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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2007 > January > 22
Monday, January 22, 2007
‘GWTW’ trove goes on block
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fans of the book, film and even the architecture of “Gone With the Wind” will want to circle Feb. 11 on their calendars. That’s when “GWTW” memorabilia of all varieties goes on the auction block in Barnesville.
The sale will take place at the Gone With the Wind Hall of Stars Museum, an antebellum mansion owned by “GWTW” actor Fred Crane, who portrayed Brent Tarleton, one half of the film’s Tarleton twins. Film buffs will recall that Crane, then a young man, had the film’s first piece of dialogue.
Crane, 89, wants to slow down and leave the museum and its many artifacts to others. His dream scenario is to sell the property and everything in it to a sole buyer so the museum can continue.
Autographed items by “GWTW” stars Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland, Butterfly McQueen, Leslie Howard and others are up for grabs along with memorabilia from other stars like Hattie McDaniel.
A rare first edition of Margaret Mitchell’s novel, originally given as a gift by the author to then-Georgia governor E.D. Rivers, is also being sold.
Perhaps the oddest stuff in the collection? Alligator dress shoes and cuff links once owned by “Superman” actor George Reeves. Reeves (originally credited as George Bessolo), played the other Tarleton twin in “GWTW.” Crane and Reeves struck up a lifelong friendship (Reeves even performed best man duties at Crane’s first wedding in 1940).
According to auctioneers, the mansion in Barnesville — located about 35 miles northwest of Macon — was built in 1849 and served as a Confederate headquarters and hospital during the Civil War. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The sale will start at 11 a.m. under a heated tent.
For more info, www.fsagallery.com and www.atlantaauctionco.com.
Good grades
Predictably, the reporter responsible for WGCL’s strangely appetizing “Restaurant Report Card” segments is thrilled that the state’s new restaurant health inspections will contain both a number and a letter grade.
“It’s great for us since viewers will now actually get a letter grade on ‘Restaurant Report Card,’ ” correspondent Adam Murphy told Buzz on Monday. “It won’t really lessen the impact of what we do at all. If anything, it’ll make things clearer to the consumer.”
The new system should be in place by the end of the year.
Murphy says he was disappointed, however, that unlike South Carolina and California, the state is not requiring eateries to post their inspections at the front door. “That would enable diners to make a decision on whether or not they wanted to eat at an establishment before they ever walk in the front door,” he told us.
But Murphy, a self-professed occasional late-night drive-through consumer himself, is pleased about the new mandatory postings at those establishments. “You wouldn’t believe how many e-mails we’ve received from viewers who wanted that information posted there. Before the change, it really was ‘eat at your own risk’ at drive-throughs.”
Thanks from Urban
Keith Urban praised his wife, Nicole Kidman, and thanked his fans for their support during his three-month stay at a rehab center for alcohol abuse treatment, in a video posted on his Web site.
Urban entered the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif., on Oct. 19 for what he thought would be a 30-day stay.
The 39-year-old country singer, who has publicly acknowledged a former addiction to cocaine, said he decided to stay for three months because he realized that learning to abstain was only part of the process to recovery.
Celebrity docket
Hotel heiress/reality TV star Paris Hilton was placed on 36 months probation and ordered to pay fines after pleading no contest Monday to alcohol-related reckless driving in Los Angeles, a reduction of an original charge of driving under the influence.
Hilton, 25, did not appear in court. The plea was entered by her attorneys, the city attorney’s office said.
Judge Michael Sauer also ordered her to attend an alcohol rehabilitation program and imposed other conditions.
He gave her the option of reducing her probation to 24 months if she completed 40 hours of community service. No immediate decision was made on that option.
Sick bay
Drummer Travis Barker is leaving a European tour with his new band Plus 44 because of an unhealed fracture in his arm.
The former Blink-182 drummer had been on tour despite a fractured right arm he suffered Sept. 9 while filming a video, according to Interscope Records.
Barker, 31, will return to Los Angeles to be treated. The band, fronted by former Blink-182 singer and bassist Mark Hoppus, has not announced a replacement drummer.
Overscene
Lifestyle guru/rug merchant Martha Stewart dining at Watershed in Decatur; “Amazing Race” reality show winner Reichen Lehmkuhl lunching at Einstein’s in Midtown; and nonpracticing “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” actress Jane Seymour and her “Walk the Line” actor-hubby James Keach at the Crowne Plaza Ravinia in Dunwoody. Seymour’s fave room service order? Coffee.
Quote of the day
“It was pretty disheartening to be objectified like that.” — Actor Leonardo DiCaprio reflecting on his horrid life as a supermodel serial-dating heartthrob after the success of “Titanic” in 1997.
Celebrity birthdays
Actress Chita Rivera is 74. Singer Anita Pointer of the Pointer Sisters is 59. Keyboardist Danny Federici of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band is 57. Actor Richard Dean Anderson (“MacGyver”) is 57.Singer-guitarist Robin Zander of Cheap Trick is 54. Actress Gail O’Grady (“American Dreams,” “NYPD Blue”) is 44. Actress Mariska Hargitay (“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”) is 43. Actress Tiffani Thiessen (“Beverly Hills, 90210”) is 33.
