NAMES & FACES

The Shill Gall

Gorgeous George in Tussle With Russell: Two of Hollywood's leading men were leading with their chins this week after Australian hothead Russell Crowe presumed to lecture his showbiz fraternity brothers on celebrity ethics.

"I don't do ads for suits in Spain like George Clooney or cigarettes in Japan like Harrison [Ford]," the temperamental actor told GQ magazine. "It's kind of sacrilegious, a contradiction of the contract with your audience. De Niro advertising American Express -- gee whiz."

Get that, George?

"I'm glad he set us straight," Clooney quipped to Us Weekly. Then, making reference to Crowe's band, 30 Odd Foot of Grunts, he added: "Because Harrison, Bob and I were putting a band together called Grunting for 30 Feet, and that would also fall under the heading of 'bad use of celebrity.' Thanks for the heads-up."

He Said He'd Be Back

(Melina Mara - The Washington Post)

California's rock star - er, movie star - governor created a media frenzy yesterday on Capitol Hill. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger returned to Washington - it's his fourth visit since his election - to plead for more moolah for the Golden State.

Snow Diagnosed With Cancer

It doesn't look like Fox Newser and radio host Tony Snow will be on air for the next few weeks. He just found out he has colon cancer and is prepping for an operation next week.

"I've been living in fear of cancer for 27 years," Snow, who has had colitis for years and whose mother died of cancer when she was 38, told U.S. News & World Report's Washington Whispers columnist Paul Bedard. "I've got too much to live for."

The cancer was detected last week during a routine checkup. "Of course I was shocked," he said. "I didn't know something was up."

Doctors plan to remove his whole colon. "The kind of cancer I've got is a real baddie," the 48-year-old said.

Doctors expect a full recovery. "We're dealing with it. We're forging ahead," Snow told Bedard. And thanks be to all of his listeners who have been praying for him. "The power of prayer is pretty powerful. You really do feel better," he said.

Vegetarian Cheesecake

PETA wants to know: Who's the Sexiest Vegetarian Alive? (And for this round, celebs need not apply. This is the "girl/boy next-door edition.") We hear local gal Lara Sanders is vying for the top spot. Sanders, 23, is a volunteer at the D.C.-based animal rights group Compassion Over Killing.

After her nomination, she landed in the final 10, beating out 250 women from all over the country. Voting continues until March 15 at GoVeg.com. And as PETA Vegan Campaign Director Bruce Friedrich likes to remind us: "On average, vegetarians are thinner and trimmer than meat-eaters and less prone to impotence."

Noted . . .

Michael Jackson update: The defendant has been released from Marian Medical Center in Santa Maria, Calif., where he wound up with flu-like symptoms earlier in the week, putting his child molestation trial on hold until next week . . . Singing supah-star Christina Aguilera says she was stunned when her boyfriend, 26-year-old music exec JordanBratman, proposed to her last week. So how'd he do it? "He sent me on a scavenger hunt," said the 24-year-old pop diva. "Each clue was a poem -- and in the final clue he proposed!" No date's been set. . . . And New York's current "it" couple -- no, no, we're not talking about the Clintons, and not Derek Jeter and his new flavor of the week either, but rather Pale Male and Lola -- are trying for baby Pale Males and Lolas. (Is it that time of year already?) Paula Zahn and husband Richard Cohen are just going to be thrilled at the prospect of new little red-tailed hawks over their Fifth Avenue building.

. . . and Quoted

"It's like a scene out of 'The Exorcist' sometimes."

-- "American Idol's" blunt-talking judge Simon Cowell, describing Paula Abdul's dramatic television outbursts, to People mag.

-- Compiled by Anne Schroeder

from staff and wire reports