PEOPLE

By Belinda Luscombe

LIZ'S SHOW MUST GO ON

She has been through two hips, seven husbands and countless dress sizes, so ELIZABETH TAYLOR isn't about to be stopped by a benign brain tumor. Taylor's condition was diagnosed after a checkup last week, but she has postponed surgery until the day after the celebrations for her 65th birthday on Feb. 16. It's not just that she loves a good party. The event is a fund raiser for her longtime cause, AIDS research. Before the diagnosis, Barbara Walters bagged an interview for 20/20 and learned that Liz also plans to be present at the birth of Michael Jackson's child. "One of the reasons Michael and I are close is because neither of us had a childhood," she says. "And we can relate to that and wonder how we got by."

SEEN & HEARD

If actors live long enough, they get to be in the TV remakes of their movies. Gregory Peck, 80, whose one-man autobiographical show will travel next to Boston, has taken on a role in Moby Dick for the usa Network. Peck will play Father Mapple, while Patrick Stewart will strap on Greg's old peg as Captain Ahab.

Next Olympics, Michael Johnson will be able to afford gold socks to go with his trademark spikes. The double-gold medalist has scored a deal with Nike that could be worth as much as $12 million over six years. That's a million more a year than Nike gives to the entire USA Track & Field federation.

KEVIN CAN WAIT

"I remember really well going in and auditioning for Ordinary People, and not getting it," KEVIN BACON says. "I didn't even get past the casting director." He obviously bears no grudge toward the guy who later won an Oscar in the role he sought, because he's starring in TIM HUTTON's feature directorial debut, Digging to China. "Being my first time," says Hutton, "it was great working with an actor who had just directed." (Bacon directed Losing Chase in 1996.) In China, Bacon plays a mentally disabled man who forms an odd friendship with a girl played by EVAN WOOD. He gives Hutton high marks--but future directors beware. "I'm less tolerant of directors than I used to be," he says. "I now know that it's hard, yeah, but it's possible to get through the day without being an ass."

COLIN'S NO TEST DUMMY

COLIN RIZZIO is the kind of guy seniors want around when they're sitting the SATs. While taking the math exam in Peterborough, New Hampshire, Rizzio thought one question seemed ambiguous. "I wrote it down afterward and discussed it with my teacher," he says. Rizzio was right. The algebra question asked students to compare two values, but neglected to specify that the key variable, a, was positive. Rizzio realized that a could be negative, creating the possibility of two answers. He E-mailed the College Board, which, for the first time in 15 years, admitted it had made a mistake. Result: up to 45,000 students will be getting between 10 and 30 more points. Rizzio, who has been taking school math-enrichment lessons at 6 a.m. since eighth grade, won't need the extra points: he scored 750 out of 800.