Why was David Beckham (above) heading back to England so abruptly yesterday? His father has suffered a heart attack...Did you hear about how Tony Bennett's ex-wife is still quite bitter toward the crooner. Though they split in 1979, they only divorced earlier this year and Bennett has since remarried... OK, I think I gotta book a trip to NYC. The Broadway production of "The Color Purple" is gonna be adding some superstar talent in the coming months: Chaka Khan, BeBe Williams and "American Idol" finalist LaKisha Jones...Ja Rule shares his thoughtless thoughts on gay marriage...There is word that Candice Bergen is going to appear in the "Sex and the City" flick. She had a recurring role as a "vogue" editor in the series...The gay love story between Luke and Noah on "As trhe World Turns" is heating up...

MORNING QUOTE:
"I no longer want to be billed as a 'film star.' I am not Julia Roberts, a superstar who people want to see smiling and well-dressed in film after film. It bores me. And I act much better opposite James Wood or Robert De Niro than Richard Gere."
-- Sharon Stone in the French magazine Madame Figaro.

Stone, whose leading lady days seem to have ended with "Basic Instinct 2" anyway, also said: "I hate being compared to Joan Crawford. I don't like her as an actress or admire what she achieved."

My two cents: Oh, brother...