limits," Sheldon said. "There is no budget to worry about, you can have as many characters as you want, you can give them all yachts…. It's remarkable to write a novel, because the author is the star."

Services will be private.

The family suggests that memorial donations be made to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, 4650 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles 90027. A celebration of Sheldon's life will be held later.

Profitable page-turners:

The novels of Sidney Sheldon

• "The Naked Face"

• "The Other Side of Midnight"

• "A Stranger in the Mirror"

• "Bloodline"

• "Rage of Angels"

• "Master of the Game"

• "If Tomorrow Comes"

• "Windmills of the Gods"

• "The Sands of Time"

• "Memories of Midnight"

• "The Doomsday Conspiracy"

• "The Stars Shine Down"

• "Nothing Lasts Forever"

• "Morning, Noon & Night"

• "The Best Laid Plans"

• "Tell Me Your Dreams"

• "The Sky Is Falling"

• "Are You Afraid of the Dark?"

Through the Keyhole

Micky Dolenz was interviewed by Stefanie Powers for David Frost's U.K. game show, "Through the Keyhole."

Lively — and revealing — 'Legends'

BEVERLY HILLS — Joan Collins showed off more than her talents at Tuesday night's opening performance of her traveling stage play, Legends, when the zipper on the back of her dress slid down, exposing the 73-year-old's lingerie-covered backside to a theater packed with '80s TV legends.

Among those who were treated to the moon: Hart to Hart's Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers; Knots Landing's Michele Lee; Falcon Crest's Lorenzo Lamas; and Dynasty's Pamela Sue Martin, Al Corley, Gordon Thomson and Pamela Bellwood.

On stage, Collins' co-star and Dynasty rival, Linda Evans, 64, struggled in vain to zip Collins up. "I tried, but it just didn't want to stay," Evans sighed at the after-party.

So Collins momentarily broke the fourth wall, vocally acknowledging her "wardrobe malfunction" and inspiring Evans to ad-lib "nice (butt)." Collins, who also was battling the flu, spent the rest of the show delicately sidestepping her way across the stage, occasionally clasping her hands over her posterior.

"That poor thing; what a trouper," Powers said. "I once had a set fall down on me."

At the after-party, Collins shared a booth with sister Jackie, who just finished her latest racy novel, Drop Dead Beautiful, about the continuing antics of heroine Lucky Santangelo

"How embarrassing," Joan said of the mishap. "But I had to make it fun, because if you're not having fun, neither is your audience."

Joan's husband, Percy Gibson, is a producer on the show, which casts Evans and Collins as aging actress rivals. After its two-week engagement in Los Angeles, the show will continue to Phoenix, Denver, Chicago and Boston before concluding in New Haven, Conn., on May 13.

It also was a night to remember those who could not attend. The most missed face was Dynasty patriarch John Forsythe, who had colon cancer surgery in September and was released from the hospital three weeks ago.

Forsythe's wife, Nicole, said her husband, who turns 89 Jan. 29, is cancer-free but is now fighting a leg hematoma. "He thinks he can get up and walk, because he's not getting any pain to his brain," Nicole said.

She planned to make the two-hour drive back to their Santa Ynez Valley ranch the same night so she would not worry her husband, who "saw me getting all dolled up."

Hart Quotes

Enjoy!

Hart Love Montage

For your enjoyment. :-)

The Streets of San Francisco coming to DVD in April

The first season of the show (actually, it's one of those "Season 1, Volume 1" deals) will be released by Paramount on April 3. It will be 10 episodes plus the pilot movie. No word on extras or commentaries yet.

It's amazing to see all of the famous faces that graced this show, including Martin Sheen, Deidre Hall, Robert Wagner, John Ritter, Stefanie Powers, Harold Gould, Brenda Vaccaro, Stuart Whitman, Jamie Farr, Shelley Morrison (Rosario on Will & Grace), Leslie Nielsen, Dick Sargent, Dean Stockwell, Bill Bixby, Nick Nolte, Jessica Walter, and some guy named Arnold Schwarzenegger. There was a reunion movie in 1992, but Douglas didn't want to be in it (his character "disappeared" and Malden looked for him).

Placido Domingo and Stefanie Sing The Rain in Spain

Marina del Rey: 44th Holiday Boat Parade selects Stefanie Powers as grand marshal

Organizers of the Marina del Rey Holiday Boat Parade have announced that actress Stefanie Powers will serve as grand marshal for the 44th annual parade, scheduled for Saturday, December 9th.

Powers will be riding aboard the grand marshal boat YachtSea, which, along with the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Halibut, will lead the two-hour parade.

This year's parade theme is Water Winter Wonderland. A fireworks show will kick off the official start at 5:55 p.m. The parade is scheduled from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

"Stefanie Powers has brought entertainment and excitement to the world for many years and we're thrilled she will take the helm as grand marshal to lead our parade," said parade president Cindy Williams. "We are delighted to welcome Stefanie to our boat parade family and hope she enjoys the experience as much as we will."

Powers' acting credits include 28 feature films, three television series, miniseries and on-stage musical productions. She portrayed Jennifer Hart on the television series Hart to Hart.

She has released four home videos and is involved with several American zoos, where she works with species survival programs and is a frequent keynote speaker, according to Williams.

"She has combined a natural curiosity and passion for knowledge, world travel and diverse cultures in both an award-winning acting career and an equally active life of heartfelt philanthropic work," Williams said.

Powers is also president of the William Holden Wildlife Foundation, a public charity dedicated to the preservation of wild animals, which she helped found in honor of the late actor.

The William Holden Wildlife Education Center serves 10,000 students a year and is located near the Mount Kenya Safari Club and the Mount Kenya Game Ranch started by Holden in the late 1950s.

Information, parade headquarters, (310) 670-7130, or www .mdrboatparade.org

Happy Birthday!

Happy 64th birthday, Stefanie!

Galactic Gala at Griffith Observatory

L.A.: Luminaries mark attraction's reopening this Friday.

Stars gazed upon stars Sunday at a Galactic Gala at Griffith Observatory to honor this week's re-opening of Los Angeles' No. 1 landmark.

Hollywood stars, city officials and supporters of the $93 million makeover sailed across a heavenly blue carpet to hail the observatory's Friday public launch.

"We've been waiting five years and are really excited to be here tonight," said Leonard Nimoy, who played "Spock" on the epic "Star Trek" series and who has donated $1 million toward a 200-seat theater built in his name.

VIPs - from Buzz Aldrin, the second human to set foot on the Moon, to actress Angela Bassett - were awed by the observatory that shone atop Mt. Hollywood.

Built in 1935 as a gift to Los Angeles by Griffith J. Griffith, the art deco observatory has become one of the city's most cherished icons.

Now, after four years of meticulous restoration, what has been dubbed "the hood ornament of Los Angeles" will re-open its doors to the public on Friday.

