No paparazzi greet Peck in Paris

GOOD MORNING: There were no paparazzi outside the Hotel Ritz in Paris, Gregory Peck reported as he and wife Veronique checked into the Mohamed Al Fayed-owned hotel on Sunday. The Pecks arrived from Prague and were driven from the Paris airport to the hotel, as they have for years, by one of the Ritz's celeb-conscious-and-cautious chauffeurs, Peck noted. The hotel is packed and, Greg said, in the bar, everyone was talking about the spectacular speech given by Diana's brother Charles Spencer at the funeral service in Westminster Abbey. On Saturday, the Pecks, as everyone else in Prague, had watched the funeral on TV. Peck was there on invitation of the Czech government for a four-day "Forum 2000" with Nobel laureates, and leaders of state and religion, including the Dalai Lama. Czech President Havel and Elie Weisel, wrote the scripts -- plus words by Winston Churchill and Mark Twain -- delivered by Peck, Lynn Redgrave and James Earl Jones at a concert featuring the country's Philharmonic, playing selections from Dvorak, Mozart and Gershwin. Everyone was conscious of the sad day and when a giant chorus finale'd with the Gershwins' "Lord I'm On my Way" from "Porgy and Bess," there wasn't a dry eye in the house. "And there was a standing ovation for 20 minutes," said Peck. The Pecks arrived in Prague via L.A. from Melbourne where he'd completed his cameo in Robert Halmi's "Moby Dick," playing Father Mapple -- the role played by Orson Welles in the 1954 pic, in which Peck was Captain Ahab. Now it's Patrick Stewart with harpoon in hand. Peck viewed already-shot footage, reports, "I think Halmi does quality work. And it's better at four (TV) hours than the two we had. Patrick Stewart is a great actor and Franc Rodham is a terrific director." On this first arrival in Melbourne since 1959, when he landed with Ava Gardner and Fred Astaire for "On the Beach," Peck said he was greeted by the press who reminded him of Ava Gardner's quote: "If you've got to make a picture about the end of the world, Melbourne is the right place to do it." Peck answered the press in his best Jimmy Stewart drawl, "Aw, she didn't mean it!"

LIZA MINNELLI CANCELED SEPTEMBER dates in Chicago and New Orleans on medic's orders to rest her pipes. She's resting in Paris following Aug. 27-31 dates in Italy. ... "Hercules" and "Kull" star Kevin Sorbo is being treated at Cedars-Sinai for an aneurysm in his left shoulder. He is due to start his next feature, "Black Dog," in Atlanta in two weeks, followed by a November return to New Zealand and the "Hercules" series. He had been due to be one of the first guests on "Home Team With Terry Bradshaw." Bradshaw tapes six shows here Mon.-Wed., wings home to Ft. Worth for two days with family, returns here for Sat.-Sun. "NFL On Fox." "Fergie" was also to have been a guest this week with Bradshaw, but she has re-booked for a later appearance. ... John Wayne's "appearance" on the Coors Light commercial, which aired last night on "Monday Night Football," was from a scene in "The Comancheros" (1961), with Stu Whitman removed from the computerized scene. The "Bonanza" bunch added for added fun included Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, Dan Blocker, Pernell Roberts. Joe Pytka directed. Wayne's airborne "High and the Mighty" (1954) is being restored by Michael Wayne for a vidcassette release in 1998. ... Demi Moore will be another presenter on the Emmys, Sunday. She is a producer of HBO's "If These Walls Could Talk," which received nominations including best telefilm and the President's Award. "That's why the finest actors are attracted to TV," notes Emmy exec producer Don Mischer.

THERE'LL BE A VACANT CHAIR at the HRTS season-opening lunch Thursday at the BevHilton, when 20 former presidents are seated on the dais -- as Brandon Tartikoff is remembered. The six network presidents will also be at the launching lunch. Among the Tartikoff projects that are continuing: "Ozzie (formerly Ernie), the Elf Who Rescued Christmas" for ABC, with Will Vinton creating the puppet-live action special; "Blade Squad," at Col-TriStar with Peter Iliff scouting locations this week; plus the "Beggars and Choosers" vidpic/pilot for Showtime with Peter Lefcourt writing. Decisions on the myriad of other projects will be determined later this week. ... Over at Dodi Fayed's office at Sony (there eight years), the future of these projects will also be determined presently: "Peter Pan," "The Rock Hoppers" and "The Secret Thriller" features. ... Investors in B'way's "Titanic" receive their first capitalization check, Oct. 10 -- only 10 months after its opening! One of the happy recipients, making his first legit investment, is Bill Haber, now also a producer (and investor) in "The Scarlet Pimpernel." Says the legit newcomer: "It taught me to believe in myself." ... A record crowd of 25,000 AIDS Project LA supporters is expected to turn out for the Sept. 28 AIDS Walk, which begins and ends on the sky set at Paramount. It's expected to top last year's $4.3 million raised.