Dan Gross: At UArts, that familiar face was William Sanderson

ACTOR William Sanderson, now seen as Sheriff Dearborne on HBO's "True Blood," which returns Sunday, was at University of the Arts recently to shoot an interview for "Starz Inside: The Face is Familiar," a documentary on character actors premiering at 10 tomorrow night on Starz.

Sanderson and wife, Sharon, have a summer home near Harrisburg, where she's from. The actor, whose credits also include "Fletch" and "Blade Runner," says that his "15 minutes of fame," was back on "Newhart," on which he played Larry.

"When the waiter says something nice about something you were in you have to leave a bigger tip," Sanderson told us recently.

"If you play too many derelicts or so-called bad guys, like I did when I was younger, I didn't know where the stage ended and life began," Sanderson says about his early acting days playing many nefarious characters.

The Tennessee native is also a law-school graduate who never took the bar because his acting career took off. "Nothing lasts forever, I'm always sure each job is my last," says Sanderson.

Out and about

* Eagles coach Andy Reid and a few pals took to the Sporting Club at the Bellevue Friday afternoon to play racquetball.

* "Slumdog Millionaire" star Dev Patel caught indie-rockers Denali when they played the First Unitarian Church (2125 Chestnut) Friday night. The actor, now shooting "The Last Airbender" with M. Night Shyamalan, turned up with a few crew members.

* Jill Zarin, of "The Real Housewives of New York City," got a huge ovation from the crowd at the Borgata Friday night when she walked in with husband, Bobby, to see comedienne Kathy Griffin's show.

Roots unveil new GPTMC book

Philly hip-hop heroes The Roots debuted "Philly 360°" - a book produced by the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation as part of its African-American tourism campaign - at the Roots Picnic held Saturday at the Festival Pier. The Roots, now working weekdays as the house band on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," are featured in the limited-edition book that has prominent African-American artists and creative types talking about what they love about the city.

In addition to the Roots, others featured in the book are King Britt, producer/DJ and CEO of Five Six Media; hip-hop artist Ethel Cee; artist Rah Crawford; filmmaker Maori Karmael Holmes, a founder of the Black Lily Film & Music Festival; DJ/producer Rich Medina; Syreeta Scott, owner/stylist at Duafe Holistic Hair Care; Stacey "Flygirrl" Wilson, promoter and artist; and Khari Mateen, producer and leader of the group Elevator Fight. For more on the book, visit gophila.com/philly360.

New Kids on the Block's Jordan Knight and Donnie Wahlberg joined the Roots onstage for their opening set at the Roots Picnic. The New Kids played the Susquehanna Bank Center that night. Others on the bill at the Picnic included Philly's Santigold, Public Enemy (backed by the Roots) Antibalas and TV on the Radio.

Harry autograph equals Clinton's

A Viv Pickle handbag signed by late Phillies broadcasting legend Harry Kalas sold for $2,100 at an auction Wednesday night to benefit the Career Wardrobe.

The winning bidders were Linda and Cleve Corner, of West Chester. Their purchase tied the winning bid for another bag by Viv Pickle, aka Susan Murphy, signed by President Bill Clinton, sold to Katherine and Steve Elek, of the Main Line.

Career Wardrobe provides workplace attire to professional women who can't afford it.

A crew of television newswomen walked in the event's fashion show, including Fox 29's Sue Serio, Dawn Stensland, Nefertiti Jaquez and Michelle Buckman. Their colleague Kerri-Lee Halkett was supposed to walk, but was called back to the station for a news story. CBS 3's Mary Stoker Smith, MyPhl17's Joey Fortman, and NBC 10's Lori Wilson and Denise Nakano also participated, as did NBC 10's Monique Braxton, who even wrangled deputy mayor and event emcee Everett Gillison into strolling the runway. State Sen. Larry Farnese was among guests at the fasion show, held at the Bellevue. *

Visit PhillyGossip.com for Dan's latest updates or follow PhillyGossip on Twitter. Have a tip? Call 215-854-5963, or e-mail grossd@phillynews.com. For recent columns, visit go.philly.com/dangross.