CELEBRITY WATCH
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From staff and wire reports

Letterman celebrates mom's 80th

NOBLESVILLE, Indiana -- David Letterman might be a big star, but everyone knows he's a mama's boy at heart.

The host of "Late Show" and Indiana native visited his mother, Dorothy Mengering, at her home in Noblesville for her 80th birthday over the weekend. The mother and son went to the Classic Kitchen restaurant to celebrate.

The place was closed to the public for three hours for the party.

"Dorothy was the star, not Dave," said Steve Keneipp, owner and chef at the Classic Kitchen restaurant. "Dorothy was the event."

When she's not living the quiet life in Noblesville, Mengering makes appearances on Letterman's popular talk show and has come to be a recognizable public figure.

Ford loves to fly

SEATTLE, Washington -- Harrison Ford says he loves to fly.

The actor who initially gained fame by playing the pilot of the spaceship Millennium Falcon on the "Star Wars" series spoke recently at a fund-raising gala for Seattle's Museum of Flight.

The event was part of an effort to raise $3 million for children's programs at the museum.

Ford, who flew his own float plane into Seattle, said he was happy to help "engage kids in the romance and the mystery and the adventure of flying ... I know what it means," he said, The Associated Press reports.

Sometimes, Ford uses his flying for more than fun.

Earlier this month, Ford piloted his own helicopter to pick up a boy who had been lost overnight in a forest in northwestern Wyoming. It was the second time he plucked a person from the wilds near one of his homes.

Estrada, having fun

RADNOR, Pennsylvania -- Someone please give Erik Estrada a pat on the back for not taking himself too seriously.

The actor who starred in the 1970s TV show "CHiPs" says he has been having fun playing himself on shows such as "V.I.P.," "Popular" and "The Nanny." He said he might even hold the record for playing himself the most.

"I think me and Bill Shatner are neck-and-neck," Estrada tells TV Guide. "I had fun with all that stuff. It's not real; it's not the cure for cancer -- it's camp."

Estrada's latest project - lending his voice to The Cartoon Network's "Sealab 2001" was an easy decision.

"They wanted a character who's rugged, funny, a ladies' man," Estrada says. And, he added, "I don't have to shower, shave. I can just show up and do it."

'Grace' creators working again

HOLLYWOOD, California -- The show goes on for "Will & Grace."

But for a moment, it was delayed. It seems the pair who created the show -- Max Mutchnick and David Kohan -- were staying away from NBC Studios, where the show is created, while their representatives negotiated a resolution on a key deal point involving the duo's future profits from the series, Variety reports.

According to Variety, Mutchnick and Kohan's reps were concerned about the upcoming negotiations between NBC and its production arm NBC Studios to extend the network's license fee agreement for "Will & Grace."

Because the negotiation is all in the family, Mutchnick and Kohan may be worried that NBC will get a cut-rate deal to renew "Will & Grace" -- thus costing them extra profit.

In the end, the two sides worked out a compromise that calls for Mutchnick and Kohan to be involved in the renegotiation process between NBC Studios and the network.

"Everything's fine," NBC Studios president Ted Harbert said.