"To all the people of Los Angeles: One of the greatest buildings in the world is coming online," said Councilman Tom LaBonge, an observatory booster. "This is the greatest spot in the whole universe."

Outside, the historic observatory gleamed in ivory, its bronze solar and planetary telescopes guarding its green rotunda and copper planetarium dome.

A terrace now surrounds the movie icon and home to 2 million visitors a year, for the best views of Los Angeles. An outdoor transit marks the seasonal path of the sun.

Inside, the 40,000-square-foot observatory is now twice its former size with a new planetarium, theater, cafe, classroom, bookstore and more than 60 exhibits.

But with less than 200 parking spaces and a crush of expected visitors, the observatory will allow no drive-in access in the first months after re-opening.

Instead, visitors must make advance timed reservations to shuttle up the hill for a fee. Hikers and cyclists can visit free with a 48-hour advance reservation.

At Sunday's gala, guests walked toward the bust of James Dean, with views of the Hollywood sign and a glorious sunset over the Pacific Ocean. The party, which was hosted by Friends of the Observatory and organized by the Los Angeles Sports Entertainment Commission, included such local celebrities as James Spader, Courtney B. Vance, Lucy Lawless, Art Linkletter and Stefanie Powers.

"I adore this place," said Powers, who visited the observatory as a child. "It has all the grace and elegance of the age in which it was constructed - it was the Golden Age of Hollywood."

But it was Aldrin who commanded the galactic celebration.

"We've been coming to the Griffith Observatory for 35 years" the astronaut said, gazing at the moon above the planetary dome. "This is the place to come for L.A. night life."

Thalians' 51st Anniversary Ball

"Desperate Housewives" creator Marc Cherry, comedian Jay Mohr, "Housewives" co-star Andrea Bowen and "American Idol" contestant Ace Young were among the youngsters at the Thalians' 51st Anniversary Ball last Saturday night.

"If you're wondering why it's so cold in here, it's to keep most of you alive!" Mohr joked to the mostly elderly members of the entertainment industry's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to the treatment of mental health.

Doris Roberts presented Cherry with the Mr. Wonderful Award at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel before a crowd that included Debbie Reynolds, Connie Stevens, Stefanie Powers, Barbara Eden, Mitzi Gaynor, Mamie Van Doren, Valerie Harper, Dick Van Patten, Hugh O'Brian, Jack LaLanne, Jayne Meadows, Jack Klugman, Ruta Lee and Jane Russell.

Cherry got the award for his efforts to focus on the need for mental health on both the screen and in life.

"What do I know about shaky mental health?" Cherry asked during the evening that raised more than $400,000 for the Thalians Mental Health Center at Cedars-Sinai. "Well, I work with four actresses over 40! You do the math!"

The Ms. Wonderful Award went to actress/entrepreneur Stevens and her actress daughters Joely Fisher and Tricia Leigh Fisher. The family trio — as well as Bowen, Young and Reynolds — all sang during the evening, while Cherry playfully dissed his "Housewives."

"It's a man-eater," Cherry chortled when he bid $3,000 to name a tiger cub.

"So I'm calling it Eva Longoria!"

Newport-Bermuda Race

The 100th anniversary Newport-Bermuda Race proves to be more a test of cooking skills than seamanship

The closest we got to a healthy breeze in the 2006 centennial Newport-Bermuda Race were the gales of laughter that swept up from the saloon after lunch on the third day out. As my watch tried to coax an extra tenth of a knot out of Ceramco New Zealand, an aluminum Farr 68, the B watch sat on the sails below and roared at The Wedding Crashers on DVD.

We'd started out well. The bright sunshine had warmed the land enough to generate a 12-knot sea breeze out of the southwest, allowing us to point sufficiently high to lay the buoys at the entrance to Narragansett Bay. We decided to go for a very conservative start, figuring it didn't make much sense to be over the starting line early on a 635-mile race with 264 entries. As we close-reached out to sea at nine or 10 knots in smooth water, we waited for the wind to die as forecast. We were pretty happy to be the fourth closest boat to Bermuda when it finally shut down a day and a half later.

The race went downhill from there. We were parked in a cold eddy south of the Gulf Stream and still had three to four knots of current pushing us toward our destination. The problem with cold eddies is that they're roughly circular in shape. Soon, the current that'd been helping us started pushing us east and then northeast, away from our goal, as we struggled to keep the boat moving.

The boats that stayed just a little farther west seemed to make out best in the race. They ran out of wind at about the same time as we did, but they got out of the eddy and didn't have to battle the current to start making way toward Bermuda again.

Talking to other crews after the finish, I found that most enjoyed a very pleasant sail. It was calm, sunny, and warm, and everyone ate like kings. Except the crews on the flat-out raceboats who had freeze-dried food ("It really isn't too bad. They've improved it a lot." Right). Aboard Ceramco, owner Diane Masters first went to sea as the cook on the famous maxi racer Kialoa III, so she knows how to produce truly fabulous meals for a hungry crew. And produce she did, starting with lamb chops with rice and fresh veggies, followed by homemade strawberry shortcake. (I watched her make it, and no, I looked nothing like a vulture watching dinner get run over on a lonely road. I merely hovered around the galley to see if I could help.) She fed us a cooked breakfast daily (I think she used 35 to 40 eggs each day—and is there a better smell than that of frying bacon wafting out the hatch on a cool morning at sea?), and our "rough-weather" meal of shepherd's pie made with mashed cauliflower instead of potatoes was wolfed down on a warm, calm evening.

After spending a few years sailing on the maxi circuit, Diane decided she'd rather own boats than be paid to work on them. She started her own business installing flooring in houses and now employs several dozen people. A few years ago, she embarked on a search for just the right boat. It had to be big enough to accommodate a lot of friends, tough, fast, comfortable, and fun to sail. She found all that in Ceramco New Zealand, built as the late Sir Peter Blake's entry in the 1981 Whitbread Around the World Race.

Our skipper for the Newport-Bermuda Race was Robert "Whitey" Russell, a tremendously experienced ex-yacht captain who helped Diane find the boat and then refit Ceramco over the winter, all with a view to sailing the 2006 race. Afterward, Diane planned to spend the summer daysailing with friends and perhaps doing a cruise to Maine if her work schedule permitted. This fall, she plans to sail Ceramco down to Saint-Barthélemy in the French West Indies and commute back and forth over the winter before sailing next spring across the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. There, she plans to cruise the Balearic Islands and spend time in Valencia, Spain, watching the America's Cup races.

