Quite a display
Turns out Ben Affleck's fanaticism for the Red Sox does have its limits. An art exhibition called ''The Ben Affleck 2004 World Series Collection" that includes a purported death mask of Ted Williams is a surprise to the Oscar-winning actor and Cambridge native. ''He's never heard of it. He has nothing to do with it," Affleck spokesman Ken Sunshine told us yesterday. The announcement of the show's scheduled opening Sept. 6 at the First Street Gallery in New York's Chelsea section caused a flurry of statements, including one from Alcor, the Arizona cryonics firm where Williams's head is being preserved. ''I can definitively say that Alcor has never allowed anyone to make a death mask cast of any of our patients at any time," Alcor president and CEO Joe Waynick said in a news release. ''We have never spoken with [the artist] Daniel Edwards, his representatives or representatives of the First Street Gallery. It is a travesty that some people feel the need to exploit Ted Williams and his family for monetary gain." Reached yesterday at his Connecticut home, Edwards, the visual artist who put the exhibition together, wouldn't say how or where he got the death mask, saying it was ''representative of" Williams after his death. As for Alcor's denials, Edwards said, ''I don't want to contradict them." But he added that of the six displays -- three of which relate to Williams and the Red Sox -- some are ''contributions from Alcor," including a baseball cap with Alcor's logo. Edwards did acknowledge that the show, which includes A.D. Calvo's 10-minute documentary on Williams's preservation, is ''macabre" but said he's making a statement about what a ''shame it was that [Williams] missed" the Sox' winning the World Series and about Williams's ending up at a cryonics facility. Of the use of Affleck's name in the show, Sunshine said, ''That could be a problem. He's made no secret of his mania for the Red Sox . . . but they are using his name in vain."
What a warm-up
Before the WEEI/NESN telethon got rolling yesterday, Lenny Clarke worked the crowd Thursday night at a pre-telethon party at Game On! that brought in $125,000 from auction items and pledges. . . . Game On! will host skier extraordinaire Bode Miller tomorrow as WFNX-FM and Bretton Woods Mountain Resort hold a reception to honor Miller.WB56's Karen Marinella was on hand at the Marshfield Fair to draw the lucky winner of a trip to Disney World, courtesy of CruiseBrothers.com and the fair. The winner was 10-year-old Ashley Tramonte of Marshfield.
Colonel Paul Lockhart,the NASA astronaut and space shuttle Endeavor pilot, was at the South Shore Music Circus the other night to present Lonestar with a copy of the band's CD that he carriedwith him on his mission tothe International SpaceStation.
Hitting the charts running
The Click Five debut CD ''Greetings From Imrie House" -- named for a Boston-area house where they rehearsed -- made an impressive debut on the Billboard charts at No. 15. The Berklee College alums' sold 52,000 units with the help of their first single, ''Just the Girl," which is climbing the singles charts. Billboard also announced yesterday that Hilary Duff's greatest hits collection (that's not a typo) pushed Staind, also with area connections, from the No. 1 spot on the album chart.Restless reporter
WCVB-TV's veteran news anchor Natalie Jacobson signed a contract extension that will limit her duties to anchoring the 6 p.m. newscast, the station announced yesterday. She will no longer anchor at 5 p.m.A Channel 5 spokeswoman said that the station doesn't comment on terms or lengths of contracts and that Jacobson was on vacation and unavailable for comment. Jacobson, one of the region's stalwart anchors, will continue to cover breaking stories and events, host town meetings, and expand her contributions to ''Natalie," her page on the station's website, www.thebostonchannel.com.
''After many years behind the anchor desk, the reporter in me is restless," Jacobson said in a statement. ''I look forward to meeting the challenges of covering our changing society."
Stoppard sighting
Turnabout is fair praise. Caldwell Titcomb, president of the Boston Theater Critics Association, bumped into playwright Tom Stoppard outside London's Donmar Warehouse Theatre, where ''Mary Stuart" was playing. When Titcomb informed Stoppard that Boston's outdoor Publick Theatre was currently staging Stoppard's ''Arcadia," the playwright seemed quite pleased. ''That's exactly how it should be done," he said. (''Arcadia" plays Thursday through Sunday through Sept. 4.) . . . This year's recipient of the $250,000 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize is opera director Peter Sellars. . . . Meanwhile, the American Repertory Theatre has received a $35,000 grant from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters that'll enable the ART to present Dominique Serrand's production of ''Carmen." Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253. 
