Celebrities

D'Amatos officially split

Sen. Alfonse D'Amato and his wife, Penelope, are officially divorced.

The couple had been legally separated for 13 years but had continued to share a home in Island Park on Long Island. The divorce was granted Friday.

Earlier this year, D'Amato (R- N.Y.) told reporters he had fallen in love with Claudia Cohen, the former wife of cosmetic-company heir Ronald Perelman and a frequent guest on the syndicated TV show "Live With Regis and Kathie Lee."

Bad day for Regis

Speaking of Regis: "Live With Regis & Kathie Lee" turned into "Tape With Tony Bennett" on Friday when the broadcast was pre-empted by a bomb threat.

Someone saying he was "from Islam but a man of peace" called the WABC-TV studio in New York during the morning broadcast and warned that a bomb was set to go off in 30 minutes, police said.

Co-host Regis Philbin told viewers of the threat, warned the studio audience it was not a joke and directed an evacuation. A taped episode with Tony Bennett was played for the show's final 15 minutes.

Police searched for an hour but found nothing.

Philbin and Cristina Ferrare, who was subbing for vacationing co-host Kathie Lee Gifford, were interviewing supermodels Naomi Campbell, Elle MacPherson and Claudia Schiffer when told of the threat.

To buy or not to buy

Who said what: A report that Fox Inc. Chairman Rupert Murdoch asked the executive producer of "60 Minutes" about buying the top-rated news show is all backward, Murdoch said Friday.

It was Don Hewitt, the founder of the show, who suggested the sale, said Murdoch, who added that he thought the comment was a joke.

Murdoch's Fox TV group has conducted spectacular raids of CBS, winning rights to National Football League telecasts and taking over eight CBS affiliate stations, including in Milwaukee. But sale of a network TV news magazine would be unprecedented.

New York Newsday reported Friday that Hewitt, who has led the program through three decades, said Murdoch asked him whether "CBS would entertain the thought of selling `60 Minutes.' "

In response to the reports, Murdoch said he chatted with Hewitt last month and Hewitt asked: "Why don't you buy `60 Minutes?'"

"Don't be silly," Murdoch says he replied. "The only people who watch `60 Minutes' are the grandparents of the Fox audience."

Today's birthdays

Julian Lennon, singer and son of John the Beatle, is 32; John Schneider, from "The Dukes of Hazzard," is 41; Peggy Lennon, of the Lennon Sisters, is 54.

Compiled from Journal Sentinel wire reports

Copyright 1995
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