The Times and Democrat from Orangeburg, South Carolina • 31

CEKiTrcECSTTZn tars rtnocrat IX ana Romance author told colleagues of abuse, death threats from husband Richards-Akers was prominent in the cyberworld of romance novelists and their fans who wrote daily on a website devoted to "Avon Ladies" who had contracted with Avon Books. She wrote 16 historical romance nov- els, including "Devil's Wager" and "Miss Wickham's Betrothal." Her latest was "So Wild a Kiss," a book for which she had high hopes but which had disappointing sales. Her 1997 book, "Wild Irish Skies," was named one of the top 10 romance novels of that year by The Washington Post. Richards-Akers was working on a new book, tentatively titled, "Lady of the Tower," at the time of her death. She turned to romance writing after being disillusioned by jobs in the political world, which she described on her website as "a tragic waste for a chronic By LAURIE KELLMAN Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON Romance novelist Nancy Richards-Akers' husband had threatened to kill her before she was shot to death, according to e-mails she sent her Mends in the months before her murder.

"(I) told my husband I wanted a divorce. He threatened to kill me, broke my nose, and I was basically a hostage in my own house until early (last) June," Richards-Akers, 45 at the time of her death Saturday, wrote to a friend in January. "I had to get myself away so my children would not see me killed before their eyes." The e-mail, passed along to a reporter by a fellow novelist on condition of anonymity, was the most graphic of nearly a dozen messages to friends and col leagues that were sent by Richards-Akers and provided Monday and Tuesday to The Associated Press. They shed light on the events that culminated in the romance novelist's murder Saturday night, apparently by her estranged husband, in one of Washington's most posh neighborhoods. Her husband, Jeremy Akers, 57, a lawyer and former Marine, fatally shot himself a few hours later as police officers approached him near the Vietnam Memorial on the National MalL The deaths have made orphans of their three children, Finny, Jeb and Isabel, who all knew of the brutality, according to Richards-Akers' letters.

At the time of her death, the novelist was living with a male friend, and Akers with the children in the home they had shared for 16 years. She moved out after Akers punched her in the nose in front of Jeb and Isabel. He also told Finny to prepare to raise his two siblings alone, the novelist wrote. Some friends refused to house her because they feared her husband, Richards-Akers wrote. It was well known that he collected guns.

The deaths came days before the first court date of divorce proceedings that Akers had resisted, according to the e-mails. When she asked for a divorce, "he threatened to kill me," Richards-Akers wrote. She said she moved out and into the apartment for the children's sake. "If I had not left, they might have witnessed my death," she wrote in a Jan. 18 note to the fellow romance novelist who demanded anonymity but who confirmed the document's authenticity.

The novelist's e-mails paint a picture of a darkly abusive relationship far from the world of chivalry and daydreams that fill her books. On Feb. 2, Richards-Akers wrote: "He is a violent, possessive, terrorist control-freak, and although I am out of the immediate path of his wrath he has spared nothing in his efforts to punish me financially and emotionally." Richards-Akers had found love in recent months in her world of writers. On March 16, Richards-Akers sounded upbeat in an e-mail to fellow author Kay Bailey, who goes by the pen name Karen Kay. In another written that day, she described "Jim," as "a truly sweet and generous man who is becoming an important part of my life." Four days later, Richards-Akers revealed that she and "Jim," who writes poetry for children, had made plans for the future.

"We have talked about getting married," she wrote to Bailey. WTO) Douglas makes 82nd movie at age 82 stroke are apparent. And he is agile enough for an occasional nine holes of golf. That's important for me," he said. "Otherwise, you begin to think, "Gee, you're really a Douglas spoke proudly of having just completed Miramax Films' "Diamonds," a road movie shot on a tight schedule in northern Nevada.

The film, in which he co-stars with Dan Aykroyd and Lauren BacalL will be released early next year. His major concern in accepting the "Diamonds" role was his voice. "If Fm excited, it's very difficult for me to talk," he ex career in films, I never expected anyone to work harder than I do." That work resulted in three Academy Award nominations: "Champion" (1949), "The Bad and the Beautiful" (1953) and "Lust for Life" (1956). The nominations made for much family bantering that while Kirk has never won an Oscar, his son Michael has two: for co-producing "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975) and for his performance in "Wall Street" (1987). Three years ago, the Academy compensated by presenting Kirk Douglas with a special award for career achievement.

Millions of television viewers were zJ 4 I 1 i 1 'v I -v said. "At the beginning you cry. But then I said, "What the I work with a speech therapist, I do exercises. And this movie was a very good challenge." Douglas plays the lead in the film, so he has a heavy workload. "When they say "Actionr he is there Bacall said.

