VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Not everyone has tired of Tyson’s act

Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2004 | 10:43 a.m.

Since the boxing thing doesn't seem to be going anywhere right now, Mike Tyson is taking another swing at acting.

Tyson, the former heavyweight champ and part-time Las Vegas resident who filed for bankruptcy in August, will play himself in director James Toback's "When Will I Be Loved?" starring Neve Campbell.

Tyson had a cameo, playing himself, in an earlier Toback film, "Black and White" (1999), in which he menaced Robert Downey Jr. and his wife, played by Brooke Shields.

"I would like to do some more acting," Tyson told the New York Post, which first reported the new screen role.

Tyson could use the extra change in his pocket that an acting gig might provide.

According to court papers recently filed as addendums to his initial bankruptcy filing, Tyson's income has plummeted. The papers show that Iron Mike, as he used to be known, earned $53.9 million from prizefighting between Jan. 1, 2001, and Aug. 1, 2003.

The papers, filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, show that Tyson's only income between August and October last year came from a $175,000 advance from the K-1 Corp., which promotes a sport that is sort of a hybrid of boxing and martial arts.

His only fight in 2001 came against Brian Nielsen in Copenhagen, Denmark. He earned a big payday when he fought and lost to Lennox Lewis in Memphis, Tenn., in June 2002. In February he beat fringe contender Clifford Etienne in a 43-second debacle, also in Memphis.

Tyson's largest debtors include the Internal Revenue Service -- he owes $13.4 million -- and his former manager, Shelly Finkel, who is owed about $4 million.

The documents also show that since 1988 Tyson has given out more than $1 million in gifts to strangers, or, in legal terms, people of whom the boxer "does not recall the identity."

Eighth rate

In time for Valentine's Day, the popular discount travel website Hotels.com has released its list of the world's Top Ten Romantic Destinations.

Las Vegas placed first, second, fourth, fifth and eighth.

How can that be? Easy. Paris topped the list, followed by New York City and then, at No. 4, Venice and Rome, in fifth position. Las Vegas proper came in at No. 8.

But since Las Vegas has themed casinos based on Paris, New York, Venice (The Venetian) and Rome (Caesars Palace), we can reasonably make a claim to them all, right?

Rounding out the list were Cancun, Mexico, (3), Maui, Hawaii (6), Honolulu (7), Key West, Fla., (9) and San Francisco (10).

We pay

A pair of federal government agencies are coming to Las Vegas for conventions.

Employees of the Environmental Protection Agency are getting together today at Alexis Park for a three-day series of events.

And approximately 100 IRS agents are having their own three-day convention at Caesars Palace.

Big dinner

The lineup has been finalized for The Champions of Freedom 2004 Dinner Gala, sponsored by the the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas.

Leon and Faye Steinberg will receive the Hank Greenspun Founders Award, and former Gov. Mike O'Callaghan will receive the David L. Simon Bridge Builder for Peace Award. O'Callaghan is executive editor of the Las Vegas Sun.

The event's keynote speaker will be Ehud Barak, the former Israeli prime minister.

The dinner takes place Feb. 8 at The Venetian. For tickets and more information, call 732-0556.

Soap song

Soap opera fans, if you happen to go to the Tropicana to see its new Celebration Lounge act "TKO," you'll see a familiar face.

Lead singer Peter Love was the character Ric Castillo on the popular daytime drama "Santa Barbara" and also played Mark D'Angelo opposite Yasmine Bleeth's Ryan Fenelli on "Ryan's Hope."

Love is backed by vocalist Maralee Marquette, bass player Tony Love and Mario Basner, who hits the skins.

Big ticket

Sometimes ads for concerts at Las Vegas venues have the ticket prices included, sometimes they don't.

We found it interesting that ads in some local publications for the upcoming Rod Stewart show at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel do have prices included: $59 to $329, the ad says. But those prices, it says in small letters, are for luxury guest rooms, not tickets.

Cynics would say that was a way to mask the real ticket prices, which are $303, $503 and $753, for the March 20 date.

VegasBits

Honor: Veteran "Bottoms Up" producer Breck Wall is the first honoree tonight in Call Back's "Salute the Producers" series. The entertainment tabloid will periodically fete a Las Vegas showman. The Little Buddha (Palms) event is invitation only ...

No duo: Plans are under way for a continuation of the Simon & Garfunkel reunion tour, which played Vegas last fall -- but don't expect an encore local performance. "They will play almost exclusively in markets where we have not gone," Garfunkel's manager, John Scher, told Billboard.com.

Meet: NASCAR stars Kurt Busch and Greg Biffle will appear at Sam's Town to sign autographs and chat with fans from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday. There is no charge to the public event and the first 200 guests get a special Coca-Cola collectible mini-racecar ...

More meet: Art critic Walter Edelman will bring his renowned trunk show of old and modern master artworks to Art Encounter on Spring Mountain Road for a one-night-only presentation at 5 p.m. Saturday. He'll show graphic works by Picasso, Rembrandt, Renoir, Chagall and Monet ...

From Sun wires

New commercial: There were pop stars, cameras and lights, but the excitement wasn't for a movie premiere, it was the world debut of a Pepsi commercial -- starring Britney Spears, Beyonce Knowles and Pink.

The trio were at the National Gallery in London's Trafalgar Square Monday for the first screening of the soft drink manufacturer's "New Gladiator" ad, in which they play gladiators and Enrique Iglesias plays an evil Roman emperor.

New alliance: Rock veterans Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno are starting a provocative new musicians' alliance that would let artists sell their music online instead of only through record labels.

With the Internet transforming how people buy and listen to songs, musicians need to act now to claim digital music's future, Gabriel and Eno argued Monday as they handed out a slim red manifesto at a music conference in Cannes, France, known as Midem.