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Show 1 Sunday. January 8. IN8 The Daily Herald. Prom. I lah - TV 41 American Masters' orofiles aricaturist Al Hirshfeld on PBS By Jay Bobbin, Tribune Media Services s one thing to be a star, s another to be the subject an Al Hirschfeld drawing. i i Renowned for his caricatures stage and screen talents, the pst is 95 years old and still go-- l strong. He's profiled in "The he King: me Al rtirschteld brv," an entertaining biogra- that has its broadcast-Tpmiere Wednesday as an merican Masters" presenta- ,n on PBS (9 p.m. ET). Seen often in the Sunday New hrk Times, Hirschfeld's work on bountiful display in the kurlong program. Also consid- :d is the game he plays by V ncealing the name of his lighter Nina several times in ch of his drawings. Celebrities lio discuss being drawn by him :Iude Katharine Hepburn, Robert Goulet and in interviews filmed before colleen ue- eir deatns jhurst and theater producer seph Papp. Susan Made by writer-director Dryfoos over a span of 13 ars, "The Line King" was re used theatrically in 1996. "I'm try pleased with it," Hirschfeld . WWW urn mmm bpts says, "especially since it gives caricature a new dimension. The film takes it out of the classification of 'cartoon,' which is a literal interpretation of what I do. 'Caricature' seems a little more abstract." In fact, a caricature is a very personal interpretation of what the artist sees in someone he's drawing. "The word 'caricature' implies making fun of something," Hirschfeld reflects, "but that was never my intention, and it still isn't today. I never found making a big nose bigger particularly witiy or interesting." That hasn't kept some personalities from complaining, though Hirschfeld says that happened mostly "in the early days. Over the years, it's become more of an accolade and a sign of acceptance. Also, you also gain a certain authority as time goes on. You have the feeling if something worked before, it'll work again, so that assurance makes it more comfortable to do what you do." For Hirschfeld's followers, a big part of what he does is to hide Nina's name in his works. "It began when she was born," he explains. "I put it in there T SCRVINB MOST ALL OF CENTRAL UTAH WITH FREE MOBiLf SERVICE 6q v Co)fn J U 11 MIIIIMIIHIH. VMM everywhere, because Walter Winchcll had guessed in his column that my wife and I were another child." The number of "Ninas" in a Hirschfield drawing appears next to his name. The record to date is 40, w hich he placed in his take on Whoopi Goldberg. "There's a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who got a S60.000 grant from the Pentagon to research the 'Ninas' in my drawings," Hirschfeld marvels. "I can't believe it, but it's true." Fc S m Lviy GCSHTAPBCra somewhat facetiously, never realizing it would become a national insanity. Some years later, I put in the name of one of her girlfriends as a birthday present. I got calls and flowers from HRBRRf J 4tMHMiW Al Pacino plays a Los Angeles police detective determined to catch a master criminal in the drama "Heat," Sunday, Jan: p.m. ET) on N BC. movie 3 1 (8-1- |