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

DATE: TUESDAY, September 21, 1993                   TAG: 9309210212
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: from wire reports
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

THE PEOPLE COLUMN

Lorena Bobbitt, the Prince William County woman accused of cutting off her husband's penis after she says he raped her, is about to get another burst of national publicity.

Bobbitt, who had not previously spoken to the media, has granted exclusive interviews to Vanity Fair and ABC's "20/20" that will be made public later this month.

\ Which celebrity pitch-folk do Americans believe the most? Candice Bergen, TV's irascible Murphy Brown, and Bill Cosby, the lovable Dr. Huxtable, according to a firm which has studied the stars since 1984.

Bergen, who does her pin-dropping bit for telephone carrier Sprint, became the first woman to hold the top spot in the annual study by Video Storyboard Tests.

Right behind her is perennial favorite Cosby, pitchman for Jell-O. Although his "Cosby Show" lives only in reruns, it apparently hasn't dimmed his ability to sell.

Behind them in the top 10 are Cher, Cindy Crawford, Burt Reynolds, Regis Philbin, Susan Lucci, Sally Struthers, Ray Charles (last year's No. 1) and Kathie Lee Gifford.

The results are based on the responses of 3,000 people polled by telephone and by mail, said Video Storyboard.

by CNB