People talk 12B

Letterman makes offer to Indianapolis mayor

INDIANAPOLIS -- David Letterman has an offer: He'll pay for new road signs if Mayor Bart Peterson renames the highway that circles Indianapolis the "Dave Letterman Expressway."

On the "Late Show" that aired on CBS Thursday night, the talk-show host extended the offer after joking for weeks about renaming Interstate 465.

"How about this: What if we change the name of that to the 'Dave Letterman Expressway'?" Letterman said in an on-air conversation with Peterson.

"You know, Dave, I will tell you, I like that idea," the mayor said.

Letterman grew up in Indianapolis and graduated from Ball State University in Muncie.

Chan gets sidewalk star on Walk of Fame

LOS ANGELES -- Jackie Chan received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, promising in return to "make better films."

Chan, 48, has star No. 2,205 on the Walk of Fame, only about 25 feet from the entrance to the Kodak Theatre, the new home of the Academy Awards.

"I remember coming to Hollywood and seeing the stars and I wanted one," Chan said Friday. "To show my appreciation I will make better films."

About 500 people gathered for the midday ceremony, including Owen Wilson, who starred with Chan in 2000's "Shanghai Noon." -- From wire reports

When Chan, Asia's biggest movie box-office star for more than 20 years, was asked what's next, he replied: "The Oscar."

-- From wire reports

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ROME (AP) -- Beatlemania is again sweeping the Italian capital, with a 17-day "Fab Four" festival starting Saturday, including cover bands blaring the group's songs around Rome from trucks, theatrical productions and even new mobile-phone rings.

City officials, led by Mayor Walter Veltroni, have organized the tribute to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the band's first single, "Love Me Do," which made the Top 20 in Britain in October 1962.

"The Beatles were the symbol of their era, but their music and their success transcends their time to arrive at ours," organizers said in a statement. "The cultural objective of the project is to demonstrate the radical change of mentality and customs begun in the first years of the '60s and the developments of this revolution up to the present day."

Radio stations have promised to spin "Love Me Do." Beatles cover bands will play old favorites in city squares, then will perform on the back of two trucks traveling around Rome. Three plays have been organized, including one in which Italian actors will sing Beatles' songs.

Many events will take place in the hip Trastevere neighborhood, with documentaries and films such as "Yellow Submarine" screened at the area's Museo di Roma. This museum will also show three exhibitions of photos and art of the band.

On Oct. 20, '60s pop star Donovan will perform at Rome's newly built Auditorium.

And for those preferring a more modern take on nostalgia, a mobile phone company has agreed to offer customers new rings: "Love Me Do," "Yellow Submarine" and "Hey Jude."

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BOSTON (AP) -- Ethel Kennedy is a grandmother again -- for the 29th time.

Rory Kennedy, the youngest daughter of Robert F. and Ethel Kennedy, gave birth to Georgia Elizabeth Kennedy-Bailey on Sept. 30 in a New York hospital.

The baby, who weighed 5 pounds, 15 ounces, is the first child for Kennedy and her husband, Mark Bailey.

"We are thrilled with our beautiful daughter. Rory and the baby are doing fine," Bailey said in a statement released Friday by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's office.

Bailey and Kennedy are filmmakers who live in New York City. A film they made about AIDS is scheduled to be shown at the United Nations next month.

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DHARMSALA, India (AP) -- When not dealing with requests for funds for everything from penniless refugees to a Tibetan beauty pageant, Richard Gere fretted this week over the garbage and traffic chaos around the headquarters of the exiled Dalai Lama.

Visiting for the first time in 2 1/2 years, the 53-year-old actor said he was appalled at the filth and deterioration in Dharmsala, where the Dalai Lama has lived with thousands of Tibetan refugees since 1957.

In 2000, the Gere Foundation drafted a comprehensive plan, including waste management strategies and a traffic control program. None of it has come to pass. Sewers are half-finished and the roads are rubble.

"I haven't been able to devote the time to it that I thought I could," said Gere, who's been a supporter of the Tibetan cause for 15 years. "I thought I'd be back before 2 1/2 years."

