Beck/Smith Hollywood

Among the most popular names on television during her 80’s heyday, Ann Jillian is talking about getting into performing again now that her son is in college.  The former child actress (“Babes in Toyland,” “Gypsy!”) who went on to series fame – and also memorably starred as herself in a TV film about her victorious battle against breast cancer – is fully aware, “I’m older.  I’ve changed physically.  It would be different.  But I would love to go back and do a little work in front of the camera.”

She has continued to be active in the fight against breast cancer, and to use her own experiences as a motivational speaker.  “Ever since 1985, I’ve been saying ‘Accept, adapt and move on.’  I have that view of life.  That’s basically the way I’ve handled everything.”

Jillian recently made the publicity rounds on behalf of “Gypsy’s” rerelease as a remastered Blu-ray item from Warner Archive Collection.  She started making that film on her 12^th birthday, playing Dainty June, sister of Natalie Wood’s Gypsy Rose Lee.

“Rosalind Russell was the ultimate professional.  She was helpful and warm.  Natalie Wood was very sisterly,” she recalls, speaking of the way things were on the set.  In true little sister fashion she remembers watching in awe as Wood put on makeup “with her pinkie in the air, and it was great.”

            Will Season 2 of “Smash” bring back the magic of the NBC musical series’ early days?  “We’re over half way through shooting, and there are so many things happening this season, I think everyone is going to be pleasantly surprised,” says Megan Hilty.

Yes, she is back as the luckless Broadway star wannabe Ivy Lynn, who was last seen dumping a bottle of pills into her hand backstage while her rival (Katharine McPhee) basked in the spotlight in the Bombshell musical’s Marilyn Monroe role that once belonged to her.

In the season commencing in February “There’s a completely new musical turning up alongside Bombshell, so there’s that and all the drama that comes up along with that,” notes Hilty.  “And we have all new characters who represent completely different storylines.”  Stars who’ll be seen in Season 2 include Jennifer Hudson, Sean Hayes, Jesse L. Martin and Liza Minnelli.

And Ivy?  “Well, she’s on her own path. She’s definitely trying to get her life in order both personally and professionally, but she’s still Ivy Lynn at the core. She’s still trying to make some big changes,” Hilty says.

Of course, playing Ivy Lynn is more fun than being Ivy Lynn, with all her desperation and her struggles, her pill popping, her sleeping with the director to no avail, her superstar mother who goes out of her way to point out her inferiority and so on. “I love Ivy.  I’m the luckiest, getting to play her.  What I’d like to see happen for her — I

just want her to get something she can enjoy and not feel threatened about, even just for a minute,” she says with a laugh.  “You can take it away from her later.”

Meanwhile, the multi-talented beauty, who rose to her own Broadway fame as Glinda in Wicked and Doralee in 9 to 5: The Musical, has been having a blast doing holiday engagements — especially singing for the President and his family.  Hilty is among the stars in the “Christmas in Washington” benefit concert that will be aired on TNT Dec. 21.

“I remember last year watching it and thinking how beautiful a program it is.  I was so excited when they asked me to be part of it,” says Hilty.  She sings “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” on the special, hosted by Conan O’Brien, that also includes Diana Ross, Scotty McCreery, Demi Lovato and “Gangnam Style” South Korean singer Psy.

If the thought of having to travel by plane this month is making you cringe, well, at least you don’t have to commute back and forth between Los Angeles and Halifax, Nova Scotia for work. That’s the lot in life for Joanna Cassidy these days, but the actress isn’t complaining — at least, not too much — as she’s enjoying splitting her time between her roles on ABC’s “Body of Proof” and Canada’s “Call Me Fitz” comedy that airs on HBO.

 “This will be my fourth trip, coming up, and it’s no easy journey, let me tell you,” she notes of the 12-hour trek.  “You have to fly into Toronto, then go on to Halifax and there are always layovers and planes that get cancelled and whatever.”

 But there is much to brighten her spirits.  “The year we’re doing now is going to be more spectacular than ever, wonderfully funny,” she says of “Fitz.”  And as far as “Body of Proof,” on which she plays a judge who is also the mother of Dana Delany’s character, she says, “I love it because it’s real mother and daughter stuff,  They’re two strong, independent women who love each other deeply but have major issues with each other.”