Diane wasn't the only entrant in the Newport-Bermuda Race with exciting plans. This year's race was merely the first leg for Colin Golder, who sailed Morgan of Marietta, his Wauquiez Centurion 42, in the race for the sixth time. Instead of sailing home to New Jersey, Golder, now retired, intended his next stop after Bermuda to be Horta, on the island of Faial in the Azores. He took advantage of the fact that race organizers sent nine shipping containers to Bermuda to have his Monitor windvane, dinghy, and other cruising gear meet him on the island after the race. He planned to cruise the Azores for a few weeks, then spend the balance of the summer cruising in Portugal before leaving the boat in southern Spain for the winter. The best things about the race for Morgan's crew were the nice weather, finding the eddies in the Stream, and having literally dozens of dolphins play around the boat for more than an hour—letting the sailors know they were in the right place at the right time. The crew evened out varying degrees of culinary expertise by cooking ahead and freezing several meals before leaving the dock. Every evening they popped one in the oven, and the whole crew sat down and relaxed for an hour over dinner.

Because of the light airs, this year's race was the second slowest on record. New York businessman Tom Carroll's previous race was on a Sweden 38 in 1998, the slowest race. He entered this year with Siren Song, his new J/133, and a crew of friends from western Long Island Sound. But this wasn't just any random group of guys: Watch captains Butch Ulmer and Howie McMichael have sailed the race 19 and 15 times, respectively; navigator H. L. DeVore had sailed four Bermuda races. Tom's son was aboard, sailing his first.

Though he intended to spend most of his time on the boat racing this summer, Carroll seemed a bit too proud of the job his girlfriend, actress Stefanie Powers, had done decorating the interior to convince me that he was a cutthroat racer, his racing record with the new boat notwithstanding.

When I asked him the standard interviewer question about his motivation for sailing the Newport-Bermuda Race this year, Tom's answer was especially poignant: "One of my best friends developed brain cancer last year. He was only 53 years old. We spent a lot of time discussing priorities in the three months before he died. We talked a lot about doing things, about not putting things off. The funeral was in September. I ordered the boat in October, and I ran the New York Marathon in November."

Dan Biemesderfer, a professor at Yale Medical School, sailed Shearwater, his beautiful Mason 43, in the race. Docked at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club in a prime spot after the finish, her sweeping sheer, long cabin house, bronze ports, and gleaming varnish provided quite a contrast to the dedicated racing boats surrounding her. She's a lovely and elegant cruising boat, certainly no racer. When I asked why he'd enter such a boat, Dan explained that he loves Bermuda and has done the Marion-Bermuda race since 2001, competing in the celestial-navigation division last year. He enjoys sailing offshore and doing the work to prepare the boat beforehand. The rigorous requirements and inspections leading up to the race help him ensure that the boat's ready for any conditions when his family is aboard.

Dan's crew of, as he described them, "hard-core racers," kept the boat moving in the light airs that frustrated so many of the sailors in the race. Having a crew of committed sailors aboard didn't prevent them from having a bottle or two of wine with their gourmet dinner every night. But the crew, no doubt, was a factor in the boat's final placing: Shearwater crossed the finish line off St. David's Head at 2131 on Wednesday to take third place in Class 14 and seventh overall on corrected time in the Cruiser Division.

Finishing just eight minutes behind them was another boat named Shearwater—a Morris 40 sailed by Conrad Hall, CEO of Trader Publishing, the company that owns Soundings magazine. This Shearwater placed third in class and fourth overall in the Cruiser Division. Conrad sailed the boat in the last Newport-Bermuda Race with a six-man crew, but since a rule change in the Cruiser Division allowed the use of autopilots this year, he felt he could sail with one less person and have a little more elbow room.

He's no stranger to offshore sailing. Every year he sails Shearwater back and forth offshore from her winter home at the Morris yard in Bass Harbor, Maine, to her summer home in Norfolk, Virginia, a distance each way approximately the same as that of the Newport-Bermuda Race. He has a great deal of confidence in his boat. "The Morris is a wonderful ocean boat for its size," says Conrad. "The crew may fail the boat, but the boat's never going to fail the crew." He loves the adventure of sailing an offshore race: "It's such a change from normal life, and sailing with good friends makes it all the more fun."

Learning about the weather and offshore sailing were the prime motivations behind Iris and Alex Frowein's decision to enter the race with Alaeris, their Outbound 46. They used to spend summers cruising their C&C 34 around the New England coast. Every winter, they'd charter bareboats in the Caribbean, and inspired by an article in the August 2005 Cruising World, "Secrets Revealed," they chartered in Culebra and Vieques last winter.
In 2004, Iris and Alex started thinking about packing up and venturing farther afield in a boat of their own. They decided the C&C was too small to suit them as a liveaboard for an extended cruise, so they started looking at bigger boats. That summer, an Outbound 44 sailed into their marina, and they liked what they saw. They contacted Skip Pond at Outbound Yachts and ended up taking delivery of a new Outbound 46 last fall. Skip suggested that sailing in the Newport-Bermuda Race would be a good way to get themselves and the boat up to snuff right away. "The boat was 90-percent ready when I got it," Alex says. "Having the race coming up was a great motivating factor to complete getting the boat prepared. Buying storm canvas and making sure that the refrigerators' lids lock in place get put off longer than they should—this way, we got it all done at once, rather than piecemeal."

Self-described cruisers, they turned over nominal skippering duties for the race to Jim Binch, a Long Island sailor who's done several Newport-Bermuda Races in the double-handed division with watch captain Ned Brooks. Skip Pond also sailed on the boat. Alex appreciated having their talent available to tap into during the race. "Skip was a treasure trove of knowledge and experience, and the fact that he's sailed the Outbounds so many miles was very helpful, too."

Alex's position as navigator helped him ramp up his weather-forecasting skills as he learned more about weather routing and GRIB files. Iris loved the race, too. The helmsman of the pair, she also felt she'd become a better sailor, and she loved learning what the boat was capable of in light airs when you can't motor. Sailing offshore for the first time, they became an even better team, Alex says. "We've always been pretty dialed into each other on the boat, communicating well and sharing sailing duties." He notes that though they improved their skills immensely and became much more confident in, and comfortable with, the boat, they have no plans to take up racing full-time.

A few days after the finish of the race, Iris flew home to work while Alex sailed the boat back to Newport with two crew. Though they're thinking about entering the Marion-Bermuda race next year, Iris and Alex say their plans to go cruising in a year or two are now confirmed.

Because it was the centennial, this year's Newport-Bermuda Race saw more traditional boats entered than usual. Sailing under two different handicap rules used to predict theoretical boat speed, the race was won by two boats more than 25 years old: Lively Lady II, a 1970s-vintage Carter 37 owned by William Hubbard III, took handicap honors in the IRC Class, and Sinn Fein, a 1960s-vintage Cal 40 owned by Peter Rebovich, won the ORR Class.

