ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, June 16, 1990                   TAG: 9006160167
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: E5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium


THE PEOPLE COLUMN

Jean MacArthur, the 91-year-old widow of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, had her longtime pal Barbara Bush at her side Friday when she cut a ribbon to open a new research center of the MacArthur Memorial.

MacArthur said it was her first speech. "I left all that to the general," she said.

"When I was with my husband during World War II, I visited many of the hospitals and I used to say to myself that I was so proud of the American military because they were so proud of being Americans," MacArthur said.

"She stood by the general through Corregidor, Australia and Japan," Bush said of her friend. "This quiet, gentle woman is loved by all who know her."

MacArthur commanded American troops in the Pacific during World War II and oversaw the occupation of Japan at the end of the war. He also was commander of United Nations forces in Korea before being relieved in 1951 by President Truman.

The $1.1 million expansion of the MacArthur Memorial was paid for through private donations. The city-owned memorial draws 80,000 visitors a year. MacArthur's body is entombed there.

\ Elizabeth Taylor was home in Santa Monica, Calif., recuperating Friday, "very weak" but in good condition after a two-month fight with pneumonia, Chen Sam, her spokeswoman said.

The violet-eyed actress, with hair coiffed and makeup on, waved and smiled to reporters Thursday night as she was driven from the hospital toward her Beverly Hills home.

"She's very weak from having been in the hospital for a very long time but thank heaven she's home," Sam said.

\ Bo Diddley said his counterpart in two television commercials, sports star Bo Jackson, really doesn't know diddly about playing the guitar.

"It's just like you see in the movies. The guitar player who was with us was almost like a stunt man," Diddley said. "It just looks like he's playing that guitar, just like it looks like I'm shooting pool. They had me shooting pool, but I can't shoot pool."

The first Nike ad, initially aired during the 1989 baseball All-Star Game, showed Jackson playing several sports and a superstar in each sport saying things like, "Bo knows basketball."

Then, on a stage with Diddley and his famous box-shaped guitar, Jackson tried to play a guitar, but Diddley told him, "Bo, you don't know diddly."

A few months later, Nike came back with a second ad with shots of Jackson and Diddley in a variety of leisure pursuits. It ends with Jackson supposedly playing guitar and Diddley saying the athlete does know diddly after all.

\ Genie Francis, who played Laura on "General Hospital" in the early 1980s, is joining the cast of ABC's "All My Children."

The romance between Laura and Luke gave "General Hospital" the highest ratings in daytime TV historywhen the characters were married in 1981.

On "All My Children," she will play Ceara Conner in the fictional town of Pine Valley, the network said.

\ Howard Hessman has quit his starring role in ABC's comedy series "Head of the Class."

The actor will "pursue various non-series projects," ABC said. He previously co-starred in shows such as "One Day At a Time."

Hessman played teacher Charlie Moore on the ABC program about a honors class for four years. His character will be eliminated, the network said.

"Head of the Class" is not on ABC's fall schedule. It is set to begin production this summer as a back-up series.



 by CNB