September 7, 1999

LITERARY MUD WRESTLING, FEATURING GERI AND THE SPICE GIRLS

By ROGER ANDERSON Scripps Howard News Service

A WAR OF WORDS: The New York Post is so confident that it knows what it's talking about when it says ex-Spice Girl Geri Halliwell's new tell-all book has got her former Spice gal pals all in a lather that it starts its report in big type. The very same report also stipulates that the Spices have their own book on the drawing board, purportedly a riposte to Geri's gibes. By the time the type has gotten smaller, though, the following disclaimer is seen sneaking in through the side entrance:

"Geri did send a copy of the book to the group before it went to print as a courtesy," the rag quotes a Geri spokeswoman as saying. "They all came back and said it was fine."

But what does the Spice camp say?

"The book (that the Girls have in the hopper) is not yet complete," the group's unnamed flack explains. "But as far as I know, it will be a coffee-table book with a lot of photographs. I'm sure there are words in there, but I couldn't confirm what they are." Do any of them start with "b"?

ANOTHER WAR OF WORDS: That reminds us, and should remind you, too, that Eddie Fisher - singer of an earlier age who is famous for having been married to female stars like Elizabeth Taylor and Debbie Reynolds - has published a book titled "Been There, Done That" that really does seem to have the people discussed in its pages feeling a bit steamed.

For example, Barbara Berkowitz - an attorney whom Liz Taylor has on retainer-characterizes Eddie's tales as "insulting" and "defamatory" in a letter Barb sent to the National Enquirer suggesting in the strongest terms that it rethink its decision to run excerpts from Eddie's opus.

Other luminaries who may or may not be unhappy with Eddie's writing include Juliet Prowse, Mia Farrow, Joan Collins, Angie Dickinson, Stephanie Powers, Kim Novak, Mamie Van Doren, Michelle Phillips, Peggy Lipton, Abbe Lane and Bill Frawley. No, wait - Bill goes in the next item.

JOLTIN' JOE AND BOFFIN' BILL: Norman Brokaw was an agent who worked for the late Marilyn Monroe wayback when, and right into the ear of a New York Daily News journalist he emits the following priceless anecdote.

"We were at the Brown Derby In L.A.... Nobody knew who she was," Norman recalls. But another one of my clients, Bill Frawley, who played Fred Mertz on 'I Love Lucy,' came over to our table and said, "I'm with Joe D. He's a little shy, but he'd like to meet this lady with you."'

Norman, we're perfectly well aware that Bill Frawley played Fred on "Lucy." How stupid do you think we are?

She said, 'Who's Joe D?,'" Norman continues, paying us no heed. 'To her, baseball was a ball and a stick. Anyway, on the way out, I introduced her to Joe. He said, 'Norman, I'm going to give you a buzz tomorrow.'

"I said, 'Marilyn, he's going to ask me for your number.' She said, 'Give it to him."'

And then what happened?

$25,000 AN HOUR: That's what a marketing wizard named Darren Prince reportedly says it will cost you to have Pamela Anderson Lee show up in person at your nightclub, disco, bash, do, kegger or cotillion, with a two-hour minimum. Yet Ann Israel, who serves as Pam's personal publicist, seems to think Darren may be getting a bit ahead of himself. "I guess it's possible," Ann says, but  I doubt it."

CELEBRITY GHOST STORIES: With the big success of “The Sixth Sense" and now the imminent release of the supernatural thriller "Stir of Echoes," with Kevin Bacon, stars like Paul Sorvino are unveiling their personal scary anecdotes at social events.

"About 20 years ago I walked into a house and I heard a boom like a whole room had just dropped 12 Inches," Paul relates to a reporter, "But when I went to check out what the crash was, it was as if nothing had happened."

Maybe nothing HAD happened.

"There are beings out there," Paul adds, "we don't know anything about."

And there are other beings, known as celebrities, about whom we know far too much.

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

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