In this article: Birthdays Last week's Who's News

From what I've been reading, singer Natalie Cole's life included quite a struggle with drugs. How is she doing these days?
May Oken, Brooklyn, N.Y.

She tells us she feels strong -- physically, spiritually and professionally. She spends lots of time with good female friends and is dating lots of different men, but she isn't looking for one to complete her. Her philosophy now: "If he has a problem with you being strong or opinionated, move on." Since her autobiography, Angel on My Shoulder, came out this fall, Cole, the Grammy-winning daughter of Nat King Cole, has been sharing her gritty past on talk shows and in magazine articles. The incongruous world she lived in had her building a successful music career and becoming a mother to one son, but also shooting up heroin, snorting cocaine and taking dangerous risks to get illegal drugs. Sunday night she relives it, playing herself (from age 35 on) in NBC's The Natalie Cole Story. "When we go through [difficult] stuff, we have a choice," she says. "We can come out bitter or better." Which one is she? "Better."

Does lifestyle mogul Martha Stewart give any of her money to the poor?
Glenn Lazenby, Falls Church, Va.

If Stewart, ranked No. 274 on Forbes' latest list of the wealthiest Americans, gives away even a penny of her $1 billion net worth, she's keeping it a secret. She has no pet charities, and reps for the 59-year-old domestic goddess cannot address her charitable-giving habits. Yet they sure can tell us how their boss continues to make dough: She just launched a new line of kitchen goods at K mart, published a cookbook with 1,200 favorite recipes and, in time for cookie baking, published Parties and Projects for the Holidays.

I notice that athletes from Greece enter the stadium first during Olympic opening ceremonies, while the host country's athletes enter last. What will happen in 2004, when Athens hosts the Games?
Steve Mirro, Cape Coral, Fla.

That tradition, started in 1928 to honor Greece for founding the Olympics, poses a challenge for planners. They may decide to have Greece split its Olympic teams so Greek athletes could enter both first and last (all other countries enter alphabetically). But nothing is official yet. The Olympic committees have the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City to get through first, tickets for which are getting snapped up quickly. Since they went on sale in October, more than $40 million worth have been sold to U.S. residents.

I am a big Jewel fan, but I haven't heard much about what she's doing musically since her last album, Spirit. Anything new to report?
Jim Chiang, Boulder, Colo.

For the past few months, the singer -- whose first book of poetry was published two years ago -- has been promoting her second book, a collection of musings, artwork and more called Chasing Down the Dawn. But don't worry: Jewel, 26, who dates professional bull rider Ty Murray, is ready to start a fourth album (counting her 1999 Christmas CD), for release in 2001. It has no theme yet, but material will be no problem. We're told she writes all the time and sometimes surprises audiences with a new song.

Kevin Costner inspired me to pursue acting, so I keep track of his career. What is he working on now?
Debbie Harrison, Ukiah, Calif.

Costner, cozy at left with his girlfriend, Christine Baumgartner, is filming Dragonfly, a $75 million thriller being compared with The Sixth Sense. In it, Costner, 45, plays a widowed doctor who feels his wife is speaking to him through the near-death experiences of his patients. Dec. 20, however, is the opening of another Costner drama, Thirteen Days, based on the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. Expectations for it are high because the movie teams Costner, whom you'll see all over the TV talk shows promoting it, with Roger Donaldson, who directed him in No Way Out.

Go to top

THIS WEEK'S BIRTHDAYS

December 10: Raven-Symone, 15; Nia Peeples, 39; Kenneth Branagh, 40; Mark Aguirre, 41
December 11: Teri Garr, 51; Donna Mills, 57
December 12: Sheila E., 42; Bob Barker, 77
December 13: Dick Van Dyke, 75
December 14: Patty Duke, 54; Michael Ovitz, 54
December 15: Don Johnson, 51; Tim Conway, 67
December 16: Michael McCary, 29; Carol Browner, 45; Steven Bochco, 57; Lesley Stahl, 59