Hollywood Digest

JOHN WILLIAMS WILL LEAD OSCARS ORCHESTRA

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Friday that Oscar-winning composer John Williams will serve as music director for the 74th Academy Awards -- returning to the Oscar podium for the first time since 1975.

Williams will co-conduct with Mark Watters, who appeared with him last Friday at the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies.

Watters' presence might come in handy, considering that Williams is up for two Oscars for best original score -- for "A.I. Artificial Intelligence" and "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." After all, someone will have to conduct the music cue if Williams' name is called and he has to hustle onstage to accept the award.

"It's a privilege to be conducting this year's Oscar orchestra," said Williams, "as we inaugurate the new Kodak Theatre and celebrate the unifying power of film in a year that hopefully will be remembered as a time of progress and healing."

The Oscars will be presented March 24 at the new Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.

This will be the 70-year-old Williams' third gig as conductor of the Academy Awards orchestra.

He handled the chore in 1972 for the 45th Academy Awards and in 1975 for the 48th. He has been nominated for the Oscar 41 times -- making him the most nominated living person.

Williams has won five Oscars -- for "Fiddler on the Roof" (1971), "Jaws" (1975), "Stars Wars" (1977), "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" (1982) and "Schindler's List" (1993). He has composed scores for more than 90 movies, including "Saving Private Ryan," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "JFK," "Jurassic Park," "Home Alone," "Angela's Ashes," "The Accidental Tourist," "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Born on the Fourth of July."

DE NIRO WILL HOST CBS 9/11 SPECIAL

CBS has announced that two-time Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro will host "9/11," a primetime project scheduled to air on March 10 that will feature dramatic video footage of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center attacks.

The footage was shot by Gedeon and Jules Naudet, who were at the WTC shooting a documentary when terrorists rammed commercial jetliners into the twin towers, resulting in the deaths of thousands of civilians and the destruction of the buildings.

De Niro's studio -- the Tribeca Film Center -- is located just a few blocks from the former site of the WTC.

Some skeptics wondered whether it would not be more appropriate for a CBS News personality to host the show, but the network said that would not be appropriate at all -- since the Naudets stipulated that any proceeds from the telecast be donated to the Uniformed Firefighters Association Scholarship Fund.

'ANGELS' READY TO FLY AGAIN

According to gossip columnist Liz Smith, producer Leonard Goldberg has confirmed that all the key deals are in place and production can begin on "Charlie's Angels 2" -- the sequel to the 2000 action-comedy "Charlie's Angels" based on the '70s TV series that Goldberg produced for ABC.

Drew Barrymore will once again serve as a producer on the project, starring with Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu.

Smith reports that Diaz's deal could be worth more than $20 million, depending on how the movie performs in the marketplace.

JAMI GERTZ GETS 'GILDA' GIG

Jami Gertz -- seen in a recurring role on "Ally McBeal" last season -- will play the title role in "It's Always Something: The Gilda Radner Story," scheduled to air on ABC TV this spring.

The project is based on Radner's autobiography, "It's Always Something." The former "Saturday Night Live" standout died of ovarian cancer in 1989.

Gertz ("ER," "Twister," "Square Pegs") played Kimmy Bishop on "Ally McBeal." The cast of "It's Always Something" includes Tom Rooney ("Working Girl") as Radner's husband, Gene Wilder, and Ari Cohen ("Archangel") as "SNL" producer Lorne Michaels.

FOX WANTED TO KILL DOCTOR

Michael J. Fox -- who tells the story of his diagnosis and subsequent treatment for Parkinson's disease in the upcoming book "Lucky Man" -- has given readers of Oprah Winfrey's O magazine an advance taste of what's in the book.

"You've probably read in People that I'm a nice guy," said Fox, "but when the doctor first told me I had Parkinson's, I wanted to kill him. I thought, what a (terrible) thing to say to somebody. I just knew it was a mistake."

Fox concedes that his denial of the bad news caused him to start drinking "a little more," but he got past that and decided he needed to let his public know about his illness.

BRUCE WILLIS IN A BRA!

Bruce Willis dutifully put on a wig and a bra Thursday night for his coronation as Harvard's Hasty Pudding Man of the Year.

"I haven't seen this many men dressed in women's clothing since my bachelor party," said Willis in accepting the brass pudding pot.

The Hasty Pudding gang put the 46-year-old star of the new movie "Hart's War" through his paces -- forcing him to take off his shoes, put a "bloodstained" undershirt over his tuxedo and run across a sheet of bubble wrap, in a bizarre reenactment of a scene from his breakthrough movie, "Die Hard."

Sarah Jessica Parker picked up the Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year award last week.

STARS COME OUT FOR POLITICS

Actor Ed Begley Jr. ("St. Elsewhere," "Six Feet Under") is scheduled to speak in Los Angeles this Sunday at a conference of the Southern California chapter of Americans for Democratic Action called "Our Democracy After 9-11: Can We Save It?"

Other featured speakers include former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich, Ohio congressman Dennis Kucinich, California congresswoman Maxine Waters and social critic Arianna Huffington.

Organizers of the conference accuse the Bush administration of trampling on civil rights "using the tragedy of 9-11 as an excuse." In an interview with United Press International, Begley offered a more conciliatory tone.

"I'm very passionate about my key area which is the environment," he said. "I ... have a certain amount of knowledge, having been involved for 30 years."

Begley said he's "more carrot than stick" in his approach to environmental issues.

"We all have the right to be critical, but what interests me is the solutions," he said. "What do we say yes to?"

Begley -- who has also appeared in the movies "Best in Show" (2000), "The Accidental Tourist" (1988) and "The In-Laws" (1979) -- co-stars with John Cleese in the upcoming half-hour comedy "The Web," on ABC.

He described his character as a "kind of scared and ineffectual" TV network executive. Cleese plays the network owner -- "a character not unlike (Fox owner) Rupert Murdoch," according to Begley.

"It's not meant to be him of course," said Begley, "but he is from Australia and he is a very eccentric fellow."

STARS COME OUT FOR GQ PARTY

Organizers say Tobey Maguire, Robert Downey Jr., Jennifer Love Hewitt and The Rock will be among the celebrities at a party in Hollywood next Tuesday in honor of the magazine's March movie issue.

The magazine will examine the current preeminence of Australians in Hollywood, Maguire's emerging high profile as the star of the upcoming thrill-ride movie "Spider-man," and the new crop of Hollywood child stars.

The event at the GQ Lounge will also feature a silent auction benefiting the Fulfillment Fund, a Hollywood nonprofit that serves economically disadvantaged young people in Los Angeles with mentoring, college and career counseling and college scholarships.