"He's still got the energy and interest and curiosity. And he performs. He was always a wonderful actor, and he still is." Douglas is cast as an 80-year-old whose boxing past is illustrated by scenes from "Champion." His "Diamonds" character is recovering from a stroke, and he resists his family's desire to place him in a retirement home. He unabashedly calls his acting return "an accomplishment" "I think people with all kinds of handicaps might think so. You should see the letters I get What can you tell anyone? Just, "Don't give What was it like for a 28-year-old to direct an 82-year-old icon? "I was really worried, directing a man who had twice worked with Stanley Kubrick," said John Asher.

"Diamonds" was his first feature. "On the third day, when I made a suggestion, Kirk said, "All right, sirThen I figured I had it made. He was amazing, calling me every night with ideas about the script. The good thing was that he said, Worshipped by fans, pampered by studios and followed by flashbulbs, they were the 20th century's new royalty the movie star. They were larger than life because on the screen they really were larger than life, and the world couldn't get enough of them.

Following is the first in an occasional series of profiles of performers who helped define stardom in the 20th century. By BOB THOMAS Associated Press Writer BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -Gone is the muscular strength of "Spartacus," and the agility of the cocky fighter in "The Champion" has been replaced by an uneasy gait. But the combative spirit that helped define his long career still bursts through even the most challenging changes in Kirk Douglas' life. Douglas has been a movie star for more than half of the 20th century.

He fought the Hollywood blacklist and won. He has survived an air crash and a stroke, and at 82 he has completed his 82nd film and is talking about his next one. Not only has he seen the changing pattern of the American motion picture in the past 50 years, he has been an intrinsic part of it. Foreseeing the decline of the studio system, Douglas was among the first actors to form his own production company, thus taking command of his career, as he so often had done when choosing film subjects. And the movies he went after often challenged America's thinking about social issues.

Some contemporaries viewed him as a combative figure who resented authority and fought for what was best for Kirk Douglas. "I admit I was impatient in my younger years," he once remarked. "But throughout my By The Associated Press June 13: Actor Malcolm McDowell, 56. Singer Dennis Locorriere of Dr. Hook, 50.

Actor Richard Thomas of The Wal-tons," 48. Comedian Tim Allen, 46. Actress Ally Sheedy of The Breakfast Club," 37. Singer Deniece Pearson of Five Star, 31 Actresses Ashley Olsen and Mary Kate Olsen of "Full House," 13. June 14: Actress Maria Gibbs of The Jefferson" and "227," 68.

Musician Alan White of Yes, 50. Actor Will Patton, 45. Singer Boy George, 38. Musician Chris DeGarmo of Queensryche, 36. Actress Yasmine Bleeth of "Nash Bridges," 31 Actress Traytor Howard of Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place," 28.

June 15: Singer Waylon Jennings, 62. Actor Jim Vamey of "Ernest Saves Christmas," 50. Singer Russell Hitchcock of Air Supply, 50. Singer Steve Walsh of Kansas, 48. Actor Jim Belushi, 45.

Actress Julie Hagerty, 44. Academy Award-winning actress Helen Hunt of "As Good As It Gets" and the TV series "Mad About You," 36. Musician Scott Rockenfield of Queensryche, 36. Actress Courteney Cox of "Friends," 35. Actorrapper Ice Cube, 30.

Actress Leah Remini of "King of Queens," 29. Actor Neil Patrick Harris, 26. June 1 6: Actress Joan Van Ark of "Knots Landing," 56. Actress Laurie Met-calf, 44. June 17: Singer Barry Manitow, 53.

Comedian Joe Piscopo, 48. Actor Mark Linn-Baker, 45. Actor Greg Kinnear of "As Good As It Gets" and "Sabrina," 35. Actor Jason Patric of The Lost Boys," 33. Singer Kevin Thornton of Color Me Badd, 30.

i June 18: Musician Paul McCartney, 57. Actress Isabella Rossellini of "Death Becomes Her," 47. Actress Carol Kane Taxi," 47. Singer Alison Moyet, 38. Singermusician Sice of The Boo Radleys, 30.

Singer Nathan Morris of Boyz II Men, 28. June 19: Actress Phylicia Rashad of The Cosby Show," 51 Singer Ann Wilson of Heart, 49. Actress Kathleen Turner of "Romancing the Stone," 45. Singer Mark DeBarge, 40. Singerdancer Paula Abdul, 37.

Actor Andy Lauer of "Caroline in the City," 34. Kirk Douglas AP Photo plained. "If I talk slowly, ifs pretty good. But when you're acting in a picture, you get pretty steamed up. "Apparently it went pretty well.

