Page 4 Portland Observer SEPTEMBER 21,1989 * * « * _ _ _ Lisa Collins BEHIND THE SCENES Did She O r D idn't She--LaToya Says She Didn’t: 33-year old Latoya Jackson is denying reports that she married her 50-year old manager Jack Gordon in Reno, Nevada recently. However, a Nevada state clerk has shown a signed marriage license complete with bride and groom’s signature and detailed family information. Jackson is saying someone forged her name. S tar-S tudded Bash For Cole: Natalie Cole was radiant at aparty thrown in her honor at the exclusive St. James Club topping off a performance at the Roxy nightclub in Los Angeles. Among those on hand at the star-studded gala were Robert Townsend, Connie Selleca, Leon, Body & Soul,actor, Def Jeff, actors Georg Stanford Brown Michael Warren, David Hasselhoff.and Chris Conrad (Robert’s son), “ Married With Children’s ” Katie Segal, Kimberly Russell, and Stephanie Kramer of ‘ ‘ Hunter” . The party kicked off a whirlwind week for Cole full of showers and last minute wedding preparations. Natalie promises that it is going to be the wedding of the year. B rew ster Place May Join ABC Lineup: Talks are still underway between Oprah Winfrey and ABC in its consideration of ‘ ‘Brewster Place’ ’, (which scored high marks in the ratings) as a possible mid-season replace­ ment. ABC maintains that no decision has been reached, only that “ there have been wide-ranging discussions with Oprah on a number of issues. Paula Kelly, the only actress recognized for her work in the four- hour TV special with an Emmy nomination, is happy about the possibility, even if she is not sure that she would be part of it. “ I doubt if I would want to do that character every week” , said Kelly. “ If she came back to visitor something, I don’t know” . Kelly, who just wrapped production on a special for PBS titled “ Zora” , is more excited about a proposed project for HBO based on the life of Josephine Baker. A S tar For M arvin Gaye: Another battle is underway to get a star for Marvin Gaye on the Hollywood Walk O f Fame. Official word from the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce is that there is not enough support for a star to be granted. If you’d like to lend your support, write the Committee For A Star For Marvin Gaye, P.O.Box 431578, Los Angles, CA 90043...Meanwhile, actresses Beverly Todd and Sheila Frazier are chairing a campaign for the development of a black entertainer walk of fame outside a Los Angeles theater, which made history when it became the first black- owned theater to run first-run movies. A New Home For Stepahnie: Stephanie Mills is back on top again with her new MCA LP, “ Home” . Stephanie who had on occasion said she never wanted to sing the song again, (due to all those years she did it as the lead actress in the hit Broadway musical “ The W iz” ), was moved to re-record the tune with the tragic passings of “ W iz” producer Ken Harper and songwriter Charlie Smalls. Mills said the song took on a new meaning even though it was still very difficult to record, what with all the memories flooding back. Another of the album’s singles, "Something In The Way You Make Me Feel” , was penned as well as produced by Angela Winbush, whose own second solo LP “ Real Thing” is due out October 17th. S hort Takes: Filming on Spike Lee’s latest, “ A Love S uprem e” began last week in New York. The film, based on the story of Lee’s jazz musician father, stars Denzel Washington....The Congressional Black Caucus was treated to a screening of the film, ‘ ‘A Dry White Summer” . The film, whose storyline centers on the South African system of apartheid, is five years in the making and the subject of mounting interest. I’’ll report on the black woman who undertook the project next time.Next week: Natalie Cole gets m arried. < ON THE MONEY F orm er Ex-Jocks Show G ridiron Savvy In Business W orld: The stigma attached to the intellect of many professional football players, (particularly black), has been less than appealing. However, the business acumen o f those who have left the pro ranks and entered today’s business world is beginning to change all that. Those like all-pro Willie Davis, who parlayed his football fortune into millions. Davis, who has since acquired and sold a beer distributorship, now owns a string of radio stations across the country. Franco Harris has met with a great deal of success as distributor of a number of natural food products, with Franco’s Au