People, Jun. 17, 1996

FROM SPEED STAR TO DOGSTAR

Crisis: Who will help Sandra Bullock save the world from public transportation this time? Speed star KEANU REEVES has turned down an $11 million invitation to rejoin the actress in the sequel. Reeves' spokesman explained that the actor, who has been the subject of a college course and had bouts of Shakespeare, "doesn't really see himself as an action star." What he does see himself as is Eddie Vedder. Reeves will spend the summer touring with his grunge band, Dogstar. (One critic described its music as "Flipper meets an industrial accident.") The group has yet to sign a record contract.

EX-WIVES' CLUB IN AMERICA

It is no wonder that PRINCESS DI remains the more beloved of the royal family castoffs. Although another embarrassing account of her troubled life is now arriving in bookstores--called Diana: The Lonely Princess, it alleges affairs with a whole new host of unnamed men--Di maintained her dignity last week as she toured Chicago raising money for cancer research. Also Stateside was sister-in-law Fergie, whose trip was not born of altruism. In Manhattan, Fergie, who has signed on with the modeling agency Next Management, inked a deal with Simon & Schuster--reportedly worth $1.3 million--to write her autobiography.

SHE'S GROWING UP COUNTRY

Listen to her rich, brooding contralto and you can only assume that LEANN RIMES has loved and lost more times than Tammy Wynette. As it turns out, though, this Texas chanteuse is still at an age where heartbreak is a bad game of spin the bottle. Rimes, 13, is churning out teardrops across the country with her first single, Blue, a ballad originally written for Patsy Cline. Rimes' rendition has soared up the country charts, putting her in the company of idols like Wynonna Judd. "Everybody's starting to know who I am," Rimes says. But do fans believe she's 13? "No," she admits. "They want to see my birth certificate."

SEEN & HEARD

In his upcoming book, Jack and Jackie: Portrait of an American Marriage, celebrity biographer Christopher Andersen reveals that Marilyn Monroe was frisky indeed on the evening she delivered her breathy rendition of Happy Birthday to J.F.K. At a party for him later that night, Monroe headed for a window to do a striptease for government sharpshooters stationed on a roof nearby. That's patriotism, Demi Moore.

It seems unlikely that Janeane Garofalo will be singing the lyrics to the Brady Bunch song or otherwise manifesting media-savvy Gen-Xiness the next time she gets in front of the camera. The self-deprecating comic and star of the film The Truth About Cats & Dogs is tackling her first dramatic role in the gritty upcoming movie Copland. She will play a police officer who'd better not slack. Her partner? Sylvester Stallone.