Breakup brings breakdown

New York Actress Tara Reid was so devastated after her breakup with MTV’s Carson Daly that she couldn’t eat and sought therapy from five doctors.

Reid, 26, who starred in “American Pie” and “Josie and the Pussycats” told CosmoGIRL! magazine for its May editions that she turns to her parents during difficult times. She and Daly broke off their engagement last year.

Reid said she’s better now and that she and Daly are friends.

“You can’t say you’re going to marry someone and then hate each other,” she told the magazine. “We’re friends. It’s hard, but it’s the right thing to do.”

Hard-working mom

New York Andie MacDowell has come a long way since 1984’s “Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan,” when actress Glenn Close was brought in to dub her voice over MacDowell’s southern drawl.

MacDowell has just wrapped three new films: “Crush,” a tale of three women who meet weekly to discuss their love lives; “Harrison’s Flowers,” about war correspondents and photojournalists in Yugoslavia; and “Ginostra,” filmed in Italy with Harvey Keitel.

But MacDowell’s focus lately has been on her 13-year-old daughter, Rainey, who recently performed as Miss Adelaide in the school version of “Guys and Dolls.”

“She was amazing,” MacDowell told Parade magazine for its Sunday editions. “Much better than I’d have been at 13. She danced and sang up a storm. I could never have done that.”

Manson denies lawsuit charge

Los Angeles Marilyn Manson defended himself against claims that he was responsible for the death of a woman after a party last year at his mansion.

Jennifer Syme, 29, died April 1, 2001, when she was flung from her Jeep Cherokee after hitting at least three parked cars.

“After Jennifer was sent home safely with a designated driver, she later got behind the wheel of her own car for reasons known only to her,” Manson said in a statement.

Syme’s mother, Maria St. John, filed a wrongful death suit last week. The lawsuit alleges that Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, gave Syme drugs before she was dropped off at her home.

Civility for the military

Annapolis, Md. With a polite nudge from “Miss Manners,” Naval Academy recruits are learning how to become both officers and gentlemen.

Syndicated columnist Judith Martin, also known as “Miss Manners,” began etiquette classes on Sunday, teaching recruits how to attack a salad with the right fork and why it is important to write thank-you notes and learn how to waltz.

“In professions dealing with high-stakes conflicts, etiquette must be much stricter than is necessary in the society at large,” Martin said. “The respective rules of dress, gesture, language, recognition of hierarchy, ritualized procedure and such are strongly enforced for the reason that otherwise, mayhem would ensue.”