ROSIE O'DONNELL was in Los Angeles on EMMY Sunday, just after her Friday press conference announcing her decision to withdraw from ROSIE Magazine, promoting her new book FIND ME, at BARNES & NOBLE in the new GROVE shooping center. She was sporting a new "HELEN TERRY" haircut inspired by BOY GEORGE, whom she recently saw in England. TERRY was the great singer with GEORGE from the "Church of the Poisoned Mind" days. 
So is this book the only way we are going to be able to find you?
"I'm going to be popping up here and there, I think. But you know, I'm lucky. If any woman in America had the ooportunity to quit her job and stop worrying about money and be able to take their kids to school, every mother would. My son said to me 'Life is better when you have no job'. And I said 'You are right!'... If you have $50 million and you feel you need $50 million more, something's wrong with your thought process. People can have enough. Most people can have enough. Nearly everyone in Hollywood has more than enough."
How right she is!
EMMY STUFF
9.24.02
MEMO MENOS
  What a difference a year makes. Last year’s EMMYS were nearly a non-event, having been postponed, rescheduled and moved to a safehouse after the events of 9-11. And likewise, what a difference a year made for some of the new owners of EMMY. Suddenly, FRIENDS is a legitimate show, having spawned an EMMY for JENNIFER ANISTON for BEST ACTRESS IN A SITCOM. Previously only LISA KUDROW had taken home the honor. But don’t cry for DAVID, MATTHEW, MATT and COURTNEY-who needs an award when you make $1 million per episode and get Porsches for Christmas bonuses?
 And in its 9th and, pray tell, possibly last season, the show finally won as BEST COMEDY. Never mind that EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND took home BEST SUPPORTIN ACTRESS-DORIS ROBERTS; and BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR-BRAD GARRETT; and BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR-RAY RAMANO. FRIENDS is the best sitcom on television. Yeah sure it is. If you watched the season premiere of RAYMOND on Monday night you might beg to differ. Both of the episodes clearly showed that RAYMOND is on top of their game, including PATRICIA HEATON. But, hey, she’s won it before, the last 2 years running to be precise.
THE WEST WING, easily the best show on television, captured BEST DRAMA for the 3rd year in a row, as did ALISON JANNEY as BEST ACTRESS. JOHN SPENCER took home EMMY as SUPPORTING ACTOR on that show and STOCKYARD CHANNING won for her portrayal of the First Lady. How is it that  MARTIN SHEEN has yet to take home the prize? Something’s a bit fishy there. And how is it that nearly everyone associated with THE WEST WING, to a tee, credited writer/creator AARON SORKIN for their success, yet SORKIN was left without? The award for best writing went to JOEL SURNOW and ROBERT COCHRAN for 24. It wouldn’t have anything to do with SORKIN’S scandalous arrest for drug possession last year, would it? Don’t believe that old saying ‘Any publicity is good publicity". We’ve all seen those NICK NOLTE pictures, okay! (NOLTE was a nominee in 1976 for RICH MAN POOR MAN.) It matters little, as AARON has a shelf of EMMYS by now, 3 in a row as executive producer of the BEST DRAMA, and one for writing in 2000 before the drug thing.
 TOM HANKS had a good night, taking home a couple of EMMYS for the miniseries BAND OF BROTHERS. As if earning nearly $50 million in over the last year, and watching his wife’s sleeper film MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING rake in more than $130 million at the box office this summer wasn’t enough, he gets to be honored by his peers. How special. Do all the producers and directors, and there were plenty of them for this miniseries, have to share just one EMMY? Now that would be ironic, wouldn’t it?
The most interesting story for me wasn’t the OSBOURNES stretching their second 15 minutes of fame into 20; nor OPRAH WINFREY getting the BOB HOPE AWARD-what a great speech!; nor MICHAEL CHIKLIS upsetting the field in the BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA category for a show no one saw on F/X, nor even the face that SIX FEET UNDER took in primetime, having gone into the evening the most nominated show and taking home only 1 award Sunday night. No, the most interesting result happened a week ago at the Creative Arts ceremony, when CLORIS LEACHMAN took home her 8th EMMY for GUEST PERFORMANCE ON A COMEDY SERIES-MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE. It’s a little screwy to think that CLORIS has an EMMY from that show when JANE KAZMAREK doesn’t, but you can’t fault CLORIS for that. Secondly, why aren’t all of the acting awards included in the primetime telecast? With the win, which went largely unnoticed (it was mentioned as she was summoned to the stage to present another award), CLORIS took home EMMY number 8, the most by any actor, ever. She has been nominated 15 times, winning a majority of the time.
