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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2007 > April > 23 > Entry
Golden Girl’s nuggets find many takers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Monday’s luncheon at the Margaret Mitchell House was a testament to the power of Lifetime, television for women. And gay men.
About 150 fans of “Golden Girls” actress Rue McClanahan sold out her Q&A session and signing at the Midtown landmark as she hit town to promote her memoir, “My First Five Husbands … and the Ones Who Got Away” (Broadway Books, $24.95).
ANNE NETTLES STANFORD / Margaret Mitchell House & Museum
In town to promote “My First Five Husbands … and the Ones Who Got Away,” Rue McClanahan (left) was joined at a sold-out book signing by Linda Barone of Marietta, who earned a free pass.
Admirers of her alter ego, Blanche Devereaux, lined up to stammer compliments, request pictures and, in one case, a hug.
“My mother knew I was gay real early,” one man, clad in a pink Polo shirt, informed the author. “I taped every single episode of ‘The Golden Girls’ off Lifetime.”
That’s 166 episodes, dear readers.
Linda Barone of Marietta got into the boxed-lunch event for free. MMH reps offered that inducement to any divorcée who could prove she had been married four or more times.
“I just keep at it until I get it right,” Barone, 43, told us. Barone is married to her fourth and — she swears — final husband.
One fan even remembered McClanahan from her 1960s role as the evil Caroline Johnson on the NBC soap “Another World.”
Quipped McClanahan: “I was poisoning poor Pat so I could steal her husband. I lasted 14 months, which is pretty good for a killer!”
ON MY IPOD
Second Shift lead singer Jonathan Baker: “The Films, this kind of retro-infused rock band out of Brooklyn [N.Y.] Very punchy stuff. Lily Allen, who is this British pop sensation. Her new record [“Alright Still’] is pretty sick. Also, the new [U.K. singer-songwriter] Amy Winehouse is just awesome.”
OVERSCENE
Tour de France champ Lance Armstrong (right) and fashion designer Tori Burch dining at Chops in Buckhead. It’s likely that Armstrong was in town to catch a portion of the Tour de Georgia cycling race while Burch has a shop at nearby Phipps Plaza.
PROUD PUBLISHER
Busting open Watergate was likely a trip to Six Flags compared with unraveling the subject of Carl Bernstein’s upcoming book. “A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton,” written by the award-winning journalist, will be published in June. Explained Sonny Mehta, of the Knopf Publishing Group in an e-mail Monday: “Hillary Clinton is one of the most compelling figures in the world today and Carl Bernstein’s stunning portrait shows us … the true trajectory of her life and career. I believe his book will stand as the most detailed, comprehensive, and revealing account we have of a woman who helped define one presidency and may well step into another.”
G-CAPP PLEDGE
When Jane Fonda pats the seat next to her for a private chat, Buzz is always happy to oblige.
Even if it happens to be on MindSpring founder Charles Brewer’s coffee table.
Over the weekend, at a private Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention party in Ansley Park, the two-time Oscar winner gave us lots of details on her nonprofit’s May 7 benefit that will unveil “Georgia Rule,” her new film co-starring Felicity Huffman and Lindsay Lohan.
The local premiere in her adopted hometown promises to be a star-studded evening at the Woodruff Arts Center.
Huffman and “Rule” director Garry Marshall are set to accompany Fonda on the red carpet. During the evening’s live auction, Huffman will help the G-CAPP founder auction off a walk-on role on Huffman’s hit show “Desperate Housewives” (for info and tickets: gcapp.org).
While Fonda is encouraged that Georgia has dropped to 10th in the nation in teen pregnancies (it was No. 1 when she started the charity 13 years ago), the activist isn’t resting.
“You’ve got to take the long view,” Fonda explained. “We’ve got to keep this issue on the front burner. Even 10th in the country is too high. We’re aiming for zero [unplanned pregnancies].”
To help in that goal, Fonda announced that she’ll celebrate her 70th birthday in December with a new G-CAPP initiative: to track 70 at-risk kids over seven years, with $7,000 pledged to each participant. A major fund-raising party is being planned.
The program will track current sixth-graders in three southeast Atlanta middle schools through their high school graduations.
The program will teach health, finances, community service and sex education, along with other topics important to a successful future that’s, hopefully, free of unexpected pregnancies.
The actress laughed when asked to compare her relatively compressed planned media campaign for “Georgia Rule” with the way Hollywood used to roll out films.
“When I started in this business, you had to travel the entire country to promote a film,” she said. “You did parades, visited orphanages, everything. Now, it’s pretty much two days.”
Fonda has booked appearances on “Late Show With David Letterman,” “Larry King Live” and “The Colbert Report.”
Wearing a white suit and gold-tinted glasses, Fonda turned heads all evening at the $1,500-a-ticket party. When quizzed about her luminous look, Fonda sounded more than a little like her feisty “Georgia Rule” character.
She leaned in and whispered, “It’s the sex!”
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Actress Shirley MacLaine is 73. Actress-singer-director Barbra Streisand is 65. Actor-comedian Cedric the Entertainer is 43. Actor Djimon Hounsou (“Blood Diamond”) is 43. Actor Eric Balfour (“24”) is 30. Singer Kelly Clarkson (“American Idol”) is 25.
Contributing: news services
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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