SUCCESS FOR ACTRESS RIGHT ON THE 'BUTTON'
TARAJI P. Henson plays Queenie in Paramount's soon-due "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," which also stars a gent named Brad Pitt. Taraji previously hit big in "Hustle & Flow," is soon out opposite Forest Whitaker in "Hurricane Season," is a...
FIRST A PRESIDENT, THEN OSCARS
'NEVER TOO early for talk of Os cars," goes the headline in USA Today. Oh my word! I definitely think it's too early. We are in the middle of the most demanding election process that I can remember in US history. I just don't think I can stand...
SIGHTINGS
MARIAH Carey failing to scoop up after her two tiny white dogs on the sidewalk outside the Roberto Cavalli boutique on Madison Avenue . . . MICK Jagger taking pictures of Barneys windows with a bodyguard and jumping into a black Mercedes . . ...
WE HEAR . . .
THAT Katie Couric, following in the footsteps of grumpy Charlie Gibson, will get the second big interview with Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. The CBS anchor will travel with the Alaskan hockey mom next week . . . THAT Malcolm...
TACKY TANGLE
THEY'RE a couple made in cheese-monkey heaven. Last week at the House of Hype VMA party in Laurel Canyon, perma-tanned Danity Kane singer Aubry O'Day made out with "Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis in a Ciroc Vodka cabana while Robin Thicke...
PARTY ANIMALS
BENICIO Del Toro and Steven Soderbergh party harder than Lindsay Lohan does lately. The actor/director duo of "Che," which screened at the Toronto Film Festival, were up until 4:30 a.m. partying with lap dancers and cocktails in the VIP room of...
WOMAN'S WORLD
JUDE Schell says men will perform better in the bedroom by reading her new book - about lesbians. "Men in general very much want to please women. However men are not mind-readers, and navigating the female anatomy can be daunting," says Schell...
TALES BEHIND THE DOORS
WHO knew 1950s rockabilly icon Gene Vincent was such a big influence on 1960s psychedelic band The Doors? Former Doors drummer John Densmore, fresh from a victory in a California court forbidding his two surviving former bandmates from using the...
BORROWED INN
GRAYDON Carter has confessed his Waverly Inn is an amalgam of other famous Manhattan eater ies. In his introduction to Edward Sorel's upcoming book, "The Mural at the Waverly Inn," the Vanity Fair editor- in-chief writes: "I drew up a manifesto that...
MOB REUNION
"SOPRANOS" junkies going through withdrawal can get a quick fix at the off-Broadway revival of Louis LaRusso's "Lamppost Reunion." It stars several regulars from the HBO mob series including Vincent Pastore ("Big Pussy"); Frank Pellegrino ("Frank...
FROSTY SHOULDER
HELL hath no fury like a supermodel scorned. Veronica Webb turned frosty at the Us Weekly 25 Most Stylish New Yorkers party at Hudson Terrace Friday night when she ran into Gretta Monahan - who replaced her as co-host on "Tim Gunn's Guide to Style."...
MAMA'S BOY
HIP-hop mogul Irv Gotti is so gangsta, he took the name of the infamous Gambino crime family. (His real name was Lorenzo.) But even a gangster can love his mother. On Friday night, Irv threw a 75th birthday party at the Tribeca Grand for mom Mary...
HERE'S FRONT-PAGE NEWS
NOBODY loves the New York Post more than Brigid Berlin, the privileged socialite who became an Andy Warhol "superstar." Berlin, whose father, Richard Berlin, was chairman of the Hearst media empire for 52 years, is an artist, and what she's been...
SMALL WORLD
SISTERS Vanessa and Angela Simmons had an awkward run-in with their uncle's ex the other night. The girls, who starred on MTV's "Run's House," were walking the red carpet at the LeBron James Foundation event when they came face to face with Russell...
RARE LOOK BACK
ELEANOR Lambert, the 15-year-old daughter of Diane Lane and Christopher Lambert, got a jolt the other night when her mom brought her to a rare screening of the 1981 flick "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains," in which Lane and Laura Dern play...
'INSIDER' HAS BLEEDING HEART
PAT O'Brien, 60, who's spent most of his career covering sports and hosting tabloid TV shows, is suddenly worried about poor people and the unemployed. "The Insider" correspondent O'Brien - who likes to sign off his e-mails, "There is more to life...
Name: SyroBro