Big-name celebrities live among us - quietly, secretly and sometimes quite openly. Maine's lakes and loons, pointed firs, wind-blown rocky coastline and picturesque harbors represent the ultimate escape, nature's laid-back counterpoint to the hype and hustle of Hollywood. But stars of varying magnitudes who live or vacation here are not easy to hunker down with, face to face.

Shielded by publicists, sequestered down long, private driveways that lead to waterfront property, the rich and famous also are cloaked from adoring fans and gawkers by those who believe it's important to make stars feel right at home.

Our state has a long history of harboring the rich and famous, said Susan Grover, co-owner with her husband Charles of the Village Inn in Belgrade Lakes.

The Grovers, who have seen their share of stars make discreet entries at the inn, enjoyed offering a few star sightings.

"Alan Alda comes for grandparents' week during the summer. His grandchildren go to a summer camp," said Susan Grover.

"He brings his grandchildren to Camp Laurel in Mount Vernon," her husband said.

"He comes in late at night. We have a room all ready for him. He goes straight to his room. He is sometimes alone and sometimes with his wife Arlene. He is just like ÔM*A*S*H'. He is wonderful, funny, quite a gentleman. A delightful guest. It's been three years he has been coming to Maine. He's got those wonderful eyes," she said of the 71-year-old actor who played Ralph Owen Brewster in "The Aviator."

Lois Davis, a clerk at Day's General Store in Belgrade Lakes, said she has waited on Glenn Close. "But I won't mention what she bought," she said, giggling. She has seen snowboarder Seth Wescott, 27, the 2006 Olympic gold medal-winner, gassing up at the pumps. Wescott is co-owner of The Rack Brew Pub & Barbecue in Carrabassett Valley.

David Hollingsworth, former owner of a pizza and video store in the area, has seen stars up close and personal. Besides Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward ("Empire Falls") and family, he has also seen Ethan Phillips and his wife, Patricia Cresswell. Phillips, 51, played in "Man Without a Face" with Mel Gibson and was Neelix in "Star Trek."

Michelle & David

Celeb gossip abounds in the popular lake region, located between Waterville and Augusta. "There have been numerous Bruce Willis sightings. At least once a week, every summer, it's said he is at the Great Pond Marina or Day's Store," said Kim Barnett of Waterville, who works part-time as a waitress at the Village Inn when she isn't working full time as an office manager at H.T. Winters in Waterville.

Barnett had the skinny on both Michelle Pfeiffer, ("Stardust," "Dangerous Minds," "Batman Returns") and her husband of 14 years, Waterville-born, writer/producer David E. Kelley ("Boston Legal", "Ally McBeal"), who summer with family on East Pond and frequent the inn, she said.

"The family camp is on David E. Kelley's side. Kelley's dad, Jack Kelley, was an athletic director at Colby College. His producer-son was keynote speaker at Waterville High School four years ago when his nephew, Matthew Saucier, graduated," Barnett said.

"He's an excellent writer and has a great sense of humor. He puts his sense of humor in ÔBoston Legal.' One of the stories he told me, was about when he and his brother went to Skowhegan Fair. He was about college age and they went through a 4-H exhibit. All the apples that had a blue ribbon on them, they tasted a bite out of them and put them back," she said. Kelley however, has given back more than a "bite" to the area.

"He has donated money to the former Waterville Area Youth Hockey Association. He has contributed to the community. He keeps it very low key. They (Kelley and Pfeiffer) come up at least once in the summer. They do family things, barbecues - just regular people. They come to the Village Inn once every summer. They have been coming to the restaurant for a long time," she said.

Not everyone was keen to discuss their coveted stars. Diane Oliver, co-owner of Day's store, wouldn't even name them.

"I respect and appreciate their coming in. I think it is infringing on their privacy rights if I'm here, giving out this info," she said. But, she confessed to having seen celebrities. Her husband, Kerry Oliver, was more revealing. Besides Pfeiffer and Newman, he said that last year he saw Whitey Ford, the record-holding former New York Yankees pitcher who is now in his late 70s.

"He was playing golf at Belgrade Lakes Golf Course last summer," Oliver said. Also, Benjamin Beattie, 36, a producer for the TV reality show "Survivor" frequently drops into Belgrade.

"He lives a busy life and is on location a lot. If he gets a break, he comes here and edits the footage and interviews," said his mom, Paulie Beattie, who owns and operates the bed and breakfast, Among the Lakes, in Belgrade. "He went to Colby and now lives in California," she said.

Richard Russo, author of the Pulitzer-prize-winning novel, "Empire Falls," brought the likes of Newman and Woodward to central Maine when the movie version was filmed several years ago in Waterville and Skowhegan. Russo lives in Camden and often works on manuscripts at Fitzpatrick's Cafe, according to a 2004 article in the Maine Sunday Telegram.

SHARING the wealth

Most of us know that domestic doyenne Martha Stewart keeps yet another well-appointed home in Seal Harbor on Mount Desert Island, a fabulous estate formerly owned by Edsel Ford. Stewart, 66, shares MDI with other high-profile rusticators: "Law & Order" producer Dick Wolf, 61, powerful banker David Rockefeller Sr, 92, who lives in a mansion euphemistically called Westward Cottage, and his son, David Rockefeller Jr., 66, according to Internet sources.