Naturel. Another ex­ steeler, all pro-defensive end Dwight White last year became president and chief executive officer of Daniels & Bell, Inc, the nation’s first black-owned investment bank. White, in recalling an encounter with the firm ’s founder Travis J. Bell Jr., said that Bell “ didn’t think I was smart enough to pass the securities exam. Obviously, I proved him wrong” . Today, the 39-year old CEO of the New York-based brokerage concern, is trying to build a steel curtain offense in the world of investment banking...Meanwhile, former teammate John Stallw orth who spent 14 years with the Steelers as a star wide receiver, is scoring with an aero-space engineering firm . In fact, Madison Research Corporation (a company he founded in 1986 while still playing with the Steelers), furnishes engineering services mostly to govern­ ment agencies like the Army and NASA. “ It wasn’t a big transition,” said the 37-year old entrepreneur. ‘ ‘ I prepared myself from my fifth or sixth year to get out of football.” Stallworth started a real estate development company, before a survey of industry in the Huntsville,Alabama area (where he resides) prompted a switch to engineering. Presently, he employs 16, and appears to be right on target with his goals. “ W e’re growing, “ said Stallworth, “ Since the beginning of ’88 w e’ve probably done about 15-16 projects. This was our first million-plus year in sales and I predict that we will do 2-3 dollars next year’ ’... Drew Pearson has perhaps made the best use of the media with his company, Drew Pearson Enterprises,which holds licenses with the National Football League, major league baseball, Walt Disney and others for headwear. ‘ ‘We also do promotional headwear and T- shirts for companies like Phillip Morris and Coca-Cola” , according to his sister, Denise Pearson, who also serves as his assistant. At present, the Dallas-based company, which was formed in 1985, has manufacturing facilities and distributors in Kansas City with a cadre of sales representatives throughout the country. The 38-year old former wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys, is also scoring touchdowns in sales with a tidy $5 million in sales for 1988, and a fat projection of $8 million for 1989. Emerge Comes Through: After getting off to a rather shaky beginning. Emerge Magazine made its newsstand debut this week. The magazine targeting 150,000 upwardly mobile black professionals had been slated to premiere last September, but suspended publication in August when Time Inc., pulled out of the deal pending the financing of additional investors. In fact, Ames had been advised to file bankruptcy, as debts had soared to $850,000. Instead, he looked for other investors. Among his more recent investors is Black Entertainment Television, Today, Ames says he has enough money to bankroll five years of development. The new monthly is priced at $1.95 per issue, with a one-year subscription set at $14.95. Next week: Find out why you never sec reruns of the Flip Wilson Show as we look at a man who took the business of his comedy real seriously. Support O ur Advertisers! Say You Saw It In The < ( PortlandObserver! .< ft ENTERTAINMENT _ ★★★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ BOUND IIK T I by Garland Lee Thompson FROM COAST TO COAST TH E 1989-1990 SEASON IS ABOUT TO BEGIN OFF again to “ the city of O z.” “ It’s Autumn in New York,” as the song goes. The leaves are turning and the ferry to Five Island is ‘ ‘down loading” to its fall schedule. “ Fall back, and wait for the long” Spring forward” to create another “ time warp’ ’ of pre-summer happiness. T H E SCENE O F TH E SEVENTEENTH SEASON Throughout the land, little and even smaller theatre companies are pushing “ the buttons” of high and low finance to once again,” jump start” their action “ to fire up” the new season of 1989-1990. In Harlem “ the heart and soul of beautiful downtown black America,” the scene that I and a packed group of African American theatre artists, and their “ downtown” friends did gather together.