Saturday, November 30, 2002
Husband: Zsa Zsa'simproving after crash
LOS ANGELES -- Zsa Zsa Gabor, hospitalized after an auto accident, was drifting in and out of consciousness but improving as she recovers from her injuries, her husband said.
The 85-year-old Gabor was breathing with the help of a respirator at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after suffering multiple broken bones, cuts and bruises, said Frederic von Anhalt, her husband.
"She can't talk," von Anhalt said Thursday night. "She opens her eyes, but we don't know if she recognizes us."
Gabor was listed in serious condition Thursday, said hospital spokeswoman Leslie Porras, who declined to give any further information.
Gabor's daughter, Constance Francesca Hilton, denied previous reports from Gerd Birkmann, a spokesman for von Anhalt, that her mother suffered head injuries and had been in a coma.
Gabor was a passenger in the front seat of a car driven by her hairdresser when the car struck a light pole Wednesday evening, said von Anhalt, who was reached at the hospital Thursday. The hairdresser also was hospitalized.
Clooney, director tookleap of faith in 'Solaris'
SANTA ANA, Calif. -- Despite his friendship with Steven Soderbergh, actor George Clooney wasn't always the director's first choice for "Solaris." Soderbergh told the Orange County Register this week he first considered casting actor Daniel Day-Lewis to play the hero of his space station romance that opened last week.
But Day-Lewis was busy with Martin Scorcese's "Gangs of New York." Soderbergh said he didn't initially approach Clooney about the role, even though the pair are partners in the production company Section Eight.
"I thought he could do it, but I didn't know if George thought he could do it now," the director said. "Maybe in a year or two, when he was in a place in his career when he was more comfortable and had more faith in his skills, he would realize that he could do it."
A few months later, Soderbergh received a letter from Clooney. "It said, 'I think I would like to try to do this,"' the director recalled. "As soon as I read the letter, I knew he was ready to play this role."
Today's birthdays
Actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr. is 84. Actor Robert Guillaume is 75. TV personality and producer Dick Clark is 73. Radio talk show host G. Gordon Liddy is 72. Movie director Ridley Scott is 65. Movie writer-director Terrence Malick is 59. Singer Luther Ingram is 58. Rock musician Roger Glover (Deep Purple) is 57. Playwright David Mamet is 55. Actor Mandy Patinkin is 50. Singer Billy Idol is 47. Comedian Colin Mochrie ("Whose Line Is It Anyway?") is 45. Football and baseball player Bo Jackson is 40. Rapper Jalil (Whodini) is 39. Actor-director Ben Stiller is 37.