Jamie Foxx

• Jamie Foxx is on the cover of Chilled magazine's latest issue. The occasion is connected with his nine-part digital series "Off Script," sponsored by Grey Goose vodka. In the series, the Academy Award-winning actor interviews such celebs as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson Sarah Silverman, Denzel Washington, and Vince Vaughan. Here are a few comments from his own interview with the magazine.

Q: We hear you created the summer cocktail "The Golden Goose." Tell us about it.

A: Yeah, the Golden Goose is my own twist on the Moscow Mule. It's got all the great ingredients of a classic Mule -- Grey Goose vodka, lime, ginger beer -- plus we added passion fruit into the mix. It's really light and refreshing. It's a callback to the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Q: Have you always been a vodka fan?

A: Of course! can't write a song with "Blame It On the Goose" and not be a vodka fan. Vodka is always the best way to start the party, and there's no party like a Jamie Foxx party.

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Richard Overton

• Richard Overton is 111 years old and a celebrity in Texas or anywhere else our military veterans are revered. Here's a bit of a story about him published in the Dallas News on a day he was sitting on his porch in Austin, puffing one of the dozen or so cigars he smokes each day.

On Richard Overton's 111th birthday on May 11, the town renamed his street [in his honor]. Some 200 people came out for the party on his front lawn, lining up to take a photo with Overton like kids waiting to meet Santa Claus.

Many brought gifts, like fancy cigars and bottles of whiskey. That’s his drink of choice -- a whiskey and Coke -- and when his caretakers are pouring, it’s always more Coke than whiskey. His cousins estimate he received more than 40 bottles that day, now dispersed throughout his home in kitchen cabinets, a bedroom closet and dresser drawers. ...

He’s sitting in a lawn chair on the front porch of the Austin home he built nearly 70 years ago, working on his fifth Tampa Sweet cigar on a 91-degree sunny day. The smooth tunes of the Isley Brothers flow from a portable speaker. Birds are chirping in the late afternoon breeze.
“I’m feeling pretty good today,” Overton says, emphasizing the word pretty, because any day spent on this porch smoking cigars is a pretty good day for the 111-year-old.

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Kathie Lee Gifford

• Most of America is familiar with Kathie Lee Gifford from one of her endeavors -- TV host, commercial spokesperson, producer, singer-actress, and so forth. But, now she has loaned her name to a line of wines produced by Scheid Family Vineyards of Monterey, CA. Here are a couple of her comments in an interview with Connecticut Magazine.

Q: You have had so much success, but is this a case of getting better with age?

A: It has nothing to do with age, but an opportunity to do something new. I was approached about getting involved in working with the Scheid family and its wines, and I thought “Why not?” But, I am not the kind of celebrity who lends my name, takes the money and runs. I wanted to be a partner in it and be part of it. The Scheids make excellent wines, although honestly, I wasn’t familiar with them at first. I had given up on California wines. The California chardonnays that I had loved had become so oaky, thick and heavy, they looked like a urine specimen. When we talked about it, the Scheids said, “We can make a chardonnay wine like you remember.” They did and we came up with a label and then we went on to do something again, this time a red blend. And have just kept going.

Q: Do you consider yourself a wine expert now?

A: No, not an expert, but I know what I love and I don’t compromise on that. It’s a hard business to break into. And, most celebrity wines aren’t successful. I was excited with the pinot grigio we introduced last year and then a pinot noir that is very unique. The new craze is a white blend with like 10 wines in it, and that’s our new baby coming. The name will be Bountiful. ... Because of the shortage of cork, our wines have screw tops. Our tagline is “Too easy to open, too hard to put down.”

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Pope Francis

• Pope Francis keeps surprising people with his observations on a variety of topics not usually addressed by the head of the Roman Catholic Church. This week, in delivering his weekly Angelus address, he interpreted the passage in the Gospel of St. John telling of the wedding feast of Cana at which it is written that Jesus turned water into wine.

• “How is it possible to celebrate the wedding and have a party if you lack what the prophets indicated was a typical element of the messianic banquet?”

• “Water is necessary to live, but wine expresses the abundance of the banquet and the joy of the feast.”

• “A wedding feast lacking wine embarrasses the newlyweds. Imagine finishing the wedding feast drinking tea! It would be shameful!”

He then concluded, “Wine is necessary for the celebration.” 