(“ Where there are two or three o f us gathered together, the Lord is present’ ’). It was the scene of the annual Open House of the seven­ teenth season of the Frank Silvera W'riters’ Workshop in the upstairs loft theatre space (the same loft space where Langston Hughes and Hilary Philips opened their famous little “ Suitcase Theatre," Robert Earl Jones, the father of James Earl Jones, (the more famous black actor of the two). I hope people will say that about my son. Garland Jr., someday. As the saying goes, “ Everybody was there.” Delle Chatman flew in from Hollywood to join in the his­ toric occasion, (she is the executive story editor for Tim Reid’s new sit­ com TV series, “ Snoops,” which airs its first new segment on CBS-TV (Friday, September 22,1989). Delle Chatman, who is also a playwright was hired after “ the success story” of Tim Reid’s “ Frank’s Place” , that had “ a nation of black folks” , angry “ to beat the band” and “ the M an” , who canceled the great series. I’m excited to be reading her new novel, “ a black Sci-Fi” adventure thriller, that she is “ shopping” to be pub­ lished in New York (along with a new play ‘ ‘Endings,’ ’ to be read and critiqued at the Frank Silvera Writer’s Workshop on West 125th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue.) She’s beauti­ ful, black and I’m proud she’s intel- ligent and brilliant! ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ “ SPEAKING OF MS. BLACK & BRILLIANT Black actress, Phyllis Yvonne Stickney (We saw her first in Oprah Winfrey’s TV mini-series,’’Women of Brewster Place” and on the Cosby Show has formed a new production company (New York based corpora­ tion) to produce a new season of plays in the City Center Theatre in Los Angeles. I love the name of Phyllis’ new company: “ Endangered Species Productions,’’She has a new "sit-com" series coming out also this season entitled, “ New Attitude. Ms. Phyllis(and she is “ a Miss Thing” with talent coming out of all o f ‘ ‘her moving parts.” Now this young woman is smart, black and beautiful, and is raising $800,000, to bank roll her Endangered Species company.She has joined forces with my old fiend and black actor Maurice Carlton.(We worked together in New York after I founded the Frank Silvera W riter’s Workshop). And they are discussing with us, the plan to set up an affiliate of the workshop new playwrights’ Reading/Critique in L/A. at their City Center Theatre. Now that’s slick! Write on, y ’all. Phyllis and I had “ a ball ” hanging out together again ju st recently, at the 1989 National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, North Carolina (Aug 14-20).She blew the thousands of good black-people and theatre artists away, on Friday night o f the festival, with her stand up comedy (with no script^ll “ im­ prov” ). MEETING ONE’S MENTOR AGAIN Everyone had one; ‘ ‘a mentor’ ’ or teacher who helped he or she to develop their God-given talents. Well, one of mine is theatre director and producer, Hal DeWindt, who “ found” me in ‘LA LA land (Los Angeles) and hired me as his stage manager for projects o f the National Endowment for the Arts in 1967). I worked as a stage manager there at Inner City Cultural Center for eleven “ back-to- back” productions until 1969-70. (a record there for a stage manager and production person at ICCC in LA town). I met and worked with the late great Adolph Caesar,(nominated for an academy award for his perform­ ance in the film “ A Soldier Story” ) his west coast production of Douglas Turner W ard’s comedy plays, “ Day of Absence” and “ Happy Ending” (1966-67) at the Ebony Showcase Theatre. 1 was a struggling actor, since de­ buting (1958) in Langston Huges musical “ Simply Heavenly” , in the west coast production (as “ John Jasper, the newsboy” ) and a small “ native role” in the film, “ South Pacific (1957) at Twentieth Century Fox. Hal De Windt took me with him to the Inner City Cultural Center Theatre.(one of the first pilot theatre through Hal De Windt.Also Paul Win­ field, Isabelle Sanford (of Jefferson TV series) D ’Urville Martin (the late actor/director, who appeared in “ Nigger Charlie” , and a host of other films and plays), and many other great black performing artists. Hal De Windt (thank God) is back in New York, as the new artistic direc­ tor of the Davis Center Theatre at City College of New York. His first production is a new play entitled, “ William Five,” written by Earnest Fam, opening Friday, September 8,1989 at the Davis Hall main stage theatre on City College’s campus. Write on, Hal. We got together again at the National Black Theatre Festi­ val. H E R E ’S ONE FOR YOU, TH EA TR E FANS Stay tuned for the latest on the New Freedom Theatre of Philadel­ phia and their production of the Langston Hughes musical, “ Simply Heavenly” that producers John Al­ len and Robert Leslie, are planning to move to the