C.J: 'Nip/Tuck' star was nice as pie at Edina eatery

Kelly Carlson was camera-shy for an unbelievable reason with attorney Barry Rosenzweig.

Home for the holidays, the "Nip/Tuck" star was having lunch at Edina's Via when Rosenzweig saw Carlson.

"She was concerned she didn't look good enough to have her picture taken," Rosenzweig said Thursday. "I thought she looked perfectly fine."

I don't get the idea Carlson is aware of how beautiful she is. "Probably not," Rosenzweig said. "She was extremely [gracious] and very, very nice, and I had a conversation with her."

It was serendipitous that they met, Carlson told me Thursday. She was looking for an attorney for a friend. A friend of Carlson's was sitting in the relative darkness of St. Paul's X watching a Wild game when the friend bit into a candy bar reportedly containing fire ants that bit the woman and made her very ill; she'd like to be reimbursed for medical bills.

Carlson stressed that the candy was purchased at a hotel near the X.

Carlson and Rosenzweig discussed "Nip/Tuck," which I must say has gotten so bizarre I can't watch it right now. I used to tape the FX show and fast-forward to Carlson's scenes as Kimber. That said, I've seen enough of her work to know Carlson should have been rewarded with a Golden Globe nomination.

Rosenzweig said that based on his chat with her, Carlson seems to accept the role of Kimber for what it is: a tremendous opportunity to act.

"I think she appreciated the fact that I recognized her. She looks even better in person than on television!" wrote Rosenzweig in an e-mail. When I telephoned, he added this: "She looks almost as good as my wife, Barbara."

Good save there, Barry.

Barbara London spent about 10 years acting in Hollywood, Rosenzweig said. "She was on 'Simon & Simon.' She was on 'Knight Rider' with what's-his-name," said Rosenzweig, who forgot the name of The Hoff, known back then as David Hasselhoff. Rosenzweig said his Barbara London is not the one who comes up at imdb.com.

Editor, where art thou? The New York Times recently took aim at "Nip/Tuck."

This is how Ginia Bellafante began her TV review: "Kimber, the porn star turned porn mogul turned coke addict, cultist and meth-head, has been tussling with her ex-boyfriend and former plastic surgeon, Dr. Christian Troy, who by the logic of 'Nip/Tuck,' now in its fifth anarchic season on FX, must always look as if he bathes in canola oil and also happens to be the biological father of her husband, Matt."

The headline on Bellafante's piece was "The Quest for Beauty Gives Way to Ugliness." That pretty much sums up the editing of this review, which I ask readers to remember every time they feel compelled to critique my copy editing.

Separated at birth? There's a reason some football fans might have wondered whether Vikings wide receivers coach George Stewart is a twin, possibly a triplet.

People who watch a great deal of NFL games have seen this handsome man patrolling a lot of different sidelines over the years.

In 1984 and '85, he was an assistant to Lou Holtz during his brief tenure at the U of M. Stewart followed Holtz to Notre Dame. In 1989 Stewart took his first pro job with Chuck Noll at the Steelers.

"When I left Pittsburgh, I went to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, then down to San Francisco [for the 49ers], then I was down in Atlanta and now I'm back here, so it's full circle," Stewart said.

Despite his occupation, most people confuse Stewart for a famous heavyweight.

"I get confused a lot with George Foreman," he said.

They are brown-skinned, big and shaved-head guys, but, folks, look closely. There should be no confusion.

Laura Innes, present "That's funny. I just saw her a couple days ago," Darren Benoit said to himself while reading Thursday's column.

I had opined about not getting a single holiday sighting of Laura Innes of NBC's "ER" and other fame.

"She looked great. Very tiny in person," Benoit said. "She was in the car rental line ahead of me last Saturday in the Lindbergh terminal sporting a Minnesota-friendly long wool overcoat. She was with her, I assume her husband; I didn't chat her up."

My thanks to Benoit, who works at SALO, a contract agency for executive-level finance staffers.

A Sandra sighting Sandra Oh was in town for a little food and art.

"We were dining at Chambers Kitchen today and we swear we saw, Sandra O[h] get into a black limo. Perhaps others saw her here this week, too," wrote Mark Nissen via e-mail Thursday.

A woman who identified herself as Carissa Wyant tells me in an e-mail that the "Grey's Anatomy" star was whisked away by Walker Art staff when Oh arrived there Thursday night.

Oh and a "scuffy blond" guy hit the Frida Kahlo exhibit but may have been most enthralled by the work of emerging artist Tino Sehgal.

One Chambers insider told me that the "Grey's Anatomy" star was around, but I want to hear it from my best source over there, or Sandra herself!

C.J. is at 612.332.TIPS or cj@startribune.com. E-mailers, please state a subject -- "Hello" doesn't count. Attachments are not opened, so don't even try. More of her attitude can be seen on FOX9 Thursday mornings.