Mary Kaye

Altagracia Valdez is dreaming of a perfect pink Cadillac. All she has to do to win it, according to her boss at Mary Kay Inc., is expand her list of conocidos. Those familiar connections, she says, can adorn Valdez's 60-year-old hands with diamond rings, pump up her bank account with enough money to pay the bills, buy a house and help her finally enjoy some middle-class financial security.

As a new widow unable to obtain a bank loan, Mary Kay Ash beat the odds when she successfully started her cosmetics firm with $5,000. This month, as it celebrates 30 years in business, Mary Kay Cosmetics Inc. continues to impress the business world. The privately held firm remains the nation's second-largest direct-sales cosmetics company--behind Avon Products Inc.--with sales of its trademark pastel-pink products reaching $610 million last year. Sales totaled $406 million five years ago.

From the snowy wigs that crown her head to the cosmetics empire she runs, the Mary Kay Ash depicted in CBS' Sunday-night movie is a woman who thinks big. Even her dreams are oversized, as suggested by a black-and-white opening sequence in which she stars in her own "Citizen Kane," enigmatically whispering, "Rosebud." (This time, it's a shade of lipstick.) No hagiographic biography here. Right away, "Hell on Heels: The Battle of Mary Kay" (at 9 p.m.

Mary Kay Letourneau and her former sixth-grade student were married Friday night in a tightly guarded ceremony, nearly a year after she was released from prison for raping him. Letourneau, 43, and Vili Fualaau, 22, have been in the spotlight since she was imprisoned in 1997. But when she was released in August, the couple -- who have two daughters together -- reunited.

Joe Graydon, the former FBI agent who became a debonair big band crooner, television host, personal manager and, finally, producer of road shows for the sedentary circuit, has died. He was 82. Graydon died Saturday at his home in Glendale, said his longtime friend Chuck Benedict. Since 1978, the suave singer had packaged shows featuring artists, bands and the music he used to perform in the 1940s.

The bells were ringing for Linc Ward and his girl at Friday's March of Dimes salute to the long-time Pacific Bell official, community activist, and all-around good guy. Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.) called to offer his congratulations. And the switchboard lit up again when Gov. George Deukmejian rang with similar regards.

Family and friends dotted a couple of hillsides at O'Melveny Park on Sunday with 300 pine seedlings in memory of Darlene, Duane, Mary Kaye and others who have died in drunk-driving collisions. The planting, co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving and TreePeople, an environmental group, was on the slopes near the Granada Hills park entrance. Much of the 714-acre park was scorched during a December fire that burned 3,200 acres above Northridge and destroyed or damaged 40 homes.

Giving up their free time and sometimes their lunch period, 15 young people at a residential drug and alcohol treatment center helped create a water sculpture that was unveiled Thursday at Phoenix House. "Harmony Water Sculpture," created from three masonry basins reminiscent of shells, was installed outside in a grassy area where visitors, staff and the treatment center's 150 residents, ages 12 to 18, go to relax and reflect.

Under their breath, Jennifer Elaine Halferty's younger sisters occasionally chide the 17-year-old for being a "perfect princess," but on Tuesday her adoring siblings could publicly call the Polytechnic School student a "queen." Squinting at first in the garish early morning sunlight, Jennifer's hazel eyes popped wide open as Tournament of Roses President William Johnstone Jr. proclaimed her the 79th rose queen.