Blair Underwood Gets Dirty

19-10-2007 01:01

Meet Dirty Sexy Money’s new gazillionaire-Blair Underwood.ABC has been saying that his official debut playing Simon Elder won’t happen until next week, but sources tell me his big reveal is actually tonight.So, who is the mysterious Mr. Elder? Underwood has been sworn to secrecy, but he did give up some details when I chatted with him earlier this week. "He’s the third richest man in the world," Underwood said. "He was raised in Russia, but he didn’t grow up with money. He’s an inventor."Underwood, however, will not be speaking with a Russian accent: "He was raised there, but he’s also very worldly."Elder is also the nemesis to Tripp Darling, the patriarch of the superrich Darling clan played by Donald Sutherland."I see Simon really as a chocolate version combination of Richard Branson and Steve Jobs," Underwood said. "But really more like Branson than anybody, because he has a very youthful energy, is an incredible visionary and he’s also very environmentally conscious and philanthropic." (P.S.: My TV diva cohort Kristin Dos Santos reported just last week that Elder is into yoga and that he and the Darlings go head-to-head in a battle for real estate.)