Hart to Hart on DVD

Hart to Hart - The Complete Second Season
DVD Release Date: September 19, 2006



If you don't have the first season on DVD yet:

Rabbit set to cause a buzz in British film

Emily Mortimer is one of the stars to make a cameo in the film

Take one Rampant Rabbit, the world's most popular sex toy. Add a first-time director and writer and sprinkle in cameos from London's great and good. Mix well.

That's the remarkable recipe for the new "mockumentary" Rabbit Fever, which is set to become the unlikeliest British film smash of the year when it is released on Friday.

Among the stars appearing in the film are Emily Mortimer, Sienna Guillory, Tom Conti, Germaine Greer, Lisa B, Stefanie Powers, William Boyd and Richard Branson.

In the picture, which was filmed across the capital, the stars deliver their verdict on the Rampant Rabbit either as themselves or as fictional characters.

Stephen Raphael, writer and producer of Rabbit Fever, got the idea for the film when he overheard some female gossip at the dinner table.

He said: "It all started in early 2004 when I went to a dinner party and there were a group of women there who had a bit to drink and started to talk about the Rampant Rabbit.

"I was amused and surprised by this. But then a friend told me he knew about this girl in his office who was always coming in late because of it and I thought, 'I have to write a film about women's addiction to the Rampant Rabbit'.

After recruiting first-time director Ian Denyer, Raphael then raised funds for the film by persuading 25 friends, ranging from writers to financiers, to stump up the cash. He added: "Just so that there was never any doubt in anyone's mind, we brought a Rabbit vibrator along to the investors' meeting and plonked it in the middle of the table. The Rabbit disappeared and I never got it back."

Perhaps Raphael's most inspired move was hiring the well-connected Dixie Chassay as casting director. Chassay is the former girfriend of James Blunt, the subject of his number one smash You're Beautiful, and the daughter of Groucho Club founder Tchaik Chassay.

Raphael says: "Dixie was amazing. Ninety-nine per cent of the stars in the film we got through her."

These included her actor boyfriend Tom Hollander, who plays a marketing executive cashing in on the sex toy's popularity, and Evening Standard writer Toby Young as a Labour MP who faces calls for the Rabbit to be banned.

Oscar-winning screenwriter Frederic Raphael - Stephen's father - also appears as a sleazy Hollywood producer.

Raphael Jnr said: "It's truly an independent film. Our production office was my parents' flat in Chelsea. Not receiving any money from the Government or the Lottery meant I had total control of the film. If you can do it this way, you don't want anyone else on board.

Alexander, Channing, Daly, Fabray, Gallagher, Morse, et al. Set for Jule Styne Centennial Benefit: Theater News on TheaterMania.com

Jason Alexander, Carol Channing, Tyne Daly, Nanette Fabray, Peter Gallagher, and Robert Morse are just a few of the stars who will appear in Everything's Coming Up Roses: The Jule Styne Centennial, a special benefit concert for The Actors' Fund to be held at 8pm on Saturday, November 11 at the Luckman Fine Arts Complex in Los Angeles.

The event will be directed by David Galligan, with musical direction by John McDaniel. Other stars scheduled to appear include Obba Babatunde, Patrick Cassidy, Carole Cook, Nancy Dussault, Ilene Graff, Randy Graff, Sam Harris, Steve Kirwan, Dale Kristien, Vicki Lewis, Rod McKuen, Karen Morrow, Michael Nouri, Stefanie Powers, Cathy Rigby, Alice Ripley, Andrew Samansky, Sally Struthers, Bruce Vilanch, Lillias White, Jane Withers, and Jo Anne Worley.

Styne was the award-winning composer of such musicals as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Peter Pan, Bells Are Ringing, Gypsy, and Funny Girl. He also received the Academy Award for Three Coins in the Fountain.

Tickets are $40-$250 and are available by calling 323-933-9266 x35.

Rabbit Fever Trailer

Rabbit Fever, a new film starring Stefanie Powers, is out in cinemas in the UK on September 22.

Click to view Rabbit Fever trailer

Hart to Hart Season 2 on DVD

Jonathan & Jennifer Hart Return To DVD For Their 2nd Season!

Sony has announced the second season of the popular whodunit series Hart to Hart, starring Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers! The millionaire couple continue their hobby as amateur sleuths. They seem to always be finding themselves on the brink - or right in the middle - of danger. This season the couple, and their loyal sidekick, Max (Lionel Stander), investigate 20 hour-long episodes on 5 DVDs, with guest stars such as Roger C. Carmel, Dolph Sweet, George Wendt, Joanna Cassidy, Amy Madigan, Shari Belafonte, Lois Chiles, Joe Pantoliano, Jared Martin, Bibi Besch, and Jerry Stiller. Running time is 987 minutes, and cost is $49.95 SRP. There are no extras (other than "bonus previews"). When you meet this package on September 19th, it'll be murder!

Powers Pilates

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/05/2006_27_tue.shtml

ENTERTAINMENT AUTHOR JUDITH MOOSE TO PEN BOOKS ON EIGHTIES HIT TELEVISION SERIES' REMINGTON STEELE AND HART TO HART

LOS ANGELES, CA – June 07, 2006 – Entertainment Industry author, publisher and publicist Judith Moose has announced plans to release her fourth and fifth television series guide books. The fourth is titled Steele Loved After All These Years is a retrospective look at Remington Steele and the fifth, Their Hobby Was Murder – A Look Back At Hart To Hart. Both books are slated for publication by the end of 2006.

Fans of both shows will be treated to walks down memory lane as they lip through the pages of the two books. Each will be filled with background information, behind-the-scenes tidbits, episode guides, trivia and assorted fun facts, a complete reference center, interviews with the cast, crew and creators and as with her others, a large selection of photos.

Steele Loved After All These Years and Their Hobby Was Murder will be released by Signing Stars Publishing.

Contact: Catherine Ingham, Signing Stars Publishing, signingstars@earthlink.net

Bermuda

Stefanie says, "I leave on the 18th for Bermuda to see Tom sail to victory in the Bermuda race."

You can follow his progress by logging into iboattrack.com Find the Newport-Bermuda Race. His boat is SirenSong J133.

Hotel deLuxe - Portland, OR

The re-opening of the Hotel deLuxe (formerly the Mallory Hotel) was the place to be last Wednesday night, as Portland's movers and shakers lined up to throw back free booze while rubbing elbows with Ted "Still the Governor" Kulongoski, and actors Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers (because Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn are dead). The biggest changes to the 93-year-old hotel? Owners Aspen Hotel Group, which also owns Portland's Hotel Lucia, added a new silver-screen theme and—it looks like—went on a major cleaning binge. And yes, as promised, the management has also reopened the hotel's beloved Rat Pack-style bar, the Driftwood Room.

