People talk 9/9/02

Stage role reminds actress of humble start

NEW YORK -- Edie Falco's latest role on Broadway is bringing back some old memories.

In the revival of "Frankie and Johnny" she plays a waitress -- and an aspiring actress -- having trouble catching a break. It's a bit like her own life, years ago, when her acting prospects were decidedly grim.

"You go to college and you go off and do plays and then when the dust clears, you are left alone in your crazy apartment at 4 in the afternoon with no job, no prospects and a waitressing shift to go to," she tells Newsweek magazine for its Sept. 8 issue. "And real, heavy-duty darkness can set in."

Besides her Broadway role, Falco still co-stars in HBO's "The Sopranos", which begins its fourth season Sept. 15.

Late singer's childhood home up for grabs

MONTESANO, Wash. -- An Oregon couple is hoping to cash in on Kurt Cobain's childhood.

Ed and Jennifer McKee, of Oregon City, Ore., are auctioning off the former Nirvana frontman's childhood home on eBay.

The couple, who invest in houses to fix up and sell, bought the home last month for $42,500. At the time, they said they had no idea Cobain once lived there.

Cobain lived in the house from age 11 to 15 with his father, Don, and his stepmother, Jenny. Much of the house, including Cobain's bedroom, described as "nautical" on the eBay Web site, has not been changed since he lived there, McKee said.

Cobain, committed suicide with a shotgun in his Seattle home on April 8, 1994. He was 27.

Cher look-alike wins in scarecrow contest

HUTCHINSON, Kan. -- She's got blue, babe -- as in ribbon.

A paper-mache rendition of singer-actress Cher, wearing a tiny feather bikini -- won the prize for best celebrity lookalike at the Kansas State Fair on Saturday.

The scarecrow raised a few eyebrows and concerns from fairgoers, and prompted fair board members to take a closer look.

Connie Lyle, who is going to Cher's upcoming concert in Wichita, said she liked it. "Maybe I should wear an outfit like that when we go."

Andy Dorsey disagreed. "I think it has crossed the line," he said.

The artist, Kim Peirce, said she didn't intend her work to be controversial.

"It's not Pamela Anderson," said Peirce. "It just goes to show that Kansas is still a very conservative and very Republican state."

Bill Ogg, the fair's general manager, decided the Chercrow could stay. "My impression is that it's silly, it's tacky, but I don't think it's offensive," he said.

Filmmaker to take unique camera back to Titanic

GOLETA, Calif. -- Director James Cameron is going back to Titanic, this time with a 3-D camera.

Cameron debuted part of "Ghosts of the Abyss," his underwater documentary on the doomed oceanliner, on Friday at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival, held in Goleta this year.

With help from his brother, Mike, and cinematographer Vince Pace, Cameron designed a lightweight camera able to film the sunken Titanic in 3-D. Two robots carried the camera and swam through the ship's grand interior.

He enthused about the potential of 3-D, but said it remains a challenge.

His approach during filming was to "just shoot whatever we can shoot with this," he said.