Hawaii
ACTRESS Betty Burdick lost her mother to ovarian cancer, so she should be able to bring some personal intelligence to the role of Professor Vivien Bearing, who's fighting her own battle with ovarian cancer in "Wit," the next play coming up at Manoa Valley Theatre. And in order to replicate the look of women taking medication for the disease, she got her head shaved, as have other actresses who've played the role. Not one to wield a razor on herself, Burdick visited veteran actor Greg Howell, who's also a hair stylist at the Paul Brown Studio. He proved he could shave as well as he shaped, topping it off with a Meryl Streep-type wig for Burdick to wear when not onstage, and she seems to love it ... You'll be hearing more of ovarian cancer in coming weeks. "Wit" is having a pre-opening benefit for the American Cancer Society May 14, complete with mini-massages from the therapists at Malama's nearby studio in Manoa. One of MVT's sponsors, Queen's Medical Center, is giving a free lecture on ovarian cancer. In addition, ABC-TV is airing "Always Something" about the late Gilda Radner, who died of ovarian cancer, as did such other actresses as Loretta Young, Madeline Kahn and Jessica Tandy. And Hawaii Public Radio has ovarian cancer as the topic of "Town Square" May 2 with Burdick and Kapiolani's Dr. Michael Carney as panelists ... Actress gets a close shave
for a challenging stage roleSOME gal-pals of Cox Radio News Director Jane Pascual met at Blue Moon to toast her for being named "National Broadcaster of the Year" by an organization called WeTip, forerunners to the Crimestoppers program. They chose wine over Brew Moon's specialty and helped in toasting her good fortune, which includes being featured in the current MidWeek. She flies to New York next week for ceremonies where she'll receive her award ...
Babes of Babes
E! Entertainment's bodacious Brooke Burke has just delivered a babe of her own, a second daughter. The "Wild On!" and calendar superstar has traveled the world on assignment and always brought along her babies and a nanny on trips. This summer E! is planning a special "Wild Off!" show where Burke will choose her "Wild On!" successor. They're looking at both Hawaii and Las Vegas for the taping, but Hawaii's not looking likely since the gambling capital is offering them the moon ...THE Turtle Bay Hilton will be the site of E!'s "Wild On!" feature, "The 19th Annual Miss Hawaiian Tropic International Contestants." There are 75 girls in the competition with just four from the U.S., from New York, Texas, California and Washington. You may catch a glimpse of the beauties at the resort, relaxing in their swimsuits, shooting the annual swimsuit calendar or preparing for the pageant, to be held May 4 ...
Jill's new thrill
THAT Jill Kuramoto is such a tease -- she sent friends an e-mail with a photo attachment announcing that her "family was expanding." Kuramoto hasn't looked as if she'd gained a pound recently, and there's a good reason -- she hasn't. The attachment was the first she and hubby Dave Randall sent of their new puppy, Koa ...
Dave Donnelly has been writing on happenings
in Hawaii for the Star-Bulletin since 1968.
The Week That Was recalls items from Dave's 30 years of columns.Contact Dave by e-mail: ddonnelly@starbulletin.com