People talk 8B

Pavarotti to sing final Met stage performance

NEW YORK -- Carol Vaness will replace Daniela Dessi as Tosca in Luciano Pavarotti's final staged performances at the Metropolitan Opera next year.

Met artistic director James Levine will take over as conductor from John Fiore in the three performances of Puccini's "Tosca" on March 6, 10 and 13, the company said Friday. Pavarotti replaces Fabio Armiliato.

The 67-year-old tenor is scheduled to sing a single performance of Cavaradossi in "Tosca" at the Deutsche Oper Berlin on June 28, his first opera performance since singing the same role at London's Royal Opera, Covent Garden, on Jan. 22, 2002.

Rapper to sponsor two bone marrow drives

ST. LOUIS -- Rapper Nelly and his sister Jackie Donahue will sponsor two bone marrow donor drives Saturday, hoping to find a match for her and others with leukemia.

Testing will be at the America's Center in St. Louis and the Hollywood Park Casino in Inglewood, Calif., said Nelly publicist Juliette Harris.

Nelly's charitable organization, "4 Sho 4 Kids," has launched a "Jes Us 4 Jackie" campaign and is raising funds to pay the costs of testing donors.

Richie's birthday event capped by a star

LOS ANGELES -- Lionel Richie was dancing on the ceiling Friday after receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

An estimated 500 people gathered at the Hollywood Boulevard ceremony and sang "Happy Birthday" to Richie, who celebrated turning 54 on the day of the event.

Among those in attendance were comedian Jay Leno, who teased the singer about the location of the star. "What an honor to be in front of a parking garage," Leno said.

"Let me tell you why I chose this location," Richie jokingly responded. "This will not always be a parking structure. It will be a fine building with Lionel Richie's name at the front door."

Richie is an original member of "The Commodores" whose solo hits include "Truly," "Hello," "Dancing on the Ceiling" and "All Night Long."

Arnold won't terminate his action-movie career

NEW YORK -- His first "Terminator" film was released nearly 20 years ago, but 55-year-old Arnold Schwarzenegger says he's in the middle of his career as an action star.

His new film, "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," opens in theaters July 2.

"I had a great time doing all the stunts,"' he told Bob Costas, host of HBO's "On the Record With Bob Costas."

"I had a great time doing all the physical things. And I was very well-prepared and I was very well-trained," Schwarzenegger said.

Costas asked the former body builder: "You could keep doing this for a while?"

Schwarzenegger replied: "I think I'm now in the middle of my career."

He credits his longevity to his sports background.

"My body is in great shape," he said.-- From wire reports

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LOS ANGELES -- Oh, those wacky 19th-century Russian novelists and their frothy romances!

The unlikely inspiration for the new romantic comedy "Alex & Emma" was the life of Fyodor Dostoevsky -- an author renowned for his grim tales of murder and misery such as "Crime and Punishment" and "The Brothers Karamazov."

In the film, Luke Wilson plays a modern novelist who must finish a new book in 30 days to pay off a gambling debt -- or be killed. Kate Hudson co-stars as the reluctant stenographer he hires to help him finish on time.

Amid the flurry of pages, character development and romantic storytelling, the two scribes fall in love.

Director Rob Reiner told The Associated Press in a recent interview that the script, written by Jeremy Leven, was based on the relationship between the middle-aged Dostoevsky -- a legendary gambling addict -- and his young stenographer, Anna Grigorievna Snitkina.

"It's based on what happened to him when he had to deliver a book in 30 days or else he'd owe his publisher the rest of his writings," said Reiner, who also plays Wilson's publisher in the film. "When he hired the stenographer, he ended up falling in love with her."

The Russian pair finished the novel -- "The Gambler" -- in time to beat the deadline and were married soon after. They remained together until Dostoevsky's death in 1881.

"Originally the film was called 'Loosely Based on a True Love Story,"' Reiner added. "When anybody would say, 'What's the title?' I'd say 'Loosely Based on a True Love Story' and they'd say, 'Well, no. ... What's the title of it?' We were going to have trouble there."

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Twenty years after portraying one of the Mercury Seven astronauts in the movie "The Right Stuff," Lance Henriksen finally made it to NASA's launch site.

"It's everything and more than I ever dreamt," Henriksen said Friday night, standing beneath a Saturn V rocket at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. "The best thing about having done 'The Right Stuff' was it got me a ticket to come here tonight, that's the best thing, all these years later."

The actor, who also appeared in the 1986 film "Aliens" and the TV series of the late 1990s, "Millennium," was in Cape Canaveral for the weekend induction of four former space shuttle fliers into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, including the first American woman in space, Sally Ride.

Henriksen portrayed Wally Schirra in "The Right Stuff," newly released in a 20th anniversary DVD. He recalled with a laugh how he watched the movie's premiere with Schirra back in 1983.

"Wally at the end of it leaned over to me and said, 'Lance, it looks like they think I didn't do anything.' I said, 'Wally, I was just a concerned observer, it was just a role.' "

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LOS ANGELES -- Ruth Buzzi, a regular on the '60s "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" comedy-variety show, has an eye for collector cars -- and a personal stable of six Rolls-Royces.

She's been collecting Rolls-Royces since her marriage in 1978 to Kent Perkins, president of Allied Management Resources.

A gem in her collection is a 1960 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud Drophead Coupe convertible, now on display in Petersen Automotive Museum's "A Century of Elegance" exhibit, which opened Friday.

Buzzi loves pulling up in one of her eye-catching luxury cars.

"Invariably, valets park your Rolls in front of the restaurant; it's there to let the public know discriminating people who expect the very best patronize the place," the 66-year-old comic said. "But it's also nice to know the valet isn't down in the parking garage rehearsing scenes from 'Gone in 60 Seconds."'

Her favorite is the one she's nicknamed "The Rat Pack Rolls." It's a Corniche convertible that was once owned by Dean Martin. It's now Buzzi's everyday driver, as she calls it, to fetch groceries.

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ENGLEWOOD, Fla. (AP) -- Crooner Bobby Vinton has traded California for a home on the southwest Florida coast.

Vinton, known for such '60s hits as "Blue on Blue" and "Blue Velvet," bought a $4.1 million property on three acres in Manasota Key last month south of Sarasota.

He sold his 100-acre Malibu ranch to actor Will Smith last year, and said he plans to sell another home in Branson, Mo., so he and his family can spend most of their time in Florida.

The 68-year-old singer also bought a home next door for his mother and one across the street for his son.

For the last 10 years, Vinton has owned and performed at the Blue Velvet Theatre in Branson. He sold the theater last year but still performs around the country.

-- From wire reports