Tuesday, July 1, 2003 | 11:06 a.m.
Ah ... Las Vegas. It is good to be back," Sean Connery told VegasBeat Monday night.
"I truly love this city."
He had just disembarked from a gondola in front of The Venetian for the gala world premiere of "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," his film that opens nationwide July 11.
Connery danced a jig with the costumed dancers and played conductor with the accordion players. He pointed and waved repeatedly at the massive crowd hanging over the railings beside the canal and at the throngs waving to him from the balcony overlooking the lagoon.
He happily posed for photos with star-struck hotel guards and delirious older ladies who broke through security barriers.
Dressed smartly in a black turtleneck ("Yes, I am hot, now that you ask," he said), under a white tuxedo jacket with a rounded lapel and navy slacks, Connery truly seemed to enjoy talking about Vegas.
"I was last here for 'Diamonds (Are Forever)' over 30 years ago," Connery told us. "I spent two months at the Riviera and had a grand time.
"We're having a grand time now, too," he said, smiling at his wife, Micheline Roquebrune. "We saw 'Mamma Mia!' and 'O' and had some fine meals.
"It is a very different town than it was back then. I loved it then and I love it now."
His demeanor, however, changed dramatically when VegasBeat asked the former James Bond about the whereabouts of the film's director, Stephen Norrington .
"Check the local asylum," Connery sneered.
Apparently, the press reports of animosity between the actor and the director were not exaggerated.
The film is based on Alan Moore's tightly written serial comic homage to the grand adventure stories of old, featuring characters culled from Victorian-era popular literature.
Attending the screening were Peta Wilson (Mina Harker), Naseeruddin Shah (Captain Nemo), Shane West (Detective Thomas Sawyer -- a grown-up version of Mark Twain's child character), Jason Flemyng (Dr. Henry Jekyll), Stuart Townsend (Dorian), Max Ryan (Dante) and Connery as Allen Quartermain.
Model and actress Charlize Theron arrived on a gondola with Townsend, but both insisted they are not engaged, nor are they a couple as had been reported in the national media.
Gabrielle Union, Will Smith's "Bad Boys 2" co-star, also did the red carpet stroll, as did young actresses Jill Jones and Rachel Leigh Cook and The Amazing Johnathan.
More carpet
The Venetian was not the only scene of a big Hollywood premiere Monday night. Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Terminator 3" had its gala opening at the Mann Westwood Theatre in Los Angeles.
Among those walking the red carpet were Jeffrey Brown, Scott Kinworthy and Nathan Wetherington from Las Vegas' "Blue Man Group."
"The Current," a song from the new Blue Man CD, "The Complex," is featured in the film; it plays as the closing credits are rolling.
Bigger not better
Vegas regular David Copperfield will try out a new illusion when he appears on NBC's "Today" Wednesday morning.
He'll shrink his body to the size of Verne Troyer, better known as Austin Powers' nemesis, Mini-Me.
It is somewhat less grandiose than making a car appear on stage or making the Statue of Liberty seemingly disappear, both of which Copperfield has done. But he feels it is something more people can relate to.
"People imagine what it is like to be small, or to fly," he said. "Not to make a giant statue disappear."
Copperfield also has upcoming appearances on Conan O'Brien, "Extra" and the Fox News Channel to promote his new show and tour, which open in Miami Beach, Fla., on July 18.
The next Vegas engagement starts Aug. 21 at MGM's Hollywood Theatre. That week he also will have a big announcement about Project Magic, his hospital rehabilitation program.
Party favor
KLAS Channel 8 sportscaster Chris Matthuis was minding his own business at television colleague Carol Wilkinson's Las Vegas Country Club house party late Saturday night when a security guard rushed in.
"Who owns a silver Toyota Rav 4 SUV?" the guard inquired of guests and Wilkinson co-workers Paula Francis, Cindy Caesar, Yetta Gibson, Janine Gil and Casey Roebuck. Also on hand were Las Vegas ONE anchor Jeff Gillan, KVBC Channel 3 reporter Anqunette Moon, noted feng shui consultant Phree J. Bartley and Larry Edwards, the popular Tina Turner impersonator from "An Evening at la Cage."
Turns out that another car had hit the Toyota -- which belongs to Matthuis -- and left.
Ain't that a party favor?
His way
The classic 1966 live album "Sinatra at the Sands" is going to be reissued by Reprise Records.
The disc, featuring Count Basie and his Orchestra with conductor Quincy Jones, is the first Sinatra album to be issued in the new DVD-Audio format.
It should be in stores in August; a Warner Music Group spokesman said additional Sinatra reissues are planned.
VegasBits
Magic: NBA legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson and his wife, Cookie, had dinner with friends at Spago on Saturday night ...
No illusion: "Lance Burton's Guerilla Magic" debuts tonight on cable net Animal Planet. Produced by Henderson resident George Ciccarone, the show follows Burton as he ambles down the Strip, dazzling passers-by with illusions featuring, yes, animals ...
Diners: Pink and her motocross star boyfriend, Cary Hart, dined at Simon Kitchen and Bar Saturday night. Pro snowboarder Shaun White was in Sunday night ...
Reunion: Desi Arnaz Jr. attended a birthday party Sunday for his old Dino, Desi & Billy partner, Billy Hinsche, at Hinche's Henderson home. Arnaz lives in nearby Boulder City ...
Cool: Supermodel/actress Estella Warren was at Little Buddha the other day for a photo shoot to promote her fall release, "The Cooler." She co-stars with William H. Macy, who plays a down-on-his-luck gambler, and Alec Baldwin, a mobbed-up Las Vegas casino boss ...
Norm! Former "Cheers" star George Wendt was at a performance by Second City at Flamingo Las Vegas last week. His nephew, Jason Sudeikis, is an original member of the Las Vegas branch of the famous comedy troupe. Wendt is a grad of the original Chicago troupe.
From Sun wires
John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife, Carolyn, were having marital problems and were living apart when they died in an airplane crash in July 1999, a new book claims.
The August issue of Vanity Fair magazine contains excerpts from Edward Klein's new book, "The Kennedy Curse," which asserts Kennedy and his wife differed on whether to have a family, on drug use, on Kennedy's outgoing lifestyle and on their apartment.
At times, each feared the other was being unfaithful, the excerpts say. Most of the information is attributed to unidentified friends of the couple.
Cuomo, Kennedy separating: A marriage that united two prominent Democratic Party families is in trouble.
Andrew Cuomo, son of former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, and Kerry Kennedy Cuomo, daughter of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, announced Monday they are separating after 13 years of marriage.
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