People

BRUCE LEE RISING FROM THE GRAVE?

If you've seen "Shrek," you know how nearly perfect the human face can be "drawn" by digital animators; e.g., the would-be-king voiced by John Lithgow. Well, a Korean movie production house thinks it's now possible to fully replicate a person. In this case, a dead one ... Bruce Lee.

Variety is reporting that the late martial arts star will be "digitally resurrected" to star in Dragon Warrior. Lee's final movie was made nearly 30 years ago. The movie, a $50 million kung-fu epic, is being funded by a company that recently purchased the rights to Lee's image and voice from his estate, overseen by his wife and daughter. If the project is successful, it will mark the first time that a dead celebrity is brought back from the grave to do a new film.

Unfortunately, with the short attention span of many movie patrons and the production studio's thirst for money, it will likely be recently departed modern-day stars who will see new life, not Chaplin, or Keaton or Stewart. Come to think of it, that's not a bad thing after all. Where is Elvis when you need him?

CALIFANO: CLERGY MUST AID ANTI-DRUG WAR

The chairman and president of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, long-time American public servant Joseph Califano, says too few clergymen are preaching the anti-drug abuse message.

According to the Washington Times, Califano admits that in the 70 years he's been going to Catholic Church services, he's never once heard a priest address the issue from the pulpit. As a matter of fact, he notes that a new survey shows that only about 12.5 percent of clergy get any training on how to deal with parishioners who have drug problems, let alone how to speak out on the issue.

For those who do get some training, Orthodox Christian clergy fare best, at 27 percent. Priests rate a 17.9 percent on drug education; Protestant ministers 13.1 percent and rabbis only 2.3 percent. Califano says that religious faith can be a strong impetus to change and it's time that the anti-drug message be promulgated from the pulpit.

HEALTH GURU SAYS ROLE OF ADOPTIVE MOM BEST

Cory Everson, whose name will always be associated with women's bodybuilding and women's sports programs, says that her new role of adoptive mother is the best yet. In a conversation with United Press International, Everson says the great sense of achievement she reached in various sports endeavors pales by comparison when it comes to caring for a child. The new member of her household is 3-going-on-4-year-old Boris, recently adopted from Russia. Everson says he's more like a 12-year-old and is rapidly adapting to his new country and English. Cory and her cosmetic dentist husband flew to Moscow last year to pick up their new son. Caring for a child takes time, but the energetic Everson -- 1992's Athlete of the Year -- is working on her fifth health book. She has also made numerous workout videos and motivational tapes. Another pet project is the "GO FOR IT Roadshow" program. She works with other athletes, including Dan Marino, Roger Clemens and Kristi Yamaguchi on programs to keep kids from dropping out of school. She has visited more than 80 cities with the program since 1995. Her Web site -- coryeverson.com -- contains information about her career, her "instant" family and her private "mind and body" retreat in the Los Angeles area. By the way, her latest project is a new line of weight-loss products that she has developed with the help of Prolab Nutrition.

FRED AND GINGER TO DANCE AGAIN

Don't worry, a Korean movie company is not going to digitally resurrect Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, but a Broadway production team is set to do so. A new workshop production, to be called "Never Gonna Dance," will -- according to gossip columnist Liz Smith -- look at the real musical "Swing Time" which starred the dancing duo. The legendary dancing team will be portrayed by modern-day actor-singer-dancers in a show based on the Astaire-Rogers pairing that saved RKO Studios. The musical will be the first time a legitimate show has been done full-tilt about the pair. Smith says that the show will feature choreography by Jerry Mitchell and the music of Jerome Kern and a "mother lode" of collaborations with the likes of Dorothy Fields, Ira Gershwin, Johnny Mercer and Oscar Hammerstein II.

HOWARD STERN'S OTHER SHOW CANCELED

The syndicated television version of shock jock Howard Stern's controversial radio show has come to an end. Published reports indicate that the show had been roundly criticized as being too similar to another Stern product aired on cable via the E! network. Meanwhile, Stern will still retain the E! network broadcast as well as his daily radio program. At one point the just-axed show was able to beat "Saturday Night Live" in some markets. Lately, though, it's ratings and viewer interest have waned.

MANY NYC OFFICES STILL IN DISARRAY

New York City corporation lawyer Mike Hess's downtown office was among the many obliterated in the 9/11 terror attacks. Now he tells the New York Post that many firms, such as his, have complete ranks of files missing. Hess says that many in his firm are in temporary digs, sharing space with other companies or working in far-flung satellite offices. He says that files "are missing, stuff is lost. It's impossible." Amid all the other disruption in the Big Apple, many court cases have been had to be adjourned or extended because much of the documentation for presentations is now missing.

UPI DAILY SURVEY QUESTION NO. 205

Because I'm sitting here typing this at three in the morning, a sudden question arises: "What time do YOU go to bed, on average, at night (or morning or afternoon)?" Put BEDTIME in the subject line -- with any comments you wish -- and send to [email protected] via the Internet.

RESULTS OF QUESTION NO. 200

One week ago, when this survey reached the 200 mark, I asked what of the previous 199 questions you had enjoyed the best. The responses were as varied as the respondees, some obviously voting for the question they had turned in. But, several mentioned a question that got a lot of response and I liked very much. It was: "If you were told you could find out how long you had to live by dialing a toll-free number, would you call and find out?" The majority answered "no" when the question was first asked. GBA.