People in the News for February 23, 1998

Monday, Feb. 23, 1998 | 9:21 a.m.

Welcome to another edition of People in the News, the gossip column that tastes like chicken. Then again, chicken soup would be more appropriate for the flu-stricken Barbra Streisand, while her photog-striking boyfriend, Broilin' James Brolin, could certainly use a soothing ladle of chicken soup for the soul. Yes, these are trying times not only for Hollywood's It Couple, but for the dull awards ceremonies that depend on them and the press that covers them. For instance, a raging flu may force la Streisand to cancel her planned duet with Celine Dion at Wednesday's Grammy Awards. Faster than you can say, This thing is sounding more watchable by the minute!, her spokesman cautions that she hasn't quite canceled yet: "Her doctor is not yet able to determine if the illness will prevent her performance." Meanwhile, Brolin, once the poor man's Chad Everett but now seemingly drunk on the power of being Streisand's boyfriend, allegedly smacked a photographer at a Manhattan movie theater the other night. New York Daily News cameraman Richard Corkery tried to shoot him and a not-yet-ailing Streisand at the premier of "Love and Death on Long Island," apparently shutterbugging Brolin. "James started ramming him like a bull and hit him with his head," reports one witness. "Then James kind of laughed this cavalier laugh and got into the limo." The red snapper naturally filed a police complaint, and, like every sissy photographer ever grazed by a celebrity, went promptly to the hospital for "head and neck trauma" before inflating his account of the incident. "It was like getting slammed by a train," said Corkery. No, getting hit by a train usually involves dismemberment and death. Streisand's spokesman dismissed the incident as "accidental contact on both parts."

Voice not over

Aretha Franklin -- you're in better voice than you have been in years (and in worse movies, namely "Blues Brothers 2000"). What gives? "I stopped smoking in 1991," she said. "It helped my voice tremendously. The clarity and everything. The range even increased." Her first album in seven years -- "A Rose is Still a Rose" -- is due March 10.

Laff riot

We'll just laugh our cavalier laugh as we pass along the results of Sunday's American Comedy Awards. The big winner: David Hyde Pierce, who won his third straight hunk of decorative statuary for his supporting role on "Frasier." Another repeat: Carol Burnett, who won her second award for her work on "Mad About You." Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt won funniest actor and actress honors for "As Good As It Gets," while Tracey Ullman was named funniest lead female in a TV series. Other winners: Gary Shandling (funniest lead male on TV), Bette Midler (for her TV special "Diva Las Vegas"), George Carlin (for his special "40 Years of Comedy") and Julia Louis-Dreyfus ("Seinfeld"). And, of course, making the whole thing worth tuning in to when it airs on Fox March 17: Jerry Lewis won a lifetime achievement award. It'll be like getting hit by a comedy train!

Compiled by Scott Dickensheets