 MEANWHILE:  Fans of “Blade Runner” can look forward to something fun in conjunction with the movie’s 30th anniversary.  Joanna, who played exotic dancer replicant Zhora in the movie that still retains a cult following, notes, “It was a hard film to work on because we did all night shooting, but it was such a joy.  I mean, I have never had as much fun on a film, ever.  The only thing that we didn’t do — which was something that is going to be resolved — is, we never got to do the snake dance.”

 Resolved?  “Well, you’ll see,” says the actress, who has produced a video to do just that.  “Watch You Tube, it’s going to be coming out soon.”  Five years ago, she recreated the scene of Zhora running through a glass wall – proving she could, in fact, do the stunt herself.  We were equally impressed that she was able to fit into the costume she’d worn 25 years earlier.

You’d better watch out. Santa Claus is comin’ to town. He knows if you’ve been bad or good — and we all know there’s been an awful lot of naughty out there in the celebrity realm in 2012. With so many famous folk making the jolly fat man’s Bad list, as well as some so Good some extra sugarplums are in order, it’s only right that we help out by delivering some virtual gifts the stars really deserve.

To Snooki, Mike, Pauly D, Sammi, JWoww and the rest of the “Jersey Shore” gang: We’ll celebrate wrapping up six long seasons that viewers wasted their time watching you get drunk, fight, make out, stumble around and throw up by handing out one-way tickets for everyone to the Bermuda Triangle.

To Mia, who inexplicably gave the finger to the 111.3 million watching the Super Bowl during the Madonna half time show: Mittens.

To Anne Hathaway, whose panty-less wardrobe malfunction at the NYC premiere of “Les Miserables” threatened to get more attention than her outstanding work in the film: a new stylist.

To Taylor Swift, whose plentiful romances and breakups yield lots of attention and platinum recordings: a copy of Hall & Oates’ 1982 classic, “Maneater.”

To Seth MacFarlane, who will be hosting the Academy Awards next year: some good luck charms to help him channel the best hosts of the past: a Whoopi cushion, a Crystal, a Rock, a kilt made of Stewart plaid, and a ray of Hope.

To Simon Cowell, who seems to enjoy surrounding himself with ever-younger females: a new “X Factor” judge who comes complete with tons of media attention, a fetching smile, pageant titles galore, and ample youth –Honey Boo Boo.

To Honey Boo Boo and Mama June: a Three Thumb Salute.

To “Gangnam Style” star of the moment PSY: a stop watch, to track his 15 minutes of fame. Whoops, time’s out.

To the perpetually strained-looking Kristen Stewart: a second expression.

Blue Ivy Carter: Nothing. With three nurseries (one of which is reportedly 2,200 square feet) crowded with such items as a $600,000 solid gold handmade rocking horse and a Swarovski diamante encrusted high chair, Beyonce’s and Jay-Z’s daughter already has a bigger GNP than some small countries.

To Beyonce and Jay-Z: Some sense.

To Whitney Houston’s “loved ones” who sold funeral photos of her in repose to the tabloids and to over-zealous media involved in such shenanigans as chasing after the ambulance in which her body was being transported: Mirrors, in which to see themselves as disgusting as others see them.

To Justin Bieber: All-terrain boots, to walk over the potholes of teen idoldom and keep his feet on the ground, and a compass so he doesn’t get lost

Jimmy Kimmel: A helmet, for protection as he goes head-to-head with Letterman and Leno at 11:35 starting next month.

To Halle Berry and her ex-husband Gabriel Aubrey, who finally seem to be making headway in resolving their hostile custody dispute over daughter Nahla (that included a fistfight between Aubrey and her fiancé Olivier Martinez): Peace.

To Drew Barrymore, husband Will Kopelman and baby daughter Olive: Happiness.

To Lindsay Lohan: Help.

To the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge: Healthy and bouncy heir.

To Ann Coulter: A muzzle.

To Chris Brown: Ditto.

To all those planning a new “Star Wars” movie at Disney for 2015: The Force. With them may it be.

To “Sesame Street”: Quick recovery from the Kevin Clash scandal (and many of us wouldn’t mind less Elmo and more Big Bird. Just sayin’.)

To Daniel Day Lewis: Four score and seven “Lincoln” awards, including a third Oscar.

