Hollywood Digest

POLANSKI ON 'GENUINE HIGH'

Fabled yet controversial director Roman Polanski is basking in the glow of his Oscar. People magazine says the 69-year-old director, who has been in self-exile in Paris for years, has been expressing his thanks, long distance, since Sunday night's broadcast.

The award-winning director watched the results in a Paris hotel, with friends, in the wee hours of Monday morning.

He tells the magazine he is "deeply touched to have received the Oscar for Best Director for a film which recounts events which are so close to my personal experience, events which helped me understand that art can transcend pain." The movie, of course, was the Holocaust-themed story of "The Pianist."

In the weeks before awards night, Polanski was considered to be a "dark horse" in his category. He retains some negative "baggage" -- one reason he did not want to come back to Los Angeles for the awards. In 1978 he was convicted of a felony charge of having intimate relations with a 13-year-old girl.

Shortly before voting for the Oscars began, the girl involved in that 1978 case, now in her late 30s, wrote a public letter asking those able to vote to overlook the past and consider Polanski's current efforts. Apparently the letter worked.

MICHAEL MOORE 'JUST DIDN'T GET IT'

To hear conversations in Hollywood since the Oscars, the general consensus is Michael Moore was out of the loop. The award-winning documentarian used his time on the dais to denounce a "fictitious" Bush administration and U.S. actions in Iraq. At the post-awards meeting with the media he said he didn't hear the boos -- there were many -- he only heard the cheers for his point of view.

Published reports seem to indicate even those in sympathy with Moore's anti-war remarks felt he was out of line when it came to the understanding that Sunday night was "Oscar's night." Even the most die-hard anti-war activists wanted to escape the topic for a few minutes.

Comedian Red Buttons might have put it best. He told one reporter he hadn't heard so much booing since he (Buttons) did his last comedy routine.

PAUL NEWMAN STILL THE LADIES MAN

That was Paul Newman sitting with two lovely ladies recently in a New York City eatery. Eonline.com reports Newman -- still ruggedly handsome despite the effects of aging and the necessity of wearing a hearing aid -- was holding forth in a booth while eating Greek food prior to attending a concert at Carnegie Hall.

Just as Newman was having a simple dessert with black coffee, Mrs. Newman entered and sat down. Actress Joanne Woodward still is introduced by husband Paul as "Mrs. Newman" in polite circles.

Newman, now in his late 70s, and his wife have long been considered one of the most durable couples in Hollywood and true "soul-mates." The couple married in 1958. Newman was once quoted as saying: "People stay married because they want to ... not because the doors are locked."

TALKATIVE SEACREST MAY GET DAILY SHOW

Photogenic Ryan Seacrest, the busy host of "American Idol," apparently is going to be seen even more on television in the coming months. The Hollywood Reporter says a major TV production company has been talking with Seacrest about a Monday-through-Friday show to be fed to stations on a syndicated basis.

The publication says Seacrest, who lately has been filling in for popular disk jockey Rick Dees on "Rick Dees in the Morning," is being considered for his own daily broadcast.

There are no firm indications as to what a Seacrest show would be like, but considering his persona on "Idol," his $1 million annual salary as a host for Clear Channel's many radio stations, his appearance and star quality, it could be very different from "Oprah" and "Judge Judy."