Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Jamie Lee Curtis was believed to have closed the book on her acting career last year. However, that's not quite the case.

"If I can make a stupid analogy, honestly, I am open for business. But my operating hours are limited. My focus is not on that job. My daughter is a sophomore in college, and I have a boy who is 11," notes Curtis, whose seventh children's book, "Is There Really a Human Race?" was released in September. "I spend a majority of my time working with my son, and, you know, advocating where I can."

In fact, her activities with several charities have been keeping Curtis very busy of late. In the forefront of her mind right now is hosting the 22nd Annual Odyssey Ball for the John Wayne Cancer Institute, which takes place April 14 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. "How can someone not get involved with cancer research or cancer charities? Everyone has a connection to cancer. I myself have had a brush with it" — a scare that turned out to be benign, she says. She adds, "I've lost dear young friends to cancer. I have dear young friends who are survivors and dear young friends who are battling now."

Curtis, who also recently emceed a gala for the Starlight Starbright Foundation, notes that as a celebrity, "You get to reflect the media you get onto things you care about. I appreciate the obscene amount of attention a celebrity gets for, honestly, doing the right thing. And by the way, it's a nano-fraction of what millions of people do as volunteers."

AND: The ball is "a very special event this year because we are commemorating the 100th anniversary of my father's birth," adds Patrick Wayne, who has been devoting full time to his duties as chairman of the board of the institute for the past three years. Larry King is also being honored, with the annual "True Grit" Award.

"When we started, I don't think any of us realized my father's visibility would remain so strong," Wayne admits. "In the annual Harris Polls of favorite movie stars, he's in the top three" — and has been eight times in the past 13 years. That visibility has been a boon to the institute, which Wayne reports has "one of the top four breast cancer centers in the country" in addition to its research and treatment work in the areas of skin, prostate and other cancers.

TOUGH ROOM: Rich Little knows what he's up against as host of this year's White House Correspondents' Association Dinner April 21. You'll recall that last year, Stephen Colbert shocked, outraged and enthralled — depending on one's political views — countless viewers, bloggers and attendees with his breathtakingly anti-Bush routine performed mere steps away from the president. The selection of Little this year has already been praised and panned as "safe."

"My friend Sam Donaldson says, 'You're not going to win with this crowd. If you don't get political, they'll consider you chicken, but if you are political, they'll criticize you for that. If you do dumb jokes, they won't like it, and if you're risque, they'll say you're crude.' But I've done this before," reminds Little, who hosted the affair in '84. "One thing I've got going for me is that they'll know who I'm imitating better than the average crowd."

Little's recent appearance on David Letterman's show has sparked fresh interest in the matchless impressionist, now 68, who performs regularly in Las Vegas. "It was nice to be back on late night — I did the Carson show a lot," he understates.

As for what to expect April 21, "I'm not going to do anything disrespectful or get into the war; there's no humor in the war," says the man who'll do impressions of six chief executives during the dinner. "I'm interested in the personality and the impression. I don't set out to do what Colbert does at all, or Mark Russell or Dennis Miller. I'm not in that league. I'm more of an entertainer."

THE BIG SCREEN SCENE: A beginning-of-April production start has been set for "Sirens of Eleuthera," described as a mystic thriller set in an aquatic land — in which James Brolin is to star. He plays a rich moviemaker whose world is never the same after he discovers a strange, ethereal woman who has been pushed ashore near his beach home by a dolphin. You've got to be careful when you find one of those.

HELLO AGAIN: Meredith Baxter is due back on the set of "Cold Case" this week. Her portrayal of Kathryn Morris' estranged, alcoholic mother in the CBS series last year made such an impact that it's going to be a recurring role for the former "Family Ties" star.

(With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily Feimster)

To find out more about Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith and read their past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2007 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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