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Reprinted from The Orlando Sentinel, May 13, 1998.
Gay Day At Disney Will Be A Real Drag
By Leslie Doolittle
Sentinel Columnist
Look for Gay Day at Disney to create an even bigger stir than usual this year. For the
first time, a nationally known entertainer will fly in for a performance on resort
property that night.
We're talking the world's most famous drag queen -
RuPaul, midnight, June 6 at the
House of Blues.
"I think it takes the event up one more level," said Keith Peterson,
associate publisher of Watermark, a local publication for gays and lesbians. "When
you start to add name talent - especially someone who is so recognized in the gay
community - it adds viability and energy that should help the event grow even
larger."
Conservatives need not fret about bumping into a drag queen at Cinderella Castle that
weekend. RuPaul plans to fly into Orlando just in time for the show, then zoom right back
out again.
Time for Granny's vittles
If drag shows aren't your kind of entertainment, how about gambling in
yo' bare feet
over a kettle of possum fat? Max Baer Jr., who played Jethro Bodine in The Beverly
Hillbillies, wants to build a casino-hotel in Reno, Nev., themed to the '60s sitcom. Among
the proposals: a restaurant called Drysdale's Fancy Eatin' for the Richin's and Granny's
Shotgun Wedding Chapel. Yee-doggie!
Miss America won't tell
How's Miss America holding up?
This week, 1998 crown-holder Kate Shindle was speaking about AIDS prevention and
awareness at Jefferson Davis High School in Montgomery, Ala., and invited the students to
ask her anything.
"Do you practice abstinence or safe sex?" one student asked.
"I don't discuss my own sexual experience," Shindle responded.
The students booed her.
Larry King cleans up
Get ready to suffer severe suspender-envy. Larry King just negotiated a new contract
with CNN that gives him - including salary, stock options and a signing bonus - a $5
million-a-year raise. His new annual earnings: $7 million - just about what CBS is
reportedly paying Dan Rather.
Backstreet Brian is fine
Worry not, you fans of the Backstreet Boys. Brian Littrell is recuperating nicely from
his recent operation to close that hole in his heart. The Orlando-based group is keeping
his whereabouts hush-hush, but Brian wants to thank fans for their concern and ask that in
lieu of cards or flowers, they send donations to the Brian Littrell Endowment Fund for
Pediatric Cardiology, in care of St. Joseph's Hospital Foundation, P.O. Box 8490,
Lexington, Ky. 40533.
Speaking of drag . . .
Guess Dustin Hoffman wants those Tootsie days behind him for good. The actor is suing
Los Angeles Magazine for $5 million over a computer-altered photo of him in a yellow
dress, with the caption: ``Dustin Hoffman isn't a drag in a butter-colored silk gown by
Richard Tyler and Ralph Lauren heels.'' A federal judge has helped the suit along by
ruling the photo isn't protected by the Constitution.
O.J. without O.J.
ABC is planning an O.J. TV movie based on the book American Tragedy: The Uncensored
Story of the Simpson Defense by Lawrence Schiller and James Willwerth. The three-hour
special is being written by Norman Mailer and will be directed by Barry Levinson.
But there won't be any comeback role for O.J.
"O.J. doesn't exist in the film," Schiller said. "This is a film about
attorneys dealing with evidence and the real process that goes on behind the scenes."
Kinnear vs. NASA
The University of Arizona has earned a bachelor's degree in duh! thanks to student
leaders who invited actor/alum Greg Kinnear to give the commencement speech this Saturday,
while the university prez tapped NASA chief Daniel S. Goldin for the same honor.
Officials plan to salvage the day by having Goldin speak at Saturday morning's
commencement and Kinnear at the afternoon ceremony.
Trinidadian wins pageant
A 25-year-old pre-law student from Trinidad and Tobago who cites Audrey Hepburn as her
role model was named Miss Universe on Tuesday night.
Wendy Fitzwilliam, representing her two-island nation off the coast of Venezuela,
succeeded Brook Mahealani Lee of Hawaii to become the 47th Miss Universe.
The pageant was held in Honolulu.
Second place was won by Miss Venezuela, Veruska Ramirez, 18; and third place by Miss
Puerto Rico, Joyce Giraud, 23.
Fitzwilliam's winnings include a $40,000 salary, $20,000 in Planet Hollywood stock, a
$10,000 scholarship and $10,000 in telephone calling cards.
John Denver sends regards
Denver socialite Rita Bass and her husband, Adolph Coors Co. Chairman Bill Coors, sure
are good sports. They paid $7,000 at a charity auction for a ceramic mask painted by John
Denver, then watched as it fell off a counter and broke.
"I don't believe for a minute that mask just suddenly fell," said Bass, a
longtime friend of the late singer's. It was "just John saying, `Hi there! I'm still
out here.'"
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