She was Miss Chicago in the 1946 MISS AMERICA pageant. I guess they were representing cities back then. She won an OSCAR in 1971 for THE LAST PICTURE SHOW and played some indelible characters for MEL BROOKS, perhaps most notably, FRAU BREUER from YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN.. But it is her television work that has been most remarkable. She won her first EMMY in 1973 for a movie of the week A BRAND NEW LIFE. She won number 2 in 1974 as PHYLLIS LINDSTROM on THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW. Number 3 came in 1975 for a guest stint she did on the CHER SHOW. (CHER never won an EMMY for her show, but CLORIS did!) In 1975 she won again for MTM. Number 5 was for a daytime bit she did in a children’s movie, THE WOMAN WHO WILLED A MIRACLE. In 1984 she won number 6 for THE SCREEN ACTOR’S GUILD 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION. Number 7 came in 1998 as AUNT MOOSTER in MOOSTER’S REVENGE. She was nominated for her role in MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE last year, but didn’t win number 8 until this year’s ceremony, making her the best, hands down.
 There are 3 other actors w ho have won 7 EMMYS. Ironically enough, 2 of those are old friends ED ASNER and MARY TYLER MOORE. The other is TRACEY ULLMAN who has won 5 times for her own show and twice as a guest star. ASNER won 5 times for his portrayal of LOU GRANT on MTM and on LOU GRANT, his own show, as well as for ROOTS in 1977 and RICH MAN, POOR MAN in 1976. MARY won 4 times as MARY, and twice as LAURA PERTRIE on THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW as well as once for SUPPORTING ACTRESS in STOLEN BABIES in 1993.
H ow great was THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW, to have 3 of the best actors of all time on it, not to mention VALERIE HARPER and TED KNIGHT. VALERIE was nominated 8 times for her role as RHODA, winning 4 and TED was nominated 5 times for his role as TED BAXTER, winning 2. But that’s what is so tremendous about CLORIS LEACHMAN’S accomplishment. She only won twice for PHYLLIS, and never as the lead in the number one spin-off show of the same name. Her 6 other wins are for 6 other characters, an amazing feat indeed. In 1998 at a MARY TYLER MOORE reunion at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences I spoke with her about her record, at the time, 7 Emmys for 6 different parts. She said only LAWRRENCE OLIVIER had achieved similar success. OLIVIER was nominated for 8 EMMYS and won 5, all for different parts. (LAWRENCE OLIVIER was also nominated 12 times for OSCAR, winning 2 plus an honorary Academy Award.).
"The really fun thing is that LAWRENCE OLIVIER and I shared the record with 5 EMMYS for 5 different roles. I had won 2 for PHYLLIS for a total of 6. So when I broke that record (with number 7), it was a real kick!"
On Thursday September 19, we caught up with CLORIS LEACHMAN at the nominee party at Spago. Of course she had already won number 8 the previous Saturday at the Creative Arts ceremony, and she spoke humbly about it:
"I'm privileged and touched, by Aries or something. I feel enchanted...If I ever die, which I don't plan to, I'm sure they're working on it right now, as we speak. I want it to say:'She was greateful. Really. Truly. No shit'"
Two side notes, FRASIER, which had won as BEST COMEDY SERIES in its first 5 years on the air from 1994-1998, overtook THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW as the most decorated with 30 total awards over the years. MTM had 29 during its run from 1970-1977. By comparison THE WEST WING has won 22 and is going strong since coming on the air in 1999. And, the actor with the best winning percentage, having been nominated 5 times and winning all of them-DON KNOTTS. All of those wins were for his role as BARNEY FIFE on THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW. To think, he wasn’t even nominated for playing RALPH FURLEY on THREE’S COMPANY. Go figure.
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The HBO Party at Spago, in Beverly Hills
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"It's not a show about death, it's a show about life...This (SIX FEET UNDER) is something that I've never seen before so that's what's interesting about it. I'm so deeply indebted to the performers and the actors and the cast who are so good. They've created such complex characters who are funny and infuriating and heartbreaking all at once."
ALAN BALL, winner BEST DIRECTOR in a DRAMATIC SERIES.
