THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 5, 1994 TAG: 9408050529
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: MARC TIBBS
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
When she walked into the office that day, the whole room sparkled from the radiance of her smile.
Graceful, elegant, poised, were the images that seemed to surround her.
Her arms rested perfectly, yet effortlessly at her side, just like she'd learned in those countless pageant rehearsals, no doubt.
Miss Virginia USA had arrived for an interview.
Meanwhile, he saunters onstage, crotch in hand and rhythmically rocking his body from side to side. He snatches the microphone from its stand and utters his signature, high-pitched greeting:
WHAAAS ZUUUUP!
Hardly a likely couple, Chesapeake's Pat Southall and television comic and film star Martin Lawrence. If you thought the Michael Jackson-Lisa Marie Presley wedding was hard to imagine, try pondering a picture of these two coming down the aisle.
But sources close to the Southall family say wedding plans for Lawrence and Southall are well under way.
News of the nuptials was first reported Saturday by Virginian-Pilot and Ledger-Star staff writer Toni Whitt, who in a story about a Portsmouth nightclub revealed that a Southall family member had been searching for a place to hold a wedding reception.
Lawrence, star of the Fox sitcom ``Martin'' and former host of the saucy cable show ``Def Comedy Jam,'' was most recently in Hampton Roads for a Southall picnic in May.
Through a family spokesman, Southall declined to comment on the engagement. She was on her way to South America on Wednesday to fulfill some of her duties as Miss Virginia.
For the past several years, Southall has been the essence of Virginia genteelness. A graduate of Western Branch High School and James Madison University, she was first runner-up in the Miss USA pageant, fourth runner-up in the Miss Virginia-Miss America pageant, crowned Miss Portsmouth Seawall 1993, Miss Madison, Miss Western Branch, Miss Teen Virginia and Miss Teen Tidewater.
Her reign as Miss Virginia has been distinguished by her work with victims of breast cancer. Her mother, Mildred Southall, died of the disease last year.
Lawrence, on the other hand, is best known for accomplishing the impossible - using material too irreverent for ``Saturday Night Live.'' NBC execs were nonplused earlier this year when the comic leapt headlong into a routine about women who lack feminine hygiene.
But while the couple may seem as unlikely as Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, or maybe even Lyle Lovett and Julia Roberts, a Southall confidante said a New Year's Eve wedding is being considered with the ceremony slated for Portsmouth's Third Baptist Church.
``He's nothing like he is on TV,'' the source said. ``He's romantic, thoughtful and very down to earth.''
Just to be on the safe side, let's hope they keep Lawrence away from the mike.
Got a comment or a complaint? Call Marc Tibbs' INFOLINE number. Dial 640-5555 (245-5555 from the Peninsula) and enter category 6272 (MARC). ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
Beauty queen Pat Southall and raunchy comic Martin Lawrence may be
getting married.
by CNB