The Akron Beacon Journal from Akron, Ohio • Page 21

NTERTAINMENT THE BEACON JOURNAL THURSDAY, JAN. 7,1988 B5 SHOW PEOPLE Gary Dee back on Cleveland radio WWWE takes chance on controversial talk-show host By Bob Dyer Beacon Journal radio writer Of' Doings of the Divine Ms. Among Bette Midler's upcoming projects is a movie, For Our Boys. It is about a USO performer whose political awareness grows after gigs in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. There is an interesting subplot, too, in the script by Neal Jimenez (River's Edge) and Lindy Laub.

Paralleling Midler's character is a popular male comic who, a source says, is loosely patterned after a real-life popular comic. A representative for Midler's All-Girl Productions said, "Let's just say that, right now, as scripted, there's a male character who's the kind of person who's a gung-ho, my-country-before-any thing-else type." She added that the project is still early and "characters will come and go. Except for Bette's." But first, Middler is recording the big number for an animated rendering of Oliver Twist (with cats and mice) from Disney. Barry Manilow wrote the song. 'Bonfire' movie on the way The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe's best-selling novel of high and low life in New York, has been acquired for screen production by Peter Gubcr and Jon Peters.

Lynn Nesbit, Wolfe's literary agent, said the author did not want to write the screenplay. A Hemingway begins again Margaux Hemingway "has never felt better" since her stay at the Betty Ford Center during the Christmas holiday to overcome an alcohol problem, her agent says. "We are very proud of her," said Bill Barnes, a longtime friend and agent. "She had a very wonderful stay there." Miss Hemingway, 32, entered the center in Rancho Mirage, on Dec. 4 and was released last weekend.

From Beacon Journal wire services Associated Press northern Ohio has seen, and we're delighted to have him back home." WWWE's talk-show competitor in Akron, WNIR (100.1-FM), claims to have no fear of losing listeners when Dee squares off with WNIR midday voice Howie Chizek. WNIR vice president Bill Klaus called Dee "a retread" who "will have no impact on WNIR." Counters Dee, "I thought Bill was a high school graduate. Come on, Bill, that's like saying the Titanic had no effect on shipping. That's like saying my ex-wife has nothing to do with frigidity." Klaus said Dee once came to WNIR between jobs and offered to work for free in hopes of reestablishing himself a story Dee confirms. In the most recent Arbitral ratings book, released last spring, WWWE drew 3.1 percent of the listeners in Summit and Portage counties.

WNIR drew a 6.0 share. The fall Arbitron ratings are due out Friday. In Cleveland, WWWE generally finishes among the top five stations. was getting so skinny that he would "even accept a minority cook." Does he ever fear for his personal safety in the aftermath of the June 1984 murder of Denver talk-show host Alan Berg, who along with Dee was featured six months earlier on a 60 Minutes report about outrageous announcers? "Only when I'm around Liz," he said with a laugh, referring to the woman he punched in the face. Dee would not reveal the terms of his agreement with WWWE, or even whether he has a written contract.

He replaces John Dayle, who was let go Monday. WWWE general manager Harvey Simms said the station has been negotiating with Dee for about a month, and that the decision to hire him was made jointly by management and the station's six owners. Any trepidation about hiring a man with Dee's wild-man reputation? "No, not at all," said Simms. "Gary is the finest talk-show host and the No. 1 entertainer that If you plan to listen to your car radio today between 10 a.m.

and 2 p.m., fasten your seat belt Gary Dee is back. The infamous radio talk-show host sneaked into Cleveland this week and will take over the midday slot at WWWE (1100-AM) this morning. During his career, Dee has set unofficial records for getting fired and for enraging people with his bizarre tirades against blacks, foreigners, homosexuals, women and communists. After being sacked from WHK (1420-AM) in 1983, he went to Washington, D.C., where he was eventually canned by WPKX. Then it was on to Chicago, where WUSN quickly dismissed him.

After riding out a yearlong contract, Dee moved on to New York City last April. Six months later, WMCA had the honor of tossing him. Dee, 53, makes Jerry Falwell sound like a flaming liberal. On his first day on the air in Washington, Dee angered many listeners by saying that the mayor's wife, a black, "would pass as white." Northern blacks, he declared, "had it better on the plantation than they've got it now on welfare." In 1977, WHK bought full-page newspaper ads correcting Dee's assertion that Jerry Lewis pockets 40 percent of the money from his Labor Day telethon (Lewis collects nothing). But Dee also owns a few ratings records.

When his career first took off in Cleveland he finished first in 34 of 38 Arbi-tron books during a 10-year period, initially at WERE (1300-AM), but mostly at WHK. His act has not been nearly as successful elsewhere. Although Dee initially boosted the ratings of his Washington employer by 20 percent, his recent firings seem to have been based as much on bad ratings as unbearable 'wiiij WW "ifw 'f-WifflW ipw 1 1 1 wnn; i Gary Dee This time, he vows, he will not only survive, he will rescue the medium. "I've got to save broadcasting," he said in a telephone interview Wednesday afternoon. "Broadcasting has become oatmeal, Pablum.

It's controlled by bean counters and bankerinvestors who don't know a thing about entertainment. AM radio forgot that they have to entertain." Dee's personal life has involved as much turmoil as his career. Dee, whose real name is Gary D. Gilbert, made headlines in 1980 when he was convicted of assaulting his wife, former Geve-land television personality Liz Richards. She was wife No.

4. He has since married and divorced a fifth woman although Dee insisted Wednesday he can only recall four of them. He's currently single. "This time, man, I want a rich divorcee. I want some of my money back," he said.

He also has suffered two heart attacks. He calls his health "good. It could be great, but I started smoking again when I was fired in New York." During the interview, Dee joked about homosexuals, railed about foreigners taking over American businesses and said he ST. Ag2lK.Af3GEL MECHAEi. PICKLE ROAD SOUTH OF KILLIAN ROAD in re kmfi DOORS OPEN 5:00 P.M.

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