People talke 2/14/02

Friends of Harrison fix bogus death address

LOS ANGELES -- Friends of former Beatles guitarist George Harrison have corrected a death certificate that listed a bogus address as the place where he died.

The original document filed with Los Angeles County authorities listed a nonexistent Beverly Hills address as the place where the 58-year-old Harrison died Nov. 29 of lung cancer.

The musician who wrote "Here Comes the Sun" actually died at a home several miles away in the Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley said Tuesday.

Families of dead celebrities sometimes try to distract grim curiosity-seekers by withholding the actual site of the death.

Falsifying such information can be prosecuted as a felony.

Now that the document has been corrected, Cooley said he considers the matter closed.

The district attorney's office investigated the matter after local attorney Gloria Allred filed a formal complaint in December, saying the use of a fake address undermines the integrity of public records.

Ex-Beatle McCartney says Lennon was hero

LONDON -- Paul McCartney's ultimate hero is ... the late fellow Beatle, John Lennon.

"I've got a few heroes, but if I really have to plump for one, well howsabouts .... John?" McCartney was quoted as saying in a celebrity poll published in Wednesday's music magazine Mojo.

"But I have to add the reservation that it could also be the other Beatles -- or Elvis. Or Little Richard. Or Nat King Cole."

Of Lennon, who was shot to death in 1980 outside his New York apartment building, McCartney reportedly said, "What I admire in him was massive talent, great wit, courage and humor. He influenced me, very much so."

Together, the pair wrote such hits as "Help!" and "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," and turned the Beatles into stars.

Princess Stephanie wins libel suit with magazine

ZURICH, Switzerland -- Princess Stephanie of Monaco and the director of the Swiss national circus each have been awarded damages of $3,600 from a weekly news magazine for a photomontage that showed them in sexy positions.

The Zurich district court on Tuesday ordered three employees of the Swiss magazine Facts jointly to pay the damages to Stephanie and Franco Knie -- who is also the Knie family circus' elephant trainer -- in the defamation-of-character lawsuit.

The three also were ordered to pay court costs of $4,600. The magazine said it was disappointed and was considering an appeal.

-- From wire reports