Franz to be grand marshal of Calif. holiday parade

Franz to be grand marshalof Calif. holiday parade
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- "NYPD Blue" star Dennis Franz will serve as grand marshal of Santa Barbara's holiday parade, but plans to spend Christmas in Idaho.
Franz, who lives in Montecito, near Santa Barbara, will join marching bands, floats and Santa Claus in the Santa Barbara Downtown Organization's Holiday Parade on Friday. But Franz will then head to his family's new ranch in Idaho.
"Coming from Chicago, I like a white Christmas," said the 61-year-old actor, who played police Detective Andy Sipowicz on "NYPD Blue." "That was one of the things I had a hard time getting used to when I came to California in '78 -- Santa Claus in shorts."
Franz also said he would avoid the phrase "Merry Christmas" in favor of a more secular message.
"I have to say that I now say 'happy holidays' to people," Franz told the Santa Barbara News-Press. "That's usually my greeting because there are so many people celebrating their own holidays. It's really just a generic way to say, 'Let's all have a great holiday season."'
Jail term saved my life,former mobster says
NEW YORK -- Henry Hill, the former mobster immortalized in "Goodfellas," says his current jail term saved his life.
"It gave me a chance to sober up and get my stuff together again and go forward," Hill told The Associated Press by phone from Lincoln County Jail in North Platte, Neb., where he's serving the last four weeks of a six-month sentence for attempted possession of methamphetamines.
Hill, played by Ray Liotta in Martin Scorcese's gangland classic, is appearing in a new documentary, "Bullets Over Hollywood." Narrated by Paul Sorvino, the film examines the appeal of gangster movies and real-life mobsters' curious relationships with the films.
Hill was living in Nebraska with his wife and working as a chef -- he recently began producing his own "Sunday Gravy" marinara sauce -- when police said glass tubes containing meth residue were found during a search of Hill's luggage at the North Platte Regional Airport.
He said alcohol was the root of his problems. Jail "actually saved my life because I was getting very sick," said Hill, 62. "I was given a second chance."
Well, maybe a third. Hill sought refuge in the witness protection program after testifying against his former bosses in New York. But he was kicked out of the program for repeated trouble with the law.
He showed up for a pre-sentence meeting with a probation officer with a blood-alcohol level of 0.343 percent -- way above Nebraska's legal driving limit of 0.08 percent.
Stars to read at benefit
NEW YORK -- Broadway stars Marian Seldes, Frances Sternhagen and Tammy Grimes will be among those reading fiction from Peru, Cameroon, New Zealand and elsewhere at a benefit for world peace.
The afternoon event will be Friday at Saint Peter's Church in midtown Manhattan. Admission is free.
"The short stories from around the world that make up this program are a tribute to the common humanity of all people everywhere," program organizer Stanley Tannen said in a recent statement. Tannen is director of the nonprofit TIPA (Toward International Peace Through the Arts).
Today's birthdays
Actress-singer Deanna Durbin is 84. Game show host Wink Martindale is 71. Actor-producer Max Baer Jr. is 68. Actress Gemma Jones is 63. Rock musician Bob Mosley (Moby Grape) is 63. Singer-musician Chris Hillman is 61. Rock singer Southside Johnny Lyon is 57. Actor Jeff Bridges is 56. Rock musician Gary Rossington (Lynyrd Skynyrd; the Rossington Collins Band) is 54. Actress Patricia Wettig is 54. Jazz singer Cassandra Wilson is 50. Country musician Brian Prout (Diamond Rio) is 50. Rock musician Bob Griffin (The BoDeans) is 46. Rock singer Vinnie Dombroski (Sponge) is 43. Actress Marisa Tomei is 41. Actress Chelsea Noble is 41. Rapper Jay-Z is 36. Actress-model Tyra Banks is 32. Country singer Lila McCann is 24. Actress Lindsay Felton is 21. Actor Orlando Brown is 18.