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Lilly Bollinger

• Madame Lilly Bollinger of the iconic Champagne house of Bollinger was asked sometime around 1960 why she drank Champagne regularly. Her answer has become legend in the wine universe.

"I drink it when I'm happy and when I'm sad.

Sometimes I drink it when I'm alone. When I have company, I consider it obligatory.

I trifle with it if I'm not hungry, and drink it when I am.

Otherwise, I never touch it -- unless I'm thirsty."

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Jillian Michaels

• New ones pop up all the time, but Jillian Michaels endures as one of our most recognizable fitness gurus on TV (hosting "The Biggest Loser" for its first 11 seasons), in magazines, and online. This is from her website.

"When you're trying to lose weight, alcohol is the No. 1 enemy. ... Simply, alcohol can sabotage your weight-loss efforts. It releases estrogen into your bloodstream, promotes fat storage, and decreases muscle growth. As soon as you have a drink, your body eats up all the glycogen (stored glucose) in your liver, makes you hungry, and reduces your inhibitions, so you're more likely to grab that chicken wing or stuffed potato skin at happy hour.

"Plus, alcoholic drinks contain many more calories than most people think — for example, a 20-ounce serving of beer can pack 250 calories, a six-ounce glass of wine contains 120, and a 1.5-ounce shot of liquor contains about 100. And, that's without any sugary mixers. If you're serious about losing weight, it's best to put alcohol aside until you're in maintenance mode."

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Kevin Zraly

• Founder of the prestigious Windows On the World Wine School and holder of a James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award, Kevin Zraly speaks with authority. This is an excerpt from an interview with the Poughkeepsie Journal.

Speaking to the growth of the Hudson Valley wine region, Zraly, a New Paltz resident, said the region is what got him into wine to start. Older wineries like Benmarl Winery in Marlboro and Brotherhood Winery in Washingtonville, as well as newer wineries like Whitecliff Vineyard & Winery in Gardiner and Millbrook Winery established the region for its variety of grapes and flavors.

"It is world-class wine. Not local Hudson Valley, not United States. It is world class." 

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George Strait

• Country music superstar George Strait discussed his tequila connections in an interview with The Daily Beast.

Q:  What is your drink of choice these days?

A: Water. I try to drink as much water as I can. And when I run out of water, I drink Codigo Tequila.

Q: You are, of course, part owner of Codigo Tequila. Has the spirit always been a favorite?

A: Eight, nine years ago I started going to Cabo San Lucas, in Baja California, Mexico, and spending more and more time there. Met some great friends there and they introduced me to this tequila that was never sold to the public. I drank a little bit of tequila, but, when I did, it would go into a shot. And I tried to get the taste out of my mouth as fast as I could with some lime and salt. [Codigo] was like a new thing for me. A drink that wasn’t like the typical tequila that I’ve ever tasted. It’s definitely my drink of choice now. That’s for sure.

Q: How do you like your tequila?

A: I’m not a big Margarita guy. They’re a little sweet for my taste. Palomas are great. I sometimes drink those. But my favorite way is just on the rocks straight. And my preference is añejo.

Q: What else do you like to drink?

A:  I like Jack Daniel’s. I like wine.

Q: Do you like alcohol with food?

A: I think that during dinner, wine is great. After dinner, tequila is great. Before dinner, tequila is great.

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Booger McFarland

McFarland then and now

• Anthony "Booger" McFarland played eight seasons (1999-2007) as a National Football League lineman for Tampa Bay and Indianapolis, winning a Super Bowl ring with each. The current ESPN employee revealed in an interview on the "Mike and Mike Show" that in those days there was something special on the pre-game locker room buffet table in cold weather.

"When I came into the locker room, you came in, you've got the little food stations, they had the chicken broth, and they had, next to that, the players had brought in a little whiskey. So, I took a little shot of whiskey. ...

"Yeah, the whiskey kinda warmed the inside up. Even though I don't drink ... when you give a shot of kind of firm whiskey, it kinda burns a little bit."

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Suzanne Somers

• As one of TV's hottest sex symbols while starring in the series "Three's Company" (1976-84), Suzanne Somers a;sp became known for her health regimen as much as her comedy acting Now, at age 70, she still is a popular healthy lifestyle guru. In an interview with toofab.com, the author-actress-lecturer lets people in on one of her secrets.