To Kristin Cavallari, who said she was “acting” on “The Hills” and the show was “pretty fake” — and to Lauren Conrad, who said that “The Hills” was pretty true: Cross-stitched samplers of Mark Twain’s saying, “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.”

To Clint Eastwood, who memorably, meanderingly, chatted with a chair at the Republican National Convention: A full living room set to talk to, but off-camera, please.

And to all the celebrities active in charity — whether 12-12-12, Stand Up to Cancer or other public fundraising;,behind-the-scenes acts of kindness like visiting Make-a-Wish children, doing USO shows in far-off dangerous places, going green, or otherwise lending their star power to worthy causes – continuing health, high energy and blessings to you.

End it

            The “X-Factor’s” Brian Friedman dances skillfully around queries about the dramas going on behind the scenes on the Fox competition show that’s now in semi-finals, gearing up for its Dec. 20 grand finale.  For example, gossip maven Perez Hilton’s report that Britney Spears has been shunning fellow judge Demi Lovato as well as cohost Khloe Kardashian.

“It’s definitely a high tension work environment, that’s for sure,” he says, laughing.  “There’s never a dull day, I can give you that much.”

On top of his on-camera presence, Creative Director and Supervising Producer Friedman directs and stages every “X-Factor” performance, and heads up its team of choreographers.

It’s not unusual, he says, for dress rehearsals to generate “tons of notes for wardrobe changes, lighting changes, things being moved around” – and he’s in the middle of all the artists’ camps.

“There is a lot to take in, for sure, and that doesn’t even include the personalities that are around a show like this.  Everyone wants to win, so you see their attack mode come into play.  You’re dealing with egos.  It’s definitely a people position having to navigate through all the different personalities who are on the show.  It’s not easy at all times, but it helps me learn how to have patience,” he says.

Now there’s an understatement.

Regardless which of the “X-Factor” semi-finalists (pop princess-in-waiting Carly Rose Sonenclar, country star-to-be Tate Stevens, and boy and girl groups Emblem3 and Fifth Harmony, respectively) winds up nabbing the $5 million recording contract prize, they’ll be ready to move seamlessly into their professional career.  At least, that’s certainly the sense one gets from Friedman.

“The rehearsals we have with the contestants are straightforward and to the point.  We get them the information they need and they’ve just got to learn to work at a pace that is required when they’ve got changes at the last minute.  Sometimes they go on stage and they’re being redirected as they’re singing their song, where to go on stage,” says Friedman.  “Excellence is highly, highly expected.”

Friedman’s list of credits includes Spears’ videos and tours – as well as work with such names as Prince, Mya, Rihanna, *NSYNC, Christina Aguilera, Beyonce, Usher, Pink and Mariah Carey.  He says that “All the artists I worked with outside of the show gave me a bar for the contestants to have to achieve to.  I don’t expect anything less than the greatness that I’ve worked with.  Although they are amateurs and they’re brand new, they want to compete in the industry with the professionals, so we treat them as if they are at that caliber and at that level already.

“I know what it takes to put on awards show performances.  I know what it takes to build massive tours for the biggest artists.  So, that’s essentially what we’re doing for these contestants here every week – we’re giving them a taste of what the real world will be like and also giving them a challenge to see if they can work within it.”

On the other hand, Friedman points out that contestants are under pressures that are different from the pros.  “This is a competition, and every week there is so much more at stake, they are a little more stressed, I would say, than your average recording artist, who is in rehearsal for a long period of time, getting time to work their show out.  There is a high stress factor here.  Sometimes it’s difficult.  ”

Interestingly, Friedman — who has spent more time working on the British version of “X Factor” than the American one – finds at least one big difference between the two Simon Cowell shows.  “It feels like over-all, the U.K. in general, they seem to have more fun.”

As for himself, he says he handles the tension by going to the gym.  “I work my troubles away in the workout.”  And “I’ve been doing some fun stuff for me.  I’ve spent so much time working behind the scenes, I’ve been inspired to create more.”

