Sinatra bows out of Greek shows

GOOD MORNING: In a surprise move, Frank Sinatra canceled his Friday Sept. 23, and Saturday Sept. 24 dates at the Greek Theater. The reason I was given: "He has to return to the studios for added work on his 'Duets 2' album to meet a deadline for Capitol's release sked." Sinatra returned Saturday from dates in Baltimore, Boston, Tanglewood, Mass., and River Bend, Cincy. And he is skedded to go out again Sept. 29-30 for Dallas and Oct. 4-5 in Houston. As for queries about his health, I was told by those who spent Labor Day with Frank and Barbara at the Malibu home that he was in great spirits ... Kirk Douglas received news of his Kennedy Center Honor en route to Israel, where he and wife Anne will dedicate and donate a children's park in Jerusalem. This is yet another humanitarian contribution by the Douglases. As noted here Wednesday, Douglas is joined by Aretha Franklin in the honorees' circle, and the three additions are Broadway director Hal Prince, folk singer Pete Seeger and classical composer Morton Gould. It was former honoree Gregory Peck's suggestion to the board for Seeger to be named. Peck was impressed by a docu on Seeger and he told me, "That kind of music should be honored and preserved." When Seeger was notified, he said, "I'm honored -- I'll go out and rent a tuxedo"... When Prince Charles visits L.A. for UK/LA, he'll get a chance to see how Hollywood royalty lives -- Candy (Mrs. Aaron) Spelling volunteered their home for a private reception for the Prince during his five-day stay, which also includes attending the "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein" preem ... With David Caruso set to attend the Emmys, the only nominee left on the "hoped-for" list is David Letterman -- who will let Don Mischer know on Saturday whether he can red-eye out and back ... The Emmys' Governors' Ball bash is produced this year by Carleen Cappelletti and the decor and theme will be "Old Hollywood." Rococo caters.

ANNETTE BENING'S FIRST ACTING appearance post-arrival of her baby boy will be Oct. 1 at Glendale's Chevy Chase Country Club. It's a benefit for the A Noise Within classical theater company of Glendale. Bening was trained at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theatre (ACT) with many of the resident artists of A Noise Within, and she's remained a friend to them. Her friendship is proven with this appearance. I'm told Bening will either host, narrate or introduce numbers performed by the group's members ... Jimmy Stewart, Brigadier General, U.S. Air Force (Ret.), has been awarded the Legion of Valor's Exceptional Citizen's Medal at the Legion's Fresno convention. A letter of congratulations was sent Jimmy from Air Force Chief of Staff General Merrill A. McTeak, and Gen. Barry A. McCaffey, Commander in Chief, U.S. Southern Command, accepts for Stewart. Unfortunately, Jimmy is not strong enough to personally receive the medal. However, when I spoke to him Wednesday, he sounded a little stronger, but is heavily grieving the loss of his wife Gloria, who died Feb. 16 ... The Hollywood Foreign Press' Yani Begakis is at Cedars-Sinai undergoing treatment for a heart problem ... Evelyn (Mrs. Charles) Aidikoff is recuping post-hip surgery -- same medic who hipped Angela Lansbury and Elizabeth Taylor ... Wally George, recuping post-prostate cancer surgery, returns to his "Hot Seat" TV cameras Sept. 26 ... On next week's "She-TV," Linda Kash hosts as -- Barbra Streisand, carbon'ing Barbra's HBO special in which she (Kash) is all over the show: in the booth, doing the lighting, the cameras, etc. ... Tonight, Patti D'Arbanville back-to-backs herself as a regular on Fox's "New York Undercover" and ABC's "My So-Called Life" as a recurrer. Patti, who welcomed three children in rapid order as Mrs. Terry Quinn in N.Y., commutes to L.A. to accomplish the hefty return to the biz ... Harrison Ford received a prolonged standing ovation in Venice at the screening of "Clear and Present Danger," reports producer Mace Neufeld. In Venice, the movie was shown subtitled in Italian and, in sequences where English subtitled the pic's original Spanish dialogue, English also subtitled the Italian! laughed Neufeld. Ford continues on to London to meet with Sydney Pollack to cast for "Sabrina." Someone who sounds/looks like Audrey Hepburn?

MY THANKS TO BUZZ MAGAZINE, whose October issue includes yours truly in its list of "The 100 Coolest People in L.A."... Christina Crawford is here during September from her Idaho bed-and-breakfast, with her latest (fourth) book, "No Safe Place: The Legacy of Family Violence" (Station Hill Press). She'll also lecture a two-hour class at the Learning Annex here -- as she has at the other four annexes around the country ... Arthur Freed, "The Man Who Helped the Lion to Roar," will be tributed by William Osteck Sept. 28 at the BevHills Library.