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BRAD GARRETT being interviewed by KELLY OSBOURNE for THE TODAY SHOW as CARSON DALY looks on. |
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'"I'm going to kick it, have a little pizza and enjoy it. I'm on a "natch. I'm on a natural high."
Winner, SUPPORTING ACTOR in a COMEDY SERIES, BRAD GARRETT.
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The cast of SIX FEET UNDER, on their way into the HBO party at Spago. |
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"I really want to get in there and get a drink. Something really girly, something with a lot of fruit in it. Like an apple martini, but with Chicklets."
Host, CONAN O'BRIEN.
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Winner, BEST ACTRESS in a COMEDY SERIES, DORIS ROBERTS. |
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"I loved that I didn't have to do all the work. That I could just sit and do 30 seconds, relax after that and come and have some shrimp."
Last year's hostess ELLEN DEGENERES. |
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ELLEN has a talk show which starts next year and another HBO special on the way. |
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"I met PAULA ABDHUL and she gave me a hug and said she watched the show. I grew up watching PAULA ABDHUL!"
FREDDY RODRIGUEZ
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Winner, LAURA LINNEY, BEST ACTRESS in MINISERIES or MOVE-WILD IRIS.. |
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"It was like a deluxe, senior, superlative high school assembly. Really deluxe!"
MICHAEL C. HALL, nominee.
"If nothing else, we're(the cast of SIX FEET UNDER) in a mood to celebrate that all this madness is over."
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PETER BOYLE |
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"He's doing GLEASON, the tall years."
Winner, RAY RAMANO on co-star BRAD GARRETT'S film project.
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GG-"The Comeback Queen of Disco Still Surviving"
By Tonie Moses
Her name is recognizable all over the world. Her sultry voice is a force to be reckoned with, and her Grammy Award winning signature song "I Will Survive" is the anthem for clown-trodden people all over the world. But with the release of her first international album in 15 years due out this September, the "Comeback Queen of Disco" still may have what it takes to put out another hit although it’s been almost thirty years. She may resuscitate the washed up disco era which ended just as quickly as it became popular.
Gloria Gaynor is what most musicians would consider a veteran in the business. Since the beginning of her career some thirty odd years ago, Gaynor has experienced the highs and the definite lows, which ultimately led to a life long bout with insecurities, and coming to terms with the fact that she would forever be known as the "First lady of Disco."
"This is the first time I have ever recorded an album knowing who Gloria Gaynor is,’ she said. "It wasn’t until 1995 that I really grew up and realized that I was important, because being a recording artist brought on a host of insecurities that I never even knew that I had, like peer pressure, and trying to be beautiful according to everyone else’s standards."
Gaynor first came to fame in 1975 with the disco song called "Never Can Say Goodbye", but it wasn’t until 1978 during the hedonistic Studio 54 days, that a chance meeting with a local D.J, who was persuaded to play the B-Side of a song called "I Will Survive". That single would eventually make Gaynor the most popular disco diva ever, and make her history as the first and only recording artist to win a Grammy for "Best Disco Song.’
"I think people latched on to "I Will Survive" because they could easily apply it to every aspect of their lives." If the record executives and the writers had known that the song was going to take off the way that it did, we probably would have recorded more songs like that," she said jokingly.
With all the success of "I Will Survive" the one lingering question in peoples minds is whether or not the Comeback Queen of Disco still has what it takes to make it now that the new teen craze has erupted. Instead of competing with the punk-rock crowd that completely took over disco in the early eighties, now she’s competing with a whole new genre of music, in particular rap music in the new millennium, which by the way likes.
"I like that P-Diddy song ‘I Need A Girl,’ but as far as my music not being up-to-date or accepted by the younger generations, all I can say is that I did my best. My best today, may not be what the best was a long time ago.
"No one can do better than her best not even an angel, I have to focus on myself and not what pleases other people."
Gaynor has high expectations for her new album "I Wish You Love" which has a blend of disco, R&B, techno. She even threw in a little pop ballad for the song I Never Knew." Other songs like "Stronger" and "Gotta Be Forever" are a direct representation of the once, chart dominating Diva and if record buyers agree we might be seeing a whole lot more of her in the future.
Whatever Gloria Gaynor sets out to accomplish you can best assure that it will have a positive impact on the art of music and life as she has shown so many fans over the years in deep richness, kindness, and disco-a-lity. She is a woman who has truly "Survived."
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