People talk 8/6/02

Volunteer firefighters receive Tritt donation

ATLANTA -- Country singer Travis Tritt is donating $25,000 to a group of volunteer firefighters who helped rescue trapped coal miners in Pennsylvania last month.

Tritt, who performed at the Ohio State Fair this weekend in Columbus, is donating the money to the Sipesville (Pa.) Volunteer Fire Company, according to his official Web site.

The volunteer fire company was the lead team at the scene on July 27 when the nine miners were pulled out after 77 hours underground.

"With so many bad things happening on the news, it renewed my pride as an American to witness such an amazing and positive ending to what could have been another tragic situation," said Tritt, a native of Marietta, Ga.

"I watched the rescue live, as I'm sure most of America did, and was inspired by the drive and dedication of the rescue workers on the scene."

The firefighters said they'll use the money for much-needed repairs to the fire hall, which hasn't been upgraded since 1981.

Goodwill ambassador visitsscene of famine

LUANDA, Angola -- Mia Farrow, a United Nations goodwill ambassador, visited famine-hit Angola on Monday, much of which lies in ruins after a recently ended civil war.

Over the next week, the 57-year-old actress and her 13-year-old son, Seamus, will visit humanitarian projects and rebel demobilization camps.

Aid groups say up to a half million people face starvation because of the fighting and have appealed for an international relief effort.

The country is one of the most heavily land-mined in the world, which hampers food distribution. Between 4 and 5 million mines are spread across Angola, and 60 people are killed or injured each month, the government says.

The conflict has also driven 4 million people, about a third of the population, from their homes.

Budding filmmakers receive insight

LOS ANGELES -- Mandalay Entertainment head Peter Guber, whose movie credits include "Batman" and "Rain Man," says "Shoot Out: Surviving Fame and (Mis)Fortune in Hollywood," won't be what people expect.

"It's not a how-to book," Guber told an audience at the fledgling Los Angeles Film School. "It's a how-come book. How come movies get made."

Guber, a former Columbia Pictures production head, and his co-author, Variety editor Peter Bart, former vice president for production at Paramount, appeared last week as part of the Harvard Independent Film Group Lecture at the 3 1/2-year-old film school on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.

Bart called the book "a showbiz reality check."

In the parlance of Hollywood, a "shoot out" is a standoff or power struggle that occurs at each stage of the filmmaking process, whether it's a star demanding a bigger trailer or a director insisting on a final cut.

"You have to learn the bias of the people you work with," Guber said. "That's what they'll revert to during a shoot out."

Guber added that he wouldn't say he's in show business.

"I'm in the emotional transportation business," he said.

L.A. OK, but Stiller is New Yorker at heart

RADNOR, Pa. -- Jerry Stiller has definite opinions about the difference between working in New York and Los Angeles.

"People in New York are very sharp," Stiller, a Brooklyn native, told TV Guide for its Aug. 10 issue. "I hate to say this, but I think it's because the weather in California is so warm and tropical that people tend to fall asleep while you're talking to them.

"We never had cue cards in New York," the "King of Queens" co-star said. "When I got to California, I saw cue cards. They couldn't remember their lines, they were out there having a great time."

Stiller still lives in New York, and he lives in a hotel when filming in Los Angeles.

"I always felt that L.A. was full of ghosts of people who I idolized so much, like George Burns and Jack Benny. I never felt I belonged there with them," the 75-year-old said.

"When everybody went west in the '50s like Rod Steiger and John Cassavetes, guys I used to hang out with, drinking coffee and exchanging tips, I said they were abandoning ship. And the truth of the matter is, I was scared of California. But now I'm back and forth."

Former major leaguer to sell off momentoes

COEUR d'ALENE, Idaho -- Don Larsen is auctioning off some pitcher-perfect souvenirs.

The former New York Yankees pitcher is auctioning his silver-plated glove, hat and cleats -- plus an autographed ball -- from his perfect game against the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1956 World Series. It's the only perfect game ever thrown in the World Series.

Now, he's giving up the equipment he used during the game to raise money for his grandsons' college tuition.

"I figured it was an opportune time to use that money for my grandsons' college fund," Larsen told The Spokesman-Review newspaper of Spokane, Wash. "College is high enough priced now. Who knows how much it will be in the future."

The auction began Monday and runs through Aug. 23 at www.mastronet.com.

Larsen, 72, worked at a paper company in San Jose, Calif., for 24 years after leaving baseball, then retired to Coeur d'Alene, where he spends much of his time fishing for perch, crappie and anything else he can catch from the area's lakes.

When he's not fishing, Larsen travels around the country for card signings and memorabilia events.

Actor chosen to lead Oktoberfest celebration

CINCINNATI -- He helped break box office records as Mini-Me in "Austin Powers in Goldmember."

Now, Verne Troyer, the 32-inch-tall actor who plays the mini-clone to Mike Myers' Dr. Evil, will try to help break another record when he leads the world's largest chicken dance and kazoo band at a festival in this Ohio River town.

Troyer, 33, will play lead clucker at the Oktoberfest Zinzinnati on Sept. 22.

The two-day event is the nation's largest Oktoberfest, drawing a crowd of about 500,000.-- From wire reports