Pic takes 'Shots' at pols

GOOD MORNING: Presidents Reagan, Carter, Nixon and Ford--plus Saddam Hussein will be portrayed in "Hot Shots 2." They'll all be look-alikes, of course, while Lloyd Bridges plays the real president. Dick Crenna, who portrayed Ross Perot in "On Wings of Eagles," is playing Col. Denton Walters--you recall he was "Walter Denton "on the "Our Miss Brooks" series. Crenna spoke with Perot before he rejoined the race. The thesp advised him "to look taller"... The "Dave" troupe in which Kevin Kline plays the president, Sigourney Weaver the first lady, will be filming in D.C. on election day, Nov. 3. The WB production office has made certain the cast and crew requested absentee ballots. In "Dave," Kline plays a dual role--does he get two votes? ... Joan Collins and Steven Berkoff play dual roles in "Decadence" to film February in Cologne for Gargantua Prods. Wieland Schultz-Kiel is producer. Collins will be here next month to talk her "Rodeo Drive" pilot ... An informal memorial for John Hancock is planned on the "Love and War" bar set Friday. Hancock died in his sleep Monday. The company was truly fond of the very private, brilliant thesp who was the "teddy bear" of the troupe ... Adam Nimoy made his directorial debut on the "Rascals" seg of "Star Trek: The Next Generation:" he's indeed the next generation. Asked whether his dad, Leonard, was present on the set, Adam said, "No, but he was very helpful in the pre-production"... Jan Murray was at the Hyatt on the Sunset Strip to see his son, writer/producer Warren Murray, make his acting bow in the legiter--"Barry Moses' Bar Mitzvah."

FOUR NOVELS, a memoir and a collection of short stories--for $ 35 million. That's Mary Higgins Clark's new Simon & Schuster pact. She already has a $ 10.l million contract with 'em ... I can hardly wait to read Brandon Tartikoff's next book, about his life and times in the movie world at Paramount following his NBC-TV tell-all in "The Last Great Ride" (Turtle Bay) written with Chas. Leerhsen ... Harold Nebenzal's "Cafe Berlin" (Overlook Press) sold out at his Brentano's Brentwood book signing-reading. Nebenzal dittos Oct. 27, Nov. 5 at Dutton's and Book Soup. Praise for Nebenzal from Billy Wilder: "His (book) is the stuff real novels are made of."..."George Lucas, The Creative Impulse" (Abrams) is Charles Champlin's complete coverage of genius Lucas' "first 20 years"... Emmy-nominated lyricist Carol Connors called off her column-writing career (for Beverly Hills 213), admitting, "I'd rather be the interviewee than the interviewer"... Julian Myers celebrates his 54th year in the biz by opening his own P.R. office in Century City ... Joe Wizan and Todd Black celebrate their banner's ninth anni winding "Fire in the Sky" and starting "Wrestling Ernest Hemingway"... Loni Anderson's ecstatic about impending grandmotherhood--daughter Deidra and her husband, Chuck Hoffman, expect in April ... Nostalgia notes: Tommy Sands stars at Molly Bee's club in Oceanside, Nov. 13-14. Molly, wed for the seventh time, calls herself "the Zsa Zsa Gabor of the electric guitar set"... Rosemarie and Bob Stack partied newlyweds Shirley (Mitchell) and Jay Livingston at their home. It was a rare evening filled with music (natch) and love as everyone knew everyone for many years. The Livingston and (Ray) Evans music was played magnificently by Joe Marino and his trio--plus a treat from Corky Hale's pianistics and Ricardo Montalban's singing. Jay told me some of the behind-the-turntable stories of Nat Cole and their "Mona Lisa," as well as reminiscences of the great Paramount music department whose table in the commissary was often sought by stars such as Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper ... Mebbe Henry Mancini knew before any of us that Ginger Rogers would receive a Kennedy Center Honor--his new CD, "Mancini Top Hat: Music From the Films of Astaire and Rogers" (RCA), is out in time for the Honors.

A PREVIEW OF THE FLOATS in the Rose Parade--to be Grand Marshal'd by Angela Lansbury: "Awards Night" will be the Bank of America float. Rick Chapman's Festival Artists/Floatmasters has six classic movie monsters driving to the Oscars in a 1929 Dusenberg Cabriolet. They include: Count Dracula in the rumble seat, Frankenstein driving, Wolfman, the Mummy, the Phantom of the Opera and the Bride of Frankenstein. They are all dressed in their (floral) finery and the car is streamed with film. Universal is assisting. Rick's also building the first bungee-jumping float for the New Year's Day extravaganza ... Julie Andrews will be honored at the Oct. 24 United Nations Day celebration at the Bel Age. She's Goodwill Ambassador for the U.N. Development Fund For Women (UNIFEM) and has traveled extensively (Senegal this summer) to promote the advancement of women, improving their lives and the lives of children. Nov. 24, Julie opens a new UNIFEM office in Japan ... Paula Wagner directs, Carole Bodie, Milie Prezioso and Phyllis Stuart produce "Ladies" by Eve Ensler at the Westwood Playhouse Sunday and Monday to benefit homeless women. Shirley Knight delivers a special reading, Linda Lavin hosts.