Tuesday, April 27, 2004 | 10:19 a.m.
Mirage headliner Danny Gans has been in the news an awful lot lately, for all the wrong reasons.
He has missed an extraordinary number of performances for either unknown or seemingly preposterous reasons -- such as missing three weeks after taking a tumble in his bathroom after stepping on his dog.
Also, he was involved in a car wreck, suffered from pneumonia, and there were rumors that he had staged a sickout over the holiday season to force The Mirage's hand and put his mug on the top of its Strip marquee, replacing Siegfried & Roy.
So when news came the other day that he had parted ways with Chip Lightman, his manager of 13 years, our inquiring mind phoned Gans to clear things up.
"I would not wish the year I have had on anybody. But these stories that are floating out there about me are absolutely false," Gans told us.
His bad run started, he said, in July, when his mother died. Three months later his father died.
Then it continued on with accidents and illnesses.
"And in no way did I ever tell anyone at The Mirage anything regarding the marquee. They told me they were not going to do anything for at least six months and out of respect for Siegfried & Roy, whom I know and love. I told the hotel to not even have me involved in that.
"If and when they were to decide to change anything, I told them, 'Fine.' But I was not worried about it at all."
Lightman left, Gans said, because essentially there is nothing left for him to do.
"After being on the road for 17 years before I came to Vegas, I have no interest to ever leave here. I'm selling out two weeks in advance and am very content.
"It is more important to me to see my son's Little League games or take my daughter to lunch than to be on the cover of TV Guide."
Gans recently turned down a lucrative gig as center square on Hollywood Squares.
"Those were the kinds of projects that Chip was working on, but I've decided not to do them anymore," Gans said.
Star guests
Want to spot some stars, sports and otherwise, this week? Head over to the pool at the Palms for the tapings of Fox's "Best Damn Sports Show Period."
Among the folks likely to make unannounced appearances, producers tell us, are Michael Douglas, Michael Jordan, Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali and Terrell Owens.
The list of scheduled guests isn't too shabby either. Today's taping brings George Gervin, Kenny Wallace, Penn & Teller and two surprise NBA legends.
Wednesday's linuep is "Las Vegas" stud muffin Josh Duhamel and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. On Thursday, Kyle Petty, Craig James, Ron Meyer and Robin Leach are on.
All the Maloof brothers -- Joe, Phil, Gavin and George -- appear Friday with Daunte Culpepper, Randy Moss and Dule Hill ("The West Wing").
Show hosts Tom Arnold, John Salley, Chris Rose and Leeann Tweeden are there every day.
Tapings are from 12:30 to 3 p.m. at the Skin Pool Lounge and are free and open to the public.
Sing it
"Divorce Court's" Judge Mablean Ephriam, gospel legend Shirley Caesar, "American Idol's" R.J. Helton, singer Kirk Franklin and TV and radio personality Jawn Murray are among the talents headed to Las Vegas for Dr. Bobby Jones' International Gospel Industry Retreat.
The three-day informational seminar and television taping will take place May 2 to May 4 at MGM Grand, and will air on Black Entertainment Television (Cox cable channel 27).
Jones is an icon in the Christian music community.
Doing good
Meital Grantz of the fashionable Talulah G Boutique and her high-society pal Chantal Cloobek are hosting a shopping fund-raiser Wednesday to benefit the Nevada Cancer Institute.
"Where There Is Shopping, There Is Hope" takes place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the store, located in the Boca Park shopping center at Charleston and Rampart boulevards.
Some mom
Mirage Resorts Chief Executive Bobby Baldwin wasn't at Friday evening's taping of the World Poker Tour Championship, and didn't get to see 32-year-old Swede Martin Dekinijff win the biggest prize in poker tournament history, $2.7 million.
But Baldwin's mother, June Baldwin, was in the audience, seated in the first row of the event, held at Bellagio's Fontana Bar, reports our Las Vegas Sun colleague Jeff Simpson.
She said she was celebrating her 89th birthday, and that she enjoys watching top-flight poker competition. Her son, of course, won the World Series of Poker's championship event in 1978, and has won three other WSOP winner bracelets as well.
Milestone
Hal Holbrook's "Mark Twain Tonight!," arguably the most successful one-man production in the history of American theater, is coming to Las Vegas as part of the show's 50th anniversary tour.
The single performance takes place at 8 p.m. on May 22. Tickets are from $25 to $45 and can be purchased at the Performing Arts Center Box Office at 895-ARTS (2787) or by visiting UNLVTickets.com.
VegasBits
Eat: Former NFL star Eric Dickerson had dinner at Crustacean (Desert Passage at Aladdin) on Sunday night. Peter Fonda was in Friday night ...
Names: Names continue to be added to those who will join Tiger Woods at his Memorial Day weekend fund-raising dinner and Prince concert at Mandalay Bay. Jessica Alba, Vivica A. Fox, Henry Simmons and "Las Vegas" stunners Molly Sims and Vanessa Marcil are among the latest confirmed supporters of Tiger Jam VII ...
Celebrate: Happy Birthday, Sheena Easton. The "For Your Eyes Only" crooner, Las Vegas resident and occasional headliner turns 45 today ...
Funny: Comic actor Eddie Griffin ("Deuce Bigalow," "Undercover Brother") partied away Saturday night at Venus (Venetian). Earlier he and his mother, who lives in Las Vegas, had dinner at AquaKnox (Venetian)...
Promo: If you place a minimum $20 wager on the Kentucky Derby at the Palms Race and Sports book on Saturday (race day) you get a free bobblehead of the 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Winner, Funny Cide ...
Laughs: For a cheap chuckle today, head down to Tinoco's Bistro on East Charleston Boulevard in the downtown Arts District. Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and Robin Leach will be there in the afternoon taping a bit for "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" when the show airs from Vegas for a week starting May 10.
From Sun wires
Clinton memoirs: The date has been set, sort of.
Former President Bill Clinton's memoirs will be published in late June, and promotion will begin a few weeks earlier with a speech at BookExpo America, the industry's annual convention.
The book, for which Clinton received a reported $10 million to $12 million, will be called "My Life."
Berry files for divorce: Actress Halle Berry filed for divorce Monday in Los Angeles from her husband, R&B singer Eric Benet, a spokeswoman said. The couple were married about three years and separated in October.
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