“Each of my performances contains elements of my personality — my cluelessness, my secret competitiveness, my drive, but of all of them I would have to say that my portrayal of Jim Lovell in ‘Apollo 13’ is most like the true me.” That’s Tom Hanks at his recent Lincoln Center Film Society tribute, talking to writer and Manhattan gadfly Gregory Speck.

Hanks also said, of comparison to himself and great iconic actors of the past — “good guy” types like Henry Fonda, Gregory Peck and Jimmy Stewart — that he must disagree. “I’m not sure it’s possible for an actor to find the same veritas that those legends created, combining his own personality with the demands of a classic role … they are like gods, up on high above those of us in the business today, when an actor is lucky to claim maybe three such landmark films in even a major body of work.”

Oh, Tom, you are too humble. Why, you’d have been a legend to me if all you ever did in your career was the TV series “Bosom Buddies.”

Also on hand for Tom’s big night was director Ron Howard, who has just put Hanks through the thriller wringer again with “Angels and Demons,” the already-condemned-by-Catholics follow-up to “The Da Vinci Code.” Of “Da Vinci” Howard said, “I never could come to terms with the issue of whether Mary Magdalene was the mother of Jesus’s child, so I never explored the subject with historians. I simply wanted to dramatize Dan Brown’s book.”

Julia Roberts was at Lincoln Center, too. Somebody asked her if she, as a young girl, ever thought she’d become one of the most famous, glamorous and powerful movie stars ever. She laughed and said, “I don’t think so. As a child, all I wanted was to have my own little farm.” Well, she has that farm now. It’s called Hollywoodland!

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Time magazine’s annual "Time 100" issue is on stands now, celebrating the 100 most influential people in the world from this past year. Essays abound — James Carville salutes Brad Pitt … Oprah honors Diane Sawyer … Bono is praised by George Clooney, etc. Tomorrow night the big "Time 100" party happens at the Rose Hall at Lincoln Center. Among the expected throng — Claire Danes, Jimmy Fallon, Whoopi Goldberg, Barbara Walters, along with titans of industry and science.

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Spotted in Eva’s Nail Salon in Beverly Hills — the eternally slim and girlish Lesley Ann Warren. (Lesley, whom I interviewed in NYC last year, is the living proof that staying out of the sun is the best thing a woman can do to preserve her beauty.) Lesley lives in Sherman Oaks but travels to Beverly Hills to have her nails done. “When I have them done in the Valley, it lasts three days. When I come here, it lasts a week or more.” So now you know — forget the movie stars and mansions and shopping. It’s the manicures that really make Beverly Hills!


Lesley Ann Warren in May ‘08 © Getty Images

Lesley is burning up the small screen again this season as “Jinx,” the fragile, wildly neurotic mother of Mary McCormack in the hit series “In Plain Sight.” Lesley says she is “thrilled” with the series, her storyline and her castmates. And she is also happy that after 40-plus years in the biz, she is still a hot property. Marc Cherry, the producer of “Desperate Housewives,” wants her back to play Teri Hatcher’s mom. And Lesley is planning a one-woman musical revue, too. She got her start in Broadway and TV musicals. (“Cinderella,” remember?)

When I spoke with the star last year, I insisted that she would be a perfect Charity Hope Valentine in a Showtime or HBO version of the musical “Sweet Charity.” Lesley said, “That would be great. But … maybe I’m a bit mature for that?” So I had to remind her that she looks younger than her years, and anyway, Charity is quite the soiled dancehall hostess — no rose in full bloom. So, cable honchos, are you listening?