"I love Patron Silver tequila! I don't even think it's a bad thing.

"There's a lot of great information coming out about tequila. 

"It has little to no sugar, so you don't get fat from it, and it also acts as a probiotic in your GI tract.

"So, I do it for medicinal purposes, pretty much one a day."

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Jessica Alba

• Apparently alcohol is the key to achieving Jessica Alba’s hair glory. That, at least, is a conclusion we're expected to draw from the latest stupid use of tequila -- the actress appearing on the daytime TV talk show "Ellen" on which host Ellen DeGeneres helps her go through the steps of using products from Alba's hair care line.

“As a mom of two young girls," Alba says during the skit," sometimes I feel a little tired, so I also spritz my face when I wake up in the morning.

“Here’s a little secret: I keep a shot of tequila on my vanity. And, mommy’s thirsty!”

She chugs a shot, supposedly of tequila, then makes a face and declares, “Ah! It’s real!”

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Jeremy Clarkson

• British media personality Jeremy Clarkson endeared himself to American TV viewers with his antics and wit as one of the hosts of BBC America's zany "Top Gear" automotive series. However, he also became known internationally for his battles with producers and offensive comments and characterizations of various nations and peoples that led to cancellation of the show. In an interview with Britain's popular show biz journal Radio Times, he talks about his troubles over remarks about Mexico.

“Genuinely, if I looked back at the 'Top Gear' Wikipedia section marked ‘controversy,’ then Mexico is the one where we definitely got it wrong.

"Describing Mexicans on 'Top Gear' as feckless, flatulent and lazy was definitely wrong. I went to see the Mexican ambassador and apologized to him. I didn’t have to. The Beeb [BBC] didn’t tell me to, but it was out of order... So we went down and said we were really sorry and got absolutely paralytic on tequila with him. That was a good day.”

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Priyanka Chopra

• Priyanka Chopra, the India-born star of TV's "Quantico" series, apparently was a bit confused when people kept handing her shots of tequila before such things as a red carpet celebrity walk and an appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," shots she obviously willing downed. Here's her take on it, excerpted from an interview with InStyle.

Describing her appearance in a white cutout lace dress for her first appearance on the DeGeneres show:

“I was trying really hard to get into that dress, so I hadn’t eaten all day, which little girls should not do. Please eat! I had that tequila shot and I was really wonky after that, just from one, because it was on an empty tummy.”

And, again:

“I really started believing it was a very American thing. I was at the Emmys and it happened again. I was given tequila and I was like, ‘American red carpets have to start with tequila'."

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Enrique De Colsa

• Enrique De Colsa has been the master distiller for the upmarket Don Julio tequila company for a dozen years, and has worked in the industry for more than a quarter-century. He was interviewed by Haute Living at the recent Diageo World Class Global Finals in Miami. Here's a quote from that conversation.

Q: What is your favorite Don Julio variety?

A: My favorite is the añejo, but my baby is Don Julio 70. It was my unique baby because I made it all by myself. Even ([the late] Don Julio didn’t taste it. He was alive when we released it, but it was released in fall 2011 as an LTO [limited time offer, although it later became a permanent offering] and he passed away in March of 2012, so he was not able to drink it at this time.

Although his sickness prevented him from tasting it, he held the bottle in his hands, proud of our team.

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Mariano Rotelli

• Mariano “Pops” Rotelli, a resident of the Atlanta suburb of Senoia, revealed the secret of his longevity to the Newnan Times-Herald -- at the party marking his 107th birthday.

“I’ve had a shot of whiskey in my coffee every morning for 100 years. I went to the doctor three times in 100 years. He’s dead. I’m still living.”

Asked if he’s particular about the type of whiskey he has each morning, he said he'll drink whatever his son-in-law buys. It’s usually Jim Beam Black.

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John Adams

• John Adams, who went on to become the second President of the United States and lived to the ripe old age of 91, wrote many letters home to his wife Abigail while he was in Philadelphia participating in the Continental Congress in 1774. In addition to other topics, he wrote about his experiences imbibing with the other fledgling statesmen. Here are some excerpts included in author Mark Will-Weber's new book, “Mint Juleps with Teddy Roosevelt: The Complete History of Presidential Drinking.”

"I was at Mister Chew’s mansion last night, and I drank Madeira at a great rate and felt no inconvenience [the word for hangover in those days] the next morning."

