People in the News for May 20, 1997

Tuesday, May 20, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Welcome to another edition of People in the News, where we do not, have not, will not use journalism-enhancing steroids. We're pumped up on life! And who wouldn't be, considering this next item, a gossip wonk's dream: Barbra Streisand appears to be Brolin, Brolin, Brolin toward the altar. "Entertainment Tonight" reports that Streisand is sporting an engagement rock from hunky Aamco flack James Brolin. "I can see my future married to Barbra and I think she can see her future married to me," Brolin said in an interview last week. It's easy to see why: From Streisand, Brolin gets Hollywood access not normally granted to stars of short-lived adventure series and muffler commercials; from Brolin, Streisand no doubt gets a great deal on mufflers. "She's one of the sweetest little girls I've ever met," he adds, making us wonder if he's still talking about Barbra. "We were smitten with each other from the first moment." Told about his comments, Streisand did not, as you'd expect, respond with a warm, sentimental James who?, but instead gushed, "That's so beautiful!" Yes, it is. No date has been set.

Bad week

Michael Jackson has had worse stretches than the last few days, but they usually involved flaming hair, onstage collapses or inflated payoffs to young plaintiffs. Now comes another young plaintiff, a Brazilian boy named Marcio, who claims he was run over by a van carrying the pop pixie back in 1993. It seems Jackson and his burly entourage were fleeing a crowd of children in a toy factory when the van hit Marcio, breaking his thighbone. He later had three operations that apparently left one leg shorter than the other. For this, his family is suing Jacko for $9.6 million. Jackson denies being in the van, and, anyway, if he paid millions to every kid he's allegedly damaged, why, what would he have left? Meanwhile, the other day, a woman who says she's had four children by Jackson -- they were smitten with each other from the first moment, you see -- broke into his Neverland Ranch and punched a housekeeper. Her name is Lavon Muhammed but, of course, she goes by Billy Jean Jackson. Loopy? Nutty? Flat-out crazy? Perhaps, but maybe it's just that she can see her future married to Michael Jackson and thinks he can see his future married to a potential psychiatric outpatient.

Smoking ire

When Lucie Arnaz watches reruns of "I Love Lucy," she sees not a groundbreaking TV sitcom starring her parents, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, nor a warm, sentimental time capsule containing footage of mom and dad full of youthful pep and verve. No, she sees the unthinkable -- cigarettes! "They smoked through the whole show," she exclaims. "Lucy," which ran 1951-61, was sponsored by Philip Morris, which urged the actors to light up in as many scenes as possible. "I would like to go back in and just erase them all now," Lucie says. Good idea! While you're at it, erase any scenes involving fur coats, meat dinners and unrecycled plastics. That should leave plenty of air time for more muffler commercials.

Compiled by Scott Dickensheets