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From staff and wire reports

Stritch's 'spoiled' Tony time

NEW YORK (AP) -- Elaine Stritch told reporters Sunday that having her acceptance speech cut short ruined much of what should have been a jubilant moment as she finally collected a Tony.

"To be cut down like that has spoiled it for me," she said tearfully after leaving the stage. "I keep thinking that I should rise above this but I can't live like that anymore. What you see is what you get."

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Stritch's acceptance speech for winning the award for special theatrical event was given the cue to wrap by the show's orchestra about two minutes after it began. "Oh, don't do that to me," Stritch pleaded on-air as the camera pulled away and the music drowned her out. Each winner was allotted 45 seconds to speak.

Stritch, 77, won for "Elaine Stritch at Liberty," a confessional one-woman show in which she recounts her stage career and her battles with alcohol. It was her first Tony.

"I know CBS (which broadcast the three-hour show's last two hours) can't let people give the Gettysburg Address," she said. "But it's pretty emotional for a woman my age to win a Tony, especially for a show like mine. I was anxious to tell the audience how I felt and they brought the curtain down."

Although clearly distraught, Stritch's sharp sense of humor remained intact. "The only thing that works is the truth, and I'm telling you the truth about how I feel," she said, dabbing her eyes. "I'll tell you one thing that isn't working right now is this waterproof mascara."

"I will get over this. But it's going to take a few days."

George Hamilton lays low

NEW YORK (AP) -- George Hamilton has been a quiet Hollywood mainstay for more than four decades, and his relative obscurity is something he treasures.

"There's something very youthful about going through the generations without getting lost in them," Hamilton, 62, said in Sunday's editions of Newsday. "I've always felt that I'm a little bit behind in the race. But I'm in the race, and then when they least expect it, I come out ahead."

Hamilton made a name for himself during his early years in "Crime and Punishment USA" and "Where the Boys Are," and later jumped back and forth between roles on the big and small screens.

He currently stars in Woody Allen's "Hollywood Ending" and is returning to Broadway this week for another run in "Chicago."

But he is perhaps best known for a perfect tan that has stayed with him for all these years.

"That's just a gimmick. It started because I didn't like wearing movie makeup that melted in the sun, but I've always done it as a joke," Hamilton says. "I believe that you'll find out in the next few years that the sun is good for you. You should be out in it a couple of hours a day."

'Bernie Mac' director inks deal

HOLLYWOOD, California (Reuters) -- Emmy-winning helmer Ken Kwapis ("The Bernie Mac Show") has inked an exclusive two-year development and directing deal with Fox-based Regency Television, Variety reports.

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The seven-figure pact calls for Kwapis to develop both primetime dramas and comedies for the studio. He'll also continue to direct Regency projects.

Fox has ordered a second season of "Bernie Mac," the network's highest-rated new show of the season.

The comedy, which stars veteran stand-up Bernie Mac as a tough-yet-tender uncle, airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. It is averaging a 4.5 rating/11 share in adults 18-49. Ratings are even higher in adults 18-34 and teens; the series also regularly builds on its lead-in.

In addition to its ratings success, "Bernie Mac" has won critical kudos. Most recently, it snagged a Peabody award, one of TV's most prestigious honors.

Lena Olin to join 'Alias'

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Lena Olin will join the cast of ABC's "Alias," signing on for a guaranteed 16 episodes next season. She'll play the mother of secret agent Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) whose identity served as the cliffhanger of the finale of the drama's freshman season, Variety reports.

RESOURCES EW.com: All about 'Alias'

The veteran Swedish actress recently wrapped the Matthew Ryan Hoge-directed "The United States of Leland," a film that co-stars Don Cheadle, Jena Malone and Kevin Spacey.

Olin first came to notice in Hollywood for "The Unbearable Lightness of Being." She was Oscar nominated for 1989's "Enemies: A Love Story," and in 2000 starred in "Chocolat," the film directed by her husband, Lasse Hallstrom. She has been picky in choosing roles that take her away from the Gotham base of Hallstrom and their two children.

Even though "Alias" shoots in L.A., Olin jumped when asked by executive producers J.J. Abrams and Ken Olin to play a shadowy secret agent character believed to be working for the enemy of her daughter's government employers in the Disney-produced drama.

John Cleese loves lemurs

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- Actor-comedian John Cleese showed his love for lemurs today by releasing the first furry critter into a new exhibit at the San Francisco Zoo.

The Lipman Family Lemur Forest exhibit will feature about 25 primates consisting of five different species when it opens to the public June 29.

Cleese and his wife share a special affection for the endangered animals that are found only in Madagascar. They released Robo, a black-and-white ruffed lemur into his new playground.

Habitat destruction and deforestation are mainly to blame for the decline in the number of lemurs.

Cleese, who produced "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and a string of other legendary films, also has worked on projects to educate others about the primates identified by their long tails and glowing eyes.

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.