Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Backstage at the Golden Globes Staff Reports Associated Press Beverly Hills, Calif. — Halle Berry, often singled out as one of Hollywood’s most beautiful women, scored a Gold en Globe victory for her inner self. Berry won for best actress in a miniseries or television movie for “Introducing Dorothy Dandridge.” She also co produced the true story about the first black woman to be nominated for a best actress Academy Award. “This is for my hard work and my stamina and my abili ty to keep going when other people said no,” Berry said back stage, tears streaming down her face. “I finally feel like a part of Hollywood and that feels so good,” she said. Berry shopped the Dandridge story to major studios and other cable channels without success until HBO accepted it. She compared her struggle to find quality parts to that of Dan dridge, an Oscar nominee in the 1950s for “Carmen Jones.” “Sometimes I don’t get a shot at roles because the di rectors and producers say, ‘I don’t want to go black,”’ she said.’“So sometimes I don’t even get in the room. “In just five seconds, by announcing my name, hopeful ly that burden will be removed from me,” she said. “This is for my inner self and my struggle.” Jack Lemmon won’t be giving his Golden Globe for best actor in a miniseries or TV movie to Ving Rhames. “In his spirit, I gave it to me,” Lemmon said. A few years ago, Rhames spontaneously gave his Gold en Globe to Lemmon, who had presented him with it. Lemmon was nominated in the category for his roles in both “Inherit the Wind” and “Oprah Winfrey Presents: Tuesdays With Morrie.” He won for “Inherit the Wind.” Michael J. Fox went out a winner. The actor, who has Parkinson’s disease, said last week that he’s leaving his hit ABC series “Spin City,” where he al so had producing duties. “I’d love to see this show carry on and if it does, I might even pop in now and then,” he said backstage after win ning as best actor in a comedy series. “There’s a lot of peo ple I’d like to see hang onto their jobs.” Fox said he will act again, but that the rigors of acting and producing 26 episodes of a weekly TV show was too taxing. Peter Fonda’s victory came at a price. His win for best supporting actor in a series, miniseries or TV movie for “Passion of Ayn Rand” cost him $2,000, a bet he made with an anonymous friend. “I lost $2,000, but this is better,” he said backstage. “What an affirmation that I did my job.” Asked what he was going to do next, Fonda said: “I’m going to try to get that $2,000 back and buy a magnum of Dorn and get utterly wasted.” Golden Globes grow in stature by Bob Thomas Associated Press Beverly Hills, Cauf. - For most of the past 57 years, the Golden Globes were ridiculed, reviled, castigated and dis missed as a movie industry joke. Yet on Sunday night at the Beverly Hilton, the awards show managed to attract the biggest stars in film and televi sion for another outpouring of awards. Recently, the Golden Globes have become cherished be cause of the often surprising happenings in an atmosphere less structured and more relaxed — akin to an older Holly wood. Like the early Academy Awards, the Golden Globes are presented at a sit-down dinner where the drinks flow freely. The speeches were often off-the-wall, and the reactions star tling. Jack Nicholson has accepted an award by mooning — though not with his pants down—his fellow nominees. Robin Williams has showed his joy at a win by grabbing his crotch. Mike Connors has expressed his feelings about losing the award by hurling dinner rolls at the winner. Christine Lahti once was announced winner when she happened to be in the bathroom. Nothing so wacky happened Sunday night. At least three of the winners made fun of the warning on the TelePrompTer to “Please wrap up” when their accep tances got too windy. After two winners included their drivers in their litany of thanks, it became a running gag, with Dennis Quaid crack ing, “Every actor knows the importance of a good Teamster driver.” But that was as zany as it got. In fact, some lament that the Golden Globes even have become gentrified into a three-hour marathon on network television, with endless acceptance speeches. Why do actors and filmmakers even turn out in their fin ery for awards that are voted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association—80 foreign correspondents—some with ques tionable credentials? Timing is a factor. The Golden Globes are the first major awards, and they have often portended the Oscars. If nomi nated actors and directors fail to appear, it might indicate their lack of interest and so might sway Academy voters negatively. Winners could trumpet their awards in newspapers and tele vision ads and thus influence voting. It’s possible the Golden Globes have prevailed because Hollywood loves a survivor. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has had a rocky history, including a Federal Com mumcations Commission investigation of possible chicanery in the voting. That knocked the awards off NBC, and they were presented on cable for several years. The nadir was reached in 1981, when Pia Zadora was named newcomer of the year for her bomb “Butterfly.” It was revealed that association members had been entertained at the Las Vegas hotel-casino owned by Zadora’s husband, Meshulam Riklis. The Foreign Press Association worked to clean up its act, hiring a top accounting firm to supervise the voting and ban ishing excessive favors from the studios. In 19%, it began a multimillion-dollar contract with NBC. It now has a new headquarters in West Hollywood and can donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to industry charities. COURTESEY OF UNIVERSAL PICTURES In his acceptance speech, Best Dramatic Actor Denzel Washington paid homage to Rubin “Hurricane" Carter and the people who helped to free him. Speeches from page 4 “It’s great getting awards, but it’s difficult knowing just what to say,” she said. She hit her stride, though, speaking about her career, aging publicly and the souvenirs on her desk, sprinkling her speech with asides that drew laughter from the audience. “Somebody’s cellphone just rang, I think,” she said. “Isn’t that terrible?” She closed by noting that some fa mous films never won an Academy Award. “It doesn’t matter really how many awards something receives,” she said. “What matters is, Does it stand the test of time?” Box office numbers by Tom Verdin Associated Press Los Angeles - Young love and hip hop culture brought teen-agers and twen tysomethings into theaters this week end, making youth-oriented “Down to You” and “Next Friday,” the No. 1 and No. 2 films at the box office. “Down to You,” a romantic come dy starring Freddie Prinze Jr. and Julia Stiles, took in $8.3 million to debut at No. 1. “Next Friday” took in $8:2 million in its second weekend. The estimated ticket sales for Fri day through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Rela tions: 1. “Down to You,” $8.3 million. 2. “Next Friday,” $8.2 million. 3. “The Hurricane,” $7 million. 4. “Stuart Little,” $6.5 million. 5. “The Green Mile,” $5.5 million. 6. “Galaxy Quest,” $4.8 million. 7. “Girl, Interrupted,” $4.4 million. 8. “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” $3.9 mil lion. 9. “Play It to the Bone,” $3.5 million. 10. “Angela’s Ashes,” $3.3 million.