... and, since he began most days with a draft of hard cider that he treated like medicine, he wrote this on July 26, 1796 ...

"In conformity to the fashion I drank this Morning and Yesterday Morning, about a Jill [also spelled 'gill,' and meaning a quarter of a pint] of Cyder. It seems to do me good, by diluting and dissolving the Phlegm or the Bile in the Stomach.”

... and the very next day ...

“I continue my practice of drinking a Jill of Cyder in the Morning and find no ill but some good Effect.”

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Lynn Tolley

• Lynne Tolley, master taster and global ambassador for the Jack Daniel's distilling company, is the great-grandniece of Jack himself. She sat down for an interview with the Memphis Commercial-Appeal newspaper. Here are two comments she made at the time.
 

Q: Who, past or present, would you most like to have a drink with?

A: Jack Daniel, of course. I'd love to sit down and talk to him, but I tell you this: He would be shocked that so many women are drinking his whiskey. He died in 1911, and women didn't drink then unless they were sick and needed a tonic.

Q: You've been a taster for Jack Daniel's for 25 years (her favorite cocktail is a Manhattan made with Gentleman Jack). Every Friday afternoon, if you're not traveling as the ambassador, you join other tasters. What is that group like?

A: About half of us are women. In my estimation, women are the best tasters because the process is done by aroma and taste, and I think women have a keener sense of smell.

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Robert Evans

• Robert Evans is editorial manager of the humor site Cracked and author of the book "A Brief History of Vice: How Bad Behavior Built Civilization." Here's a slice of his take on human civilization as expressed in an interview with National Public Radio.

"Alcohol is a big part of the reason that we are here in the first place," Evans said, sharing what is called the Drunken Monkey hypothesis.

The hypothesis says that about 10 million years before homo sapiens appeared on the scene early primate ancestors learned to eat fruit that had begun fermenting. When fruit reaches that point, it's in its most caloric-dense state and has the greatest benefit for the animal eating it.

"It's not just alcohol that was sort of responsible for the rise of agriculture, it was the desire to throw really good parties."

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Margot Robbie

• The Australian actor/model Margot Robbie learns more than her lines. In an interview with Harper's Bazaar, she reveals one of her new guilty pleasures, learned from a wardrobe mistress on the set of the Tina Fey film "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" in which she appeared. 
 

"I like to have a beer shower -- a nice beer in the shower. [Fey's costumer mentioned it to her and ... ] I was like, 'What's a beer shower?' She said she drinks an ice-cold beer in a boiling-hot bath or shower, and it made her sleep.

"I was like, 'That sounds perfect!' So, now when I get home from work I have a beer shower or a beer bath if I have time."

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Aisha Tyler

• She's a standup comic, an actress, a director, a TV talk show panelist, a model, an entrepreneur, and she's on the cover of the latest issue of Chilled magazine, which covers the adult beverage industry and its many activities and personalities. Here's an excerpt from that interview with the multi-faceted Aisha Tyler, who has a line of bottled cocktails called Courage+Stone about to come out.

Q: What is your home bar like?

A: It's enormous! A five-tier bookshelf. I probably have 100, 150 bottles. I'm a big gin enthusiast. I love amari [a tart digestive] -- American and foreign. A lot of American whiskey, that's my favorite. I have a lot of old bottles, too, including some old Pineau des Charentes.

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Eva Longoria

• Eva Longoria is known as an actress, designer, model, and entrepreneur. She also likes wine, as she said in a new online  interview with Yahoo! Style.
 

Q: What’s with the wine slogan [on her T-shirt]? And do you have a favorite wine?

A: I’m pretty obsessed with wine. Wine love, more wine, wine goals. I’m getting better with wine.

I am obsessed with California Cabernet Sauvignon, not just because I live in California, but there’s just an amazing boldness to them. But, I’m recently been drinking Super Tuscans, so I’m exploring that now as well.

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Gertrude Bowden

• While you may never have heard of Gertrude Bowden, she is quite a celebrity in Bramble House, the English nursing facility she now calls home. That's because she just turned 103, and celebrated with cake, party favors, plenty of visitors, and a special libation. 

A quote from her granddaughter Susan Gillespite:

“She’s always kept herself busy with crafts and hobbies, like sewing and baking.. She’s always been a very hard worker, and if you ask her what the secret to living so long is she’ll tell you it’s a tot of whiskey a day.

