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"I thought it would be fun to be in front of the camera instead of behind for a change—especially since I've said such bad things about actors," chuckled Author Truman Capote, trying to explain why he had signed up for his first movie role ever. Capote, the scriptwriter for Beat the Devil and The Innocents, will portray an eccentric, killer-minded billionaire in a Neil Simon comedy titled Murder by Death. "The movie will have more special effects than Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist combined," claimed Truman, whose co-stars will include Peter Folk, Alec Guinness and Elsa Lanchester. Has the author of In Cold Blood finally changed his mind about thespian intelligence? "Actors are stupid, but I'm not stupid," he replied. "Anyway, this will give them a chance to carve me up."
Ex-Mobster Mickey Cohen, now 61 and dependent on a cane, gets around nonetheless. His latest conquest is Actress Edy Williams, 33, former wife of soft-core Pornographer Russ Meyer (producer of such unrememberable screen classics as Vixen). "He's my Sir Galahad. He's incredibly strong; I only hope some of his strength rubs off on me," says Edy of her hero, whom she met at Boxer Bobby Chacon's Los Angeles training camp while posing for publicity pictures. "I'm used to guys chasing me, but when we were introduced he just stood back and I chased him instead," confessed Edy, adding that she is not quite ready yet to start sharing Cohen's digs. "He's a very orderly man. I'm very messy like all artistic people, and I think that might upset him."
Relations between British Tory Leader Margaret Thatcher and her ousted predecessor, Ted Heath, are as frosty as ever, but the two Conservatives do have one thing in common. Both like to be photographed in yachting hats at the helm of a boat. Ocean-Racer Heath, however, need fear no competition from Thatcher, who last week on holiday was content to be aboard the twin-engine Melita on the placid canals of Brittany. "It really is so important to keep a boat tidy," counseled the Tories' First Lady. "Any housewife will tell you, the smaller the space, the more important it is to have everything in its place." Even so, might there be time between chores to catch Prime Minister Harold Wilson's economic address on the telly? "I can do without seeing Harold for a week," snapped Margaret. "I am sure he feels the same way about me."