People talk 3/29/02

Daniels fiddles for U.S. troops in 'Gitmo'

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba -- With his trademark fiddle in hand, country singer Charlie Daniels rallied U.S. troops in the first USO concert at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Daniels substituted the words to his hit "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" on Wednesday night, singing, "The devil went down to Gitmo, he was looking for some Taliban." Hundreds attending the free concert went wild with applause.

The base in Guantanamo, known as "Gitmo," is holding 300 men suspected of having links to either the fallen Taliban regime in Afghanistan or the al-Qaida terrorist network.

"I was too young for a couple of the wars and too old for the rest of them," said the 65-year-old Daniels. "I can't fight so I came down to entertain."

Rodney Dangerfield finally gets respect

LOS ANGELES -- Rodney Dangerfield finally got some respect with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The 80-year-old comic and star of the movies "Caddyshack" and "Back to School" was praised by "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno and former "Full House" star Bob Saget at a ceremony that attracted scores of fans on Wednesday.

"We're here today to bury Rodney," Leno joked in his opening remarks.

Turning serious, he said Dangerfield was a mentor to him when he was still an unknown stand-up comedian working the club circuit.

"I appreciate the fact that he always took time to talk to all the young comics," Leno said.

Dangerfield repeatedly interrupted praise with shouts of: "What a liar he is!"

With his traditional "no respect" shtick, the self-deprecating jokester delivered several one-liners in his speech before the Hollywood Boulevard crowd.

Pointing to his wife, Joan, he quipped: "She married me to get even with her parents."

"Now I'll tell you, things are going real good for me, real good," he added later. "I just finished my first book. ... Now, I'm gonna read another one."

Snipes injured while shooing vampire movie

LOS ANGELES -- It's only fitting that Wesley Snipes drew blood while starring in a vampire movie. Too bad it was his own blood.

"I got stabbed through the hand. Tore a meniscus cartilage in my knee. Got cut in the nose. ... It was rough. Rough and rugged," Snipes said as he ticked off his list of injuries while filming "Blade II."

The action of this sequel to 1998's "Blade," which was based on the Marvel comic book, is a fast, furious blend of martial arts, gunfire and explosions.

Snipes, 39, told reporters he'd be interested in doing a third "Blade" film.-- From wire reports