Rich Little

At the end of impressionist Rich Little's most recent visit to Jimmy Stewart's Beverly Hills home, the legendary star was walking Little out to his car when a tour bus pulled up. An excited tourist yelled out of the bus window, "Rich Little! What are you doing coming out of Jimmy Stewart's?" Before Little could answer, Stewart grinned and, in his trademark slow delivery, drawled, "Rich just came over to get his batteries charged."

George Kirby Kirby excelled as Nat King Cole, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong and even Ella Fitzgerald. Marilyn Michaels Impressions of singers Connie Francis, Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand and Ethel Merman are her forte. Frank Gorshin Gorshin was the first impressionist to become a headliner imitating such stars as Burt Lancaster and George Burns.

George Kirby Kirby excelled as Nat King Cole, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong and even Ella Fitzgerald. Marilyn Michaels Impressions of singers Connie Francis, Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand and Ethel Merman are her forte. Frank Gorshin Gorshin was the first impressionist to become a headliner imitating such stars as Burt Lancaster and George Burns.

Veteran impressionist Rich Little admits it's tough getting a handle on contemporary stars. "How are you going to imitate Ashton Kutcher or Brad Pitt or Matt Damon?" asked Little over a cup of coffee at the Beverly Hilton. "Jack Nicholson is larger than life, so is Clint Eastwood. But there are not many people like Nicholson who are around today -- larger than life, with very distinctive voices. How do you do George Clooney? I have worked at it. If you do Tom Hanks, you have got to do 'box of chocolates,' and even that is kind of old now. Good actors, but not voices.

There is a soundtrack to this book review. Start reading while you listen to a rendition of "I'll Take Manhattan." Movie buffs and older baby boomers will recognize Eddy Duchin as the popular pianist and orchestra leader of the 1930s and '40s who was portrayed by Tyrone Power in a maudlin tear-jerker, "The Eddy Duchin Story." Peter was the young son Tyrone Power so awkwardly tried to warm up to. Here is his story.

Dear SOS: Can you obtain the recipe for lobster chowder from Grannan's Seafood Restaurant in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada? Our family thinks this is the finest we have eaten. Pauline Gould Sherman Oaks Dear Pauline: We added the lobster shell for a richer flavor. Be sure to remove it before serving. Grannan's lobster chowder Total time: 30 minutes Servings: 3 to 4 1 (8-ounce) raw lobster tail with shell on 2 tablespoons butter 1/2 cup finely diced celery, onion and carrot 2 tablespoons flour 1 cup water 1 cup whipping cream 1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt 1. Cut the lobster tail in half and remove the meat.

This menu brightens the senses and pleases the palate. A lobster roll, filled with associations of summer, flecked with capers and seasoned with lemon juice, does the trick. Serve it with oven-roasted sweet potato wedges, which are easier than they sound: Slice a potato and roast it while you prepare the rest of dinner. A salad of sliced cucumbers, tomatoes and red onion comes together easily. A cold white wine or crisp beer rounds things out nicely.

When actor Stacy Keach was thrown into an English prison on a cocaine smuggling charge, plans for the final three episodes of the "Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer" TV series were thrown into chaos. Keach didn't escape from prison, but his voice found its way back to the set, thanks to impressionist Rich Little. And the show went on.

Impressionist Rich Little is seeking custody of his 1-year-old daughter, whose mother is fighting him over child support. Little's lawyer, Gerald Z. Berkowitz, says he succeeded in having the child support argument heard in Delaware, where the mother, Lalette Cottrell, and child, Lindsay, live, rather than in California, where the comedian lives. Little is willing to pay support but wants an amount "consistent with the needs of the child," his lawyer said.

Are there any kids out there who still dream of growing up to be president? Susie Hilfiger's got just the training ground for them: a playhouse built as a scale model of Mount Vernon. But better start throwing those fund-raising dinners early--the house costs $750,000 unfurnished, $980,000 complete with candlesticks and bed linens. Hilfiger, wife of clothing designer Tommy Hilfiger, is also owner of Best & Co., purveyor of upscale children's clothes and furnishings.

