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Nasdaq
- November 18th, 2001
Interview
with Catherine Oxenberg - More
than just Hollywood royalty
Nasdaq
Personal Finance - Banking footer
A revealing interview
with Catherine Oxenberg -- princess, actress and cookbook author
Catherine Oxenberg called me early in the
a.m., although she's on the "Left Coast" and I am in the East.
She lives in California with her husband, actor Casper Van Dien, her
daughter and his two kids. She is the daughter of HRH Princess Elizabeth
of Yugoslavia and studied acting with Richard Burton, with whom her
mother was romantically linked. She briefly attended Harvard, before
being "discovered" by the Ford Modeling Agency. Though her
intense eyes and blond locks have graced numberless magazine covers,
Oxenberg is best known for her TV-movie roles as Princess Diana, and her
2-1/2 years on Dynasty.
Do you have any new
ventures?
Catherine Oxenberg: Yes! I
will be going to Vancouver to shoot Sanctimony with my husband and Eric
Roberts. It's about a serial killer. I'm playing a pregnant lady. I will
be doing a children's film, Alien Incident and also, Flying Dutchman,
again with Eric Roberts and also Rob Steiger. I'm writing a cookbook,
Invokecatering, based on the Richmond cooking principles: "Whatever
love you have, whatever spirituality you have, will be infused into the
food." I believe in the alchemy of cooking, cooking as therapy. One
of the menus is for Thanksgiving dinner.
That's funny, I wouldn't
guess people think of you as the American Thanksgiving type.
Well, my dad's American.
It's true, though, I never spent Thanksgiving with my dad, and lived for
10 years in London and didn't celebrate there. And, I've made the
recipes up.
Do you have any
properties or trusts or responsibilities from being royal?
None at all! I always just
thought of my mother as being the Princess. Years ago, I went to
Yugoslavia -- they had billboards of me! Old people had tears in their
eyes. I didn't expect it. My mother has private land holdings there,
through my grandfather, who was the reigning regent. She's trying to get
some of them back, but I don't know how it will go. The political
situation there is tragic. If I went back there, I could get shot!
Would you do a USO tour
there?
I would go if asked,
sure.
Do you have a crown or
royal jewels?
On the Russian side of
the family, the other family members got them. I am the granddaughter of
the Grand Duchess Marie, wife to Vladimir, who was brother to the Tsar.
Are you involved in any
charities?
I used to be the head of a
foundation that gave $200,000 to children and the environment. Now, I go
to events and give money to causes such as Women Against Violence. I
also work with the 52nd Street Project, getting kids into the arts.
Do you spoil your kids?
I am a pushover with the
step kids, more strict with my daughter. She is raised spiritually. I
was raised by nannies.
What do you indulge in?
I spoil myself! I will buy
an antique, a Russian icon, furniture, a beautiful dress, lingerie.
Is it expensive to be a
movie star?
Yes! The maintenance as I
get older! I get facials and use Lumisol, a skin care line. I exercise
every day, yoga.
Do you manage your own
money?
I have been really lucky with money. I
invest really well. I have two portfolios: Prudential and Charles
Schwab. I have done really well with tech stocks: Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO),
AOL (NYSE: AOL), and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT).
What other kinds of
things do you have?
I bought a house for
$425,000 and sold it for $925,000. I have a big Range Rover, and I
crashed my husband's big Expedition! I would love to have horses, but
I'd have to move, which I may do anyway in the next couple years, to
have more land.
Do you get residuals from
Dynasty?
I get checks for 15 cents!
It's always playing somewhere in the world. It never dies.
Are you surprised?
Horrified! The way we
looked in the '80s.
It seems that Joan
Collins looks the same.
She does!
It seems like some of
those Dynasty people are on TV all of the time.
Well, Aaron Spelling
was angry when I left. He doesn't like people to leave him and I left
him. It definitely affected my career.
What's the most money you
ever got from Dynasty?
Not too much. I got the
minimum, starting out. I made more from my champagne endorsements than
from Dynasty. I made some money playing Princess Diana. I met her at her
wedding; my mother is Prince Charles' cousin.
What do you think is a
waste of money?
Well, I'll tell you what is
NOT a waste of money: I always pay the most for food, organic
vegetables, etc. I have only one body and it's a temple. I do have an
old dishwasher that I'm too lazy to replace.
Your mother hawks perfume
for Merv Griffin. Would you?
Yes! I think it'd be fun. I
did an infomercial
for Realm, a perfume, but they never paid me!
By
Tamar Alexia Fleishman
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