INSIDER

By Nancy Perry Graham; additional reporting by Hugh McCarten

From People, vol 51 n 4, 02.02.1999

* For the past year, director Tim Burton has been quietly, until now, engaged to his longtime girlfriend Lisa Marie. Although Burton is in London filming his version of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"--which includes a role for his fiancee--he recently managed to throw a surprise birthday party for the 30ish actress in New York City. He couldn't find a headless horseman, but he did give each of his 60 guests, including Christopher Walken and Pierce Brosnan, an original Tim Burton watercolor. The director and his muse haven't set a wedding date.

* Cindy Crawford's about to pack on at least 25 pounds--and couldn't be happier. She's expecting her first child with husband Rande Gerber--that's right, her very own Gerber baby!--this summer. "I'm sorry to tell you, but I've got a bit of a belly," Crawford announced to her castmates on the Manhattan set of The Simian Line, an upcoming drama. "I'm pregnant and I decided to tell people today." The cast duly swapped gory birthing stories, while Crawford rolled her eyes, laughed and said, "I've heard all of them."

* Sure, Chicago's the city of the big shoulders--but big enough for this? A week after Michael Jordan announced his retirement, his lavishly tattooed Chicago Bulls teammate Dennis Rodman was also toying with the idea. "Some people have convinced him that he wants to become a movie star," explained Rodman's agent Dwight Manley. And why not? After all, he's still married to actress Carmen Electra. The couple rang in the New Year together in Las Vegas, where they wed last November. "I love her to death," Rodman told a source of mine. His sister Debra later added, "There will be no annulment. They will remain married. People don't believe it, but Worm [Dennis] really loves her. My family has embraced her."

* Ben Affleck, on the rebound from his breakup with Gwyneth Paltrow, engaged in a late-night public display of affection with the soon-to-be-single Pamela Anderson Lee at the Club Paradise in Las Vegas. The actress, who has filed for divorce from husband Tommy Lee, was in town for the Mike Tyson-Francois Botha fight and must have decided she needed a little post-fight action.

* Ewan McGregor is poised for stardom on May 21 when the first Star Wars prequel, The Phantom Menace, is released. But even the Force can't protect him from the wrath of his mom. Carol McGregor helps handle his schedule, guest appearances and fan mail, and she wasn't happy when Ewan didn't show at the British premiere of his latest film, Little Voice, benefiting a charity. His mom was overheard to say, "I'll kill him."