Celebrity News

Norwegians like gangster TV

Steven Van Zandt. In Springsteen’s E Street Band. Had his own group “Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul.” Wears that omnipresent head rag. Played Italian American gangster Silvio Dante on “The Sopranos.” Now in a Norwegian TV series. And producing the original Rascals in concert, opening the Richard Rodgers April 18.

My hello was, “You’re calling from where?”

“Norway. Where I’m shooting a television show. Look, it’s a very conservative society. No crime. They loved ‘Sopranos’ and me because I’ve worked here. So came this TV idea. A one-hour dramedy about an American gangster in the town of Lillehammer. It went on local TV and was a big hit with 20 percent of this small country watching. Since I only speak English, I’m subtitled in Norwegian.

“Netflix liked the show, and ran eight episodes with everyone else subtitled. A subscriber channel doesn’t need a sponsor. I’m also the producer. Although America doesn’t like foreign stuff, it got 2 million viewers and picked up for Season 2. We film in Lillehammer, but in the US it’s spelled ‘Lilyhammer.’ ”

I guess it was clear. I’m still confused. But onto his next month’s shtick.

“I spend every penny I earn on projects. I haven’t patience to wait for investors. My angelic wife, Maureen, and I are funding this theater deal ourselves. We’re producing it.

“We’re there for three weeks. Stage goes dark. Huge screen behind. The Rascals talk to the audience. Young guys play them as youngsters. Then it’s the original ones from 40 years ago and they’re fantastic. It’s really not a concert or a Broadway show.”

I guess that was clear. I’m still confused.

LEADING the applause at soon-to-open “Motown the Musical” was Motown’s musical genius himself Berry Gordy . . . Shove the Twinkies and stuff the economy, supermarket Fairway is expanding. Opening its half-dozenth store. This one in Chelsea . . . Roseanne: “I like hot dirty regular sex in back seats. Makes me feel powerful. In control. I’ve done it with ladies.”

LAST week newspapers reported a story about widow Tara Tyson Kulukundis, 68, refusing to leave her Southampton mansion despite its $25 million sale. Even her son couldn’t convince her. Loooong ago she’d do discos. Dance, carry on until accompanied out and home. She in back of her limo. Accompaniers ordered to follow in a cab. The house, decorated in white, had a swimming pool and she’d throw slightly out of control parties beginning 2 a.m. This once actress has always been colorful.

BRUNCHING at P.J. Clarke’s, Sigourney Weaver and Christopher Durang . . . Burp from Robert Wuhl: “Single greatest threat to my health is the state of movie comedy.” . . . To questions asking qué pasa with the statue of patriot Nathan Hale (hanged by the Revolutionary Brits) which stood in front of City Hall since 1891? He’s now standing in City Hall Park.

SITTING front row, directly behind goalie Henrik Lundqvist at the Garden’s Rangers-Capitals game, only Plexiglas protected me from a 160 mph puck. I remembered King Henrik telling me:

“I’ve gotten hurt. My jaw was broken when the puck hit my mouth and I wouldn’t go to a hospital until I got home to Sweden two days later. I could eat only soup. A goalie must be flexible. I’m not. Yoga helps, but I’m stiff. I have to ice my hips and knees.”

Age 31, 6-foot-1, 195 pounds, begun skating at 4, he says: “I do rituals. Before I go out I hit the wall with my stick. And eat the same junk food. Mexican, pasta. And play things out in my head so if something goes wrong I’ve already pictured it and can handle it.

“I love New York. Only not Wollman Rink’s thick, dull rink skates. They’re terrible. Ours are like steak knives. Cut yourself, you’ll bleed.

“When I no longer play, I’ll have earned enough to open a restaurant.” Please. With Henrik’s mega-multiple-million-buck contract, he could open his own country.

Cameron Diaz: “As an adolescent in Long Beach, Calif., I loved ‘Iron Maiden,’ Ozzy Osbourne, boy bands like Whitesnake, guys wearing makeup who did their hair and dressed flashy.” . . . Note: Blonde anchorettes, spouting heavy news, feature necklines lower than their IQ. Can’t pronounce Iraq, Peshawar or Kabul yet, with things popping from their bras, they’re opining on the war.

DIANE von Furstenberg stitching a line of upper-class clothes for Gap Kids. Maybe it’ll be called GapRichKids . . . Scott Rudin with almost more Oscars and Tonys than hair: “I love going back and forth producing for movies and stage. Opening night is excitement. And it’s working with great people.” . . . Julian (“Downton Abbey”) Fellowes: “I want to stay in TV. I cannot write another British scene.”

NATURAL History Museum. Examining the new whales exhibit, two visitors moving at their own speed and studying different displays. When their trajectory collided, the gracious guide — who’d met them independently — introduced them. Replied the woman: “Oh, please, we sleep together.” Said her husband: “Oh, please, last night we were in bed together.”

Only in New York, kids, only in New York.