That includes his just-launched clothing line, BSBF (for Brian Says Be Free). “My experience with casual wear has been that if you want really great, sporty casual wear that is moveable and danceable and something you could wear on an airplane and look great, you have to spend crazy amounts of money on designer stuff.  The average casual clothes don’t have the same style. And I want that style, I come from a fashion, style world.  So, if I can’t find them I’m going to make them and make them available for the public to buy because style should be available at any budget.”

Whatever the drama factor may be, he’s glad the show has brought him and Britney together again.  “It’s just a coincidence, but it’s great.  I started working with Britney in’99, and I was with her through many tours and choreographed her through many so many of her videos and awards shows and I’ve just been a friend of hers through the years.  This is sort of full circle to see her sitting up there at the judges’ table.  It’s really cool, it’s somewhere I don’t think either of us could have said 10 years ago, I bet we’re going to be sitting on a reality show, judging together.”

Can Derek Magyar’s “Flying Lessons” become one of the little movies that make their presence known this Oscar season among the Filmland giants? Certainly Hal Holbrook’s performance as a man in the throes of Alzheimer’s is already garnering attention, as are those of Maggie Grace as a young woman forced to return home after she bottoms out via drugs and other reckless behavior – and Christine Lahti as the mother with whom she reluctantly reunites.

“I guess it’s par for the course for a lot of these indie films to take a long time to find distribution – if they find distribution,” notes Lahti, speaking of the intense drama that actually finished production in 2010, and is getting released nationally tomorrow (12/7). “So I’m very happy the film is actually going to be in theaters and have an audience.”

Lahti tells us that “Flying Lessons” marked a reunion for her and Holbrook. “I worked with Hal many years ago off-Broadway in Country Girl, so I knew him and even though we didn’t have any scenes together in this movie, I was so glad he was in it, because knew his presence would elevate it. I also liked the director, and the characters were really dark and interesting and dramatic,” she adds.

”The secret they share is sort of the undercurrent of everything — the denial, the avoidance of this trauma in their lives really fractures this relationship. They’re each grappling with a lot of loneliness, a lot of pain. There is a lot of desperation with my character that doesn’t help with healing the relationship with her daughter.”

Lahti has made a string of independent features over the past year or so – “Truck Stop” with Evan Peters and “Petunia” with Thora Birch and Brittany Snow, to name two — along with her recurring “Hawaii Five-O” role of mother to Steve McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin). The Oscar-winning (“Lieberman in Love”)filmmaker also has a road movie in preproduction that she wants to direct this coming spring.

Would the one-time “Chicago Hope”actress want to do another series? “I really like coming in and out of ‘Hawaii Five-O’ – it’s a great group of actors and a really fun and complex character. I don’t know if I’d want to be involved in a series for seven years at this point, but never say never,”she replies.

But right now, she has her sights set on stage work. She and her husband, esteemed TV director Thomas Schlamme, are dividing their time between coasts these days. “My kids went to college and I said, ‘Okay, it’s time to go back to New York. I’ve been wanting to move back to New York for 20 years. We sold our house in Brentwood and we’re renting. We don’t know how it’s going to turn out, where we’ll be spending most of our time, but being bicoastal right now is really fun. It’s the fulfillment of a long-time dream.”

WHY WEIGHT?  Now is the time to save yourself the bother of having to shed holiday pounds, notes Hungry Girl – that’s Lisa Lillien, who gives sane and stress-free tips and tricks for healthy eating to some 1.2 million email subscribers, readers of her six books, and viewers used to seeing her on “Dr. Oz” and other programs.

“Just try not to have a string of too many bad days in a row. It’s okay to overindulge on Thanksgiving, but the next three weeks don’t have to be all about food. It’s not uncommon for people to gain five to ten pounds over the holidays,” she points out.

Lillien also has some light calorie holiday recipes to “sneak in there” during the season of gladness, and points out at upping one’s exercise time is a big help this time of year. “If you eat more, move more.” Also, she advocates learning to steer clear of your own personal excessive eating triggers. “For some, that’s sweets. For me, it’s very carby foods.”

An executive at Warner Bros. and Nickelodeon before she became a weight management guru, Lillien is married to prolific producer Dan Schneider, whose credits include youth-centric hits as “The Amanda Show,” “Drake & Josh,” “iCarly” and “Victorious.” Some of the talent on those shows became Hungry Girl followers, “probably at first because I’m Dan’s wife,” acknowledges Lillien – but eventually, because they liked her advice. Lillien has a following among college students, and hopes her common sense approach filters down to even younger people. “You have to be very careful about how you approach children, but it’s never too early to learn about healthy eating.”

