Columnist Kate Maddox: Mum was the word at ShoWest

Kate Maddox

Friday, March 9, 2001 | 8:33 a.m.

Kate Maddox's column appears Fridays, Sundays and Tuesdays. Reach her at 259-2309 or kmaddox@lasvegassun.com

The ShoWest Awards once again brought out the A-listers, but this time around definitely wasn't the happy celeb-fest of last year. Instead, everyone was difficult.

Take George Clooney. At a Warner Bros. luncheon to hype "Ocean's 11," Clooney introduced his co-stars, including Brad Pitt and Don Cheadle , and then announced that he would reveal coveted script secrets and plotlines. Jackpot? Hello. No.

Instead Clooney smugly brought out an Asian "friend" who proceeded to tell the story, presumably, in Japanese. The jaded Hollywood media weren't amused. I'm guessing the joke will be on Clooney when it's time to make the press rounds when "Ocean's 11" is finally released.

So, I wiped the egg off my face and headed to the awards dinner. I'm thinking Russell Crowe, Clint Eastwood, Chris Rock, Shannon Elizabeth, Haley Joel Osment, Rupert Everett, Sandra Bullock, Heath Ledger, stars galore. They were all there, and again, nothing but trouble.

"Heath, how do you feel about winning the Male Star of Tomorrow Award?"

"No big deal. It's good I guess." Try again. "Um, well, what's your favorite part of these prestigious awards ceremonies?" "The part where I'm done and get on the plane home. The worst part is this press line." Well, nice talking to you, too.

Heartbreaker Crowe wasn't any better. Surrounded by an intense-looking security detail, following recent kidnapping threats, Crowe breezed through the reporters' questions. "Do you like Las Vegas, Russell?" "No, not really." "What about winning Male Star of the Year here at ShoWest?" Shrug. One got the feeling he didn't know what the heck ShoWest was to begin with. "Awards aren't really my thing." Are you listening, Academy? Alrighty then.

So much for the Aussies. The Americans proved a friendlier bunch. Bullock said she loved it here. She said she was hitting the tables later with her family and her boyfriend. The "Miss Congeniality" star was gracious about being named Female Star of the Year, even though most of her hits this year were misses. Benjamin Bratt, Bullock's former co-star, presented her with the award.

Nicolas Cage, a veteran of Las Vegas films, earned the first ever ShoWest Award for Distinguished Decade of Achievement in Film. Cage admitted he was glad they selected this most recent decade, and not the first, of his 20-year career. (Personally, I thought he did some of his best work in "Valley Girl," but so much for me.)

On tonight's installment of "Inside Edition" that friendly/creepy chauffeur who tried to be Julia Roberts' Vegas valentine speaks out on what really happened.

Doug Swartz, a limo driver who worked for the Hyatt Regency Lake Las Vegas Resort, tells the tab show that all he really wanted to do when he sent Roberts a card and a rose was meet the actress. Swartz insists he wasn't being a stalker and that the whole thing was essentially "a nice gesture."

Swartz also says he was shocked when he got canned by the property for his inappropriate breach of celebrity etiquette. "I thought at worst they would suspend me for a couple of days, or write me up," he tells the show. "I did not think they would fire me for that." Hotel management released a statement saying that Swartz was terminated following a review of his actions and that Roberts had nothing to do with the firing.

If you're still not clear about some of those pesky career do's and don'ts, the interview airs on KLAS Channel 8 at 7:30 p.m.