People in the news

Barker may guest host

Los Angeles – After 35 years as the host of “The Price Is Right,” Bob Barker hung up his microphone for good on Wednesday. Or did he?

After taping his last show, the 83-year-old icon said he would happily return to the “Price” stage if a replacement host isn’t found by the time the new season starts in the fall.

“They’re having trouble finding someone to do the show,” Barker said. “And I’ve told members of the staff here that … if they wanted me to do it for a few more months, I would do it.”

The production company left the door open Thursday on the possibility of such a return.”I am glad to know that Bob is thinking about coming back!” said Cecile Frot-Coutaz, CEO of FremantleMedia North America. “We haven’t made our final decision yet because, as you can imagine, we want to make sure that we leave no stones unturned.”

Among those reportedly in the running are Todd Newton of the E! network, Mark Steines of “Entertainment Tonight,” George Hamilton and John O’Hurley.

Reruns of Barker-hosted shows will play throughout the summer.

Dedicated to Cameron Diaz

New York – Criss Angel, who can be seen performing stunts on A&E’s “Criss Angel: Mindfreak,” is being mysterious about whether his relationship with Cameron Diaz is real – or an illusion.

“Cameron Diaz is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful actresses – A-list actresses – in Hollywood,” he told AP Radio News. She’s “talented, smart. Look at me – do you really think she would have any interest in a guy like me?”

Angel dedicated his latest stunt to Diaz this week. The illusionist appeared to escape Tuesday from a box encased in concrete and suspended 40 feet above the ground near Manhattan’s Time Square before it came crashing to the ground.

“I love you baby. Have a safe trip to Europe for your ‘Shrek’ tour,” he said in his shout-out to the 34-year-old actress, who reprises her voice role as Fiona in the DreamWorks animated blockbuster “Shrek the Third.”

Rancho Mirage names street for Dean Martin

Rancho Mirage, Calif. – An honor for Dean Martin has added another celebrity street name to one of Southern California’s desert playgrounds.

Dean Martin Drive joins a long list of thoroughfares named after celebrities such as Bob Hope, Dinah Shore, Ginger Rogers, Kaye Ballard, Gerald Ford, Gene Autry and Frank Sinatra.

Dean Martin Drive, formerly 35th Avenue, was dedicated Thursday, which would have been the late crooner’s 90th birthday. Martin’s son, Craig, was on hand.

Born Dino Paul Crocetti on June 7, 1917, in Steubenville, Ohio, Martin became an entertainment legend as a singer, actor and comedian. He owned a home in Rancho Mirage in the 1950s.

Connery declines role

Los Angeles – The next “Indiana Jones” flick will not be another father-son affair. Sean Connery says he will not return to play dad to Harrison Ford’s globe-trotting adventurer Indy.

Connery played Indy’s father in 1989’s “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” the third installment of the franchise directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by George Lucas.

“I get asked the question so often, I thought it best to make an announcement,” Connery, 76, said in a statement posted Thursday on Lucasfilm’s “Indiana Jones” Web site. “I thought long and hard about it, and if anything could have pulled me out of retirement it would have been an ‘Indiana Jones’ film.”

“I love working with Steven and George, and it goes without saying that it is an honor to have Harrison as my son,” he said. “But in the end, retirement is just too damned much fun.”

The fourth “Indiana Jones” film, not yet titled, is again directed by Spielberg and produced by Lucas. Shooting begins the week of June 18, at an undisclosed U.S. location, and the movie is due out May 22, 2008.