Jeff Henderson, who has overcome incredible odds, will see his story on the big screen. Saxophonist Alto Reed digs Sinatra. Michaelina Bellamy sees Piscopo.

The career of Bellagio chef Jeff Henderson leaped from sizzling to superhot on Wednesday.

On the same day that his book, "Cooked: From the Streets to the Stove, From Cocaine to Foie Gras," hit the New York Times best-seller list, Henderson was meeting with Oscar nominee Will Smith, who plans to portray the chef in the film version.

"I didn't get any sleep last night," said Henderson, an ex-con crack dealer whose inspirational story has taken another extraordinary turn.

A wild three-week run began when his book came out Feb. 20. Then came the March 1 appearance on "Oprah" and, within hours, a seven-figure offer from Smith for the rights to Henderson's life story.

"I'm just now leaving a meeting with Sony pictures," Henderson said Wednesday from Los Angeles. In the meeting was Smith; James Lassiter, Smith's partner in the film production company Overbrook; and Todd Black, head of Escape entertainment, a film production company at Sony.

It's a story of redemption, how a 16-year-old gang member who was severely stabbed left Los Angeles for San Diego, where his mother hoped to turn his life around.

Instead, he found himself heading down a dead-end street as a $35,000-a-week coke dealer. Sentenced to 20 years in prison in 1988, Henderson picked up a copy of USA Today one day and saw a story about three black chefs.

The article highlighted Robert Gadsby of Gadsby on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles and New York chefs Marcus Samuelson of Aquavit and Patrick Clark, the executive chef at Tavern on the Green.

Inspired, Henderson switched to cooking in the kitchen instead of cooking coke.

One of many letters he sent from prison, looking for a second chance, was to Gadsby, who hired him as a dishwasher after his release.

From there, Henderson's road to rehabilitation took him to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Marina Del Rey, Calif., then to Hotel Bel-Air as a sous-chef. Then he was off to Las Vegas, where he became the first black to be named a Chef de Cuisine at Caesars Palace.

He's on a three-month leave of absence from Café Bellagio to promote the book and take the next step.

"I'm working on some concepts for the Food Network, trying to develop them," he said.

"This is all just so amazing," he added.

AN ENDORSEMENT FROM TRUMP

Elvis impersonator Steve Connolly came away from a recent gig at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., with high praise from The Donald.

After Connolly performed during a break by Peter Duchin's band at the International Red Cross Ball, Trump sought out Connolly, who ended up with an autograph from Trump and some entrepreneurial advice.

Trump signed the autograph "To Steve: Great Job. Nobody better" and then pointed out to Connolly: "That's an endorsement. If I were to give that to someone, I'd charge them $2 million, so make sure you take that and turn it into some money."

SIGHTINGS

Michaelina Bellamy and Sahara marketing boss Ron Garrison, being introduced by Joe Piscopo during his show (Hilton) on Tuesday. "I love that name!" Piscopo said to Bellamy, repeating it several times. Bellamy, a former Folies Bergere cast member, was attacked Jan. 26 at Our Lady of Las Vegas Catholic Church. The suspect, Rev. George Chaanine, a priest at the church, was captured six days later outside Phoenix after traveling through at least three states. ... Baseball "iron man" Steve Garvey, dining at Postrio (Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian) on Tuesday. ... Legendary saxophonist Alto Reed of Bob Seger's band, checking out Bobby Liguori's Frank Sinatra show (6:30- 10:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday) Friday at Capo's restaurant, 5795 W. Tropicana Ave.

THE PUNCH LINE

"Less Rascal, more Flatts." -- From David Letterman's Top Ten Ways to Make the Grammy Awards More Exciting

Norm Clarke can be reached at 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. And check out www.normclarke.com.