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People in the News

Eds: Updates with items on Brooke Shields, Andrea Levy, Donald Duck, Kevin Costner and Dave Matthews. Also contains items on Robert Redford, Mark Burnett, Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Tom Cruise, Ellen DeGeneres and Sylvester Stallone. Version of Cruise, DeGeneres and Stallone item moved on the sports wire.

AP Photo FX109, LON830, LA105, CJP101, CJP103, NYET140, NY107, NY108, NY111

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Brooke Shields says advances in biotechnology helped her become a mother.

Speaking at a meeting at BIO 2004, an annual international biotechnology industry convention, the 39-year-old actress said in vitro fertilization helped her become pregnant with her daughter, 1-year-old Rowan. She said she was considering going through the treatment again to have a second child.

Shields entertained the audience Wednesday with stories of how she and her husband, Chris Henchy, found creative ways – and unlikely places – to administer the daily injections that are required for in vitro fertilization, including a basement bathroom stall at the Tribeca Grill, a swank New York restaurant.

Shields said she was puzzled by anti-biotechnology protesters who had targeted the convention, saying they must not realize how biotechnology can help people.

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LONDON (AP) – Andrea Levy won the $55,000 Orange Prize for fiction by women for her fourth book, “Small Island,” a novel about the experiences of black Jamaican immigrants in post-World War II Britain.

The Orange Prize is one of the book world’s most lucrative awards and is open to any novel by a woman published in English. The announcement that Levy had won was made Tuesday.

Based on the lives of Levy’s own parents, “Small Island” tells the story of Gilbert and Hortense Joseph, who arrive in London in 1948 in search of a better life.

Gilbert is one of several thousand Jamaican men who had joined the Royal Air Force in the war against Germany. After arriving, however, the couple are shocked by the austere conditions and racism in their adopted homeland.

Other nominees were Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Margaret Atwood, Shirley Hazzard, Gillian Slovo and Rose Tremain.

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On the Net:

http://www.orangeprize.co.uk

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PARIS (AP) – Donald Duck, the cantankerous yet lovable Disney character, celebrated his 70th birthday by dancing onstage under a shower of confetti as hundreds of fans sang “Happy Birthday to You” at Disneyland Paris.

A parade down the theme park’s Main Street marked the occasion Wednesday, with Mickey and Minnie Mouse leading the way. Daisy Duck and friends trailed behind carrying a giant pink cake with 70 candles.

Donald made his acting debut on June 9, 1934, in the cartoon “The Wise Little Hen.” Since then, the fussy fowl has appeared in hundreds of films.

For the festivities, Karl Lagerfeld drew a portrait of the birthday duck sporting the fashion designer’s signature eyeglasses and cardigan. T-shirts with the image will be sold as collector’s items.

“Oh-la-la, what energy – you’re always so young!” yelled the master of ceremonies as the septuagenarian bird waved to the crowd, kissed Daisy and buoyantly danced away.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) – Kevin Costner emerged from rows of cornstalks as part of the celebration for the DVD release of the two-disc 15th-anniversary edition of his baseball fantasy, “Field of Dreams.”

The Universal Studios Home Video event at West Hollywood Park Wednesday reunited cast and filmmakers. Costner starred in the 1989 movie, adapted from W.P. Kinsella’s novel, “Shoeless Joe,” and directed by Phil Alden Robinson.

The film’s famous baseball field was recreated for the event.

Costner played a farmer prodded by a mysterious voice to build a ballpark in his cornfield, which becomes a shrine of redemption and rebirth for him and his father, a reclusive writer (James Earl Jones), an aging doctor (Burt Lancaster) and disgraced slugger Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta).

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On the Net:

http://homevideo.universalstudios.com/

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MANCHESTER, Tenn. (AP) – The Bonnaroo music festival begins Friday, with some 90,000 fans expected to attend the three-day event.

Some 80 acts are scheduled, including Dave Matthews & Friends, Bob Dylan, The Dead, Trey Anastasio, Wilco and Gillian Welch.