But when I started the picture, I said to my wife, "I don't think I can She said, "Listen, when the camera is rolling, you will "I really am proud of myself. Its almost three years since I had my stroke. When I first had it, I clever guy said, "In a few months I will be I tell you, you have to have patience, which I don't have much of." Particularly difficult for Douglas, as is the case with many stroke victims, is the depression. "I think a lot of people with strokes just capitulate," he was having a manicure at his Beverly Hills home when he felt a strange sensation on the side of his face. He tried to explain to the manicurist, but all that came out was, "wub wub wub." His wife drove him to a hospital where he was diagnosed with a stroke.

Douglas, chin still dimpled and hair full and white, spoke on a recent day of his continuing therapy and his return to acting. The interview took place at his comfortable but unostentatious home on one of Beverly Hills' main residential streets, where homes-of-the-stars tour buses can be as common as the locals' limousines. Douglas maintains his daily physical and speech therapy (he calls it "oral His speech seems much improved since his Academy appearance, though traces of the shocked to see the always dynamic actor walking hesitantly and speaking with a thick tongue. And earlier in the decade, in 1991, Douglas was seriously injured when a helicopter in which he was riding collided with a small plane at the Santa Paula, airport northwest of Los Angeles. The two occupants of the plane died.

"I was really tormented," he said later. don't think a day has passed without my thinking the two young men who were in the airplane when we smacked. You have to think: vWow, I was in my 70s; they were young. How does that happen?" Shortly after surgery to repair a back problem caused by years of movie stunts and aggravated by the crash, Douglas Let shoot it that way, and if you don't like it, don't use it' Kirk Douglas was born Issur Danielovitch in Amsterdam, N.Y., to illiterate Jewish peasants from Russia. His fattier scraped together a living by Please see Kirk, 8C Prime Rib a 'Days of Our Lives' writers having fun with Will Utay CREOLE SHRIMP CHICKEN Seafood Bash ByYlGEfTffi "country items on buffet ROAST BEEF NGRAVY I fRlRI RJ 0 CHICKEN CORDON BLEU SANDWICH FRIED CHICKEN became very flustered.

I would love to see some sort of romance between Rolf and Celeste. I mentioned it to Tonya Boyd (Celeste), and she thought it would be fabu- lous, too. So I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that it bears some fruit." CRAB EISQUZ TODAY imn rir lr. DaK 1920 St. Manhewi Rd.

To Co Order, Welcome 533-H14 a ULV1IT I CM OrarHMburd .603 BlMklay Avt. WHOM Al Chk CcRftAcMpM Jamison Volunteer Fire Department BBQ Chicken Supper Saturday, June 12 4:00 7:00 p.m. at Jamison Community House $5.00 per plate Walk-ins welcome 13 All-U-Can-Eat but that Tm even funnier on Days," Utay recounts. "I don't think of Rolf as being a comedic character, but I sure look to get all the comic mileage I can out of it. Joe Mascolo (Stefano) and I certainly have a lot of fun working together.

I think there's an energy in our scenes that's entirely different from other characters on the show." Yet, despite the undeniable energy with Mascolo, Utay does long to connect with a female co-star. In fact, his fondest wish is that Rolf get a love interest Recently, Utay even offered a story suggestion based on an episode that aired a few months ago. "It was one of my favorites, because we learned something about Rolf," says Utay. "Stefano was ribbing him about his romantic obsession with Celeste. He made a big to-do about it and, of course, Rolf By NANCY M.REICHARDT NEA Writer NEW YORK- Portraying the right-hand man of the notorious crime lord Stefano Di Mera on "Days of our Lives" is a tough job, but somebody's got to do it.

Actor Will Utay has been tackling the assignment since February of last year, when he was brought on for a few short episodes as super scientist Dr. Rolf, and turned it into a regular gig. "I don't want to be egotistical about it, but I think Rolf is a character the writers are having a lot of fun with," says Utay. "And I am just grateful that the fit was good, that I came in and in a short time was able to establish a very distinctive character. I'm having a great time playing Rolf.

I think that translates on screen." With an acting style "that runs the gamut from Jackie Gleason to Basil Rathbone to Jerry Lewis," Utay believes that there's a bit of all of the above in Rolf. "There's sort of a droll zaniness to what I do. I play against the situation. That's what I have the best time doing," he says. A native of Texas, Utay knew he wanted to be an actor since childhood.

He studied theater at Southern Methodist University in Texas; then moved to Boston where he worked with The Charles Playhouse. Utay moved to California in 1979 seeking work at what would become his forte, character acting. "Within a few years I was doing television regularly, lots of episodic comedies. But it wasn't until "Night Court that I really got in some TVQ. Thats when I became recognizable," says Utay referring to his nine-year run as Phil the Derelict.

Switching from sitcoms to the Sturm und Drang of daytime, has been a bit of a stretch. Yet, some fans actually see Utays "Days" alter ego as a comic treasure. "I opened a fan letter the other day from somebody who remembered me from 'Night She said that I was funny on that show, FRI. SAT. 5-10 PM.

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