Call it the sushi-torta torta express. Set to start running on Sunday, the Gold Line Eastside Extension is a direct, six-mile shot from Little Tokyo to East Los Angeles. It's also a light-rail lifeline to the incredible variety of restaurants that surrounds each of the eight new stations: izakaya , bakeries, marketplaces, taquerías, burrito stands, sukiyaki joints, sandwich shops, roast goat specialists and seafood emporiums. Once the train pulls out of the Little Tokyo depot and leaves behind downtown's sushi bars and ramen- ya , it crosses the 1st Street bridge, dips underground for a couple of stops and comes up again after Soto Street, passing the burritos, cemitas and mariscos of Boyle Heights.

President Bush, deferring to the tragedy at Virginia Tech, passed up any attempt to be funny at the White House Correspondents' Assn. dinner Saturday, leaving those efforts to impersonator Rich Little. Returning to the podium at the annual dinner after 23 years, Little made good on his promise to be gentle. His material was safe, if somewhat raunchy at times.

Dear SOS: Can you obtain the recipe for lobster chowder from Grannan's Seafood Restaurant in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada? Our family thinks this is the finest we have eaten. Pauline Gould Sherman Oaks Dear Pauline: We added the lobster shell for a richer flavor. Be sure to remove it before serving. Grannan's lobster chowder Total time: 30 minutes Servings: 3 to 4 1 (8-ounce) raw lobster tail with shell on 2 tablespoons butter 1/2 cup finely diced celery, onion and carrot 2 tablespoons flour 1 cup water 1 cup whipping cream 1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt 1. Cut the lobster tail in half and remove the meat.

This menu brightens the senses and pleases the palate. A lobster roll, filled with associations of summer, flecked with capers and seasoned with lemon juice, does the trick. Serve it with oven-roasted sweet potato wedges, which are easier than they sound: Slice a potato and roast it while you prepare the rest of dinner. A salad of sliced cucumbers, tomatoes and red onion comes together easily. A cold white wine or crisp beer rounds things out nicely.

Are there any kids out there who still dream of growing up to be president? Susie Hilfiger's got just the training ground for them: a playhouse built as a scale model of Mount Vernon. But better start throwing those fund-raising dinners early--the house costs $750,000 unfurnished, $980,000 complete with candlesticks and bed linens. Hilfiger, wife of clothing designer Tommy Hilfiger, is also owner of Best & Co., purveyor of upscale children's clothes and furnishings.

Gov. Pete Wilson's proposal for a further 10% cut in the rate of the state bank and corporation tax would continue a policy of recent years that has primarily benefited a small group of big businesses and the wealthiest of Californians. After failing to win a 15% rate reduction for all income taxes last year, Wilson settled for a 5% business tax cut.

There might have been an owl out there. There certainly was something, way off in the distance. And people were muttering something about it having moved. Maybe it was an owl, but it could just as well have been a large baked potato from where we were. The 60 people (about 20 of them children) who were standing on a dirt trail in the chill air of Cheeseboro Canyon in Agoura Hills last Saturday night desperately wanted it to be an owl. They had paid good money, $30 per family, for it to be one.

Veteran impressionist Rich Little admits it's tough getting a handle on contemporary stars. "How are you going to imitate Ashton Kutcher or Brad Pitt or Matt Damon?" asked Little over a cup of coffee at the Beverly Hilton. "Jack Nicholson is larger than life, so is Clint Eastwood. But there are not many people like Nicholson who are around today -- larger than life, with very distinctive voices. How do you do George Clooney? I have worked at it. If you do Tom Hanks, you have got to do 'box of chocolates,' and even that is kind of old now. Good actors, but not voices.

There is a soundtrack to this book review. Start reading while you listen to a rendition of "I'll Take Manhattan." Movie buffs and older baby boomers will recognize Eddy Duchin as the popular pianist and orchestra leader of the 1930s and '40s who was portrayed by Tyrone Power in a maudlin tear-jerker, "The Eddy Duchin Story." Peter was the young son Tyrone Power so awkwardly tried to warm up to. Here is his story.

Rich Little had them laughing, and the Wayne Foster Orchestra had them dancing, but it was the teddy bear centerpieces that stole the hearts of 450 guests attending the Orange Blossom Ball on Saturday at the Hyatt Regency Irvine. Guests were invited to bid on the bears that decorated their gala tables. Proceeds of $41,000 from the "bid for bears" and the $300-per-person ticket sales helped net more than $100,000 for the Orangewood Children's Foundation.