PEOPLE

By NADYA LABI AND BELINDA LUSCOMBE

THE REAL MARATHON MAN

"I don't think of 40-mile-an-hour winds and zero-degree weather as a big deal," says JOHN FAHNER-VIHTELIC. That's probably because he has endured far worse. In 1977 he lay for 16 days without food, pinned above the dashboard of his station wagon after it plunged 150 ft. off an embankment in Washington State. He escaped with his life (partly by throwing his shirt into a nearby stream and sucking the moisture out of it), but not all of his limbs. The loss of his left leg hasn't slowed the 48-year-old down, though. On Feb. 17, the ex-Green Beret nurse competed in the Antarctica Marathon, sponsored by World team Sports, an organization that brings able-bodied and disabled athletes together. He didn't win, but his finish of 5 hr. 10 min. was a feat the indomitable runner described as "the ultimate in rehabilitation."

SEEN & HEARD

They say a best friend makes a bad roommate, but a "bestest friend," as Sarah Ferguson called her ex-husband, is apparently different. Cash-strapped Fergie is moving in with her amiable Andrew. The tabs reported Fergie and her daughters staying in the servants' rooms at Andrew's Sunninghill Park residence, but her people insist they are in grander quarters. The free digs will save Fergie $9,800-a-month rent while she finds a permanent home. And visiting daddy, of course, will be a lot easier.

Christopher Reeve's days as a leading man are far from over. The actor, who recently finished the HBO film In the Gloaming, his directorial debut, has been offered the role of the wheelchair-bound nosy neighbor in a remake of the 1954 thriller Rear Window. "It's going to be a real showcase of what people in [Reeve's] condition can do," says exec producer Robert Gaulin. "Chris is extremely excited about it." Reeve's publicist says the actor is merely considering it.

THIS IS WAR AND BUCKS, DADDY

It could be the starting plot point of a zippy new musical: spunky kid takes on Broadway producers after she gets fired from their show. JOANNA PACITTI earned the title role in the revival of the '70s musical Annie by winning a splashy, highly publicized talent contest. But after more than 100 performances on the road, producers executed what a tabloid called a "coup d'tot" and replaced her with understudy Brittny Kissinger. "The actress and the part never came together the way we felt they needed to," said producer Timothy Childs. "My heart was cut in half," says Joanna, whose parents have threatened to sue for breach of promise if their daughter doesn't open on Broadway. Andrea McArdle, the original Annie, has sided with Joanna. "These are sick people acting desperately," says McArdle. "They expected the same magic we had in '77, and now they've made her a scapegoat."

PAPA'S BRAND-NEW GAL

JAMES BROWN knows how to make a pitch. But the godfather of soul strained to hit the right note when he phoned during a taping of the Rolonda talk show. "Darling," he told host ROLONDA WATTS, "you know I'm crazy about you. So how about tying the knot?" The stunned Watts, not accustomed to airing her own confrontations on camera, told Brown she'd talk to him later. Watts, 37, became buddies with the widowed singer, 68, after he appeared on her show in January, and before long he was sporting a Rolonda jacket. But all that good feeling--and the scads of red roses that he sent to her office--won't get Mr. Please Please Please to the altar any sooner. Says Watts: "I don't know if I'll marry him, but he's a special, special friend."