"She puts it down to my grandad, but he died 31 years ago and she’s [still had a drink] every day since.”

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Johnny Depp

• Megastar actor Johnny Depp compares drinking to child rearing. (He has two -- children, that is.)

"When kids hit one year old, it's like hanging out with a miniature drunk."

How so?

"You have to hold onto them. They bump into things. They laugh and cry. They urinate. They vomit."

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Rodney Dangerfield

• The comedian-actor Rodney Dangerfield, who dies in 2004 at the age of 82, came up with plenty of oft-repeated lines during his long career. "Life is just a bowl of pits," "When I was born I was so ugly the doctor slapped my mother," and "My psychiatrist told me I was crazy and I said I want a second opinion. He said, OK, you're ugly, too" are just a few of them. Here's one that particularly pertains to the cocktail world.

"I drink too much.

"The last time I gave a urine sample it had an olive in it."

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Anthony Bourdain

• The celebrity chef/author /TV personality, commenting on a visit to the African nation of Tanzania on his cable show "Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown":

"Even on the Serengeti Plain, it ain't a barbecue if there ain't some kind of beer."

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Jimmy Breslin

• The legendary New York journalist and novelist Jimmy Breslin, 83, was interviewed at the bar at Sardi's restaurant in New York City by the Daily News the night he was to be inducted into the Deadline Club's Hall of Fame. He had just ordered a Diet Coke, hardly the sort of beverage for which he had a famous fondness.
 

Q: How are you doing, Jimmy?

A: I wish this was whiskey. Whiskey cured everything. Those days are gone. And I don’t wanna be here. I have work to do. I’m not worth any fucking award, I can tell you that much. I wanna be home working on my book.

Q: What’s it about?

A: Who knows? It’s about New York. So what else is doing?

Richard Overton

• Richard Arvine Overton is, at the age of 107, America's oldest living veteran of World War II. The resident of East Austin, TX, who says he smokes up to a dozen cigars daily. He also discussed some of his other preferences in an interview with Fox News."I got good health and I don’t take any medicine. I also stay busy around the yards, I trim trees, help with the horses. The driveways get dirty, so I clean them. I do something to keep myself moving. I don’t watch television.

• "I may drink a little in the evening, too, with some soda water, but that’s it.

• "Whiskey’s a good medicine. It keeps your muscles tender."

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Franka Potente

• German actress Franka Potente says she had a drink to ease her anxiety before a romantic scene with Johnny Depp in the 2001 film "Blow." But she told New York magazine, the move backfired, causing her to slur her way through the scene.

"We were shooting in a bar in Los Angeles and there was a power outage or something, we had some extra time, and the bartender was like, 'Oh, Johnny Depp and everyone, you have to have a drink. Ah, you're German, okay, let's have Jagermeister.'

"And I was really nervous that day. I had a lot of lines I had to do a Boston accent or something, and it was so hard, and I was really affected because I had too much Jagermeister. I was young, I didn't know any better."

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Christina Hendricks

• Men, do you think you have no chance of getting close to "Mad Men"  siren Christina Hendricks? Well, that probably is true -- if you don't drink whiskey. Here's what she had to say on the subject in an interview with The Sun of London.

"I love it when a man orders Scotch. Most women find it a big turn-on.

"Women like to feel a man can protect us when we need that or feel vulnerable. A bit of swagger mixed in with a good sense of humor is important."

"I've always been attracted to men who exude confidence and a sense of purpose in life. A man is much sexier when he is able to project a very clear impression of who he is and can take charge of situations.

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Jessica Simpson

• Singer Jessica Simpson, 31, who is expecting her first child, revealed in an interview with Elle magazine what she likes to drink -- both before and during pregnancy.

"Givin' up my Scotch? My Macallan 18? That was hard for me!

"Though now being pregnant, you crave other things. A big thing of water sounds great!"

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Jack Nicklaus

• Golfing legend Jack Nicklaus, in an interview with the Golf Channel, theorizes on why today's pro golfers are better, as a group, than the oldtimers when it comes to making crucial putts under pressure.

"Don't take this the wrong way, please. In those days, most of those guys were club pros. Their usual thing was, after a round, to come in and have a drink and socialize. They did that when they played tournaments. I always felt drinking did not do well with nerves. The guys today don't do that. I never did that.

