Rosie sings Martha’s praises

Radnor, Pa. Rosie O’Donnell says that if she still had her talk show, she would use it as a forum to defend Martha Stewart.

“I’d be singing Martha Stewart a love song every day. I want every housewife in America to band together and refuse to let them tear down one of the most successful female entrepreneurs in our country’s history,” she said.

O’Donnell said her fans shouldn’t worry about her because she gave up her show and magazine.

“I had to let go to remember why I started doing this,” O’Donnell said in the Nov. 9 issue of TV Guide. “The deification was pretty intense. You lose your perspective.”

A run for her money

Radnor, Pa. Halle Berry said it was sometimes hard to keep up with Pierce Brosnan in the new James Bond movie “Die Another Day.”

Berry, who won a best-actress Oscar this year for “Monster’s Ball,” said one especially tough scene required the pair to run alongside a moving plane.

“The minute I took off running, I saw smoke coming out of Pierce’s feet,” said Berry, who plays a character named Jinx. “My legs just couldn’t go fast enough.”

The 34-year-old also said she likes the way Bond women are changing.

“They are becoming stronger and more intellectual,” Berry said in the Nov. 9 issue of TV Guide.

Just keep an open mind

New York Brian De Palma wishes critics wouldn’t go into his movies with preconceived notions.

The director of such films as “Scarface,” “The Untouchables” and “Carrie” said reviewers panned “Mission to Mars” and “Bonfire of the Vanities,” because the films weren’t what they expected.

“All I ask is that you look at the movie,” De Palma told The New York Times for Sunday’s editions. “But c’est la vie. With criticism, you’re basically being measured against the fashion of the day, and if you don’t fit into what the line of clothes is that year, God help you.”

De Palma’s latest film is “Femme Fatale,” featuring Rebecca Romijn-Stamos as a con artist and Antonio Banderas as a paparazzo with whom she forms an alliance.

‘Lost in Space’ villain dies

Los Angeles Jonathan Harris, the flamboyantly fussy actor who portrayed the dastardly, cowardly antagonist Dr. Zachary Smith on the 1960’s sci-fi show “Lost in Space,” has died. He was 87.

Harris also worked with Pixar Animation Studios in recent years, supplying the voice of Manny the preying-mantis magician in “A Bug’s Life” and the elderly doll repairman in “Toy Story 2.”

“Lost in Space,” which ran on CBS from 1965 to 1968, was a sci-fi takeoff on the “Swiss Family Robinson” story in which the castaway clan was trapped amid the uncharted fathoms of space instead of on a deserted island.

Harris’ character, Dr. Smith, was a saboteur who caused the Robinson family’s ship, Jupiter II, to fly off course but he also found himself trapped with them in the craft.