Many of the kinks have been worked out since the first Bonnaroo festival in 2002, and folks say they’ve gotten used to the crowds.

“It’s amazing that so many people can come to town and not really have that much trouble,” said Vickie Geer, manager of the I-24 Truck Plaza Canter Oil.

For all three years, tickets have sold out on the Internet with no advertising. An additional 10,000 tickers were sold this year because organizers leased 100 more acres next to the primary festival site, a 600-acre farm about 60 miles southeast of Nashville.

“The first festival basically sold out before the people of Manchester really even knew it was happening,” said Ashley Capps, head of A.C. Entertainment of Knoxville, one of the festival’s promoters.

The following year, organizers set aside a number of the lower-priced tickets to be sold only to Coffee County residents.

Geer thinks Bonnaroo is good for Manchester – and for business.

“Gas, water and Gatorade,” Geer said. “That’s what they buy. And the fact that we have showers here helps a lot, too!”

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On the Net:

http://www.bonnaroo.com/

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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Robert Redford says he’s not planning to sell his Sundance resort in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains.

In response to media speculation, Redford issued a statement Wednesday saying his commitment to the ski area, arts and culture center and corporate retreat was “stronger than ever.”

His statement didn’t address a report that he was looking to sell his stake in the Sundance channel cable network to his partners, Viacom Inc. and NBC Universal.

“I can’t deny or confirm that,” Sundance Channel spokeswoman Sarah Eaton told The Associated Press.

But the actor-filmmaker made clear he has no plans to sell the 6,000-acre resort he calls home, about 25 miles south of Salt Lake City at the base of 12,000-foot Mount Timpanogos.

“In response to a story generated by unnamed sources in a New York tabloid, please be advised that I have absolutely no intention of selling Sundance Village,” Redford said in an e-mail provided by the resort.

The New York Post reported last week that a “financially strapped” Redford was looking to cash out a $60-million-plus stake in the Sundance channel and was “working on restructuring his resort.”

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NEW YORK (AP) – Mark Burnett, maker of “Survivor” and “The Apprentice,” says he’s pitching an idea for “Rock Star,” where contestants would compete for the chance to sing in an established rock band and go on a world tour.

The obvious inspiration is Fox television’s “American Idol.”

“I feel that there’s room on TV for more than one great big talent show, and I feel that rock music has been totally left out of that mix,” Burnett told the syndicated entertainment TV show “Access Hollywood.” Excerpts of the interview were released Wednesday.

He would not reveal the band.

Burnett said “Rock Star” viewers will get to know contestants better than those on “American Idol,” and that the winner will not entirely be determined by a public vote. The band and an independent judge will have some say, too.

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NEW YORK (AP) – Hotel heiress Paris Hilton and her friend Nicole Richie tour the South in a sequel to their hit Fox show, “The Simple Life,” which chronicled their stay with the Leding family in rural Altus, Ark.

“The Simple Life 2: Road Trip” premieres June 16. It follows Hilton and Richie on a four-week trip from Miami to Beverly Hills, Calif.

Hilton and Richie, daughter of Lionel Richie, stay with local families and do an assortment of jobs, including stuffing sausages.

“Last season we felt so trapped, being stuck with that family and all those curfew things,” Richie told Entertainment Weekly magazine.

Added Hilton: “It’s so much better and so much more interesting this year because every episode is a different family and a different town.”

So, are they staying in touch with the Ledings?

“I changed my number,” Hilton said.

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On the Net:

http://www.fox.com/simplelife/

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LOS ANGELES (AP) – Tom Cruise, Ellen DeGeneres and Sylvester Stallone will be among the bearers of the Olympic torch when it arrives in Los Angeles on June 16.

They were chosen by Samsung, a sponsor of the Olympic Torch Relay, for their show business accomplishments and their contributions to worthy causes, it was announced Wednesday.

The torch also will make stops in Los Angeles, St. Louis, Atlanta and New York. The worldwide relay leading to the Athens Games in August will cover six continents.

AP-ES-06-10-04 1433EDT

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