THE LIVES OF H'WOOD WIVES.Byline: David Kronke Television Critic Gigi Levangie Grazer Gigi Levangie Grazer (born circa 1963) is an American novelist and screenwriter. Of Bulgarian and Irish extraction, she was born Georgianne Levangie in Los Angeles and attended UCLA, where she majored in Political Science. was strolling along the beach in Malibu when she happened upon a scene that inspired a novel. ``I came upon a woman in her 50s, who had been dumped by a big movie star,'' Grazer, the wife of Hollywood producer Brian Grazer, said Friday evening at the semiannual TV press tour in Pasadena. ``She was speaking to this man who I know very well and who I know is homeless. -- He's very good-looking, and she was flirting with him -- and I thought, `That's a novel.' '' Grazer's book -- about a woman who finds herself dumped by her successful husband, traded in for a trophy wife -- is being turned into a summer miniseries for the USA network. Star Debra Messing appeared via satellite from Australia, where the film is being shot as a stand-in for Malibu. (Messing recalled a shot at a location made to resemble the Malibu community being interrupted when a kangaroo family hopped through the scene). ``I encounter (starter wives) every single day in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. . It's a community filled with people who are somehow attached to industry. ``There is a kind of look to the starter wife, with the polished hair, beautiful nails, white teeth and trim body. They're everywhere They're Everywhere is an episode of The WB drama series, Charmed. Synopsis Prue and Piper give in to their fears that the men in their lives may be Warlocks and cast a mind-reading spell to find out the truth. .'' Grazer said her roman a clef ro·man à clef n. pl. ro·mans à clef A novel in which actual persons, places, or events are depicted in fictional guise. [French : roman, novel + à, with + had offended none of the real-life players. ``If you make a woman thin enough or give the guy a big enough package, everyone's happy,'' Grazer joked. ``There were no unhappy customers. People would tell me stories at parties to be in the next book.'' Despite being married to one of Hollywood's most successful producers, Grazer emphasized her humble beginnings Humble Beginnings was an American pop punk band from New Jersey. While never gaining large-scale success, many of the band's members went on to mainstream success with other outfits. . ``My parents thought we would be arrested if our car broke down in Beverly Hills,'' she said. ``I break out in hives hives (urticaria), rash consisting of blotches or localized swellings (wheals) of the skin, caused by an allergic reaction (see allergy). The swelling is caused by distention of the skin capillaries and escape of serum and white cells into the skin and tissues. if I have to go into Neiman Marcus.'' Co-writer and executive producer. Josann McGibbon interrupted Grazer's I'm-one-of-you spiel spiel Informal n. A lengthy or extravagant speech or argument usually intended to persuade. intr. & tr.v. spieled, spiel·ing, spiels To talk or say (something) at length or extravagantly. . ``Gigi, did you say when you `have' to go to Neiman Marcus?'' she asked. ``One of those Neiman Marcus emergencies?'' McGibbon was with Messing in Australia, where she reported she had been attacked by a leech, something that wouldn't happen in L.A. This time, it was McGibbon's turn to be corrected. Co-star Joe Mantegna asked, incredulously, ``Did you say there are no leeches in L.A.?'' David Kronke, (818) 713-3638 david.kronke@dailynews.com |
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