Paparazzi won’t crowd Moran family

Published 9:15 pm Thursday, January 17, 2008

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Whenever I am here, I realize that by walking down the street, especially if it is Rodeo Drive, that there is always the possibility of crossing paths with the next up-and-coming screen star without realizing it. While Beverly Hills is frequented by the Hollywood elite and stars-in-the-making, they don’t exactly announce their presence.

You get a buPaparazzi won’t crowd Moran familymp in your emotions as you drive down Beverly Boulevard with its tall palms standing sentry to one of the best-known thoroughfares in the world. A lot of famous people have made the drive down this street, including the Beverly Hillbillies — which reminds me that Ellie May once came to Athens to see the Junkyard Dawgs play in the 1970s.

At the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, where elegance is always on display, Julie Moran arrives for a late lunch. She didn’t seem to notice, but a lot of heads turned as she glided across the room, a reminder that her refreshing good looks first gained extensive review when she was a Georgia student. When it comes to beauty, I’ve always thought no campus has more attractive coeds than Georgia.

There is a lot to appreciate about Julie, a native Georgian, who began her network television career as a sportscaster, which led to a prominent role with “Entertainment Tonight.”

Suddenly, she was off the air, but for a very substantial reason. She quit a job, many young aspirants would kill for, to start a family. Today, there is a favorable progress report on that front, and she may soon be back at work. Already, she has made a trip to New York to interview with FOX news. 

While she has been occupied with managing the lives of Maiya, eight, and MaKayla, three, getting them into the school routine, she hasn’t exactly been inactive.

She has a show, “Insider’s List with Julie Moran” on the Fine Living Network, and she has done a number of fitness infomercials for Slim and Six, an exercise routine to get you slim in six weeks.

“Going back to work is very appealing now,” Julie said. “With both of my kids in school, I can manage, but it just wasn’t practical otherwise. With ‘Entertainment Tonight,’ I was working 50 hours a week, a schedule too difficult with young kids.

“Maria Shriver (wife of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger) told me about our business, ‘You can have it all, but not necessarily at the same time.’”

There is more good news coming from the Moran household. Her husband, Rob, who has several movie and TV credits, has produced a movie that has the Morans’ optimistic.

“The title is ‘The Bag Boy.’ It is a romantic story about a grocery store bag boy and will premier in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago in February.” Brooke Shields, a close friend of Julie’s, has a starring role in the movie.

Much of our lunch had to do with reminiscing about her growing-up days in Thomasville and the time she spent on the University of Georgia campus.

One of the highlights of her television career was working a few games between the hedges when she was the sideline reporter for ABC.

On the day we had lunch, there were bold headlines about Brittany Spears’ problems with her estranged family. Hollywood is famous for its headline-making divorces and ill behavior on the part of celebrity parents.

Julie and Rob Moran have proven that having a career and raising a family can be achieved. My guess is that the paparazzi won’t crowd the Morans. They are too good to be true.