Treat Williams

Treat Williams strode through the lobby of the Sunset Marquis Hotel looking like somebody's dad, dressed in a gray tweed jacket and plaid shirt, and mused about the hotel's reputation. "This hotel is popular with rock stars," he said, making his way outside. "I used to come here years ago when there'd be parties all night. Now the rock stars come back, they've got kids, they complain if there's any noise going on after 10 p.m." He laughed, picked an orange blossom from a tree and inhaled deeply.

Treat Williams' over-the-top performance in Gary Fleder's low-budget debut film, "Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead," is being hailed as a comeback. Cast as Critical Bill, a psychotic thug who spends his spare time beating up the corpses in the morgue where he works, Williams just about steals the film from co-stars Andy Garcia, Christopher Walken and Jack Warden.

'thirtysomething' on Hold: "thirty-something" buried the character of Gary on Tuesday night . . . and on Wednesday the show itself was earmarked for cold storage by ABC. But only temporarily. The network said that "thirtysomething" will be taken off the schedule for six weeks following its March 5 broadcast to allow a new drama series called "Eddie Dodd" to try out in the 10 p.m. Tuesday slot. Treat Williams stars as a lawyer who specializes in cases thought by others to be lost causes.

The directors were the stars of two recent Showtime original movie series: "Fallen Angels" and "Rebel Highway." But with the cable network's latest series, "Directed By," stars are the directors.

The directors were the stars of two recent Showtime original movie series: "Fallen Angels" and "Rebel Highway." But with the cable network's latest series, "Directed By," stars are the directors.

Treat Williams' over-the-top performance in Gary Fleder's low-budget debut film, "Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead," is being hailed as a comeback. Cast as Critical Bill, a psychotic thug who spends his spare time beating up the corpses in the morgue where he works, Williams just about steals the film from co-stars Andy Garcia, Christopher Walken and Jack Warden.

Treat Williams was peering through the blinds of his trailer at Columbia Pictures, formerly the old MGM Studios, in Culver City. His face was beaming. "It's exciting for me being here because I am on the lot where a lot of my heroes did their best work," he said with quiet enthusiasm. "Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant and Buster Keaton were at this studio. We are sitting right here next to one of the sound stages. Who knows whether 'Woman of the Year' was shot here?

Oscar-winning movie star Robert De Niro and two other leading American actors have arrived here to attend a Latin American film festival, the Cuban press reported. De Niro and Christopher Walken, both stars of "The Deer Hunter," flew here in a light plane piloted by Treat Williams.

Staging Benefits: The Children's Defense Fund, which works on behalf of poor, minority and disabled youngsters, will benefit from the opening night of "Paul Robeson" Wednesday at the Westwood Playhouse. Avery Brooks stars in the play, based on the life of the controversial singer-actor and black activist. . . . And, AIDS Project Los Angeles will benefit from the eighth annual Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event--a tribute to composer Irving Berlin--Feb. 7-8 at the downtown Embassy Theatre.

As we all know, here in the Kingdom of L.A., the ultimate question out of this week's Iran/contra hearings is not whether Lt. Col. North will get indicted, will Admiral Poindexter now take the fall, or even if the President woke up long enough to know what was going on. It is, of course, who will write, direct and act in the next great hot item in this town--"Oliver (North)!/The Movie." Treat Williams as Ollie and Mason Adams as his attorney Brendan Sullivan. Who else for this extravaganza?

Treat Williams was peering through the blinds of his trailer at Columbia Pictures, formerly the old MGM Studios, in Culver City. His face was beaming. "It's exciting for me being here because I am on the lot where a lot of my heroes did their best work," he said with quiet enthusiasm. "Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant and Buster Keaton were at this studio. We are sitting right here next to one of the sound stages. Who knows whether 'Woman of the Year' was shot here?

'thirtysomething' on Hold: "thirty-something" buried the character of Gary on Tuesday night . . . and on Wednesday the show itself was earmarked for cold storage by ABC. But only temporarily. The network said that "thirtysomething" will be taken off the schedule for six weeks following its March 5 broadcast to allow a new drama series called "Eddie Dodd" to try out in the 10 p.m. Tuesday slot. Treat Williams stars as a lawyer who specializes in cases thought by others to be lost causes.

Treat Williams strode through the lobby of the Sunset Marquis Hotel looking like somebody's dad, dressed in a gray tweed jacket and plaid shirt, and mused about the hotel's reputation. "This hotel is popular with rock stars," he said, making his way outside. "I used to come here years ago when there'd be parties all night. Now the rock stars come back, they've got kids, they complain if there's any noise going on after 10 p.m." He laughed, picked an orange blossom from a tree and inhaled deeply.

Faye Dunaway has "committed" and Treat Williams has "sort-of committed" to star in Paul Bartel's "Scenes From the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills," to be financed by RKO. It's all in the negotiation stage, Bartel told us. The script (by Bruce Wagner) comes from a Bartel notion about "two wealthy women in Beverly Hills, one a widow and one a divorcee, who live next door and the various sexual relationships between them and their servants."

On stage, Fisher Stevens, a self-described "thin, white Jewish kid from Chicago," has played everything from a WASPy leading man to a thin, white Jewish kid from Brooklyn. But in the movies, Stevens almost never gets to play an American. "I'm like the U.N.," Stevens jokes. "I've played a Mexican photographer, an Israeli soldier, an East Indian scientist. I turned down a part as an Afghani in 'Rambo III' and right after that I was offered a role as a guy from Uruguay.