“This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one … the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish, little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy!” So wrote George Bernard Shaw. And today — thinking on the late Katharine Hepburn, because the Hollywood historian Charlotte Chandler is about to write a book on her — I recall that the quote above was one of Miss Hepburn’s favorites. In fact, she passed it on to me at our last interview together. 

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This very week, the musical “Mamma Mia!” celebrated ten glorious years and the ads at the Prince of Wales Theater noted that this amazing hit, derided by critics, has been seen by over 40,000,000 people worldwide. (Oh, yes, and then there’s the movie which was supposed to put the kibosh on the dazzling career of Meryl Streep. Detractors said the popular musical would “ruin” this amazing actress. But the film has grossed around $200,000,000 and Ms. Streep is not only rich but is still in the Oscar fast lane and has a fascinating comedy coming up via Nora Ephron any minute,  titled “Julie & Julia.”)


Meryl Streep in ‘Mamma Mia!’ © Universal/
courtesy Everett Collection

So, with these facts in mind, it might be worth noting that Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, the “Mamma Mia” songwriters (with Stig Anderson), say they have written a worthy follow-up to their West End hit. The show they have conceived is titled “Kristina from Duvemala,” which has already been welcomed as boffo in Sweden. 

Word is that the music is very different from that of “Mamma Mia!” It is said to be symphonic and a bit folksy.   

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I am reading the latest in celebrity tomes and it seems the “news” belongs here.

Take the divine Marlee Matlin and her memoir I’ll Scream Later. This fabulous actress still holds the record as the youngest woman ever to win a best-actress Oscar (age 21) and she did it against all odds, having been deaf since childhood. May I just add personally that she is one of the most interesting and charming of all the stars I have met in a starry lifetime – friendly and down to earth.

Now Marlee tells us that at the same time she took home the Golden Globe in 1987, she was about to put herself into the Betty Ford Clinic to fight against her addiction to alcohol. This is a saga of a family struggling to get the best for their talented, deaf child. It is a saga of Marlee’s problems and joys as an inspirational role model for millions of the hearing impaired. And it’s the story of her love life – upfront and personal. She has romanced William Hurt, Rob Lowe, Richard Dean Anderson and the famous TV writer David E. Kelley. 

You have seen Marlee in her notable films, on “Seinfeld,” “The West Wing” and “The L Word,” plus as a sensation on “Dancing With the Stars.” Now read all about it from Simon & Schuster.

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Peter Levinson tells us everything we ever wanted to know about the film genius Fred Astaire in a new bio, Puttin’ On the Ritz (St. Martin’s Press). This is chock-full of Astaire memorabilia, but sadly, it ends with tales of how Fred’s widow, the onetime jockey Robyn Smith, wed Fred in 1980 and took control over his film archive. She has denied precious film footage of Fred to PBS, to Ted Turner, to the Film Society of Lincoln Center, to the London Palladium, to the Academy, to the Kennedy Center Honors. In the last instance, an honoring of Ginger Rogers in 1992 showed her dancing without Fred.