Now he's found someone to take over in his absence, the Dalai Lama's younger sister Jetsun Pema, the force behind the extensive Tibetan school system in India.

Gere, star of the films "An Officer and a Gentleman," "Pretty Woman" and "Runaway Bride," also donated $27,000 to the Tibetan Welfare Office for a solid waste management initiative.

"Ultimately I think this place could be a model for similar settlements in India and indeed throughout the world," he said.

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On the Net:

Gere Foundation Web site: http://www.gerefoundation.org/

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LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Esther Williams, Kathryn Grayson and other stars who brought glamour to the era of movie musicals gathered to honor the memory of George Sidney, director of many of those classic song-and-dance shows.

The event at the Directors Guild of America on Thursday was both a salute and a posthumous birthday party for Sidney. The director died May 5 in Las Vegas and would have been 86 on Friday, according to the guild.

Grayson and Howard Keel, songbirds of "Kiss Me Kate" and "Show Boat," both directed by Sidney, led the audience in singing "Happy Birthday."

Sidney, who served a record 16 years as president of the Directors Guild, was praised by the organization's president, Martha Coolidge, and past presidents Gilbert Cates and Delbert Mann.

Ann-Margret ("Viva Las Vegas," "Bye Bye Birdie") called him "my teacher, mentor, artist and friend for 40 years."

Tony Curtis remembered him as "the most encouraging person I ever met."

Williams, whom Sidney directed in "Bathing Beauty" and "Jupiter's Darling," told of how he helped her through her first screen test -- with Clark Gable.

Dancer Cyd Charisse recalled how he cast her in her first speaking part in "The Harvey Girls."

Film clips illustrated the director's talent, not only with musicals ("Anchors Aweigh," "Pal Joey") but also with adventures ("The Three Musketeers," "Scaramouche").

Sidney began his show business career at 5, appearing in a Tom Mix silent Western. He went to work as a messenger at MGM at 14 and rose to become director of shorts, screen tests and features.

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On the Net:

Directors Guild of America Web site: http://www.dga.org/index2.php3?chg

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OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- Marg Helgenberger fantasized about becoming a star while plunging knives into beef carcasses during her summer job at a meatpacking plant in her Nebraska hometown.

"I would just daydream about doing Broadway, sing songs through my head. I guess I am sort of proof that dreams do come true," said the Emmy-winning actress, star of the CBS hit "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."

"I just kind of put one foot in front of the other and got lucky," said Helgenberger, who worked as a meatpacker in North Bend, Neb. (population 1,213), more than 20 years ago.

She went from college graduation to a four-year role on the daytime soap "Ryan's Hope." Then came her Emmy-winning role of K.C. Koloski, a heroin-addicted prostitute, on "China Beach."

Helgenberger, who plays crime scene investigator Catherine Willows, says she isn't surprised that "CSI" is one of television's top-rated shows.

"A good mystery is always going to be in vogue," the 43-year-old said by phone from Las Vegas, where she was shooting scenes for the drama.

Doing the well-worn genre in a new format -- exploring a crime through forensic science by using special effects and flashbacks -- also keeps viewers on their toes.

"I guess it makes them think and also entertains them," she said.

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On the Net:

Marg Helgenberger Web site: http://www.marghelgenberger.net

CBS Web site: http://www.cbs.com/primetime/csi/main.shtml

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AIKEN, S.C. (AP) -- An attorney for soul singer James Brown thinks he can stop the sale of Brown's $400,000 home and the more than 60 acres of land in Beech Island where it's located.

Brown has 10 days to repay a debt of more than $900,000 for a building he bought in downtown Augusta, Ga.

SouthTrust Bank, which lent Brown the money for the purchase, can move to have his property sold unless the debt is paid.

The bank won a lawsuit in Richmond County, Ga., and sued in Aiken County in August seeking the residence and land to help repay the loan.

Brown owes SouthTrust $754,544. Interest and attorney's fees make up the rest of the $914,161 debt, according to court records in Aiken.

Brown can stop the process by selling the building for the same amount as the debt.

His attorney, Albert Dallas, couldn't say Wednesday whether a deal would be reached within that time.

"We're working it out. We are optimistic a satisfactory arrangement can be made," Dallas said.