Overcoming depression

New York – In an upcoming “60 Minutes” special, Mike Wallace acknowledges that he tried to commit suicide two decades ago.

The 88-year-old Wallace, who is retiring from full-time correspondent duties, is the subject of a retrospective, “I’m Mike Wallace,” that airs at 6 p.m. Sunday on CBS.

Wallace has openly talked about problems with depression, but never said publicly that it got to the point of a suicide attempt. But when “60 Minutes” colleague Morley Safer questions him about it, Wallace says he did once attempt it.

“I don’t know why the hell you asked me that question, because other people have,” Wallace says. “It’s the first time I have answered it honestly.”

Wallace vaguely relates the circumstances behind the attempt, which involved taking an excess of pills, but says that the 20 years since “have been the best in my life.”

‘Champion of equality’

Cannes, France – France gave Sidney Poitier its highest arts honor at the Cannes Film Festival, where the culture minister praised the Oscar winner for tearing down barriers for black actors in Hollywood.

Poitier, 79, was named a commander in France’s order of arts and letters Thursday. In 1964, he became the first black performer in a leading role to win an Academy Award, for “Lilies of the Field.”

“You are the champion of equality between men,” Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres said.

Poitier thanked his parents, who were field workers in the Bahamas, for giving him a sense of honesty, integrity and compassion.

He also thanked the directors who broke convention to hire him, calling them “men who chose to change that pattern because it was not democratic, it was not American, it was not human.”

‘Star Trek’ items for sale

New York – Christie’s, the final frontier. These are the memorabilia of the “Star Trek” television shows and movies. Their mission – to fetch the highest prices they can at auction.

Marking the 40th anniversary of the TV series, Christie’s will be auctioning more than 1,000 lots of material taken from the archives of CBS Paramount Television, the auction house announced Thursday.

The items, including costumes, props, model ships and weapons, come from all the “Star Trek” television series and films, Christie’s said, adding that the auction is the first to be done officially by CBS Paramount.

Among the memorabilia will be a Starfleet uniform worn by William Shatner’s Capt. James T. Kirk in “Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan” with a pre-sale estimate of $7,000 to $9,000, and a Starfleet jumpsuit worn by Patrick Stewart’s Capt. Jean-Luc Picard estimated at $8,000 to $12,000.

The auction will be Oct. 5-7 in New York. The collection will be touring the U.S. and Europe before then.