big Schbert Theatre in center city Phillie town, starring Melba Moore. Guess who brought the proj­ ect to them and directed the biggest that New Freedom Theatre has ever had” That’s right, theatre fans, ME! (1987) And now my attorney is get­ ting into the picture because I only learned about “ the super big” planned move “ to the big times ’’.while I was at, yes again, the National Black The­ atre Festival. This is going to get “ thick” , so stay tuned, theatre fans while I “ fax” this “ hot story” , to you via the good old Portland ob­ server in “ P.O. Town” , and return from “ the big apple’ ’, and the Apollo Theatre area of Harlem, US of A. Write on ,” cuzbig stu ff ’ is happen­ ing in this new season of the nineties. A new decade is upon us all, y ’all! Sup­ port your local theatre companies. W rite on. ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★ Black Men Men Urged to: Learn About Prostate Cancer Prostate C ancer Awareness W eek, the first national campaign to combat the most common cancer in men and a disease o f special concern to black Americans,will kick off Sept 24,1989. The campaigns is supported by the National Cancer Institute, the National Cancer Care Foundation, the Prostate Cancer Education Coun­ cil, the National Association of Com­ munity Health Centers, the Ameri­ can Foundation for Urologic Dis­ ease, and major medical centers across the country that will offer free exams during the week. To encourage men to learn about the disease, Rocky Bleier, Vietnam veteran and former Pittsburgh Steeler, is national spokesperson for the cause. Rocky battled against Vietnam inju­ ries and great odds to rejoin the Steeler team that captured four Super Bowl championships during the 1970s. Black Men a t Special Risk Prostate cancer strikes nearly 103,000 men and kills about 28,500 each year, making it the second-lead­ ing cancer killer of American men. One in 11 men will develop the dis­ ease. For unknown reasons, black Americans have the highest rate in the world: one in nine. “ Unfortunately, black males get prostate cancer 60 percent more fre­ quently and are twice as likely to die from thedisease as non-blacks,” said FranK E. Staggers, M.D., immediate past president of the National Medi­ cal Association. “ We must make every effort to encourage black men age 40 and over to get a simple test that can lead to early detection and effective treatment.” Free Exams Nationwide An important goal of Prosi Cancer Awareness Week is to en­ courage many men to get a free pros­ tate exam as their first step toward making the exam part of their regular medical checkups. During the week, more than 40 hospitals and medical centers around the country will be offering free exams. These include member institutions of the Associa­ tion of Community Cancer Centers and the National Association of Community Health Centers. R egular Exam s Are Key “ A rectal exam of the prostate currently is the most accurate nd cost-effective way to detect the d j ^ . ease,” said E. David Crawford, m 1 ^ a member of the Prostate Cancer Education Council (PCEC), the cam­ paigns’s sponsor. "Men need to know that prostate cancer often can be cured through early diagnosis and treat­ ment. FRIENDS OF LIBRARY BOOK SALE The ann ual book sale for the bene­ fit of Friends of the Multnomah County Library will be held on Saturday, October7,from 10:00a.m. until4:30 p.m. and Sunday, October 8, from noon until 4:00 p.m. The sale will be held at the Library Service Building at 216 NE Knott S t A members only presale will be held on the evening of Friday, Octo­ ber 6, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. Anyone not now a member of Friends of the Library who wishes to attend the presale can purchase an individual membership at the door for $15. Senior and student memberships are avail­ able for $5. Over 800 cartons of books have been readied for the sale with more expected to be gathered before the doors open. The highly popular sale offers as opportunity for people to secure quality used books and rec­ ords ar bargain prices. Proceeds o f the sale are used by Friends of the Library to benefit the Multnomah County Library. ITie results of professional football games are used to determine the winners! b (lOTTBIY OFFICIAL PROGRAM l» » M IA I FINIliRAM ENTRY FORM i TICKET ENTRY FORM CD Find it in your local newspaper. F ill out an entry form. Hold on lo your ticket lo claim your prize. OREGON LOTTERY SPORTS ACTION