Eileen Brennan has passed away at age 80. It’s amazing that she lived that long, because her 1982 accident was so devastating. She and pal Goldie Hawn were leaving a restaurant in Venice, California when a car hit Brennan. She had so many serious injuries, and it took a long time to recover. The pain from the accident led to an addiction to painkillers. She also had to overcome breast cancer. As my grandmother used to say of some people, she had no luck.

But Brennan was such a popular star from 1970 to that moment. She’d been featured in Peter Bogdanovich’s “The Last Picture Show,” and went to be into more of his films– “Daisy Miller” and “At Long Last Love.” In 1973, she was again featured strongly in “The Sting” with Robert Redford and Paul Newman.

Then in 1980 came her watershed moment playing opposite Goldie in “Private Benjamin.” She received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress and won a Golden Globe.

Even after the accident and recovery, Brennan worked constantly. She won an Emmy for the “Private Benjamin” TV series, and picked up six other Emmy nominations over the course of her career. She never stopped working, from stints on “Will & Grace” to “7th Heaven” and lots of other series.

But you always wondered, if she hadn’t been hit by that car– there certainly would have been more movie work. Her husky voice, a cool sensuality and a lot of smarts made her a very appealing presence on the screen. She was someone everyone looked forward to seeing on film. Eileen Brennan will be much missed but never forgotten.

Exclusive: It was an innocent question. At a lunch today for pop legend Darlene Love and super singer Lisa Fischer, stars of “Twenty Feet from Stardom,” I asked Darlene if she ever talks to her “Lethal Weapon” co-star Danny Glover. They played husband and wife in the four Richard Donner films.

Darlene, ringed in Shirley Temple curls, said: “I don’t speak to him. Keep that man away from me.” That was a surprise because I thought she reserved such sentiments for Phil Spector only. What’s the issue?

“He wanted to sleep with me, it was a big problem. Once he called me at home and said, I’m looking at a picture of you right now. You don’t know what I’d like to do with you.” Love laughed, but she was dead serious.

“Was that in your book?” someone asked. “No!” Darlene responded.

Otherwise our lunch at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel was scandal-free and lots of fun. Peggy Siegal put it together. Bette Midler, who’s in the Morgan Neville documentary, hosted. Al Maysles, Susan Sarandon, Julie Taymor, Judith Ivey and Dana Ivey (the last two are not related) came, along with Bette’s old movie husband, Dan Hedaya.

“We were in a movie together,” Bette said, seeing Hedaya for the first time in a long time.

“Romeo and Juliet,” Hedaya said, joking.

“You played my husband. It wasn’t This Magic Moment. It was The First Wives Club. Am I right?”

She was. They embraced, and Bette rolled her eyes. There’s a lot of water gone under the bridge, as they say. “How are you, Dan?”

Fischer–who just came off the road after 18 US shows with the Rolling Stones, plus the Glastonbury Festival and Hyde Park– got up and sang a hymn like melody, a Capella, that brought the 50 or guests eating lunch overlooking Central Park to their feet. She was magnificent. Then Darlene cued a music track and knocked the group out with “Lean on Me.” Just like that, all in a days’ work.

I asked Lisa what it was like with the Stones. “Boring. Everyone’s in bed by 10.” No partying? “Nothing, un huh,” she said. “They’re very health conscious.”

“Twenty Feet from Stardom” is the biggest documentary so far of 2013. I loved it because it seemed like the natural successor to the film I made in 2002 with DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus called “Only the Strong Survive.”

Darlene said over lunch: “I can’t think of a time I sang back up for a black singer, except maybe for Dionne Warwick. Otherwise, it’s always been white guys, rockers.” At the 25th anniversary of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Darlene and Sam Moore sang with Bruce Springsteen and stole the show.

On stage, Darlene told the crowd that when she had a heart attack last year, Midler–who is her real life pal and who appears in the film– called her right up. She imitated Bette. “What do you mean you had a heart attack?” Midler shouted.

I asked Bette, who was at her most congenial and cutest the whole afternoon, was it true? “Did I? No, well yes,” she admitted with a grin. “I just wasn’t so shrill.”

Urggghhhh. Lea Michele has Tweeted two lines about Cory Monteith. Stop the presses. Everyone has picked this story up, so I’ll jump in. Michele has sent out a one liner and a picture. You know, two years ago Lea Michele was at the premiere of “Hair” on Broadway with a different boyfriend– Theo Stockman. She and Monteith weren’t dating at the time. Anyway, here’s the Tweet. It’s not enough sustenance for a bird. but it will do for now for the entertainment press:

Thank you all for helping me through this time with your enormous love & support. Cory will forever be in my heart. pic.twitter.com/XVlZnh9vOc

— Lea Michele (@msleamichele) July 29, 2013

Exclusive: Just because Paula Abdul isn’t on “American Idol” doesn’t mean she isn’t very much in demand. Two weeks ago Abdul was a guest host on “So You Think You Can Dance” on Fox. Her appearance didn’t move the ratings up, but she gave the show a shot of adrenaline it badly needed. Not only that: she actually knows something about dancing since she is a respected choreographer. Let’s not forget that she taught Madonna and Janet Jackson’s dancers a lot of their moves.

Now I’m told that Paula will return for three weeks in September as a judge again on “Dance.” She’ll judge the semi finals and finals with Nigel Lythgoe. Of course, Lythgoe was her boss on “Idol” and the two have remained tight. Lythgoe himself was bounced off of “Idol” at the end of this past season. Now the show is scrambling for judges.

I am also told that Simon Cowell tried to reunite with Abdul and Randy Jackson on the upcoming season of “The X Factor.” Sources say Fox–which has all these shows– didn’t mind. But producer Freemantle Media and 19 Entertainment did indeed object to Cowell, Abdul, and Jackson trying to replicate Idol’s golden days as the show is now sinking and could be facing its final season.