By E. Graydon Carter

In the realm of celebrity endorsements, the face is none too memorable, and the delivery falls decidedly shy of, say, Olivier for Polaroid. But the name of the new pitchster for Cafe de Rio is familiar. It has been since 1963, when Ronald Biggs, 53, and 14 others relieved a Glasgow-to-London mail train of $7.3 million in what will be forever referred to as the "Great Train Robbery." Resettled for the past dozen years in Brazil and exempt from extradition, Biggs was recently tapped by an Australian ad agency to play the Ricardo Montalban-Juan Valdez role for Cafe de Rio. "Living here in Rio, I have lots of coffees to choose from," says Biggs in the ad. "And when you're on the run like me, you appreciate a good cup of coffee." The Australian Broadcasting Tribunal has banned the ad, but Cafe de Rio's new star will get to keep the loot this time: a reported $10,000. Biggs' next endorsement: running shoes. "When you're on the run like me..."

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If appearances are anything, the 17th century certainly seems to agree with Faye Dunaway, 41. As does her near typecasting in the role of heroine-bitch. Hard on the stiletto heels of her portrait of Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest, Dunaway is playing the Margaret Lockwood part in a remake of the saucy 1945 film, The Wicked Lady. In this version, to be released next spring, Dunaway plays Lady Barbara Skelton, a country lady of leisure by day who hits the road as a highwaywoman at night. Her part is decidedly wicked--but with a difference. "I've always played neurotic, tense, driven women," says the actress. "This is driven--but in a merry way."

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Quiet and subtle as a diplomatic entreaty, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, 59, has, like so many members of past White House inner circles, gone into the consulting business. The freshly lettered office doors in New York and Washington provide the name: Kissinger Associates Inc., a blue-chip team that includes Lord Carrington, 63, who resigned as Britain's Foreign Minister when the Argentines invaded the Falklands, and Robert O. Anderson, 65, retired chairman of Atlantic Richfield. The firm's services: strategic planning and advice on international-business decision making for about 20 large long-term corporate customers willing to pay the reported $250,000-a-year retainer fee.

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The down-and-out dad, the savvy offspring and the car trip through the South, all set against the dusty backdrop of the Great Depression--it worked for Ryan and Tatum O'Neal in Paper Moon, why not for Clint Eastwood, 52, and his son Kyle, 14? In Honky Tonk Man, opening at Christmas, Eastwood plays an itinerant musician heading cross country to try for a shot at the Grand Ole Opry. "Kyle plays my nephew in the film," says he. "I demoted him from son, but he's still enjoying it." So apparently is the star. Eastwood plays the piano and guitar, and actually does a little singing in the film. He doesn't blow away as many villains as he does in most of his movies, but someone's got to set an example when there are youngsters around.

--By E. Graydon Carter

On the Record

Thomas F. Eagleton, 53, Democratic Senator from Missouri, on how a tax on alcohol would adversely affect St. Louis: "We once had the title 'First in booze, first in shoes and last in the American League.' We lost our team, our shoes went to Taiwan and Korea. God, do not take from us our beer."

B.F. Skinner, 78, behavioral psychologist, on how to maintain the powers of the mind into old age: "Leisure should be relaxing. You must risk the contempt of your younger acquaintances and freely admit that you read detective stories or watch Archie Bunker."

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