Crowe talks to Kidman on Oprah

By LIZ SMITH

Kidman

Bonaduce

Danza

WE DUG so deep three months into our marriage...we had to dig really deep and that's what we'll do and what we're in the process of doing." This is Nicole Kidman, submitting to some intense questions from her longtime pal Russell Crowe on last weeks Oprah "Oscar" special. Russell was asking about Nicole's relationship to her new husband Keith Urban who went into rehab shortly after the honeymoon. Unlike Julia Roberts interviewing George Clooney, Nicole and Russell, who were filmed in Australia, seemed oddly uncomfortable. But I liked the Oprah show; it was different. And only she could have convinced the super famous to sit down for such a format. I hope she'll show this again sometime to all you celebrity watchers who missed it. Some people found this special --where Julia talked to George ... Russell to Nicole ... and Sidney Poitier to Jamie Foxx -- to be trite. But I especially enjoyed Julia and George kidding around with one another. The pregnant Miss Roberts has to be the most natural and appealing of creatures. She looks great. She and Clooney both excoriated their many friends who go in for ultra plastic surgery. Julia finds it disconcerting to meet people who have had "entire head transplants."

DANNY BONADUCE, the ex "Partridge Family" star, did an MSNBC turn the other eve blaming Paris Hilton for all the problems of the world. She was held up -- by Danny and others -- as the devil behind the misbehavior of Britney, Lindsay, Nicole and others. Paris Hilton may be useless as a talent, but she is perfect as the celebrity de jour. I say - party on, girl. But please, don't have children. Bonaduce has been everywhere expounding on celebrity train wrecks. Mostly he is busy talking about his own substance abuse from which he is now "recovered." He is somewhat humility-challenged, however. Danny had one astute line on Paris. "She's like Typhoid Mary. She carries the infection, but it doesn't affect her. Everybody she befriends ends up in rehab. Not her." Of course, Danny does illustrate an excellent point on the culture which now celebrates dysfunction and addiction and then - the cure.

THE WINGS Women of Discovery Awards happen at Cipriani 23rd street Thursday and the entire Thurman family, including Uma will be there, plus Dr. Jane Goodall and many others. It's already SRO but you might try to crash ... David Riva's book party at Rizzoli on 57th Street was a smash. Everybody wanted "A Woman at War: Marlene Dietrich Remembered." This champagne and chocolate get-together drew an unusually exotic crowd. ... Al Roker, the Zagats and Zabars are honoring the 60th birthday of chef Lidia Bastianich at Chelsea Piers tonight. Top chefs have blown their white toques preparing a tasting menu. This also benefits the Careers Through Culinary Arts Program. Call 212-987- 47111 ... Also today, a Mardi Gras lunch benefiting the Historic Harlem Parks Coalition and Central Park at Doubles with Michael Henry Adams the star attraction.

SARDI'S is still the place celebrities hope to find themselves hung on the wall. So Thursday they added Tony Danza. ... Don't miss Terry Allen Kramer's new brilliantly received hit "Gutenberg! The Musical!," which moved to the Actor's Playhouse at 100 7th Ave. from 59th Street ... Today, Elizabeth Taylor turns 75 with a lavish blowout in Las Vegas for family and friends. She'll take over one of those big casino ballrooms. She won't say which one. Taylor adores Las Vegas. She married one of her many husbands, Eddie Fisher, there. But she never holds a grudge -- against a city.

(Email Liz Smith at [e-mail])