"'I COULDN'T breathe, I started having an anxiety attack,' Doherty says, shuddering. Her Irish brow crinkles into slight worry lines that make her look her age, which is 37."

This is practically the first sentence in the new Details magazine profile on actress Shannen Doherty.

Let's consider this -- her brow furrows and she "looks her age." All 37 years. Quick, put her down, now, before she hits 40!

To be honest, the piece itself, written by Stephen Rodrick, is sympathetic, though it is titled, "The B---- Is Back." But I was thrown off by the awkwardness of that opening sentence, and the negativity it implied. Is it any wonder that actresses are now Botoxing their faces at age 20, just to make sure no sign of crinkling, furrowing or humanity are revealed? (There's nothing wrong with looking 37.)

But judging by her mellow tone here -- and in several other recent interviews -- the star herself is unlikely to worry her forehead over -- her worried forehead.

Shannen, once our favorite wild child, is back in a big way, thanks to the new "Beverly Hills 90210" TV series. She reprises her iconic character, Brenda Walsh, now an (more or less) adjusted adult, relating to the new kids in the zip code. Doherty's high times and misdemeanors are behind her. At her juicy peak, Shannen was accused of trying to run over a boyfriend. Her response? "If I'd really wanted to run him over, I wouldn't have missed!" There have also been several tempestuous marriages, but ... no regrets. (She was much more fun -- and far more talented! -- than Paris Hilton.)

Years ago, after Shannen left the original "90210" series, during an especially colorful period of publicity, I interviewed her. She had been portrayed as so out-of-control, such a b---- and such a demanding diva, I was somewhat sorry I'd agreed to meet with her, especially at the convenient El Rio Grande restaurant right downstairs in my building. What if she had already started on the margaritas?!

I entered the restaurant tentatively. Suddenly, she was there, having arrived early. She was standing at the bar drinking a Diet Coke. She was tiny, fresh-faced and nothing at all like the oxygen-sucking virago I'd expected. She was sweet and vulnerable and her emotions were close to the surface. I liked her. She seemed sincere, though I knew I was in the presence of an actress making her case to the media. (I'm not an investigative journalist; I don't meet with stars to argue the finer points of their point of view. Later, if they screw up or contradict themselves, I'll chime in, maybe.) Hard to believe that was 14 years ago!

I'm glad Shannen survived her youth, and is thriving in her prime. I also enjoyed her attitude on returning to the role that made her infamous; she was persuaded by the onslaught of positive fan mail. She says, "Today, I can pay my mortgage and ride my horses because of those fans. This is how I can repay them." So refreshing!

WE BROKE the news to you the other day that Kevin Costner is working hard on putting together a "Bull Durham" sequel to his 1988 hit. (Our spies told all as the actor confabbed at Trader Vic's Lounge with director Ron Shelton and actress Kristin Kerr -- she is Costner's leading lady choice.) Now everybody has jumped on the story. We are so happy to have helped our colleagues.

So let's offer another little scooplet in the world of baseball movies. The life story of Dodgers' manager Tommy Lasorda is reported on the "fast track for development" at Miramax. Al Pacino has "expressed interest" in playing the famously irascible Lasorda with Michelle Pfeiffer a "possibility" as his wife. Translation -- don't dress for the premiere. There's many a slip twixt the "fast track" and the first day of shooting.

Still and all, for the life of me I can't imagine Al Pacino on a baseball field. But, that's why they call it acting!

A LIVELY excerpt from Tony Curtis' autobiography, "Hollywood Prince," appears in the new Vanity Fair. Not surprisingly, the magazine chose the chapter on Tony's relationship with Marilyn Monroe, his co-star in "Some Like It Hot." Tony finally fesses up to the infamous "kissing Marilyn was like kissing Hitler" remark, but he insists he was "just kidding"; he loved kissing her. (Marilyn went to her grave un-amused by this joke.)

One tiny issue. Tony claims an affair with Monroe back in 1948, when both were eager young nobodies. Okay, we'll take his word for it. But in telling his tale of romance he writes that they'd sometimes rendezvous at the home of Marilyn's "friend, Jeanne Carmen." Alas, the highly suspect Miss Carmen herself claimed to have met Monroe in ... 1961. So, there could be no "Jeanne Carmen" in Marilyn's 1948 life. (Carmen died earlier this year, having muddied many a Monroe biography with her tall tales. No evidence exists that they ever even met!)

Perhaps the mystery roommate was Shelley Winters, who claimed to have lived with Marilyn at one point. Then again, Shelley claimed most things that happened in Hollywood. (Including, in one of her memoirs, her own brief fling with Tony!)

I look forward to reading all of Tony's book. He really was a prince in Hollywood -- Brooklyn's own Bernard Schwartz who idolized Cary Grant, uttered the classic "yonda lies the castle of my fadder" early in his career, and went on to prove himself as a terrific, serious actor in "The Boston Strangler." The divine movie queen Janet Leigh married him. They were the Brad and Angie of their era, and produced two fabulous daughters Jamie Lee and Kelly Curtis.

I cherish my funny dust-up with Tony at Le Cirque, our "makeup" at the Vanity Fair Oscar party, and the wonderful 8-by-10 of him that sits on my desk. Tony, who has a great sense of humor about his great big ego, sent it with a note: "Something for your purse."

P.S. Perhaps my favorite Tony Curtis moment on film is in the Agatha Christie mystery "The Mirror Crack'd." Tony plays a crass movie mogul, making a film in England. At one point he picks up a phone and barks, "Get me the coast!" After a pause, he looks at the receiver and shouts, "Whaddaya mean, what coast?!"

(E-mail Liz Smith at MES3838@aol.com, or write to her c/o Tribune Media Services, 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, NY 14207.)