Sharon Stone hopes for more luck in Vegas
Sharon Stone’s latest film brought her back to Las Vegas, the site of two lucky career breaks.
“I came here when I was a young girl and did a movie with Rock Hudson and James Earl Jones, so Vegas holds a lot of movie history for me,” she said during the red carpet for the Las Vegas premiere of “Lovelace” at Planet Hollywood Resort.
That was in 1984 for the made-for-TV movie “The Vegas Strip War,” which aired in late November of that year.
Few knew it at the time, but Hudson had been diagnosed with AIDS five months earlier. It would be one of his last movies. He died 11 months later, on Oct. 2, 1985.
Hudson, gaunt but still every bit the handsome leading man he had been for decades, played Neil Chaine, the dashing owner of the Desert Inn who was trying to compete with his ex-partners and their fancier resort.
Review-Journal writer Carol Cling remembers visiting the set with then-Gov. Richard Bryan.
“I remember Rock Hudson complaining about feeling hoarse and Governor Bryan joking that he had ‘Vegas throat,’ ” Cling said. “I also remember thinking at the time, ‘Vegas throat, my eye; that guy has AIDS,’ ” she said, adding that two of her friends had died from it. “So I knew it when I saw it.”
Stone added glamour to the movie as a knockout cigarette girl. She was a fresh-faced 26, facing years of small roles before the game changers “Basic Instinct” and “Casino” came along in the 1990s.
Jones played a loud, tuxedo-clad Don King knockoff — big spiked hair and an even bigger personality.
The movie was panned.
Stone returned to Las Vegas in 1994 to film “Casino” opposite Robert De Niro as out-of-control ex-call girl Ginger McKenna. That wasn’t a stretch for Stone. It was no secret that she was a handful.
Marilee Lear, the casting director for the eight-month shoot in Las Vegas, remembers hearing rumors of Stone’s erratic behavior.
“They were worried about what she would and wouldn’t do,” Lear said. “I did hear that De Niro was very much for her.”
Lear shared some news during our telephone interview. She met with Mayor Carolyn Goodman last week to push the idea of turning the Cashman Center into a major studio, to take advantage of film tax incentives that passed in Nevada last year.
As an aside, Lear said director Martin Scorsese had instructed her to get an Oscar Goodman lookalike.
“I met with Carolyn and asked her and went back to Scorsese and said I thought we could get Oscar himself,” Lear said.
It’s hard to imagine anyone topping Stone’s portrayal of McKenna, the wife of De Niro’s character, which was based on Frank Rosenthal, the mobbed-up casino operator. Stone received an Oscar nomination for best actress for that role.
Still as glamorous as ever at 55, Stone has one of her least-glamorous roles in “Lovelace” as the dowdy and demanding mom of porn icon Linda Lovelace (played by Amanda Seyfried).
“We hope here with ‘Lovelace’ we have a continuation of nice good luck,” she said Sunday.
Asked whether she had gone back and watched any of Lovelace’s work, Stone turned away and concluded the chat, saying, “I’ve never seen a porno film.”
SIGHTINGS
Former NHL player Eric Lacroix, with his family at Carmine’s (Forum Shops at Caesars) on Monday. Lacroix is the son of former Colorado Avalanche President Pierre Lacroix, close friend of Celine Dion and Rene Angelil. Pierre Lacroix stepped down this year as president after 18 seasons and two Stanley Cup titles.
THE PUNCH LINE
“Baseball suspended 13 players for alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs, most notably baseball’s highest paid player, Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees. A-Rod is suspended for 211 games. That is an odd number, but .211 is what they calculated his batting average would have been without the drug.” — Jimmy Kimmel
Norm Clarke’s column appears Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached at 702-383-0244 or email him at norm@reviewjournal.com. Find more online at www.normclarke.com. Follow Norm on Twitter @Norm_Clarke. “Norm Clarke’s Vegas,” airs Thursdays on the “Morning Blend” on KTNV-TV, Channel 13.
