Supermodel Heidi Klum Has a Marketing Scheme | Ah-nold's Defenders Have It All Wrong | Get Well to a Show-Biz Vet | Special Thanks to the Miami Herald
Supermodel Heidi Klum Has a Marketing Scheme
I'm going to tell this story in the nicest way possible.
The very sensationally gorgeous Heidi Klum, supermodel extraordinaire, makes her debut in the movie Blow Dry, which opens Friday. She plays a hair model who is married to one haircutter, but having an affair with his partner.
At one point she asks the lover to craft a heart shape in her nether regions. He obliges.
So Heidi and I met at the after party at Warren-Tricomi, the very chi-chi hair salon on Fifth Avenue. She brings up the subject, not me. I'm already imagining lawyers and publicists descending on me.
She says: "I think we could market the look. It could be called 'the Klum.' And in different colors, too, don't you think?"
Sure. Let's note that Heidi's real-life husband is a hairdresser, too. But he has not attempted to do this to his wife.
"And different flavors, too!" she laughs. She has a sense of humor, this girl.
"You're not uncomfortable talking about this?" I ask, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"No! It's so much better than the usual boring questions," she responds.
Indeed.
Ah-nold's Defenders Have It All Wrong
A little brouhaha has spiked over John Connolly's controversial story about Arnold Schwarzenegger in the current issue of Premiere.
Connolly reports that Ah-nold has had serious health problems stemming from past steroid abuse and now has three pig valves sewn into his heart. He also is accused by various women of groping and there are accounts of the star being caught having oral sex with females on the sets of his films.
Now US Weekly — that bastion of suck-up journalism — is preparing a defense of Arnold. The Los Angeles Times' new gossip column, which started in earnest last week, reported that Schwarzenegger's female co-stars are rallying around him.
They are: Jamie Lee Curtis, who will work with Arnold again soon in True Lies 2; John Travolta's put-upon wife Kelly Preston; and this stellar former couple — James Cameron and Linda Hamilton. The latter attest to Arnold's faithfulness and goodness.
Of course, Cameron met and married Hamilton while he was shooting Terminator 2, despite then being married to someone else — the movie's producer, Gale Ann Hurd. Then, on Titanic, Cameron dumped Hamilton for actress Suzy Amis.
Cameron has made several movies with Schwarzenegger. And though I have no knowledge of this, my guess is Hurd — or someone close to her — provided info for the Premiere article.
My favorite lousy explanation from all this organized "let's help Arnold" crap is that Connolly's article was motivated by politics. Let me tell you something: John Connolly, whom I know well, could care less who gets to be the next governor of California. His only interest is in a good story. Schwarzenegger's "swinish" (the Times' wording) behavior has been an open secret in Hollywood for years.
Six years ago or so, this reporter stood gaping while Mr. Terminator flirted with and successfully overcame a then-budding, now fairly well-known hot young actress. And by hot, I mean, sexy with a capital Wow.
The occasion was a Special Olympics concert at Carnegie Hall. Maria Shriver was in L.A. But Arnold and brother-in-law Anthony Shriver were having quite a time in the lobby.
It was clear that Anthony knew what Arnold's game was and didn't care. To those of us who witnessed this garrulous display, we could only guess that Maria sanctioned this kind of public nuisance.
Arnold has provided us with a lot of fun at the movies, and certainly a lot of good lines. I don't begrudge him the money he's made doing that, and I look forward to T3, and True Lies 2, etc. But — as with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman — I think we're all a little tired of being spoon-fed celebrity marriages on idiotic entertainment shows as examples of great happiness and fidelity, while in reality the whole thing is a farce.
And I'll end this with a little gossip note. I had the occasion to lunch as a guest in the Sony Club, high atop the former AT&T building on Madison Avenue, last Friday.
"Do you know who was up here recently?" asked a regular who is not prone to gossip. "Howard Stringer" — chairman and CEO of Sony Corporation of America — "had lunch with Arnold Schwarzenegger. And no one could believe how bad Arnold looked. Very drawn and old."
So look — maybe Arnold should attend to his health. A little clean living never hurt anyone.
One of the greatest press agents of all time — maybe the greatest ever — is recovering from a heart attack in a New York hospital. John Springer is the original gentleman publicist. His clients still include Tony Randall, Mia Farrow and Liv Ullmann, which is pretty impressive since he's eighty-something.
Years ago, John was the publicist for Marilyn Monroe, and even though he knew everything — and I mean, everything — he has steadfastly refused to spill the beans all these years. Last year, at the National Board of Review dinner, Clint Eastwood asked to have John as one of his guests.
Everyone loves John Springer. So we send him our best and all our wishes and prayers for a speedy recovery. His favorite meal is at the Oyster Bar — and we want to see him back there soon!
To the Miami Herald, which picked up on our story about Marc Rich's company, Novarco, doing business all over the place during his exile. The Marc Rich saga never ends. We'll have more on it later this week, promise!
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