Dance Spirit

The (slightly) older Hollywood crowd — including Stefanie Powers (who MC'd the event), Julie Newmar, Florence Henderson and Buzz Aldrin — was out in force Wednesday eve for USA Today's first Hollywood Hero award gala. It honored actress, dancer and choreographer Zina Bethune for her contributions to the community through Infinite Dreams, a program of the multimedia Bethune Theatredanse company that's been teaching dance and drama to disabled children and teens for the past 25 years.

Bethune didn't just make a gracious acceptance speech — first, she performed several dance pieces on stage with some of her students ("She wouldn't have it any other way," quipped Powers), including a lively version of "Steam Heat," to standing ovations from the packed house at the Beverly Hilton. In the audience were Ernie Hudson, Jerry Mathers, Tara Lipinski and a tres chic Veronique Peck who, though French, noted that she'd "far rather be here" than at Cannes for the current festival.

Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater L.A. Wine Tasting and Auction to Raise Funds For Children's Wishes

Los Angeles, CA - May 8, 2006 -- Presented by The Wine House and Charter Communications, the 13th annual "Uncork A Wish" Wine Tasting and Auction is one of the largest wine tasting and auction events in Los Angeles County. Benefiting the wish fulfillment efforts of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Los Angeles for children in Los Angeles with life-threatening medical conditions.

The night will unfold on Saturday, May 13, 2005 inside Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood beginning at 6:30 p.m., with the live auction slated for 9 p.m.

Celebrities currently scheduled to participate in this year’s event include: Teri Hatcher, Penny Marshall, Macy Gray, Micky Dolenz, Steven Cojocaru, Matt Gallant (American Inventor), Gregory Itzin (24), Ashley Jones (The Bold and the Beautiful), Kathy Joosten (Desperate Housewives), Kate Linder (Y&R), Roma Maffia (Nip/Tuck), Marianne Muellerleile (Passions/Thank you for Smoking), Stefanie Powers, Constance Ramos (Extreme Makeover: Home Edition), Christopher Rich (Reba), Emmanuelle Vaugier (Two and a Half Men), and Constance Zimmer (In Justice).

"Everyone is very excited at all the wonderful aspects of the event that have been brought together this year," said Cheri Lauterbach, director of development for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Los Angeles. "From our celebrity guests to the delectable assortment of food and wine being served to the wide array of exciting auction items, we have something that will appeal to our guests' range of tastes and interests."

The Wine House has brought together more than 80 participating wineries including: Boony Doon, Campion Winery, Charlone, Cobblestone, Domaine Carneros, Fife Vineyards, Honig Vineyard, Longoria, Marengo Moscato, Patz & Hall Wine Co., Piper-Heidsick, Saddlerock Vineyards, Torre Oria, and Trefethen Vineyards.

Adding to the night's festivities, Carving Ice will once again create a one-of-a-kind ice sculpture masterpiece that will serve as the martini bar, featuring celebrity bartenders and Belvedere Vodka supplied by Pacific Wine and Spirits. Guests who arrive during the first hour of the event will be offered a glass of Veuve Clicquot Rosé Champagne and Glen Morangie Scotch Whisky will also be available for tasting throughout the evening. New this year will be a sponsor's lounge with an array of European beers supplied by the INBEV Corporation.

Top Los Angeles restaurants serving sumptuous tastes of their finest cuisine include: BOA Steakhouse, Sushi Roku, Crustacean, Water Grill, Locanda del Lago, Arnie Morton's of Chicago, Cheese Store of Beverly Hills, Noe, San Gennaro, Mr. Cecil's Ribs, and Pink's Famous Hotdogs.

During the live and silent auctions, guests can bid on hundreds of fantastic items including:

A trip for two to a private Mexican villa for seven nights including round-trip airfare.

A three night trip to New York for two that includes round-trip airfare, hotel and two tickets to a taping of Saturday Night Live.

A trip for six to Napa Valley in a private jet for a winery tour and dinner at the French Laundry.

A fashion-tastic trip to New York including airfare, three nights at a Hilton Hotel and four tickets to the season three fashion show FINALE of Bravo's "Project Runway" hosted by Heidi Klum.

Fabulous artwork including a painting that will be created live by noted artist Thom Bierdz.

Special behind-the-scenes access at Disney Imagineering
Tickets to American Idol including a meet and greet with Ryan Seacrest.

A fully stocked, 48 bottle wine refrigerator.

A shopping experience with Steven Cojocaru, Entertainment Tonight and The Insider correspondent and fashion guru.

A flight in a World War II biplane.

A birthday party for six at American Girl Place at The Grove.

Presenting sponsors, Charter Communications and The Wine House are joined by sponsors Northrop Grumman, Cars 4 Causes, TMC, Hilton Hotels, Wells Fargo, Rollz Royce Limousine Service, The Walt Disney Company, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte and Touche, Capital Source, Pelican Products, City Art, GES Exposition Services, LA Magazine, Carving Ice, INBEV, and Fuji Water.

Members of the honorary committee for the 13th annual Uncork A Wish Wine Tasting and Auction are: Giovanni Agnelli, Antonio Banderas, Catherine Bell, Halle Berry, Kobe Bryant, Ted Danson, Tony Danza, Matt Gallant, Brad Garrett, Macy Gray, Melanie Griffith, Steven Grossman, Lisa Wade Grossman, Ed Harris, Mark Itkin, Renee Jones, Kathy Kinney, Andie MacDowell, William Petersen, Kelly Preston, Luc Robitaille, Pantera Sarah, Jessica Simpson, Sharon Stone, Kiefer Sutherland, Naomi Watts, Bradley Whitford, and Noah Wyle.

Conceived as a Valentine's Day celebration at the Santa Monica Airport's Museum of Flying in 1993, the wine tasting and auction fundraiser quickly outgrew that location and was moved into the Airport's Barker Hangar four years later, where it remained until the decision was made to move to the more centrally located Pacific Design Center this year. Attended by approximately 1,500 people annually, the funds raised have been used to fulfill hundreds of wishes for children with life-threatening medical conditions.

The Pacific Design Center is located at 8687 Melrose Avenue, West Hollywood, California 90069-5701. General Admission tickets are $125 in advance and $150 at the door. Wine and food tasting is included in the price of admission. Guests must be 21 or older to be admitted into the event. For more information, visit http://www.wishla.org or call 310-899-9191.

About the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Los Angeles

Established in 1983, the Greater Los Angeles chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation grants wishes to children throughout Los Angeles County who are battling life-threatening medical conditions. Working out of an office in West Los Angeles, the chapter has granted over 5,500 wishes to children countywide. For more information about the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Los Angeles go to http://www.wishla.org or call 310-788-9474.

13th Annual Women of Distinction Awards

The Women of Distinction Awards event is held each year to honor outstanding women in the community who have made a strong commitment to Hollywood. Along with these awards, the Golden Award and the Mary Pickford Award honor notable figures that have made a lifetime contribution to improving numerous aspects of Hollywood.