"Did I have a drink? Sure, here and there, but never while I was playing in tournaments. I always thought that was terrible for your nerves, and terrible for your touch, because I think the most important thing is to be totally there. I don't think guys did it because they were nervous, it was just their way of life. It was a social way of life, and golf was a social sport. Guys take the game today as more athletes, and I took it that way. I'm not saying these guys were drinkers, but it was part of their life. It's not part of the culture today."

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Pat Sajack

The game show host

• TV game show host Pat Sajak admitted in an interview with ESPN2 that he and longtime eye candy Vanna White used to knock back numerous drinks during breaks in taping their "Wheel of Fortune" show.

"Our dinner breaks would be 2½ hours long while they drove in new cars and boats and gazebos and stuff. So, at NBC in Burbank we had a place called Los Arcos across the street, and they served great margaritas.

"So, Vanna and I would go across and have two or three or six and then come and do the last shows and have trouble recognizing the alphabet."

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Tom Brokaw

Tom Brokaw

• Former “NBC Nightly News” anchor Tom Brokaw is profiled in New York magazine. Among the questions he answered ...

Q: What’s your drink?

A: We have a Polish audio technician with whom I have worked all over the world for years. He makes a killer home-brew lemon vodka.

We have shared shots with Gorbachev, and toasted the fall of the Berlin Wall, the visit of Pope John Paul to Warsaw, the release of Nelson Mandela, and most of the historic events of the last 30 years.

I want to be buried with a milk bottle of Majik’s lemon vodka.

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Olivia Munn

In GQ magazine photo.

• The actress Olivia Munn, 31, has an unusual beverage that helps her get through physical workouts: tequila. She talked about it with Radar Online.

Q: What helps get you through a physical workout?

A: It seems weird, but I drink. I drink when I work out. I literally hate working out. My friends ask me if I want to go hiking up Runyon Canyon in Los Angeles and I'm like ... 'Why would you want to go outside? Why would you like to climb up a mountain?' I really do drink when I work out. I have to trick myself into thinking I'm doing something fun."

What does she drink most? Tequila.

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Daniel Craig

• Daniel Craig may be a star in his own right. but when he met the legendary Harrison Ford before they began filming "Cowboys & Aliens," he felt intimidated, as he revealed in an interview with Esquire magazine.

"You rarely get these opportunities to actually speak to people you admire. I think it's human nature to get a bit nervous around people like that, but certainly a coupe of large malt whiskies helped loosen my tongue.

"I was very open about how much he's influenced me. He's Harrison Ford, you know? He knows how to ride a horse, shoot a gun, build a house, fly a helicopter. But he's also very funny, very dry. Thank God. Could have gone either way, I suppose."

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Kyle MacLachlan

• The actor Kyle MacLachlan has a growing sideline as co-owner of the Pursued By Bear winery in Washington State. In an interview with The New York Times, he spoke tongue-in-cheek about the vagaries of finding a profit in such a difficult, competitive field.

MacLachlan: "I buy the barrels and (partner) Eric (Dunham) buys the grapes and pays for all the equipment, and then we split whatever profit there might be."

NYT: How big were the profits so far?

MacLachlan: "We were in the high four-figures last year -- almost $9,000 apiece."

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Jeneil Williams

As seen in Harper's Bazaar

• Jamaican model Jeneil Williams, who has been on dozens of magazine covers worldwide, was interviewed by the jamaica Observer. Among other things, she was asked ...

Q: What's your favorite drink?

A: A glass of perfectly chilled Pinot Grigio.

Q: What's been your most memorable experience since you've been working in the fashion industry?

A: Shooting with Karl Lagerfeld for the second time. It was really fun, it was like hanging out rather than working. It was for the Diet Coke campaign.

Q: What's your idea of the perfect date?

A: Simple lounging, going to the movies, and then to dinner with a nice glass of wine.

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Barbara Marx Sinatra

Barbara and Frank

• Frank Sinatra was known for his non-stop partying and legendary drinking bouts. However. some of that was a faced, according to his last wife, Barbara Marx Sinatra. This is excerpted from her new book, "Lady Blue Eyes: My Life With Frank Sinatra," published by Hutchinson.

"Those who drank and stayed up till the early hours -- Bill Holden, Robert Mitchum, John Wayne, Glenn Ford and Orson Welles -- were part of his in-crowd. Those who preferred a more staid lifestyle -- such as Tony Bennett, Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby and Henry Fonda -- were seldom invited, though Frank would often turn up at their places for breakfast at sunrise.

