Entertainment Today: Showbiz news

HORROR KING QUITS

"I've killed enough of the world's trees," is how best-selling author Stephen King chose to announce his plan to stop publishing.

On the eve of the publication of his supernatural-car novel "From a Buick 8," the 55-year-old man who has sold hundreds of millions of books over the past few decades tells Entertainment Weekly his latest thriller also will be his last.

This is not the first time King has talked about retiring. After he was hit by a car walking along a road in Maine three years ago, the author said he didn't want to become a parody of himself, or a punch-line like Harold Robbins.

According to EW, however, King insists this time he really intends to remove himself from the publishing world.

The magazine says after "Buick 8" comes out, King will publish the final three installments of his projected seven-volume fantasy series, "The Dark Tower."

So, does this mean King will stop writing altogether? "I'd never stop writing because I don't know what I'd do between 9 and 1 every day. But I'd stop publishing. I don't need the money," he says.

Asked if that means he will just file the stories away, King explains: "Why not? What's wrong with that? J.D. Salinger's been doing it for years! There's a story I heard about this lady who works in a bank in New Hampshire, where Salinger has a safety deposit box. And every year he'd go in with a wrapped box. And if you've ever worked in publishing, you know what an 8-by-10 box is -- it's a manuscript. So she said, 'Are those books you're putting away?' And he said, 'Yes.' And she said, 'Are you ever going to publish them?' And he looked down his nose at her and said, 'What for?' And it's one of those stories where you gotta say, 'If it ain't true, it oughta be."

MOSS GIVES BIRTH TO BABY GIRL

Kate Moss has given birth to a baby girl.

London's Daily Mirror reports the 28-year-old supermodel and her boyfriend, magazine publisher Jefferson Hack, welcomed a 6 1/2-pound baby into the world Sunday at a West London hospital. They reportedly have decided to name their daughter Lola, a name made popular in recent years by celebrity parents Madonna and Kelly Ripa.

A hospital source told the Mirror: "Both Kate and Jefferson are deliriously happy. They're the parents of a lovely little girl."

Moss reportedly was eating at a Greek restaurant with Hack and married actor friends Jude Law and Sadie Frost when she went into labor. Frost gave birth to Law' baby Sept. 12.

BAYWATCH STAR TALKS ABOUT DRYING OUT

Baywatch star David Hasselhoff is speaking out about his battle with alcoholism.

In the new issue of TV Guide, the 50-year-old television icon says he had to seek help for his disease because he felt he was "spinning out of control."

He even confirms tabloid reports that claimed he nearly died from alcohol poisoning after he polished off the contents of his Palm Desert hotel mini bar. Hasselhoff says hotel workers saved his life when they discovered him unconscious and rushed him to a hospital where he was treated for alcohol poisoning.

I woke up going, "This is rock bottom," he recalls.

The actor says he checked into the Betty Ford clinic for rehabilitation in June but left after a day of treatment to get drunk by himself. He later completed his rehabilitation at the famous facility and has since embraced sobriety, regularly attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

Now that he is recovering, Hasselhoff also is trying to get his acting career back on track. He is filming "Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding," a two-hour TV movie for Fox, and he hopes to one day bring his 1980s TV drama "Knight Rider" to the big screen.

KILMER TO PLAY PORN KING

Quirky but brilliant actor Val Kilmer -- "The Salton Sea" and "The Doors" -- has signed on to play late porn king John Holmes in "Wonderland" for Lions Gate Films.

Variety reports the fact-based movie will be about the involvement of Holmes and his teenage lover in a 1981 quadruple homicide.

The trade newspaper also says the film's producers and studio are in advanced negotiations with "Sweet Home Alabama" star Josh Lucas and "Friends" actress Lisa Kudrow to co-star. Shooting is scheduled to begin in Los Angeles early next month.