Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Sir Ben Kingsley has just wrapped up his role in Mike Myers' currently shooting film "The Love Guru" with Jessica Alba and Justin Timberlake — marking three comedies in a year for the revered Oscar-winning star, who says he's having a ball walking on the lighter side. 

"I'm the guru to Mike Myers' love guru. I teach him everything he knows about sex, but he's actually lonely himself, which is poignant and kind of sweet," says Kingsley. (Or at least as poignant and sweet as it can be with a character named Guru Tugginmypudha.) Kingsley goes on that working with Myers "is just a little like working with Charles Chaplin must have been — as a writer-director-star. We had a wonderful director on the film (Marco Schnabel), but Mike was also very hands-on — and it was very welcome."

Kooky as the characters might be, Kingsley assures that they're invested with realness: "Otherwise, the audience can't care about them."

The same goes for "You Kill Me" with Tea Leone, Bill Pullman and Luke Wilson, which gets its DVD release Oct. 9. Kingsley's performance drives the film, and it delighted critics. He tells us now that he played his alcoholic Polish mafia hit man as "a lost child" and sees the black comedy as "the journey of an oddly innocent man — and I know he's a killer — who is told to grow up."

Then there's the forthcoming "The Wackness," in which he plays a drug-addled psychotherapist who kisses Mary Kate Olsen and buys pot from Josh Peck. Kingsley sees Laurel & Hardy overtones in his and Peck's onscreen relationship. "There is so much to learn from the greats. I love Laurel and Hardy. As I sit here in my office, I am looking at their films up on the shelf," he says. 

Kingsley, who calls his two-week-old marriage to his fourth wife, Daniela Barbosa de Carneiro, "wonderful," won't be staying long in the comedy realm. He recently bought rights to Christopher Rush's novel "Will" and plans to play Shakespeare in the film adaptation. He also has in development the "passionate, bloody" story of the building the Taj Mahal.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: "Entertainment Tonight" anchor Mark Steines admits that things have changed a lot on the time-honored show since he signed on 12 seasons ago.

Nowadays, when it comes to reporting entertainment news — as opposed to what he deems "wacky, zany celebrity stories," — it's "a constant struggle.

It's hard to turn away from a story like this with Oscar de la Hoya — true or not," he notes, referring to claims that the boxer appears in cross-dressing pictures. "There are just so many things, whether you've got Nicole Richie going the wrong way down the freeway or the Charlie Sheen-Denise Richards-Richie Sambora go-round — you can't not look at this stuff. Other stories get put on the back burner. But doing set visits, sitting down for interviews with stars — those are still the things I treasure the most. Those are the moments I signed up for."

And as for the attention being drawn by online-born entities led by TMZ.com, he says, "I look at TMZ as a completely different source of material from us. There are days it's the same topic but handled totally differently. We're serving the same food, but it's cooked completely different."

ONCE A BEAVER: "Leave it to Beaver's" Jerry Mathers, who recently starred in Broadway's "Hairspray," tells this column he was lucky to escape the common perils of being a child star, a feat he credits to having a strong family. He certainly wishes more young stars of today had that advantage. "My dad was fully employed, so my parents weren't living off the money from 'Leave it to Beaver.' In fact, when I finished the show, the studio came to my parents, and they had another series and a movie that they wanted me to do. My dad asked if I wanted to do it, and I said no because it was going to be my freshman year in high school," he explains. "It was my choice as to when I wanted to work, whereas some kids had parents telling them, 'If you don't work, we won't have a roof over our heads.'"

Now, after 50 years since "Leave it to Beaver's" debut, Mathers and his co-stars are happily celebrating the show's anniversary as TV Land will be airing a 24-hour "Beaver" marathon starting Oct. 6. "One (episode) being shown is the original pilot, which hasn't been shown in maybe 10 years, and it wasn't shown at all before that, so it's not one that a lot of people have seen," he notes. Though Mathers hasn't had much time lately to watch many of the episodes, he says he's sure it will bring back a ton of fond memories. "I hit one of the pinnacles of my career at 13, and it was probably the most wonderful time of my life. 'Leave it to Beaver' has only been a blessing to me my entire life."

HERE 'N' THERE: R&B superstar Brian McKnight will be one of the headliners at the fourth annual Cayman Jazz Fest — the biggest event of its kind in the Caribbean. The Grand Cayman festival will be held from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1, with McKnight headquartering at The Westin Grand Cayman.

With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily Feimster.

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

COPYRIGHT 2007 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.