NEWLN: Compiled by VALERIE KUKLENSKI UPI Entertainment Editor
OH, BROTHER: Actress Shirley MacLaine is enjoying her new role as Aunt Shirley to brother Warren Beatty's two kids with actress Annette Bening. 'Whenever I get a chance, I'm over there with them,' she told People magazine. 'I adore Warren's children, and they act as a bridge between us.' But would MacLaine, now working on 'Evening Star,' the sequel to 'Terms of Endearment,' ever sign up to do a picture that her perfectionist brother directs? 'That would depend,' she said. 'He's a great director, but I'd have to think twice having to do 68 takes of every scene.'
DRIVEN TO DIET: Actress Minnie Driver packed on 28 pounds for her highly acclaimed performance as a sweet but overweight young woman in the feature 'Circle of Friends,' but she had to pare back down to her usual 126 pounds to play the svelte mistress of a member of the British Parliament for the TV miniseries 'The Politician's Wife,' which debuts next weekend on PBS's 'Masterpiece Theatre.' Juliet Stevenson plays the wife and Trevor Eve is the philandering Minister of Family. To add the weight, Driver said she merely had to eat 'normally' and not worry about gaining. But taking it off was difficult until she developed tonsilitis, which hindered her eating for about 10 days. 'That kick- started the weight loss,' she said. 'After that, it was easy.' Aside from the dieting, 'The Politician's Wife' meant for 25-year-old Driver 'the most difficult, embarrassing acting' of her career. She sat for hours in a tiny room with Eve, the director and a sound engineer, recording what she called 'the most incredibly rude and graphically sexual scenes' she has ever heard, let alone taken part in. Those audio tapes are key to the miniseries' plot. The minister's wife receives the tapes anonymously, and she -- and the audience -- hear them throughout the show as she formulates her revenge. Driver said Eve's sense of humor helped her overcome her initial shock and tendency to blush. 'I found reciting those words more difficult than running around naked in 'Mr. Wroe's Virgins,'' she said, referring to a BBC series she completed recently.
'GOLDENEYE' RATES TOPS: 'GoldenEye,' with Pierce Brosnan in his first James Bond role, may not be on many movie critics' top 10 lists as 1995 closed, but it was the favorite of the movie marketing industry for the month of November. The Hollywood-based Film Information Council voted 'GoldenEye' the best marketed film of November. It noted the wide news coverage Brosnan received when some 200 news organizations were represented at an open media day early last year, as well as all the hype surrounding the new Bond vehicle, a special BMW model. For those updating their scorecards, the FIC's previous 1995 winners were: 'The Madness of King George' (January), 'The Brady Bunch Movie' (February), 'Muriel's Wedding' (March), 'While You Were Sleeping' (April), 'Casper' (May), 'Apollo 13' (June), 'Waterworld' (July), 'Babe' (August), 'To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar' and 'Showgirls' (a tie in September), and 'Get Shorty' (October).
STANDING IN THE NUDE OVATION: Actress Ashley Judd, younger sister of country singer Wynonna, sparked a standing ovation from an HBO crew while shooting 'Norma Jean & Marilyn,' about the legendary Marilyn Monroe. In the film, Judd plays the young Norma Jean and 'Mighty Aphrodite' scene-stealer Mira Sorvino plays her Hollywood persona -- Marilyn Monroe. Judd tells TV's 'Extra' that she won her applause before filming a long nude scene. That day she arrived on the set in a robe and told the crew, 'Hi, I'm Ashley and I'm going to be nude for the next 12 hours. I'm not embarrassed and I hope you won't be either.' The actress then blithely dropped her robe and said, 'This is my body.'
A TELETHON IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE: Singer Lou Rawls has lined up 'Jeopardy!' host Alex Trebek, actress Sheryl Lee Ralph and singer Johnny Gill to co-host his annual 'Parade of Stars' telethon on Jan. 6 to raise money for the United Negro College Fund. The 16th annual fund- raiser, airing for six hours, will include performances or appearances by hip-hop's Brandy, music legend Ray Charles, rapper M.C. Hammer, talk show host Oprah Winfrey, and pop stars Jon Secada and Shanice, among others.
RABIN EVENT: Actress Sharon Stone, singer Natalie Cole, songwriter Carol Connors and CNN interviewer Larry King will take part next month in presenting the first Yitzhak Rabin Award during the fifth annual Friends of Sheba Medical Center Humanitarian Awards. Leah Rabin, the slain Israeli prime minister's widow, will accept the Rabin award at the Jan. 27 ceremonies in Beverly Hills, Calif. Funds raised at the dinner will go toward building the Rabin International Wall of Peace in Israel. Tickets range in price from $500 to $1,500.