Women of Distinction 2006 have been chosen and will be honored on Tuesday, May 23 at 12:00 p.m. [registration and reception begin at 11:30 a.m.] at the Globe Theatre, Universal Studios Hollywood. For reservations or more information, call 323.469.8311 or make your reservation online to honor 2006 Hollywood's women at the 13th Annual Women of Distinction Awards Luncheon.

Two well-known celebrities will participate at the Hollywood 13th Annual Women of Distinction Awards Luncheon on Tuesday, May 23 at the Globe Theatre at Universal Hollywood.

Actress Stefanie Powers will be presented with the prestigious Mary Pickford Award. She makes the term “well-rounded” a severe understatement. Her acting credits include 28 feature films, three television series, and several mini-series including “Beryl Markham: A Shadow on the Sun,” which she also produced.

However, Stefanie’s charming and thoughtful real-life personality may most closely resemble stunning renaissance woman Jennifer Hart, the character she portrayed on the hit television series “Hart to Hart.” She has combined a natural curiosity and passion for knowledge, world travel and diverse cultures into both an award-winning acting career and an equally active life of heartfelt philanthropic work.

The cornerstone of that work is the William Holden Wildlife Foundation, a public charity dedicated to the preservation of wild animals, which Stefanie helped to found in honor of the late actor and for which she serves as president. The William Holden Wildlife Education Center, which currently serves 10,000 students a year, is located near the Mount Kenya Safari Club and the Mount Kenya Game Ranch started by Holden in the late 1950’s before conservation became a popular issue.
Stefanie is also involved with several American zoos (among them, the Cincinnati Zoo, Zoo Atlanta and the Los Angeles Zoo, for which she is a Fellow) where she works with species survival programs and has released four home videos, one on horseback riding, “Stefanie Powers’ Broadway Workout” and the recent “Power Pilates” and “Power Pilates2.” The pilates videos spawned the new book, “POWERS PILATES—Stefanie Powers’ Guide to Longevity and Well-Being Through Pilates.”

Also, acting as Emcee for the 13th Annual luncheon is Ann Martin, acclaimed journalist who joined CBS 2 in May 1994 as a news anchor. She currently co-anchors the KCAL 9 News at 4 and the CBS 2 News at 6 p.m. Since joining the duopoly, she has also been the host of two CBS Network primetime special editions of "Beyond Belief - Amazing True Stories!" In addition, Ann co-hosted the First Annual "What's Right With Southern California," Community Service Awards, which aired in primetime in March 1997. Throughout her broadcast career, Ann Martin has been honored with many awards and recognitions. She has earned three Emmy’s and two Golden Mike Awards.

Ann Martin was born in Portland, Ore., and grew up in Seattle. She graduated from the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Arts in communications. Martin and her family are actively involved with several community and philanthropic organizations including The Mary Magdalene Project, a rehabilitation program for prostitutes. She has also been involved with The Lincoln Training Center, a workshop for the mentally handicapped, as well as The Southern Area Foster Effort, which helps place children into foster families.

MARY ANN BARNES
Mary Ann Barnes is the Senior Vice President and Area Manager of Kaiser Permanente’s Santa Clara Service Area, comprised of the Santa Clara Medical Center and associated Medical Office campuses in Campbell, Mountain View and Milpitas. She joined Kaiser Permanente in 1974 as a staff nurse in San Diego and has been holding progressively responsible positions as a member of the leadership team since that time.

From 2000 to 2006, Mary Ann was the Medical Group Administrator for the Los Angeles Medical Center, and associated medical offices in East Los Angeles, Glendale and Pasadena, serving more than 260,000 members. LAMC is the tertiary care center for Kaiser Permanente members throughout Southern California, providing services in Cardiac Surgery, Radiation Oncology, Transplant Programs, Neurosurgery and Pediatric Intensive Care, to name a few.

As a member of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, Mary Ann made her mark by creating the Health Care Committee. This committee addresses important health care issues facing Hollywood healthcare providers and educators, both legislatively and within the community. She has also served on the board of directors and as treasurer of the South Central Family Clinic since 2000.

Mary Ann earned her BS degree in Nursing from Arizona State University and her MSN in Administration from San Diego State University. She is married with three children.

DIANA DERYCZ-KESSLER
Diana Derycz-Kessler was an Elite fashion model who received her masters from Stanford with her law degree from Harvard Law School. After becoming the youngest and first female corporate legal counsel in Occidental Petroleum Corporation’s international division, Diana joined the Bristol investment companies as an owner, investment manager, and general counsel. There, she was dedicated to providing investment capital to companies.

Diana’s ongoing interest in film led her to her next challenge. She currently acts as one of the owners and the CEO of two prized assets, The Los Angeles Film School, and The Los Angeles Recording School, private post-secondary educational institutions dedicated to teaching its students the craft of filmmaking and the art of music recording. Under her direction, The Los Angeles Film School has become one of the most renowned film schools in the world. Diana and her partners recently purchased The Los Angeles Recording School (formerly known as The Los Angeles Recording Workshop) and Diana became CEO of that school as well in 2005. The owner partnership that Diana is involved in subsequently purchased two high-rise buildings on Sunset Blvd.

As CEO and part owner of The Los Angeles Film School and The Los Angeles Recording School, Diana has expanded the schools’ curriculum as well as their capacity. She is currently executive producing her third feature film, “The Naked Run,” which is slated to begin filming this summer.

MARIAN GIBBONS
Marian Gibbons first became interested in historic preservation in Elm Grove, Wisconsin where a group formed a preservation society. So, in 1978, when Hollywood Boulevard was not an appealing place, she thought a solution might lie in a historic preservation group to alert the citizens and politicians of the historic treasures located here. With John Anson Ford and four dedicated ladies, they became Hollywood Heritage, Inc., a 501c3 organization proudly helping to save many artifacts of Hollywood’s local history. They restored and still maintain the Hollywood Heritage Museum in the DeMille-Lasky barn, where “The Squaw Man”, Hollywood’s first feature length film, was made. Today they are restoring “Jualita”, the Wattles mansion, which is the last of the midwesterner’s summer estates located in Hollywood.

Marian’s activities have drawn world-wide publicity because of the fame of Hollywood, even having been honored by the President of the United States, but she is quick to point out that she is, “just one of the volunteers who loves our town enough to work to protect its history and the great future it deserves.”

Marian is an old Ohioan, born and educated in the Cleveland-Akron area. Her business life has been as a manufacturer’s agent along with her husband. They were blessed with two wonderful children, who sadly, preceded them in death, but left behind three wonderful grandchildren. She has wonderful memories...so many that she is writing a book about the grand times her family shared.