Contributing: news services
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Cooper is $4M man; Sedgwick closes big ‘Closer’ deal
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta-based CNN has signed Anderson Cooper to a multiyear deal, doubling his pay to about $4 million a year, according to Broadcasting & Cable magazine.
Also, Atlanta-based cable network TNT has signed “The Closer” star Kyra Sedgwick to a deal that could extend her stay on the show to seven seasons and make her one of TV’s highest-paid actresses, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The trade publication said she will get in the neighborhood of $250,000 to $300,000 per episode. The popular drama, in which Golden Globe winner Sedgwick plays an Atlanta transplant solving crimes in Los Angeles, will return for a third season this summer.
Instant Rock Star
Atlanta bassist and businessman Johnny Colt had just finished a long tour with Train last October and was looking forward to a few weeks off to work on his Thai boxing.
But a week in, former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke, now part of the CBS reality show-created band Rock Star Supernova, called and said the band (also featuring Tommy Lee) needed help.
Jason Newsted of Metallica had hurt his shoulder when an amp hit him. Could Colt sub for Newsted?
Vacation over and no Thai boxing. Within 24 hours, Colt was in California, quickly learning Rock Star songs. “I’ve been doing this for 18 years,” he told Buzz. “Bass isn’t that hard.”
The band started its official tour last week in Florida but won’t be coming to Atlanta. “Tell [local promoter] Peter Conlon he needs to pay!” said Colt, who also has worked with the Black Crowes.
Overscene
Multiple Grammy-winning artist India Arie at the Harmony in Life showcase at Sugar Hill. Not only was the Atlanta R&B singer milling around upstairs at her brother J’on’s 34th birthday party, but she capped off an evening of performances by Russell Taylor, Keite Young and Algebra with an unannounced set.
In between her own songs and a couple of covers (Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” and Ludacris and Mary J. Blige’s “Runaway Love”), Arie admitted to the crowd that this was a warm-up show of sorts for her; she’d taken November and December off. “But I always like to play [in Atlanta] because we kind of grew up together,” Arie said.
Verdict: Atlanta nice
Jonathan Adler, a well-known interior designer and lead judge on Bravo’s upcoming “Project Runway” spinoff “Top Design,” said he loves Atlanta.
“People tell me Southerners are nice to our faces but not behind our backs,” he told Buzz recently. “I find they’re always nice.” With seven retail stores, he’s considering adding one in Atlanta, too.
As for judging a reality show, Adler had no hesitation: “I’m like the primordial muck from where all reality show fans spawn. When they asked me, I said, ‘Totals! I’m there!’ “
Latest Branson venture ready to blast off
Is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro or trekking the deepest jungles of Belize too mundane for you? And do you have $200,000 to spare?
British entrepreneur Richard Branson, who already has helped propel Atlanta businesswoman Sara Blakely into the stratosphere, has a deal for you: a three-hour flight into outer space, 75 miles above the Earth’s surface, featuring at least six minutes of weightlessness. Put down $20,000 now, and you’ll reserve a spot for a flight from New Mexico as early as late 2008.
Two local travel agents (and 46 nationwide) were recently accredited to book flights for people who have a yen for adventure: Janie Bullard of Distinctive Journeys in Powder Springs and Jennifer Campbell of Explorations, a Travel Agency Ltd. in Atlanta.
“Our clients are looking for experiential travel,” said Campbell, who paid $5,000 over five years for the rights to book flights. “People want something different. We’ve been in the sea, land and air. The next place is space.”
Her goal: to get 30 to 50 people to pony up for the experience. She’s already gotten a few interested people.
Bullard, who sends nature photographers to exotic places around the world, said she won’t start doing any real promotion to her clients until after all the agents spend two days at Cape Canaveral, Fla., in early February learning about what the trip would entail.
“In terms of life experience, this would definitely raise the bar,” she said.
Celebrity birthdays
Actor John Hurt is 67. Actress Linda Blair is 48. Actress Diane Lane is 42. Rap DJ-actor Jazzy Jeff is 42. Singer Willa Ford is 26. Actress Beverley Mitchell (“7th Heaven”) is 26.
HIGH FIVE
Top DVD sales for the week of Jan. 9
1. “Snakes on a Plane”
2. “Jackass: Number Two”
3. “The Covenant”
4. “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”
5. “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” — Billboard.com
WHAT’S ON YOUR IPOD?
Masi Oka, who plays Hiro on “Heroes,” back tonight on NBC:
“Here I Go Again,” OK Go; “Over My Head (Cable Car),” The Fray; “Move Along,” All-American Rejects; “Crazy,” Gnarls Barkley; “Collide,” Howie Day (“That’s on every TV promo!”); “The Reason,” Hoobastank; “Where Is the Love?” Black Eyed Peas
Guilty pleasure: “Don’t Stop Believin’,” Journey (“We sang that all the time in my college a cappella group.”)
A song that fits his show: “Superman,” Five For Fighting
Contributing: Sonia Murray and news services.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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