'Nixon's' Stone nixes Oscars

GOOD MORNING: Although his "Nixon" is nominated for four Oscars, Oliver Stone won't be able to attend: He says he'll be in Mexico meeting with guerrilla commander Marcos in Chiapa. For a movie? "No, he asked me to come to try and help them (raise money)." As for future film projects, Stone was noncommittal; "I've done 10 pictures in 10 years -- and I'm exhausted." What about the Martin Luther King project? "I can't do it," he said. "It's a shame -- but the critics will kill me!" However, he was savoring the Chi crix choice of his direction of "Nixon," although he expressed disappointment in the pic's business. He returned here from Chi to enjoy Friday's dedication of his star on the Walk of Fame. He admitted, "I thought it would be corny, but I was very pleased." However he could not resist a few comedic remarks. "I realized on my way here (to the podium) that this is the Ides of March today. And looking up at the rooftops, it's quite possible I could get shot," he said referring to you-know-what, "so I'll make my speech short!"... Talking about the Oscars, Oprah Winfrey will open the show, instead of the usual, quick voiceover announcements of the celebs as they make their way up to my Oscar statue-flanked stage ... The reason Jamie Lee Curtis didn't join mother Janet as (announced) femcee of the ERAS "Best of Beverly Hills" fashion show last Wednesday: Jamie and director-husband Christopher Guest were welcoming the arrival of their newly adopted son, Thomas Haden Guest. They have a daughter Annie (9), also adopted. Jamie's completed her book, "Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born" (HarperCollins) -- about adoption ... Garth Brooks and wife Sandy have been told their August arrival will be a girl; they'll call her Allie Collier, a family name.

THE DEMOCRATS' PARTY BOSS in "My Fellow Americans" will be played by Wilford Brimley. He's a quick casting change, as Daniel Benzali had to bow out -- a conflict with his "Murder One" series sked. Lauren Bacall and John Heard join former Presidents Jack Lemmon (GOP) and Jim Garner (Demo) and current President Dan Aykroyd in the Peters Ent. pic for WB, with Peter Segal directing. No presidents, past or present, are called by name in the pic, Jim Garner told me. "And we're not blasting any administration. But we (Jack and I) know too much about the present president (Dan Aykroyd). We'll be having fun." Garner says he's wanted to work with Lemmon for a long time; coincidentally, "Jack and I were wanted for another picture at this very same time -- but this one is better." Lemmon, who recently wound his first Shakespeare outing, as Marcellus in "Hamlet," says director Kenneth Branagh "is brilliant, more than just a helluva director, but a filmmaker like a Billy Wilder or Orson Welles"... Herb Ross, who next directs Lemmon and Walter Matthau in 20th's "Out to Sea," says of the pic, "It's very evocative of George Burns," about two guys who used to be dancers, on a cruise ship ... Larry Hart, whose "Sisterella" bowed Sunday night at the Pasadena Civic with funding from Michael Jackson's music pubbery, says the musical is now plotted for Germany, Japan and Paris companies, in addition to the announced teaming with Miramax and Tribeca for B'way and a feature film. Composer, lyricist, author Hart (33), a past Grammy winner, admits, "I'm astonished by the whole thing -- I just wrote it to amuse myself." He says, "It could be developed as a feature role for Michael Jackson -- to play the Prince Charming role, Prince Jean-Luc." Two of Hart's favorite tunes in the show which Michael would (could) sing: "I Want To Be Loved By Somebody" and "I Will Be There For You"... Joey Bishop agreed to say only one word in director-son Larry Bishop's "Trigger Happy." The word, "Hello." But Joey also ad libbed, "Go to hell." They kept it in. The name "Gottlieb" appears on billboards throughout the pic -- Joey says it's his real name ... Leslie Caron returns for another vidpic in Prague, doubling for Paris in the '20s. This one is CBS' "The Reef," from the novel by Edith Wharton.

IMELDA MARCOS MEETS WITH producer-screenwriter Dan Sefton in Leyte this week to talk about her biopic. Sefton says his AMI banner and partner Lyle Sardie "have the financing in place, and she (Marcos) is not involved in the financing. She's being most cooperative, but we have creative control." Sefton recently wound "James Dean: Race With Destiny," which he scripted and was associate producer ... Oscar and Grammy-winning songwriters Jay Livingston and Ray Evans have a first in their career -- as the first Hollywood-oriented American songwriters to be saluted on Russian TV with two half-hour shows of their songs and history. It will be carried on 100 Russian and indie republics stations in April. Sony and British Airways sponsor. Joanna Stingray (BevHills High alumna Joanna Fields) developed the program. Meanwhile in D.C., ASCAP and the Smithsonian record Livingston and Evans for their archives with a three-hour studio concert-interview with an audience, to be videotaped April 12.