"When we went out, Frank almost always picked up the tab. He couldn't have cared less about money, and spent cash like a drunken sailor, giving $100 tips to busboys and waitresses.

"He was rarely drunk, and would order a Jack Daniel's on the rocks, take a sip or two, abandon it, then call the waiter to 'Bring another round.'

"He carried on like that all evening, completely in charge of his faculties while everyone else got smashed. Meanwhile, he was flirting with every female, but so discreetly that only the women noticed."

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Carine Roitfeld

• Carine Roitfeld, 55, who in a controversial move recently quit as editor-in-chief of French Vogue, spoke about her roots and her drinking preferences during a wide-ranging interview with the Financial Times of London.

Q: What do you like to drink?

A: "What do you like to drink? Vodka? Me, I don’t have vodka at lunch. It will be around 8 p.m. when I go home that I will have a little shot. It’s my Russian roots."

Q: What about champagne?

A: "A problem at fashion parties” [so before she goes out she will have a shot of vodka to ensure she arrives in a good mood.]

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Christa Miller

• The cast of the TV series "Cougar Town" downs a LOT of wine in the course of its weekly comedy episodes. In an interview with the New York Post, co-star Christa Miller, who plays bitchy Ellie Torres, talks about the drinking aspects of the series.

Christa: "You can ... turn the show into a drinking game. There’s one every time we drink, you have to drink, which is insane in some episodes. It’s crazy. Someone said that every time Ellie gives a withering glare to someone, you should drink. Which I thought was funny. Then I thought I should maybe tone down the withering glare if that truly becomes part of the drinking game. I don't want to hurt anyone."

Post: "Can you safely say that 'Cougar Town' could out drink 'Mad Men?' "

Christa: I feel like we have to. I mean, Jules [the character played by Courtney Cox] is drinking out of a candle holder in Mexico because she didn’t bring Big Joe [her oversized wine glass]with her. One of them actually fits two entire bottles of wine. It’s ridiculous.

Post: Obviously you're not really drinking wine on the show, what is it?

Christa: Grape juice. But you have to sip it. You don’t want to get a scene where you’re drinking a lot. Ian [Gomez, who plays her husband, Andy] had a scene where he lost a bet and had to keep chugging glasses, take after take, and the sugar headache is worse than being drunk.

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Sir Anthony Hopkins

• The iconic British actor Sir Anthony Hopkins, 73, is starring in the new film "The Rite." In an interview with CNN, he commented on his drinking history.

"I drank anything I could back in the old days. Whatever I couldn't eat, whatever I couldn't chew, I drank.

"Tequila was my hooch. That nearly undid me, drove me nuts, so I stopped. ... I just drink tonic water now or iced tea."

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Phil Keoghan

• Phil Keoghan, Emmy Award-winning host of the reality show "The Amazing Race," was interviewed for the January issue of Bon Appétit magazine about his food and wine interests.

"I have one glass of Pinot Noir every day. I have a note from my doctor to drink a glass of wine every day! I have the prescription framed at home. He said I have to focus on incorporating more olive oil and red wine into my diet to raise up my 'good' cholesterol, which was low.

"I'm not big on drinks and I don't drink much, but I absolutely love relaxing at home with food and a nice Pinot Noir."

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Sofia Coppola

• New York City-born Sofia Coppola, 39, daughter of iconic movie director Francis Ford Coppola and a very competent filmmaker in her own right, discussed her family's California winery during an interview with New York magazine's Grub Street staffers.

Q: Your father owns a vineyard. Do you ever take any interest in that at all?

A: In the vineyard?

Q: Yes, or in the wine-making process. Are you into that at all?

A: Yeah. My brother made a wine, and I don’t know as much about it as I feel like I should, but I’m going there for the holidays, and I love to be involved in it and visit and see what they’re making. I’m learning. ...

Q: Does anybody stomp on grapes there?

A: Not anymore, but there’s a bottle somewhere from when we first moved there. I was a little kid and stomped on some grapes, and they bottled it and called it Lafitte Sofia. So there’s a bottle somewhere from 1977 or something. [Laughs.] It’s probably in our cellar somewhere. But we don’t stomp on the grapes anymore. It’s more high tech.

