NEWS LITE : FUNNYMAN AT 95; HOPES PLAN QUIET BIRTHDAY DINNER.

In his later career, Bob Hope celebrated significant birthdays with television extravaganzas. Not this time.

Burdened by the weight of his years, the comedian will mark his 95th birthday today with a quiet dinner at his Toluca Lake estate.

``We'll have some family and a few friends at the house,'' reports Dolores Hope, his wife for 64 years. ``Our grandson Andrew will probably barbecue some lamb. Bob loves lamb.''

On Saturday morning, the Hopes will preside as grand marshals in a parade marking the 75th anniversary of the Toluca Lake enclave.

The comedian caused a flurry of concern when he failed to attend a dinner to mark the donation to the Library of Congress of his personal papers, joke files, photographs and other memorabilia of his 70-year career.

``We went out to dinner the night before with a lot of Bob's relatives who came on for the event,'' Dolores Hope said. ``Everybody ate too much and something didn't agree with Bob.''

Hope has attended banquets, book signings and other events during the past year, and he appears interested, even entertained. Yet his trademark one-line quips are no longer there, and his hearing and sight are impaired.

Dolores Hope, who celebrated her 89th birthday on Wednesday, described her husband's life in his mid-90s:

``He's hanging in there. He looks great. His blood pressure and other things like that are fine. He likes to play golf, maybe three holes. He does a lot of sleeping in the daytime, because he's a night person. He has a massage and takes his nightly walks.

``He likes to ride in the car and listen to the music tapes. He enjoys watching television, especially `Jeopardy' and the news. If there's something in the news that really gets to him, he comments on it. He gets upset, as we all do, at the terrible things that are happening with kids in schools.

``He was saddened by Frank Sinatra's death; he couldn't quite believe it. He asked a couple of times: `What did he say? What happened?' We said, he's gone. He said, `Oh.' ''

The Hopes spend much of their time at their hilltop home outside Palm Springs.

Sheen must wear locater

device while

detoxifying

Actor Charlie Sheen was ordered Thursday to wear an electronic monitoring device and stay at drug treatment centers until a July 1 hearing on charges he violated probation by engaging in drug activity.

The 32-year-old star of the movies ``Platoon'' and ``Wall Street'' looked thin and pale as he arrived at the courthouse in Malibu. He was accompanied by celebrity supporters, including his father, Martin Sheen.

Judge Lawrence Mira set the hearing date, then ordered Sheen to a detoxification center for four days before he enters a residential treatment program.

Sheen was placed on two years' probation nearly a year ago after pleading no contest to misdemeanor battery for attacking his then-girlfriend Brittany Ashland. Ashland told authorities that on Dec. 12, 1996, she and Sheen were arguing at his home when he knocked her to the floor.

The fast-living Sheen renounced his drug-taking and boozing two years ago. But on May 20, paramedics responded to a 911 call from Sheen's mansion. He was conscious but complained of tingling in his hands and difficulty in walking.

Cybill not getting older, just better

Cybill Shepherd says she's no lady and dang proud of it. ``That's a pejorative term to me,'' the former fashion model turned actress-producer says in Living Fit magazine. ``Being a lady represents less than I can be.'' Feel free to call the 48-year-old Shepherd sexy, though. She says women her age are ``more beautiful, more sexy, more powerful than ever.''

``It's OK to get older; there's good stuff going on,'' says Shepherd, whose health regimen includes meditation, a treadmill, bicycling and pool workouts. ``Menopause is exciting and it's terrifying - I feel my emotions more intensely. But, as I tell my kids, being afraid takes courage. It's how you deal with the fear that counts.''

Di's Knightsbridge digs, car on block

Princess Diana's prenup pad and the car she got from Prince Charles as an engagement gift are up for grabs. The three-bedroom apartment Di shared with three girlfriends has an asking price of $738,000, but is expected to fetch double that. The digs, bought for her by her folks 19 years ago for $80,000, are in Knightsbridge, one of London's classiest neighborhoods, in the posh Edwardian Coleherne Court building. Di charged her buds $29.50 a week in rent and had stamped on the door of the master bedroom where she slept ``Chief Chick.'' She's been quoted as saying those were her happiest days, noting: ``I laughed my head off there.'' After Di's July 1981 wedding, her mother, Frances Shand Kydd, sold the place for $164,000. Interested buyers can inspect the flat Monday and Wednesday. The present owners pledged a tenth of the purchase price to Di's memorial fund.

Internet bids on the car, a silver 1981 Ford Escort with 80,000 miles on it, have already passed $500,000. Antique-clocks dealer Keith Lawson bought it in 1995 for $10,000. He's worried about thieves and vandalism.

Cochran flattered by `Seinfeld' mimic

Although the show called it quits, the impersonator fits.

Johnnie Cochran says he doesn't mind that the recurring Jackie Chiles character - the fast-talking, bespectacled African-American lawyer - brought back for the ``Seinfeld'' finale bears a resemblance to him.

In fact, the New York Daily New reported Thursday, he was flattered when ``Seinfeld'' co-creator Larry David first asked him if actor Phil Morris might base the character on him.

Addressing the 21 club's Millennium Speaker Series, the former O.J. Simpson lawyer said the only thing that didn't flatter him was what Chiles does in the last episode.

``I wouldn't have gone to bed with one of the witnesses,'' he said.

News Lite is compiled by Karen Duffy from Daily News staff and wire reports

CAPTION(S):

4 Photos

PHOTO (1) Charlie Sheen

On probation

(2) Dolores and Bob Hope will celebrate his 95th birthday today.

Eddie Sanderson/Associated Press

(3) Cochran

(4) Shepherd