People talk 8B

Diesel misses power of nightclub bouncing

NEW YORK -- Vin Diesel, star of the new film "XXX," says working as a nightclub bouncer hurt him when he first started auditioning for acting roles.

"When you bounce, you speak with a certain strength. And it's hard to leave that strength behind," the 35-year-old told reporters in Los Angeles recently.

"So you can come into a room and say, 'Hi, my name is Vin Diesel.' And you have the threat of 'If you don't like me, I'll punch you in the face' kind of feel, which is not what you really want to do when you're going on auditions."

In "XXX," which opened Friday, Diesel plays Xander Cage, an extreme-sports star who's sent undercover to Prague to infiltrate a terrorist group that wants to destroy the world.

Schwarzenegger will return to terminating

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger said he's excited about next summer's release of "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines."

"I can't give away the story. All I can tell you is it is a very scary plot. I'm coming back from the future to the present and I'm coming back to stop a huge conspiracy -- Enron," he said with a grin Thursday at "Hummer Homecoming," a five-day event for enthusiasts of the macho machines made in neighboring Mishawaka.

Schwarzenegger, who turned 55 on July 30, was presented with a birthday cake and a new H2 Hummer.

General Motors Corp., which acquired the brand name Hummer from South Bend-based AM General in December 1999, gave $13 million last year to Schwarzenegger's Inner-City Games Foundation, which serves more than 200,000 youths in 15 U.S. cities.

"Terminator 3" is scheduled for release on July 2, 2003.

Kidman, Moore counting 'The Hours'

VENICE, Italy -- "The Hours," the film adaptation of the successful Michael Cunningham book starring Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore, will not be ready in time for this year's Venice Film Festival for "technical reasons," organizers said.

Festival spokeswoman Tiziana Ciancetta said she did not know specifically what was delaying the film, directed by Stephen Daldry.

"The Hours" had been in competition for an award.

Prince unveils memorial to Queen Mother

CASTLE OF MEY, Scotland -- Prince Charles unveiled a memorial bench to his grandmother, the Queen Mother, on the grounds of her beloved castle in Scotland.

Displaying the bench fashioned from local Caithness stone, the prince said Friday she had loved the spectacular Scottish sunsets as she spent vacations at the castle each year for almost half a century.

"I can imagine how my grandmother would have enjoyed this wonderful construction which has been lovingly made at the spot that she had so much appreciated and loved," he told some 30 trustees of the castle, former employees and friends who commissioned the memorial.

The 16th-century Castle of Mey, built by the 4th Earl of Caithness and overlooking the Pentland Firth, was bought by the Queen Mother in 1953. She died March 30 at 101.

Coors becomes sponsor of Miramax premieres

DENVER -- The next time you see Gwyneth Paltrow on the big screen, there might be a Coors in the shot.

Coors Brewing Co. of Golden, Colo., and Miramax Films have announced a deal making Coors the official sponsor of U.S. theatrical premieres for Miramax, meaning the Coors logo will show up on red carpets and its beer will be served at Miramax parties.

The deal also would place Coors products in 15 films over the next three years.

"A View From the Top," starring Paltrow, Christina Applegate and Mike Myers, and "Duplex," with Drew Barrymore and Ben Stiller, are among the first movies to work with Coors. Both films will be released next year.

The brewer's name could appear as anything from a verbal mention to a logo on a truck or in an actor's hand.

Rosie Perez plays abused housewife in PBS play

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Actress Rosie Perez was in for a surprise when she arrived at Lexington's KET studio to co-star in a PBS adaptation of "Poof!"

"You know all the stereotypes about the South and Kentucky ...," she said.

"At first I was wondering, 'Oh my gosh, what's this crew going to be like and everything?' I felt so stupid because I walked into this fully equipped, fully professional, well-awarded studio. I was such a jerk," Perez said. "I have never experienced a tighter, faster crew than this one. They're just great."

Perez plays an abused housewife in Lynn Nottage's one-act play. "Poof!" had its premiere at Actors Theatre of Louisville in 1993 and went on to win the Heideman Award.

Perez's character, Loureen, escapes abuse after she damns her husband to hell and he spontaneously combusts, leaving a pile of ash on the kitchen floor.

Co-starring Tony Award winner Viola Davis, KET's production will air nationally on PBS stations next year in high definition. Filming concluded this week.

"I have never been a victim of domestic violence," Perez said, "but I am in tune with women's issues." She has been visiting centers for abused women for several years.-- From wire reports

"The first time I went to this place in Manhattan, and I was like, 'This is so sad.' I saw what being brutalized by a man can do."

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ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- Ruth Bell Graham, wife of the Rev. Billy Graham, has been released from a hospital, where she was being treated for pneumonia.

Graham was released Thursday from Mission St. Joseph's Health System, hospital spokeswoman Merrell Gregory said. She was admitted Sunday and received antibiotics intravenously.

Graham, 82, has been in fragile health for several years. She is largely confined to the couple's home in Montreat.

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HELENA, Mont. -- Evel Knievel, who made millions as a motorcycle stuntman in the 1970s, denies published reports that he owes hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid income taxes.

"I don't owe the state of Montana one dime," Knievel told The Associated Press Friday in a telephone interview from Sturgis, S.D.

News reports that Knievel still has large tax debts in the state appeared just days after the city of Butte, Knievel's hometown, wrapped up a weeklong tribute to him.

District Court records in Butte indicate Knievel owes as much as $800,000 in back taxes. The Department of Revenue confirmed it has records indicating it filed two liens against Knievel totaling $395,000. It was not immediately clear, however, when those liens were filed.

Normally, if a taxpayer satisfies a lien filed against him -- either by paying the full amount or reaching a settlement with the government -- a record of that would be filed in court, releasing the lien. However, there was no immediate indication of such a record in District Court.

Knievel is adamant, however, that while he once owed back taxes in Montana, all those debts are paid.

"I paid everything I owed," he said. "I had to sell my house to do it, but I did it."

District Court records in Butte also indicate Knievel still owes as much as $5.3 million in federal taxes.

However, Knievel and his longtime attorney, Wade Dahood, said they reached a settlement with the Internal Revenue Service more than a year ago under which Knievel is obligated to pay only a fraction of that.

They declined to reveal details of the settlement, but Knievel said he is current on payments and now owes the IRS just $15,000.

A spokeswoman for the IRS said the agency does not comment on such matters.

-- From wire reports