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KT Tunstall

• Singer-songwriter KT Tunstall is a true child of Scotland. She even has a guitar made from an old Talisker whisky barrel. In an interview in the current issue of Whisky magazine, she commented on -- among many things -- her passion for whisky.

"Whisky for me is linked to the landscape, and I find there is a bit of escapism in whisky when I know where it's made and I've been to some of the places where it's made and I've learnt about how it's made.

"I really, really respect and appreciate the process and the unique aspects to different whiskies. And, I know how much passion goes into it. A lot of the time it's a natural process. Seeing these distilleries and these fantastic locations, there is something exceptionally romantic about it. It is the work of artisans."

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Lea Michele

• Lea Michele, the pint-sized diva of "Glee" who has made herself the darling of NYC and other burgs around the globe, is on the current cover of the UK edition of Marie Claire and a bit unwrapped on inside pages. In an interview with E! Online, Michele addresses her attitude toward drinking, smoking and drugs.

"I don't smoke and I don't do drugs. This show would be a huge pressure on someone who wanted to rebel and who wants to party, but I don't have those needs or wants.

"These days I have one glass of wine and I'm completely gone. I've never been a 'Lets go out and have a Cosmopolitan' kind of girl. I don't even think I've ever tasted a Cosmopolitan before."

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Patricia Clarkson

• Oscar nominee ("Pieces of April") Patricia Clarkson recently completed filming "Cairo Time" in Egypt. In an interview with PopEater.com, she answered questions about food and drink there.

Q: Did you eat a lot of Middle Eastern food?

A: To some extent. I don't know if you've known anyone who has gone to Cairo, but it's kind of like Mexico -- you get sick. But I never got sick, so whenever I ate, I ate pretty much the same thing. There was nothing for them to shoot if I got sick, so I was religious about it. But I had some beautiful food and beautiful Egyptian wine.

Q: So you're telling me you never got food poisoning ... but you were tipsy on the set.

A: [Laughs] Yes, that's all I drank. No, at the end of the week when I didn't have to shoot the next day -- oh my, the beautiful wines and the sun setting over the Nile...

Q: You've been described as having a whiskey voice.

A: I don't like whiskey at all, but I have always liked bourbon.

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Dan Aykroyd

• Canadian actor/entrepreneur Dan Aykroyd has been so busy of late pushing his Crystal Head brand vodka some people might forget his first foray into adult beverages was his line of Dan Aykroyd Wines. When he was told Canadian troops stationed in Afghanistan were allowed to have free beer but had to pay for wine for their two-drinks-a-month allotment, he quickly reacted by having hundreds of bottles of his wines shipped from Diamond Estates Wines & Spirits Ltd., located in Niagara-On-the-Lake, Ontario, to Afghanistan free. The Canadian Press asked for his comment on the move.

"I was on board the moment Diamond Estates mentioned their support of our troops with Dan Aykroyd Wines.

"This is a very proud moment for me as a Canadian and I hope these wines can inspire some light-hearted times during this difficult mission for our armed forces."

The wine donation will last for the duration of Canada's military commitment there, which will expire in 2012."

[Note: Aykroyd recently sold his one millionth bottle of vodka.]

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Christina Hendricks

• Christina Hendricks, a stunning member of the cast of TV's "Mad Men," has been named Esquire magazine's sexiest woman in the world. In the lengthy interview, she touches on many aspects of what she thinks about men. Here's just one.

Q: What do real men drink?

A: We want you to order Scotch. It's the most impressive drink order. It's classic. It's sexy. Such a rich color. The glass, the smell. It's not watered down with fruit juice. It's Scotch. And you ordered it.

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Michael Bublé

• The singer Michael Bublé is known for his exhausting tour schedule that would test the endurance of anyone. During an appearance on "The Late Show with David Letterman," the host asked him how he handles such a hectic schedule.

"I used to finish after the show and I enjoyed a nice glass of scotch, a couple glasses of scotch and a ciggy ... but it killed me, I couldn't stay healthy. ...

"You have to be an athlete. You have to actually stay physically and mentally healthy."

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Sean Combs

• The music/clothing/vodka/video/whatever entrepreneur was quoted in the New York Post when discussing Ciroc vodka, the spirit for which he is the official spokesman:

"If you're not drinking Ciroc vodka, then you're drinking pee-pee."

This from a guy who used to call himself P. Diddy.

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