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By SHARON FINK
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 23, 2001
SIGN, SIGN, NOT EVERYWHERE A SIGN: This year's 10 best and worst celebrities when it comes to getting autographs, according to Autograph Collector magazine:
Best (in descending order): Angelina Jolie, George Clooney, LeAnn Rimes, Fred Durst, Marcia Gay Harden, Eddie Murphy, Russell Crowe, Julia Roberts, Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone.
Worst: Tobey Maguire, Cameron Diaz, Edward Norton, Britney Spears, Winona Ryder, Christy Turlington, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sean Connery, Carly Pope and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Maguire (The Cider House Rules, Wonder Boys, the upcoming Spider-Man and a yawner of a turn as host on Saturday Night Live) is the worst because he is "so wrapped up in his own egotistical web," the magazine said.
He does get credit for rejecting signers politely.
Jolie "has always been a great signer," the magazine said.
Comments from a neutral observer: Maguire and Pope (from the WB's canceled Popular) should be glad anyone cares. And Spears apparently isn't hearing the tick . . . tick . . . tick of her 15 minutes winding down.
FAN REPELLENT: Speaking of Gwyneth Paltrow, she went a long way toward reducing her number of pesky autograph-seekers with some comments in the September issue of W.
She tried to say she gained empathy for people with weight problems when she was dressed in a suit to make her look overweight for the movie Shallow Hal.
She described wearing the suit and walking through a New York hotel lobby:
"I was wearing this black shirt with big snowmen on it. For some reason the fat clothes they make . . . (winces, regroups) . . . The clothes they make for women that are overweight are horrible. I felt humiliated because people were really dismissive. . . . It was heartbreaking, and I kept thinking, "But I'm still me underneath.' "
The article says this story shows how "smart and contemplative" Paltrow is.
HE'LL ALWAYS BE DOOGIE TO US: Neil Patrick Harris has done a good job of distancing himself from the sensitive, kind, superintelligent teenage doctor of Doogie Howser M.D. He's played a range of roles, including the lead in Rent and an anal, germaphobic writer in the short-lived TV show Stark Raving Mad.
Harris has now taken the ultimate anti-Doogie move. He'll play Lee Harvey Oswald in the Broadway-bound Assassins, a Stephen Sondheim musical about presidential assassination in America.