People talk 1/27/03

After 7 nominations, O'Toole to get Oscar

LOS ANGELES -- Peter O'Toole, nominated seven times for an Oscar for films as diverse as the epic "Lawrence of Arabia" and the nostalgic comedy "My Favorite Year," will receive an honorary Academy Award this year.

"O'Toole's performances have ignited the screen for more than four decades," Frank Pierson, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said Friday in announcing the award.

It will be presented during the 75th annual Oscars ceremony March 23 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Its citation will read: "Peter O'Toole -- whose remarkable talents have provided cinema history with some of its most memorable characters."

O'Toole, 70, made his stage debut at 17 before attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. He made his film debut 10 years later with a bit part in the 1959 film "The Savage Innocents."

The Irish-born actor shot to international fame three years later, portraying legendary British adventurer T.E. Lawrence in David Lean's landmark film "Lawrence of Arabia." The performance brought him the first of his seven best actor Oscar nominations.

The others were for "Becket" (1964), "The Lion in Winter" (1968), "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" (1969), "The Ruling Class" (1972), "The Stunt Man" (1980) and "My Favorite Year" (1982).

"He's seven times been nominated as best actor, which puts him in extremely rarified air for a performer," Pierson said. "The Board of Governors felt it was time for him to hold his own Oscar in his hands."

Bundchen launches program to fight hunger

SAO PAULO, Brazil -- Model Gisele Bundchen is donating $150,000 to help fight hunger in her native Brazil.

Bundchen will hand over the money -- her fee for one show in Sao Paulo Fashion Week -- to Brazilian first lady Marisa Silva, O Globo newspaper reported Sunday.

The fashion week starts Monday and Bundchen's appearance will be in a show by designer Ricardo Almeida, who also dresses President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Silva is initiating a "zero hunger" program that is expected to cost at least $700 million annually.

"The campaign is very important for the country," Bundchen told O Globo.

DiCaprio: It takes an actor to play a con man

BERLIN -- Playing a con artist in "Catch Me If You Can" wasn't much of a stretch for Leonardo DiCaprio.

"Acting is all about being an impostor," the 28-year-old DiCaprio told reporters Sunday in Berlin. The movie opens in Germany on Thursday.

The movie chronicles the early years of real-life grifter Frank Abagnale, who pursued conventional success and respectability through the unconventional methods of counterfeiting checks and falsifying identities.

By the time he was arrested by FBI agent Carl Hanratty, played by Tom Hanks, Abagnale had written $2.5 million in bad checks and had successfully passed himself off as an airline pilot, a doctor and a lawyer.

"He is a professional actor," said DiCaprio, who met Abagnale to prepare for the role. "I was immediately disarmed by his charm."

Reubens' porn collection 'historical,' says lawyer

LOS ANGELES -- Paul Reubens, the actor best known for playing Pee-wee Herman, shouldn't face a child pornography charge because his collection of erotica is historical, his lawyer is arguing.

The state's child pornography law, enacted in 1989, does not apply to the images and film in the case because they were produced decades earlier, Blair Berk said in a motion filed Friday.

The motion also argues that the law is unconstitutionally broad and that a statute of limitations expired before the charge was filed.

The document said officers seized "well over 30,000 images and more than 650 hours of film" from Reuben's home in November 2001. It said authorities have identified items in one book, 25 magazines and one film that allegedly violate California's child pornography statute.

The motion described the collection as "a vast and valuable historical collection of artwork, kitsch memorabilia and adult erotica."

Reubens, 50, has pleaded innocent to one misdemeanor count of possessing material depicting children under 18 engaging in sexual conduct. He is free on $20,000 bail.

The same investigation also led to charges against actor Jeffrey Jones, who played the uptight high school principal in the film "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."

Jones, 56, was arrested Nov. 14 on a felony charge of hiring a 14-year-old boy to pose for sexually explicit photographs and for misdemeanor possession of child pornography. He also is free on $20,000 bond.

-- From wire reports