People

By Guy D. Garcia

His performance as a gregarious geriatric rejuvenated by aliens is one of the high points of Cocoon, the sci-fi fantasy that has become one of the top summer box-office hits. Offscreen, however, veteran Actor Don Ameche, 77, seems already to have found his own fountain of youth. He reports he performed the movie's swan dives and jackknives in "all but a fraction of a shot." His secret: "a lot of hard work," including a daily five-mile walk and a 20-to-25-minute aerobics workout most mornings. For 35 years he has limited himself to a one-meal-a-day diet. Ameche would rather spend more time with his six children, eleven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren than make another movie. But he has no intention of slowing down. Says he: "I do everything I want to do--in moderation of course. There's no reason to stop growing when you're 77." And at the top of your form.

Her portrayals of embattled, strong-willed women (in Norma Rae and Places in the Heart) won her two Academy Awards and forever erased her flibberti-Gidget, Flying Nun image. At first glance, Sally Field, 38, seemed to be mining the same emotional vein in Murphy's Romance, the new movie she made in Arizona with James Garner. It is about a divorcee who moves to a small Western town to take over a horse farm with her twelve-year-old son. But wait, this is no grim battle with mean local bosses or foreclosing bankers. "It's a lighter film," says Director Martin Ritt, who worked with Field on Norma Rae. "We had a great time. Sally is a natural at doing comedy." Aha, back to Gidget maybe? "This is not like that at all," contends Ritt. "It's a grownup comedy." Adds Field: "It's about learning to choose to be in a healthy relationship in your life. Breaking the pattern of always picking to lose. Picking to win." Anyone who remembers her "you-like-me-you-like-me" Academy Award speech last March will not be surprised by that sentiment.

Question: Who is the first batter in the major leagues to be the 4,000th strikeout victim of a pitcher? Answer: New York Met Danny Heep. After two fast-balls and a curve that fooled him badly, Mr. Heep became the latest answer to a trivia question on the occasion last week of Nolan Ryan's unmatched milestone. A crowd of more than 20,000, including Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth, gave the Houston Astros pitcher a two-minute standing ovation when he reached four grand. Ryan, 38, chalked up four more batters before leaving the game in the seventh inning. (The Astros won 4-3.) That 4,004 K mark is 96 ahead of his nearest rival, Philadelphia's Steve Carlton, currently sidelined by an injury.

As a champion of thoughtful, unflinching journalism, Edward R. Murrow established an indelible image for news broadcasters, whether reporting from a microphone in Britain during World War II or narrating later TV documentaries from a CBS studio. A daunting character to re-create, but for Daniel Travanti, who plays Murrow in an upcoming HBO movie, the hardest part of the performance was duplicating Murrow's heavy cigarette habit. Travanti, 45, who finished filming only days before starting his sixth season on Hill Street Blues, gave up smoking ten years ago. He was forced to light up constantly on the Murrow set. The old pleasure was not there. "They made my throat hot and sore," he recalls. One reason may have been that to make sure he did not renew his old habit, the cigarettes he used were filled with herbs instead of tobacco. --By Guy D. Garcia