Issue Date: January 16, 2005
Awards season 2005
USA WEEKEND 20 YEARS YOUNG
WHO WAS NEWS: President Reagan cancels second inaugural parade because of bitter cold
... Joe Montana is Super Bowl XIX MVP
... Sen. Lowell Weicker is arrested at South African Embassy
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James Garner, 76, has had a big life, although to him it was always just about making a living. In doing so these past 50 years, he's met presidents, prime ministers, princesses. "The places I've gone and things I've done," he tells me, "and I'm just an old country boy." He's a lot more than that. He's Maverick, Marlowe or, his favorite, Charlie Madison from "The Americanization of Emily." He's Jim Rockford and now, on "8 Simple Rules," Jim Egan. He loves work: "When the alarm goes off, I'm out of bed." The irony is that he's agoraphobic. He agonizes over public speaking. He's been afraid of stardom. Too many eyes. He was shocked to hear the Screen Actors Guild wanted to give him a Life Achievement Award Feb. 5: "Who would have thought it? I'm old and worn out." But he agreed, and now he's nervous: He has to give a speech.
How did CSI: NY producer Anthony Zuiker name Melina Kanakaredes' character, Stella Bonasera? It's my birth name.
Stella Bonasera McCormick, Tyngsborough, Mass.
He took Stella from A Streetcar Named Desire's famed Stella Kowalski and tells us "Bonasera came from Liz Devine [a show consultant], who said, 'Bonasera from The Godfather.' " That is, Amerigo Bonasera, who speaks the movie's opening lines: "I believe in America. America has made my fortune."
Please tell me how "celebrities" such as Tara Reid, who don't seem to work much, maintain their extravagant lifestyles.
Rebecca Sharp, Borger, Texas
If you're young, have any sort of a name recognition and the paparazzi think you're hot, you get offered a generous slice of the freebie pie -- passes to clubs and restaurants, designer clothes, extravagant gift bags at parties. The 29-year-old actress inexplicably still generates enough buzz to benefit. We're told, however, Reid wants to get back to business. She's in the new thriller "Alone in the Dark" and is developing a TV show loosely based on her life.
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How hard can it be to kiss "The O.C.'s" bad-turned-good boy, Ben McKenzie? Ask the new girl, Shannon Lucio. "It's ridiculous, because neither of us can keep from laughing, and we're supposed to be all intense." Lucio, 24, brings much-needed freshness to the drama, which depicts a high school life quite different from her own. "I was such a nerd," she says. "It didn't enter my mind to be doing the things these kids do." Lucio, who met her boyfriend while attending USC, says she wants to land an animated flick. "If you don't have to worry about what you look like, you can be more creative. Whatever you can imagine can be done."
When will there be a new season of Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm?" We tune in every night, but we're getting tired of reruns.
Leonard Levine, Mendota Heights, Minn.
David starts production this month on 10 new episodes for a fifth "season" this year. Unfortunately, HBO tells us no premiere date has been set yet. Stay tuned.
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Patricia Arquette, 36, can communicate with the dead in her new NBC show, "Medium," but in real life she has no such power: "I had a dream that John Kerry won," she tells us. She likes the complexity of her "Medium" character, Allison Dubois: "She drinks a little bit too much. She's a little selfish at times. She wants to be a great mom, but she's got this macabre, dark stuff that she sees." Briefly married to Nicolas Cage, Arquette is now happily engaged to actor Thomas Jane, 35, who played Mickey Mantle in the HBO movie 61* and starred in "Dreamcatcher." Their daughter, Harlow, turns 2 next month.
Joan and Melissa Rivers no longer cover awards shows for E!, but I never heard why.
Pamela McDougal, St. Augustine, Fla.
They moved to the TV Guide Channel. Melissa, who turns 37 this Thursday, tells us she's a big believer in shaking things up; the move gives them a chance to do that. She promises the same red-carpet dish, "plus, we'll have an opportunity to push the envelope a little more." Catch them Sunday night, covering Melissa's favorite awards show, the Golden Globes. She looks forward to seeing Teri Hatcher, "who always dresses so beautifully," and Portia de Rossi, Ellen DeGeneres' new love, who "always takes fashion risks."
New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter has had a lot of high-profile girlfriends. Is he dating anyone now?
Erin Cooley, Burlington, Mass.
At press time, it looked like Jeter, 30, was dating MTV "Total Request Live" co-host Vanessa Minnillo, 24, but he won't say. And things sometimes change quickly in Jeter's romantic world.
With the musical "The Boy From Oz" behind him, is Hugh Jackman lining up new films?
Teddy Connors, Hollywood, Fla.
He's making a sci-fi movie, "The Fountain;" he's negotiating a return for "X-Men 3" and a spinoff, "Wolverine;" and he's the voice of an uptown rat in "Flushed Away," by the animation studio that made "Chicken Run." We're told the rat doesn't sing.
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BIRTHDAYS
January 16: Kate Moss, 31; Debbie Allen, 55
January 17: Zooey Deschanel, 25; Kid Rock, 34; Jim Carrey, 43; Muhammad Ali, 63; James Earl Jones, 74
January 18: Kevin Costner, 50
January 19: Dolly Parton, 59
January 20: David Lynch, 59
January 21: Geena Davis, 49
January 22: Diane Lane, 40
Contributing: Bridget Byrne, Gayle Jo Carter, Tameka L. Hicks, Evelyn Poitevent, Brian Truitt
 Ask Lorrie Lynch a question about a celeb!
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