Plowright follows hubby's advice

GOOD MORNING: "Larry once told me, 'You're never really a success until you're a success in America.' " Joan Plowright revealed her late husband Laurence Olivier's words to me yesterday. She's a success, all right. Nominated for a supporting actress Oscar for her role in Miramax's "Enchanted April," Plowright said she's inundated with a "mini-flood" of scripts (six). "I keep saying I'm going back to the stage -- but --" She recently completed "Dennis the Menace" as Mrs. Wilson -- to Walter Matthau's Mr. Wilson. At the completion of the John Hughes movie, they told her, "See you at the sequel." Now, she's co-starring with Oscar winner Sissy Spacek and Mary-Louise Parker in a two-hour ABC Hallmark Hall of Fame "A Place for Annie" telepic exec produced by Marcie Gross and Annabelle Weston with Diane Walsh as producer. "Women are in charge again," laughed Plowright. (P.S.: John Gray directs on the San Diego site.) Plowright, who says she has a friend whose child died of AIDS, plays a nanny who attempts to adopt a baby with AIDS. Sissy plays the nurse, Parker's the infant's natural mother. Plowright winds the TV'er March 3 in time to return to her long-absented home in London before returning here for the March 29 Oscars ... Look for a total change of pace for Bruce Willis. In Rob Reiner's Castle Rock "North," Willis would play a kind of "guardian angel" to a 10-year-old boy on a global search for new parents ... Linda Bloodworth-Thomason will be in front of the TV cameras Monday on the set of "Designing Women"-- talking to thousands of high school girls via the Satellite Learning Network's Changing Channels. It airs via satellite to schools across the country on Galaxy 6 Transponder 21. Linda talks with Beth Pike about the "glass ceilings" that exist for many women in the biz. And a discussion of Thomason's scholarship program for women. The show will be taped for PBS.

TONY CURTIS AND ATTORNEY LISA DEUTSCH will wed Feb. 28 in a civil and religious ceremony. Curtis now has this new chapter for his just-completed autobiog for William Morrow titled --"Tony Curtis"... Sylvia and C. Thomas Howell welcomed daughter Isabelle Yasmine H. Wednesday. Papa's other productions include "That Night" with Juliette Lewis from WB and TNT's "The Killer Angels" with Tom Berenger, Martin Sheen and Jeff Daniels ... Angie Dickinson unveiled her singing pipes as she sang along with Burl Ives and Randy Sparks' band at a cultural center fundraiser in Mt. Vernon, Washington. Angie reports the 87- years-young Ives sounds like half his age. Dickinson's having fun with her "outrageously evil" role in Oliver Stone's six-hour 2007-set "Wild Palms" for ABC. "I'm a demon you don't believe," she laughs ... Sam Cohn and Jim Wiatt will party Garry Marshall and Lowell Ganz on Sunday's N.Y. bow of their "Wrong Turn at Lungfish," which preemed here at the Coronet last year. George C. Scott and Tony Danza reprise their roles and Jamie Gertz co-stars. Danny DeVito and Rick Moranis are among those also flying in. Marshall, who has absented himself from movies for a year to direct the play, returns to helm "Exit to Eden" for Savoy in July ... Michael York returns to B'way joining the cast of "Someone Who'll Watch Over Me" April 6 for four months, taking over from Alec McCowen. The play also stars Oscar-nominated Stephen Rea ("The Crying Game") and James McDaniel ... Cliff Robertson is Carol Burnett's fifth "Love Letters" co-star and she's his second correspondent -- they're reading 'em at Sun Valley Rep ..."The Circus of the Stars" was picked up by CBS for its 18th year under the Hollywood big top. Bunny Stivers and Jack Wishard co-exec produce.

HARRY CONNICK JR.'S off to the airport again -- this time to hometown New Orleans to celebrate his 25th birthday as he's crowned King of the 25th annual Bacchus parade ... It's a reunion in Atlanta on the 24th for Richard and Lili Zanuck and Alfred Uhry on their "Driving Miss Daisy" site where Gov. Zell Miller tosses a bash for 'em and "Rich in Love" co-stars Jill Clayburgh, Kathryn Erbe and novelist Josephine Humphreys ... Kirstie Alley, who credits Narc-Anon with saving her life, presents their 1992 "Drug Free Hero" awards tomorrow at the Four Seasons. Honorees include Hollywood stuntman "Wild Bill" Mock. Kirstie is international spokeswoman for Narc-Anon ... The song is ended but the memory lingers on: Ruby Armstrong, who started in MGM's music dept. in 1945, is retiring today. She's worked with the movie (and world) music greats including Johnny Green, Andre Previn, John Williams, Franz Waxman, Miklos Rozsa, Alex North, Dimitri Tiomkin and many others. ... David "Fight Back" Horowitz is the new mayor of Brentwood and will be installed March 6 ... Five of the 10 Oscar-nominated short films will be presented at the Aspen Filmfest's "Shortsfest" Feb. 25-27.