Columnist Kate Maddox: Rockwell proposal refused at Harrah’s

Kate Maddox

Tuesday, March 21, 2000 | 9:07 a.m.

Rick Rockwell won't be coming to Vegas on his current "Annulment Tour": He was denied access at Harrah's. Rockwell, the publicity hound/ex-groom of Fox's "Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire," is touring the country making stops at Improv comedy clubs. Although Rockwell and his agent were very interested in playing the Strip, which Rockwell did before he gained fame as the biggest loser in the country, they couldn't make room at the Improv at Harrah's.

Bud Friedman, the owner and founder of the Improv clubs, explained that the names coming into Harrah's Improv were just too important to bump for Rockwell, whose tour was planned soon after his name made headlines.

So, it wasn't any sort of moral dilemma? Not some attempt to blacklist the comedian and keep him from ever performing here again? Not a chance to keep the spotlight away from the money-hungry comic? "Nope," says Friedman, "we actually would have liked to have had him here ... we were just a little too packed during the dates he wanted."

Unfortunately, Nevada won't get a complete reprieve from Rockwell. A last-minute cancellation at the Improv in Reno -- which is at the Hilton there -- allowed for the fledgling stand-up to squeeze in a coveted weekend date. Rockwell, chock-full of new material, I'm sure, plays Reno this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. He then continues on his tour, making stops in Texas, Ohio, Florida and Washington, D.C.

On another Rockwell note: The E! channel's highly-rated "True Hollywood Story" is planning a profile of the Ricker for an upcoming program. Producers for the show have been calling Las Vegas, digging for background dirt on TV's most famous groom.

The cast of "3,000 Miles to Graceland" has been taking in the sights and sounds of the Strip this week, checking out what Vegas has to offer. Co-star Kevin Pollack spent part of the weekend at the Bellagio's poker room -- playing a little mid- to high-stakes seven-card stud.

Pollack's castmate, Christian Slater, was at the Mirage with his wife and 1-year-old son, watching the white lions in the pool at the Secret Garden. Slater was also part of the weekend audience at Siegfried & Roy, as was actor Steve Martin.

And Goldie Hawn, longtime live-in love of "3,000 Miles" star Kurt Russell, was spotted ringside Saturday night at the MGM. Hawn (sporting dark shades) and her 14-year-old son, Wyatt, took in the Mayweather-Vargas fight.

In other casting news, former football star Howie Long -- who has been trying his hand at some (questionable) acting of late -- may have landed his big break. Long has been added to the cast of "3,000 Miles" as one of the gang of ex-cons trying to rip off a Vegas casino.

Hawn and Russell, along with Kevin Costner, Michael Clarke Duncan and a small group of celebrities, friends and family, were on hand to surprise Bruce Willis with a 45th birthday party at the Mansion at the MGM Grand on Saturday night. Wayne Newton even found the time to wish Willis a happy birthday -- he dashed over to the party in between his two shows at the Stardust.

Steve Apple, the actor who played Dean Martin in the original "Rat Pack is Back" at the Desert Inn and who decided not to rejoin the current cast at the Sahara, hasn't completely given up on his Rat Pack aspirations.

Apple, along with other Pack impersonators, has been performing for various conventions around town. These guys have been booked solid for mini shows for the past couple of weeks, pulling down about four gigs this weekend alone.

Apple declined to accept a part in the new Sahara show due to some rumored financial issues with show producers. Despite his success with the convention crowd, Apple will keep his day job as Groucho Marx at Universal Studios Hollywood.