ANASTASIA MANN
Well known as a leader in travel and tourism management and marketing, Anastasia Mann is the founder, Chairman and CEO of renowned West Hollywood, California-based Corniche Group, Inc. Corniche is well recognized for providing exclusive corporate and leisure travel management, tourism and hotel marketing consultation, and meeting and event planning, as well as entertainment personal management services. In December 2004, Anastasia and Corniche Group successfully launched a new division called Anastasia’s Africa, specializing in private, customized safaris.

Following a childhood acting career, which spanned more than 70 films, Anastasia graduated summa cum laude from the University of Southern California. She started her tourism career in hotel sales and marketing originally as the first female corporate sales manager for Hilton Hotels Corporation based in Los Angeles.
As a founding member of the California Travel & Tourism Commission, she served two terms as the sole representative for all travel management agencies in the state. During both her terms she sat on the Executive Committee. Anastasia is currently serving her second term on the board of CalTIA (California Travel Industry Assn).

Anastasia is active in local community government affairs. She is currently the President of the Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council representing over 45,000 individual stakeholders (residential and business) including the Hollywood Bowl; Universal Studios and the Hollywood-Highland/Kodak Theatre complex. She has frequent interaction with the LA City Council and LA County Board of Supervisors on behalf of her constituents and community events.

KIM SUDHALTER
Kim Sudhalter is a communications and public relations expert who offers more than 16 years experience in corporate branding and in creating consumer products campaigns for major media and entertainment companies such as Time Warner, Microsoft, Sony and GameWorks (Dreamworks, Sega and Universal). She has also developed brand identity campaigns for corporations such as Intel and IBM.
Eight years ago, Kim formed Urban Legend PR and she still serves as its President. Kim’s current client list includes the Hollywood Entertainment District (the Business Improvement District revitalizing Hollywood Boulevard), the Oxnard Downtown Management District, the Academy for the Advancement of Children with Autism and the Broughton Hospitality Group. She also works with TV personality Jimmy Kimmel on the annual Feast of San Gennaro LA , a Los Angeles version of the 77-year New York tradition. Kim is also co-owner, along with Gina Kimmel and Lynette Carolla, of LushSpa, the “fun spa” in Studio City, CA.

In her former position as Vice President of Entertainment in the Motion Pictures Department at Rogers & Cowan, Kim was responsible for creating a new division devoted entirely to promoting interactive entertainment products.
Daughter of a former UPI foreign correspondent and marketing executive, Kim was born in Europe and raised in London and New York. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Boston University.

BAYDSAR THOMASIAN
Baydsar Thomasian is a 12-year veteran of Council District 13. As the Hollywood Field Deputy for former Councilmember Jackie Goldberg, and now the Senior Field Deputy for Council President Eric Garcetti, Baydsar works tirelessly and conscientiously on behalf of the residents and business owners in Hollywood.
Prior to joining the Council office, Baydsar attended California State University of Northridge where she received a degree in Political Science and Business Administration.

Baydsar has distinguished herself by working with residents, community organizations, Hollywood BIDs, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and area business owners to improve quality of life in Hollywood. Baydsar has worked on every major project that has been developed in Hollywood during the past 12 years.
She helped start the Los Angeles Center for Education and Research (LACER) after school program with Councilmember Goldberg. LACER’s after school program has directly affected and improved the academic, education, and personal growth of over 2,000 children in the Hollywood community.

Baydsar Thomasian is a positive role model for women. She is a professional career woman who is a dedicated mother and wife, who volunteers her personal time to non-profit organizations in her community, and mentors young adults seeking to improve their academic skills. She is also an active member of the PTA at Rose and Alex Pilibos School in Hollywood.

DOROTHY THOMPSON
April 29, 1992 will be forever remembered as a day of fear and upheaval, as Los Angeles was shaken by citywide riots that altered the way many people viewed the structure and stability of our society. Once the fires and turmoil died down, most went back to their daily routines, feeling that someone else would fix the problems. However, for commercial TV producer, Dorothy Thompson, the event made an impact that caused her to alter her life and to create the Streetlights Production Assistant Program, an organization which is helping to change the face of the Entertainment Industry.

Dorothy is the founder and Executive Director of Streetlights. After the riots, by using her savings and credit cards, she formed the organization whose mission is to create ethnic diversity within the entertainment industry. She and her staff accomplish this by providing job training and placement to economically and socially at-risk young men and women. Streetlights’ training programs provide talented minorities with entry-level work as production assistants in film and television, as well as career advancement opportunities.

Though donations were few and far between at the start, Dorothy secured a hard won Federal grant, with Hollywood not far behind in rewarding Streetlights’ efforts. Companies such as Universal Pictures, DreamWorks/SKG, Procter & Gamble, General Mills, Crossroads Films, Sony Pictures, and the Entertainment Industry Foundation have acknowledged the program with their highest praise, jobs for the trainees and funding for the program.

The Women of Distinction Awards Luncheon benefits the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Community Foundation, which has given over $300,000 to Hollywood charities since 1998. The Foundation would like to thank all the sponsors for this event. At the Friend level are Alschuler Grossman Stein & Kahan LLP, Capitol Records, Honda of Hollywood and Ramsey Shilling. At the Silver Level are Iron Mountain Film & Sound Archives and Paramount. Finally, at the Gold level is Kaiser Permanente!

To RSVP for this event please visit Chamber events at www.hollywoodchamber.net or contact Mick Barrett at the Chamber at 323-469-8311 x14. Sponsorships are still available! Inquiries should be directed to Elizabeth McDonald.

Hollywood Chamber of Commerce - Annual Women of Distinction Awards

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce is preparing for the Annual Women of Distinction Awards luncheon. Now in its 13th year, the Hollywood Chamber is pleased to announce its new host location, The Globe Theatre at Universal Studios! The date is set for Tuesday, May 23 for an 11:30am reception, and awards program at 12:00 Noon. Co-chairs for this year’s event are Chamber Board members Susan Durante and Mary Lou Dudas.

Stefanie Powers is one of the women being honored.

Stefanie Powers to be a Guest

The USA TODAY Hollywood Hero Award Honors a Los Angeles Area Entertainment Personality Who Has Made Remarkable Contributions of Time and Energy to Help Those Less Fortunate

Actress, Dancer and Choreographer Zina Bethune Will Be Honored As the Award's First Recipient

Actress, dancer, choreographer Zina Bethune will be honored May 17 as the first recipient of The USA TODAY Hollywood Hero Award. The award recognizes her outstanding contributions to the community through Infinite Dreams, a program of the multimedia Bethune Theatredanse company.

Bethune and Infinite Dreams will be feted at an award gala on the evening of May 17 at The Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. Grammy®- nominated and Jazzweek Vocalist of the Year, The Tierney Sutton Band, will perform at the Gala. Guests include: Martin Landau, Edward James Olmos, Tippi Hedren, Esai Morales, Ray Bradbury, Tara Lipinski, Roscoe Lee Browne, Julie Newmar, Reni Santoni, Stefanie Powers, Veronique Peck, Alison Angrim, Tracy Newman, and James 'Gypsy' Haake.

