People talk 10/01/02

Gere, Hawn join in scientific discussions

DHARMSALA, India -- Richard Gere and Goldie Hawn joined Buddhist philosophers and Nobel laureates in northern India Monday at the exile headquarters of the Dalai Lama for a meeting of minds on science and modern ethics.

Hawn and Gere will be observers at the five-day conference. Both are prominent supporters of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader who fled his homeland after a failed uprising against Chinese communist troops who occupied the Himalayan territory in 1951.

The actors also will join Buddhist philosophers, Nobel-winning physicist Steven Chu and other scientists, for the forum on "The Nature of Matter, The Nature of Life."

Held in Dharmsala, 265 miles northwest of New Delhi, the conference aims to bring Tibetan Buddhist and Western scientific perspectives to issues of modern ethics and science. It's part of an ongoing dialogue -- which the Dalai Lama has long encouraged -- between Western scientific thought and the analytical tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.

Dharmsala has served as the headquarters of the Tibetan government in exile since the Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959.

Hasselhoff returns to 'Baywatch' beach RADNOR, Pa. -- As David Hasselhoff returns to the beaches of Hawaii for a "Baywatch" reunion, he said he's coming back a changed man from the time he starred on the popular television show.

After a long battle with alcohol, Hasselhoff said he's living a dry life.

"I was spinning out of control," he told TV Guide for its Oct. 5 issue. "Some people can have a few drinks, and others cannot."

Hasselhoff is in Hawaii filming a Baywatch television movie, "Baywatch Hawaiian Wedding," scheduled to air on Fox in March.

He said he realized his battle with alcohol was heading into a downward spiral in January 2001, but that it had been going on longer than that.

Now, the 50-year-old says he's taking his recovery one step at a time and doing fine -- and being on Oahu to film hasn't hurt.

"I wake up most mornings and smell the coffee and feel the breeze and say 'Wow!"' he said.

Sleep apnea almost costs Kennedy his life

BOISE, Idaho -- Actor George Kennedy says sleep apnea almost cost him his life.

Kennedy, who won an Academy Award for his role in 1967's "Cool Hand Luke," said the severity of the disease took him by surprise when he went to the hospital for hip replacement surgery earlier this month.

Doctors performed some tests before the operation, then told Kennedy he needed an emergency triple bypass surgery. Sleep apnea had weakened his lungs, kidneys and heart.

"The doctors said that had we tried something as simple as a hip replacement, I would have died on the table," Kennedy said Saturday.

Kennedy, 77, was expected to be released from St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center on Monday.

Sleep apnea occurs when the upper airway is blocked and interrupts regular breathing for short periods of time.

Kennedy had all the classic symptoms. His wife, Joan, could hear his breathing periodically stop during the night, then he would suddenly gasp for air and he snored.

"You wake up in the morning unrefreshed, no matter how much sleep you've had," he said.

But since Kennedy's surgery on Sept. 7 he has improved steadily, and he's more energetic, thanks to a machine that keeps his air passage open while he sleeps.

'Raymond' may only be loved one more year

RADNOR, Pa. -- Ray Romano says everybody may have just one more season to love his show.

After six seasons, the comedian's popular television show, "Everybody Loves Raymond," has a growing legion of fans. But Romano says he doesn't want to wear out his welcome.

"It could be one more after this," he told TV Guide for its Oct. 5 issue. "You don't want to leave when you're sliding down."

The show features Romano as a clueless sportswriter, father and husband -- but Romano said he doesn't know why people love it so much.

"In the beginning, people didn't know us and they never laughed," the 44-year-old comedian said. "Then there was a middle period where they laughed at what they thought was funny. Now it's totally gone the other way -- they're laughing way too much."

In fact, he said, people have just grown to love the characters.

"We could stand on stage naked and say nothing and people would think it's funny," he said. "Well, that would be pretty funny, actually."

Kimmel makes another donation to arts center

PHILADELPHIA -- Philanthropist Sidney Kimmel made another donation to the performing arts center named in his honor.

Kimmel promised an additional $5 million Sunday at a ceremony in which a donor wall went on display at the Kimmel Center for Performing Arts, increasing his total gift to $35 million.

"This latest gift is merely to tweak some aspects of the building, to make it better than it is," Kimmel said. "I think the building is great and the sound is getting better every day. I'm proud of it."

The center, which opened nine months ago, still hasn't completed its $275 million fund-raising drive.

Officials wouldn't say how far they were from the goal.

Kimmel, the founder and chairman of the Jones Apparel Group, has donated $150 million to the cancer center at Johns Hopkins University and $25 million to fund research and develop a new prostate and urological cancer center at Memorial Sloan-Kettering in New York.

-- From wire reports