People in the News for July 29, 1997

Tuesday, July 29, 1997 | 9:41 a.m.

Anyone, we've been brought up to believe, can grow up to become president. It's a startling, even frightening notion. That geeky kid in seventh-grade science class who wiped his nose on his sleeve -- he could be president? Why, sure! What about a ditzy actress-model, unencumbered by talent, whose sole claim to fame is her failed marriage to a mediagenic real estate mogul? Yes, under this system we whimsically call "democracy," even Marla Maples could be commander in chief. Here, then, courtesy of a George magazine Q and A, is a glimpse of of the Maples administration: Her running mate? Michael Jordan. Closest adviser? God. Secretary of Defense? My publicist. What would you veto every time? My American Express bill. A reason to go to war? Tabloid journalism. But her program for change, for getting America back on track, for returning America to Americans, doesn't stop there. She'd create a new federal department, one with historic, sweeping powers: the Department of Peace Promotion, "with federally subsidized massages and yoga for everyone." That seals it for us; Marla Maples in 2000!

Marriage secrets

One by one the Great Questions of our age are being answered. For instance, the Pathfinder probe is poised to tell us if there really is a place on Mars where the women smoke cigars. And now, we here at People in the News have the resolution to another: How has Tova Borgnine remained married to Ernest Borgnine for 25 years? That's longer than his four previous marriages combined. "As politically incorrect as this may sound, I believe it is up to the woman to make the marriage work," Tova says. "Even though this is the '90s, I have no trouble being second in command. The king of the castle will always remain the king, and I get much more of what I need." Which is apparently the time to turn her theories on wedded bliss into a new book, "Being Married Happily Forever." It offers readers "22 secrets, 12 strategies and eight compromises." Compromises? Yes, the wife of Ernest Borgnine must know all about compromise. "I am about to do something for my husband that I don't like," she says, "and that is to fish."

Sly suit

Get Sylvester Stallone a little promo seltzer -- the ad campaign for a new movie is making him ill. Stallone claims producers of "The Good Life" are falsely billing him as the film's star, when all he did was a six-minute cameo. He performed the tiny part for small bucks in return for a promise that he wouldn't be the focus of the marketing. Since he is, Stallone is suing producers Alan and Diane Mehrez for $20 million, his standard star salary. Diane Mehrez is considering a countersuit. "Sylvester Stallone is a bully who has a history of picking on the little guy," she says, claiming he breached his contract by "failing to complete his agreed-upon principal photography." His lawsuit, she says, is "a blatant attempt to intimidate my family." Well! No massage or yoga for him!

Compiled by Scott Dickensheets