In an effort to raise funds for the Infinite Dreams program, net proceeds from the event will be donated to Infinite Dreams. Funds will be obtained through ticket sales and silent auction of valuable merchandise.

Infinite Dreams, a dance and drama outreach program, is an acclaimed education and performance program that provides children and teens with disabilities an opportunity to affirm their capabilities by participating in the world of movement and dance. It is the only program of its kind under the auspices of a professional dance company.

"By participating in the arts these student challenge themselves and achieve amazing success," said USA TODAY President and Publisher Craig Moon. "The Infinite Dreams program helps its students develop confidence, which in turn instills in them an affirmation of their own unique capabilities and enriches their quality of life. Zina Bethune and Infinite Dreams embody the spirit of The USA TODAY Hollywood Hero Award."

Infinite Dreams, which launched in 1983, serves more than 1,000 children from the ages of 4 to 16 at nine sites in Southern California. The program has graduated more than 6,200 students.

"The art of dance can really transcend all the physical and stereotypical limitations," said Bethune, artistic director of Bethune Theatredanse and Infinite Dreams. "After all, the spirit isn't disabled. Dance is not how far a child can reach their legs or arms. It is the creation, the sharing, and the partaking that is the beauty. We don't ask, 'How much can you move?' We say, 'Come dance with us.' "

Infinite Dreams has been cited as an exemplary organization by the National Endowment for the Arts and is a recipient of commendations from Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton; L.A. Mayors Tom Bradley, Richard Riordan and James Hahn; and a recipient of the U.N.'s "Medaille d'Excellence."

In what will become a USA TODAY signature event, the USA TODAY Hollywood Hero Award will be presented annually to an entertainment personality who has made remarkable contributions of time and energies with a non-profit organization, and has truly enriched the quality of life of others. The USA TODAY Hollywood Hero Award recipient will be unique in that his or her efforts extend far beyond a charitable contribution or simply lending one's celebrity to enhance a cause or concern.

About Zina Bethune

Best known for her starring roles on the ABC prime time series "The Nurses" and the CBS daytime drama "Love of Life," Ms. Bethune has also guest- starred on a variety of series, from classics such as "Gunsmoke" and "Route 66" to "Police Story" and "Party of Five," and in feature films including "The Boost" and Martin Scorcese's "Who's That Knocking At My Door?" In addition to her acting career, she has also been heralded as a prima ballerina with such companies as the New York City Ballet and San Francisco Ballet. She also starred in Tommy Tune's musical of "Grand Hotel" on Broadway.

Bethune's extensive list of credits has been accomplished while faced with serious physical disabilities including dysplastic hips, scoliosis and lymphoedema. Overcoming these physical challenges required nine surgeries, some of which were experimental in nature. Ms. Bethune used her earlier dance training with George Balanchine to not only teach herself how to walk again but also to dance, going on to perform as prima ballerina with the Royal Danish Ballet.

In recent years, Bethune has dedicated her energies and resources to the establishment of Infinite Dreams, her education and performance outreach program that brings the performing arts to children and teens who suffer with disabilities. Her development of a complete methodology for Infinite Dreams empowers its young students to believe their spirit is not disabled and that art can transcend limitations.

About Infinite Dreams

Infinite Dreams, Bethune Theatredanse's dance and drama outreach program, is an acclaimed education and performance program providing disabled children an opportunity to affirm their capabilities by participating in the world of movement and dance.

Bethune Theatredanse-Infinite Dreams has been named an Exemplary Site in the United States by the National Endowment for the Arts. Bethune Theatredanse-Infinite Dreams has received commendations from Presidents Clinton, Bush and Reagan and Senator Dianne Feinstein. The company has also been the recipient of numerous Community Service Awards and Citations from L.A. Mayors Richard Riordan and Tom Bradley, the Governor's committee for Employment of the Disabled, The Media Access Awards, the Pasadena Mayor's Committee, the CeCe Robinson Award, and radio's Citizen of the Week. The children of Infinite Dreams have participated in programs at numerous Special Arts Festivals, Permanent Charities, Telethons and Council for Exceptional Children galas.

Artistic Director Zina Bethune and Infinite Dreams have performed at the White House and the Kennedy Center, which was subsequently televised on the NBC special, "From the Heart." They have performed at the Disneyland Space Theatre, the Young Audiences Concert Series and with Bethune Theatredanse on regional and national television programs including Romper Room, ABC's POV, CBS's Outreach spots, NBC's Kudos, KJH's New Faces, New Beginnings KTLA's Hour Magazine, ABC's Mike & Maty, the Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, Children's Variety Club Telethons and were the feature story for KCET's "California Stories."

Infinite Dreams and Zina Bethune were also the subjects of ABC's "Heroes - - Made in the U.S.A." as well as the subject of the PBS documentary, "Heart Dancing."

Funded through private, tax deductible contributions to meet matching grants, and proceeds from the Bethune Theatredanse performances, Infinite Dreams has continuously been the recipient of the California Arts Council's highest award each year in the Artists in Social Institutions category. It has also received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. All publicity and promotion efforts, advertising and administration responsibilities and costs are generously donated by corporations and individuals throughout the Los Angeles area who have long supported in this unique program.

Stefanie's Hart to Hart with giraffes

International movie star Stefanie Powers brought a little Hollywood glamour to Twycross Zoo as she launched a new Conservation Welfare Fund.

The £1million fund has been set up by the zoo to champion wildlife projects which look after the health and welfare of animals both in captivity and in the wild.

Ms. Powers, the star of TV's much loved Hart to Hart, has been involved in wildlife conservation as president of the William Holden Wildlife Foundation and a supporter of the Jaguar Conservation Trust set up by Jaguar Cars.

Zoo director Suzanne Boardman said: "Twycross Zoo has a strong history of supporting projects that relieve suffering of wild animals as well as supporting the conservation of species.

"We feel we must support animals in their wild habitats.

"Some projects we can, and do, support through providing expertise, others by giving good PR but yet others need money to be able to achieve their goals.

"To increase the level of support we are able to give we have decided to set aside £1 million as a fund."

Each year the interest on that £1million will support projects and each year it will be added to by charitable profits.

Mrs Boardman added: "We want to see the fund grow and to be able to help projects vital to species conservation and welfare to achieve their aims.

"Most important we wish to help animals recover their numbers in the wild and to help protect their habitats."

Money will be targeted at projects which support primate species and the zoo hopes that by 2020 the fund will have helped secure the future of no fewer than five endangered primate species in the wild.

Those projects could encompass areas such as animal management, veterinary care, support for rehabilitation and reintroduction programmes and support for projects dealing with large-scale wildlife welfare problems.