June 1, 1999

KIRK DOUGLAS EX TELLS ALL ABOUT ERROL FLYNN FLING

By ROGER ANDERSON Scripps Howard News Service

A SLIGHT DISCREPANCY: One is thrilled to learn that Michael Douglas' mom, Diana Dill Douglas Darrid, who, of course, once was married to Michael's dad Kirk, has managed to write a tell-all tome about her steamy life as a Hollywood actress of yore.

It’s especially interesting to find that among the many adventures she recounts in the narrative - titled “In the Wings" - is a fling she says she flung with Errol Flynn.

The Errol Flynn thing I didn't know anything about," Michael tells USA Today, "till she showed me the galleys."

We are a bit perplexed, then, to see Diane herself telling the very same reporter in the very same column of type, "So I let both my sons read the first draft, and they said, 'Go ahead, Mom. What the heck, it's your life.'"

Those of you who, unlike us, are not publishing professionals may not know that a "first draft" and "the galleys" are far from being the same thing, but such is the case.

A NEW REASON FOR UNIVERSAL HAPPINESS: Just last week, or maybe it was the week before last week, a singing combo called the Backstreet Boys made history by scoring a record: breaking 1,134,000 sales of their new album, "Millennium." Accordingly, a reporter gets Barry Weiss - the president of the Boys' label, Jive Records - to comment.

"It's a wonderful week for pop culture," Barry observes. "You've got the Backstreet Boys and "Star Wars."

So, really, "wonderful" is probably far too weak an adjective.

"This is a great thing for the record industry," Barry goes on. "It shows when you make records that appeal to a wide demographic, you can still create a phenomenon."

It follows, then, that the obverse must also be true - that when you make phenomenal records, you can still appeal to a wide demographic. No matter how you slice it, it spells big moola.

NUPTIAL NEWS: We are pleased to note that Sofia Coppola took some time off from touting her directorial movie debut, "The Virgin Suicides," at the Cannes film fest last month to comment on the fact that she's going to get herself spliced to a young filmmaker named Spike Jonze.

"I've known him for six years," recalls Sofia, who, as you know, is the daughter of Francis Ford Coppola. "People get nervous about planning weddings, but I figure if you've done a movie, it's easy to do a wedding." Except with a movie you don't have to worry so much about Uncle Harry showing up drunk.

A CELEBRITY SETBACK: Here we have the New York Post noting that Hugh Grant and his gal, Elizabeth Hurley, bought a fixer-upper in London's Chelsea district as long as two years ago, and that it’s still not habitable. Even though Hugh admits that the pair has sunk $400,000 worth of work into the place, he says they haven't been able to move in "because of a succession of lazy, inept, pretentious builders." That's always our problem, too - contractors who can't stop quoting Proust.

TRUTH IN FLACKING: Speaking of the New York Post, here we have the tab mentioning that supermodel Amber Valletta was spotted recently gadding about town with the assistance of a cane. Spiking fears that she had actually broken one of her splendid legs, agent Didier Fernandez says her client merely suffered a bad sprain. "It was a stupid accident," Didier said. "She tripped on the street." Watch for Didier to make an appearance on the unemployment line, unless "stupid" has taken on some slang meaning we're unaware of.

A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE: Meantime, People mag gets Blair Underwood to recount how inconvenient, even demeaning, it was for him to go through mock boot-camp training in preparation for his role in the upcoming war film, "Rules of Engagement."

"Did I sign up for this?" Blair recalls thinking. "I must have lost my mind."

Then, presumably, he remembered that he is, after all, Blair Underwood, who has barely seen a day's work since "L.A. Law" went off the air, and who should be on his knees thanking the gods that he's got something remunerative going even if it does involve peeling potatoes and digging latrines.

THE WRITER'S ART: Finally, here's Minnie Driver reminding Parade magazine that she's not only an actress but a writer whose work has been published in Vogue.

"I'll do it again," she predicts, "but not for magazines. Maybe a book. I write a lot now, but it's private, and I don't know if I'll show it to anyone. I enjoy writing, but I hate being edited with all those semicolons being put in."

Do like us, Minnie; make them put a "no semicolon" clause in your contract. Then refuse to finish writing your column if they violate it.

Roger Anderson is arts and entertainment editor at Scripps Howard News Service.

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