NEWS LITE : LOREN STILL ENJOYS LUST FOR LIFE AT 64.

Sophia Loren says her health is much better now, but she was worried about dying several months ago when she was hospitalized for heart problems.

``I thought I was going to die,'' the Academy Award-winning actress says in an interview with ``Dateline NBC.'' But she's doing better now and at 64, she's just published her first cookbook, scoffs at retirement and says she still loves to love.

After feeling ill on an Aug. 10 flight from Geneva to New York, the Italian-born actress was hospitalized with an irregular heartbeat.

``Now I have to be careful, because I want to enjoy my family for a long time. I want to enjoy my life for a long time,'' she said in the interview to be broadcast Monday.

Although she says her health problems were due to stress from overworking, Loren says retirement is out of the question.

``Retire? No, never. . . . I'll go on and on,'' she said.

Prince's bride will have waxy pallor 

It had to happen.

Two days after the announcement that Sophie Rhys-Jones was engaged to Prince Edward, the Madame Tussaud's waxworks museum said Friday that fashioning a replica of her had become ``a top priority.''

Rhys-Jones' long-term relationship with the youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II already had gained the attention of the museum, one of London's premier tourist attractions.

``She has been on our list of people to make into waxworks for about a year,'' spokeswoman Beth Lockwood said.

Lockwood said the museum would decide in two weeks whether to proceed with the replica and would approach Rhys-Jones before beginning work.

``We don't make a waxwork without the permission of the individual, but no one has yet refused us,'' Lockwood said.

If all systems are go, Rhys-Jones, 33, would have to pose for an hour and have measurements and photographs taken.

Each waxwork costs about $50,000 to make and six months to complete.

No date has yet been set for the royal wedding.

It's bidsville, baby, for Rat Pack autos

Fans of the Rat Pack can travel back in time.

Collector cars once owned by Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin go up for bids during the 1999 Barrett-Jackson Classic Car Auction Jan. 20 through Jan. 24 at WestWorld in Scottsdale, Ariz. They are among 800 vehicles on the auction block.

``We are sure this will add an element of fun to this year's event, taking many of us back to a time of martinis, nightclubs, fancy cars and swingin' tunes,'' auction president Craig Jackson said here Friday.

The 1956 Ford Thunderbird convertible once owned by Sinatra, Davis' 1964 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III Mulliner Drophead coupe, one of only 23 left-side drive models, and Dean Martin's 1962 Italian Ghia L6.4 will all be available. The value of the vehicles wasn't disclosed.

Jewison selected for Thalberg prize

Norman F. Jewison, producer of such films as ``Fiddler on the Roof,'' ``A Soldier's Story'' and ``Moonstruck,'' will receive the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award during the 71st annual Academy Awards in March.

The Canadian-born Jewison, who also directed ``In the Heat of the Night,'' ``Moonstruck'' and ``Fiddler on the Roof,'' was hailed by the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a ``superior craftsman through four decades of moviemaking.''

Jewison's films have earned 45 Academy Award nominations and more than 10 Oscars, including a best picture award for the 1967 film ``In the Heat of the Night.''

``Norman Jewison is an eclectic and sensitive producer-director whose films paint evocative pictures of the human experience that have become icons of American life,'' academy President Robert Rehme said.

Academy rules say the Thalberg Award must go to ``creative producers whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high quality of motion picture production.'' The winner is chosen by the academy's Board of Governors.

The Academy Awards will be broadcast by ABC on March 21 from the Music Center in Los Angeles.

After 50 years, conscience clear

For 50 years, a Norwegian woman's conscience was bothered by a little secret - in 1949, a store gave her 67 cents too much in change, and she pocketed it.

Last week, the woman sent the store the equivalent of $13, with an anonymous note explaining she was so poor at the time that she had kept the extra change, the Bergens Tidene newspaper reported Friday.

``In a time when robberies and theft are, unfortunately, part of the disorder of the day, and where morality in many areas has declined, it was fantastic to experience this,'' Knut Galtung Doevig, owner of the store in Bergen, was quoted as saying.

``I'm just sorry that her little sin of omission has bothered her for so many years. My comfort is that she is probably happy now,'' Doevig said.

Boxer wows crowds with slinky gown

A British designer sent boxer Chris Eubank down the catwalk in Milan on Friday modeling a shimmery, ankle-length evening gown she says will be all the rage in men's fashion.

Eubank, a 34-year WBO super-middleweight champion, modeled for Vivienne Westwood's line in Milan's men's fashion week.

Other models for Westwood included a man in full eye makeup and back-combed hair, sporting a longish kilt.

``Only the English know how to put on things in this fashion. It's one of their specialties,'' Westwood said.

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

PHOTO (1) BATMAN TO RESCUE

Country singer Clint Black, left, gets an impromptu lesson in bat control from St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire on Friday in Concord, Calif., in preparation for the charity event Stars to the Rescue VII, which benefits the Animal Rescue Foundation.

Ben Margot/Associated Press

(2) Former boxing champ Chris Eubank models a dress for British stylist Vivienne Westwood.

Luca Bruno/Associated Press

(3) LOREN