Lillien, whose most recent book is HUNGRY GIRL TO THE MAX! The Ultimate Guilt-Free Cookbook (St. Martin’s Griffin), has a hectic January schedule of book signings and media appearances ahead – the post-New Year’s period always being a hot time for advice on getting in shape. “The minute January rolls around people want to make those changes. They tend to be a little extreme with their resolutions. My best advice in January is to not be so critical of themselves.”

Viewers around the world are expressing their sadness over Larry Hagman’s passing.  The man who brought the inimitable J.R. Ewing to life on “Dallas” certainly went out on top, with J.R. and the rest of the Ewing clan having become a TV hit for a second time. We will miss his outsized personality, his humor, warmth and charm. We will never forget his silent Sundays rule — when he would refuse to speak one day each week — because one of those silent Sundays happened to be the wedding day of Marilyn Beck and Arthur Levine at the Bel Air Hotel, which Larry attended.  He socialized by smiling, gesturing and whistling. Asked to express his wedding wishes on tape, as other guests were doing, Larry whistled “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad.”

Larry gave up silent Sundays in more recent years. He worked on making himself a better human being.  His successes on and off-camera, with his long-running marriage to wife Maj, his family and many friendships, was all the more phenomenal given the colossal challenges Larry had to overcome.   Known for many years as the biggest eccentric in Hollywood, the son of famed musical star Mary Martin told Marilyn that his childhood was a kaleidoscope of broken homes, step-parents, private schools and strange surroundings. He attended 18 different schools, lived everywhere from London to Texas to New York — and recalled times of loneliness and rejection and depression.

By the time he was in his thirties and costarring in “I Dream of Jeannie,” the depression had grown so acute that, he confided, he went through a series of nervous breakdowns, “about a breakdown a month. The first time they had to haul me off the set in a truck and cart me over to a psychiatrist’s.”

At another time he said, “I’m a schizophrenic. I really am. I’m wild and undisciplined.” And referring to his behavior on the “Jeannie” set, he said, “Lots of times without any warning, I’d start screaming or crying or vomiting. And towards the end, I cried an awful lot.”

Intense psychotherapy helped a lot, but even after times for Larry improved, he stood out as one of the industry’s kookiest characters. He drove around in a beat-up Volkswagen bus, usually dressed in cowboy attire — including a 10 gallon hat and a necklace fashioned out of horses’ teeth.  His many escapades included riding a bike home from a party near his Malibu digs early one morning, dressed in a chartreuse gorilla suit.  Invariably, slung over his shoulder was a suede pouch crammed with objects he would display at the slightest provocation: chopsticks, a magnum of champagne, incense, candles, long-stemmed wine glasses and a flute he would toot in the middle of most conversations.

When “Dallas” – and Larry – rocketed to super success, Mary Martin was asked what she thought of her son becoming a legend.  Her response:  “I’m a legend.  He’s a cult figure.”

Certainly she had her own eccentricities.  After second husband Richard Halliday died in 1973, she had his body moved from town to town as she traveled, unable to decide where to bury him.

Larry’s silent Sundays rule came into effect in the 70s, as did his edict that no one on his “Dallas” set would be allowed to smoke. “I don’t smoke – and I’ve laid down the law that no one can smoke on the set, at least not when I’m there,” said Larry in January of 1979.  “And I’m there five days a week. There are 36 smokers in our company of 40 – and when they’re all puffing away, I can’t breathe by the middle of the day.  I know I’m causing resentment on the set.  I know it became so impossible for some of the crew to accept that a couple of them left, quit, I guess.  But I figure I’m more important than those folks.  After all, it’s my face on screen.”  He kept a supply of hand-held, battery-operated fans with him, so that if he ended up being in the company of someone who was smoking anywhere, he would turn on the fan so the smoke would be directed back in the face of the offender.

In 1995, Larry, who had been a big-time drinker for many years, underwent his liver transplant. He came through the experience fine. In fact, life for him for many years seemed very fine — something he never expected it to be when he was young and lonely and seldom saw the mother who cast such a huge shadow.