People talk 12/19/02

Brazilian pop star turns cultural minister

SAO PAULO, BRAZIL -- Gilberto Gil, Brazil's popular Grammy-winning pop star, accepted an offer from President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to become the country's next culture minister.

Gil, 60, was one of the creators of Tropicalia, which opened traditional bossa nova to rock 'n' roll, reggae and Latin sounds. He has sold millions of CDs and records worldwide.

He campaigned for Silva and is the most prominent member of Brazil's Green Party, which gained five seats in the Lower House elections in October and is allied with Silva's Workers Party.

In a news conference Tuesday, Gil said he has not yet formed goals for his new job, which he will begin when Silva takes office on Jan. 1.

"My first task is to listen inside myself and listen outside," Gil said.

He met with Silva over the weekend to discuss the job, but later said he wasn't sure whether to accept because he couldn't maintain his lifestyle on the $26,000 maximum salary.

After meeting with members of the Green Party, Gil told reporters he has Silva's permission to continue making money from his music.

Ventura celebrates sick Zevon's musical gifts

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Gov. Jesse Ventura says he and his friends will toast terminally ill singer-songwriter Warren Zevon every year, "whether he's there or not."

Ventura says he's talked to Zevon since the 55-year-old singer announced in September that he has been diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer.

Ventura would not give details of the conversation, but said in an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press that he told Zevon "he'll live on forever with me and my friends."

"We'll toast him every spring," Ventura said.

Ventura said he's been a fan of Zevon, whose quirky songs include "Excitable Boy," for 25 years.

Zevon performed at Ventura's inaugural bash in 1999, and the new governor climbed onstage for a duet on Zevon's 1978 hit "Werewolves of London."

Ventura, who didn't seek a second term, will leave office next month.

Monroe photograph sells for $22,220

LONDON -- A black-and-white photograph of film star Marilyn Monroe sold for $22,200 at an auction of movie memorabilia.

The photograph, taken in about 1949, was dedicated to Hollywood agent John Hyde, who helped boost Monroe's career when it was at a standstill.

The head-and-shoulders portrait was inscribed, "To John, I love you, my Dearest, Marilyn." It was bought Tuesday at Christie's auction house in London by Hyde's former employers, the William Morris Agency.

The annual "Film & Entertainment" auction included film and stage props, autographed letters and photographs, costume designs and animation art.

The 200-lot sale spanned more than 80 years of film and television history from Charlie Chaplin to Harry Potter.

An American private buyer bought a pair of Monroe's shoes -- gray suede high heels made in Italy by Ferragamo -- for $8,353.

Davis' Oscar among bankruptcy memorabilia

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Bette Davis' best-actress Oscar for 1935's "Dangerous" was among the memorabilia sold by the Planet Hollywood restaurant chain, which has emerged from bankruptcy.

An anonymous bidder bought the Oscar for $207,500 at an auction by Sotheby's in New York last weekend.

The auction generated $1.2 million for Planet Hollywood, whose reorganization plan to emerge from bankruptcy was approved Monday by a judge in Orlando. The company will use the money to pay off a lender.

Other items sold: a 1940s-era movie stagecoach, $35,850; Rudolph Valentino's toreador costume from 1922's "Blood and Sand," $32,862; and a Rita Hayworth negligee, $26,887.

A dress worn by Julie Andrews in 1965's "The Sound of Music" was sold to a collectibles dealer for $19,120. Marlene Dietrich's costume from 1939's "Destry Rides Again" also sold for $19,120.

O.J. Simpson's girlfriend vacations, starves catMIAMI -- O.J. Simpson's sometime girlfriend was ordered to pay court costs and donate $500 to an animal welfare group after she pleaded no contest to animal cruelty in the starvation death of her pet cat.

County Judge Loree Schwartz Feiler ignored prosecutors' request for a tougher sentence that would have included probation and community service.

Christie Prody, who was not in court, entered the plea Tuesday through her lawyer.

The judge ordered Prody to pay the donation, $161 in court costs and an undetermined amount for the investigation. The judge withheld judgment, which means Prody's record will be erased if she fulfills the sentence.

Ann Chynoweth, an attorney with the Humane Society of the United States, was disappointed with "this meaningless punishment of court costs and fines."