News Round-up

NEW YORK TIMES: Villain of the Afternoon, 28 Years Later
OF all the world’s spectacularly affluent tycoons, none have inspired a sense of ambivalence that runs quite as deep and powerful as Victor Newman (played by Eric Braeden), a Forbes 400 buccaneer whose very name merges winning and rebirth.

"Victor Newman is the most decisive, self-assured businessman the world has ever known," said Maria Arena Bell, head writer for THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, on which for almost three decades this Machiavellian monster has schemed and scammed his way to the top of the corporate heap.

"Victor Newman should never lose his power or his money," Braeden said with heavy finality. "Without them there’s no conflict, and ultimately conflict makes him flourish."

Braeden went on to say, "I don’t think there’s an altruistic bone in Victor Newman’s body. He’s essentially Darwinian. 'Survival of the fittest' is his credo. He grew up in an orphanage, fighting for his place in the sun. I understand where he’s coming from."

At 39 he signed on with Y&R for what was supposed to be a three-month run. Twenty-eight years later it’s unclear where Mr. Braeden ends and Victor Newman begins.

411 MOVIES INTERVIEW: Y&R's Eric Braeden
"I know, having done what I'm doing now for the last twenty-eight years, I realize more by having been in this medium, and how it affects people, because I think we are closer to our fans in this medium than people in films are. So you realize the value of entertaining people, of giving an honest performance. There's a certain responsibility where you don't want to cheat the audience. You just realize what essentially we do is to entertain. And I would say when I started out in the sixties and seventies; I wanted to be part of pictures or stories that meant something politically or socially. Well, there's nothing wrong with just entertaining. It makes people happy. And I've never realized that as much as I have in doing what I've been doing for twenty-eight years."

Teri Hatcher successfully defends lawsuit made by cosmetics company
Hydroderm filed a $2.8 million suit accusing the DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES star of not upholding an endorsement deal she made with them in 2005, because she supposedly praised the effects of a rival, City Cosmetics. The former Bond girl was photographed in association with the competitor’s products and agreed to be interviewed about using City Cosmetics products, including its centerpiece City Lips lip plumper, which directly competes with Hydroderm’s lip enhancer.

Hatcher fought the suit, claiming she had done “absolutely nothing wrong” and she was apparently very right. The actress was vindicated and awarded an undisclosed financial settlement on December 12, with Hydroderm bosses retracting their earlier accusations.

PATRICK ERWIN: Playing favorites
"I loved meeting everyone at Guiding Light. Everyone was so kind and so generous with their time, it’s really hard to pick one favorite. I mean, it’s Kim Zimmer! Grant Aleksander! Ron Raines! Ellen Wheeler!

But the conversation that I truly enjoyed the most, personally, was the one I had with Marj Dusay. She was just a joy to be around."

Watros-Gilliland sells her home
Consider actress Cynthia Watros-Gilliland (ex-Anne, GUIDING LIGHT) no longer "lost" in the sea of sellers. The woman who played Libby, a psychologist, on the popular ABC series Lost, has sold her 1923 Los Angeles home for $5.2 million.

Lea DeLaria’s R-rated holiday cabaret packed with ho-ho-hos
Lea DeLaria seems pretty ambivalent about the whole Christmas thing.

"I (expletive) hate Christmas. It makes me (expletive) crazy!" she growled, shortly after singing a sweet jazz rendition of Leroy Anderson’s "Sleigh Ride."

This unlikely combination of smooth standards and coarse comedy typified her performance at the BCA Thursday.

In addition to being a barrier-busting comedienne, she’s enjoyed life as a Broadway star and as a legit jazz musician. Lately, DeLaria has been dividing her time between touring and playing an ex-wife-channeling psychic on ONE LIFE TO LIVE.