Copyright 1995 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
May 3, 1995, Wednesday, FIVE STAR LIFT Edition
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 2A
LENGTH: 503 words
HEADLINE: PEOPLE COLUMN: PEOPLE COLUMN
BYLINE: Compiled by Harry Levins Of the Post-Dispatch Staff
BODY:
If the shower scene in "Psycho" still gives you the willies after all these years, listen to the actress who starred in it, JANET LEIGH.
After making the movie, she says, "I stopped taking showers, and I take baths, only baths. I make sure the doors and windows of the house are locked, and I leave the bathroom door open and the shower curtain open."
Leigh, 67, describes her phobia in a new book, "Psycho: Behind the Scenes of a Classic Thriller," to be published this month.
Did writing the book prove cathartic? No, she says. "I have absolutely no intention of stepping in a shower."
Leigh's ex, TONY CURTIS, made his own splash at last weekend's White House Correspondents Dinner. He showed up with his 20-something, 6-foot-2 blond girlfriend, Jill Van Den Berg, who was clad in a skintight dress and a steel-studded dog collar. "We are an item," said Curtis, 69.
And, we'll bet, a sight.
Front and centerfold:
Victoria Zdrok, who made $ 20,000 as a Playboy playmate last year, is complaining that she lost out on the $ 100,000 Playmate of the Year award because HUGH HEFNER's wife, Kim, smelled a flingette. Zdrok and Hefner deny any affair, but Hefner says it took a four-way telephone hookup - involving him, Kim, Zdrok and her husband - to overcome Kim's "moment of jealousy."
Flesh rushes in where The New York Times fears to tread. Penthouse publisher BOB GUCCIONE is offering to print the manifesto of the mysterious Unabomber "to save lives." The Unabomber has told The Times he'll stop his bomb attacks if a major outlet publishes his 29,000-word tract. When The Times failed to respond, Guccione stepped in.
We're seeing less of the Rev. AL SHARPTON, the black activist. He has lost nearly 75 pounds and wants to shed 22 more, getting down to 210. Sharpton, 40, tells New York's Daily News: "I'm lean and mean and will last longer on the scene."
Apparently, dark hair roots are In among celebrity blondes.
"Having roots makes you feel like you're totally in, but maybe only 5 percent can actually get away with it," one Beverly Hills stylist tells Entertainment Weekly. "Believe me, MADONNA and DREW BARRYMORE have hairdressers around them constantly, but it looks hip to look like nothing was done."
Still, FABIO has no intention to get in touch with his roots. "It's only when I get lazy that I have them." KATO KAELIN, of course, marches to his own dryer: "I follow my own leads. It's just a Kato thing."
Speaking of blondes, we'll leave the last word to GLORIA STEINHEM, 61, the pioneer feminist. When People magazine asked for her beauty secret, she got straight to the point: "Revolution. It keeps you young." ON THIS DAY
On May 3, 1948, in a St. Louis case, the Supreme Court voided covenants barring the sale of houses to blacks. TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS Folksinger Pete Seeger 76 Singer James Brown 62 Singer Engelbert Humperdinck 59 Singer Frankie Valli 58 Sportscaster Greg Gumbel 49 Magician Doug Henning 48 Singer Peter Gabriel 45 Singer Christopher Cross 44
GRAPHIC: PHOTO; Photo By AP - Eunice Shriver Honored Eunice Kennedy Shriver holds a commemorative silver dollar minted Tuesday to honor her work with Special Olympics International, which she founded in 1968. Some 80,000 coins will be minted and sold to help support the Special Olympics World Summer Games.