A place in L.A.

Los Angeles Susan Sarandon, who won an Oscar for 1995’s “Dead Man Walking,” got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame before a crowd of about 600 fans.

She was joined by her longtime partner, actor Tim Robbins; her three children; and actors Kieran Culkin and Ryan Phillippe, who co-starred with Sarandon in the upcoming film “Igby Goes Down.”

“I am so honored and thrilled,” Sarandon said. “Being from New York it’s great to have … a little bit of real estate in L.A. when I am here.”

‘Sopranos’ fans, take note

If you’re the type of “Sopranos” fan who gets hungry watching all the Italian dining scenes on the show, HBO is going to make you an offer you can’t refuse, reports Entertainment Weekly. Just in time for the Sept. 15 premiere of the fourth season, the channel is marketing a line of Artie Bucco food products (named for Tony Soprano’s chef pal) and a “Sopranos Family Cookbook, as Compiled by Artie Bucco.” At last, a legit business for Tony.

Starting next month, the first set of delicacies a marinara sauce, a creamy Caesar dressing and dry ziti will be available initially only as a gift set and only at the HBO Web site.

The cuisine will make its way into stores by next year, along with Artie’s barbecue sauce, olive oil, other salad dressings and gourmet frozen pizzas.

Anna Nicole delivers ratings

New York Times TV critic Caryn James may call it a “cruel joke of a reality series,” but America’s eating it up, reports People magazine.

Sunday night’s premiere of E! Entertainment Television’s “The Anna Nicole Show” premiered to record ratings numbers, says the Hollywood Reporter.

In fact, the half-hour peek inside the life of the former Playboy Playmate, 34, who married well, if briefly (to the very old, very rich oilman J. Howard Marshall II, who died in 1995 at the age of 90), outperformed the debut episode of MTV’s “The Osbournes” the series that inspired “The Anna Nicole Show.”

Smith, her black poodle Sugar Pie and Smith’s pink-haired assistant posted a 5.5 overnight rating in Nielsen Media Research’s 55 metered markets, making it eligible to rank as the highest-rated series premiere on basic cable. Each ratings point represents 1,055,000 households.

By comparison, Ozzy and the gang on “The Osbournes” premiered to a 2.8 household rating last spring.

‘Dear Abby’ has Alzheimer’s

Kansas City, Mo. Pauline Phillips, the creator of the “Dear Abby” advice column, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, family members revealed Tuesday.

Pauline Phillips began writing the column after her twin sister, Esther Lederer, started writing a similar one for the Chicago Sun-Times in 1955. Lederer, who wrote as Ann Landers, died in June.

Phillips’ daughter, Jeanne Phillips, now writes the Dear Abby column.

Phillips, 84, has not been involved in the day-to-day business of the column for a couple of years, Universal Press Syndicate spokeswoman Kathie Kerr said.