Local boy Daniel Bess has role in 'Munich,' was in '24'

DANIEL BESS, who has made a name for himself as an actor, is home from L.A. for the holidays. His parents are Bess Press Publisher Benjamin "Buddy" Bess and his wife Ann Rayson. Daniel is in Steven Spielberg's "Munich," which opened Friday. He plays an American gymnast, who, while sneaking back into the Olympic Village after a night of sucking 'em up, inadvertently lets Palestinian terrorists into the compound. Daniel has appeared in top TV series. He was a regular for 18 shows on "24," playing the boyfriend of Jack Bauer's daughter. He's been in two episodes of "CSI" (Vegas), and also appeared in "Gray's Anatomy" and "Medium." Not bad at all for a Mid-Pacific graduate who hails from Kaimuki ...

"NORTH SHORE" and "Baywatch" beauty Brooke Burns appeared on "Inside Edition" Dec. 18 wearing a neck brace. She said she could have killed herself when she dove into her swimming pool Nov. 10 and hit the bottom. She was hospitalized for a short time with a broken bone in her neck. Despite the neck brace, Brooke, former girlfriend of Bruce Willis, still looked lovely ...

ALOHA AIRLINES Flight 243, the jetliner that lost part of its roof on April 28, 1988, was detailed on the History Channel's "Secrets of the Black Box: Aloha Flight 243" Thursday night. A friend of mine, Pat Aubrey, was on the flight. She was interviewed and gave the pilots much deserved praise and said she embraced Capt. Robert Shornstheimer after he and copilot Madeline "Mimi" Tompkins, made the miraculous landing. Pat also told of the heroism of flight attendant Michelle Honda, who, like flight attendant C.B. Lansing, could have been sucked out of the plane when a third of the jet's roof was torn off. The third attendant, Jane Sato-Tomita was severely injured. Pat said Michelle never lost her cool as she tried to calm passengers during the horror in the air and also after the safe landing. Years later, I had the pleasure of meeting Michelle and told her I knew her dad, Gilbert Honda, during our teenage years and that we competed against each other in high school sports. Gilbert was a Kamehameha Class of 1949 graduate ...

I WILL BE on vacation through Jan. 2. Next Wood Craft will appear on Saturday, Jan. 7. Happy New Year! ...

Ben Wood, who sold the Star-Bulletin in the streets of downtown Honolulu during World War II, writes of people, places and things every Wednesday and Saturday. E-mail him at bwood@starbulletin.com