Then, we have jet-flying junkie John Travolta ("Pulp Fiction", "Get Shorty") and weight-loss promoter Kirstie Alley of "Cheers" fame, both of whom own luxurious vacation estates in Islesboro.

And, most of us know that Stephen King, master of macabre thrillers like "The Shining," and "Dark Towers," lives in an Italianate-style mansion in Bangor, complete with a wrought-iron "bat" gate. The Kings summer in Center Lovell and winter in Florida.

Maine is also host to one of TV's hottest celebs - Patrick Dempsey of "Grey's Anatomy" - who vacations in an 1848 farmhouse cottage he bought five years ago in Harpswell.

BELFAST'S SOAP STAR

Daytime TV soaps diva Genie Francis of Belfast was surprised when she picked up her home phone on a recent afternoon and heard a reporter on the other end.

"How did you get my number?" she asked serenely but with a perceptible edge. "No one was supposed to give out my number to anyone, no matter how nice they are," she said.

Though caught off guard, Francis stayed graciously in character. For a moment, she shared why she and her equally famous husband - Jonathan Frakes, who played Starfleet Cmdr. William T. Riker in "Star Trek: Next Generation" - live in a home off Route 1 with a pleasant view of Casco Bay.

"We moved up here basically to have our kids have the same childhood that I had," she said of their two school-age children.

"There is a feeling of innocence and community here. I missed having seasons. It was the same weather all the time (in California). I have great memories of sledding. I always wanted to come back to the East Coast. It (Belfast) reminded me of Centerport, L.I., N.Y.," said Francis, 45, whose best-known role is Laura Spencer on ABC's "General Hospital."

Unlike many stars who skim the state's rich summer cream and leave before the snow flies, she and Frakes, 55, take an active role in their adopted community, said Alan Crichton of Liberty. He is co-founder with his wife Lorna of the arts center Waterfall Arts, with locations in Belfast and Montville.

"They love it here," Crichton said of Francis and Frakes. "He has been helpful and willing to be supportive and come to events at the arts center. He taught at the center last fall, a course called ÔWaiting for Lefty,' about how you get a play ready for film."

When Frakes isn't going in costume to "Star Trek" reunions, he enjoys throwing a few stones at the Belfast Curling Club; Francis has launched a cottage furnishings and home accessories shop, "The Cherished Home." It's situated in a small, light-yellow Victorian house about 1 mile from her home.

But these days, the returning soaps star has more fish to fry than sorting through orders for Damier red egg cups and gingham breakfast pillows. This spring, she was nominated as outstanding supporting actress for the 2007 Daytime Emmy nominations. CBS will air the Daytime Emmy Awards at 9 a.m., June 15.

CLOSE IS CLOSE

When they're in Maine, celebs cling, as much as we do, to their personal piece of the rock. But for "summer money" like award-winning film-and-stage actress Glenn Close ("Fatal Attraction", "101 Dalmations" ) and her third husband, biotechnology entrepreneur and IDEXX founder David E. Shaw, that particular, 2.5-acre chunk on Black Point Road, Prout's Neck, Scarborough is assessed at $3M and their home at roughly half a million.

"Glenn Close has been here a few times in the last couple of years," said Bill Swain, of the office of communications at Sugarloaf/USA in Carrabassett Valley, a prominent ski and golf resort.

"One of the beauties of Sugarloaf is that it is such a low-key place. Celebs are not overwhelmed with sightings. They can blend in with one of the regular Sugarloafers," he said. Celebs who drop into Maine mostly prefer to blend in with the scenery.

But even Travolta, 53, and his wife of 16 years, Kelly Preston, 45, and their two kids, have a hunger to mingle with humanity and do normal things like grab a few groceries now and then. Again, local folks do their best to give the Islesboro celebs a sense of privacy, at no extra charge.

"It's our policy not to talk about anyone like that. That's why they're living here," said Beth Shea, a clerk at Island Market on Islesboro, where Travolta maintains a summer residence on the exclusive Dark Harbor side of the island.

"They (Travolta and Preston) come in and do their thing. It's pretty much a normal thing," she said.

Islesboro love affair

Kelly Preston's love affair with Islesboro began when Travolta (she calls him "Johnny") began courting her in 1990.

"I love being outdoors. I love being close to nature," she said. Their 42-room, three-and-a-half-story mansion is set on a rocky precipice and screened by evergreens, according to Portland Magazine.

"Our time in Maine is very special because it is a very Norman Rockwell existence. It's our retreat in the summers. I arrive and become inspired to bake pies and make jam," Preston said.

Kirstie Alley, 56, who lives only a few coves away from Travolta and Preston, had a former Islesboro Inn converted to a summer home and is said to throw extravagant lobster bakes there. Her home and its 16.2 acres currently are assessed at $649,300.

No ownership records exist under Travolta's name, according to Isleboro tax assessor Verne Ziegler. The same for Chris O'Donnell, 37, ("Scent of a Woman," "Kinsey") who also has a vacation home on the star-tossed island.

Meanwhile, celebrity buzz keeps humming.

"Billy Joel . . . loves to sail the Maine Coast, especially Boothbay Harbor. When he was married to Christie Brinkley, they were quasi-regulars in that area," said Jeff Clark of Down East Magazine in Camden, of the hit singer, pianist and songwriter. But Clark quickly squashed one persistent rumor.

"Tom Selleck does NOT own a cottage in Down East Maine. We worked very hard to find that out . . . It's the Maine coast. Rumors abound everywhere," he said.