Sheila Karonis has fluffed the locks of some of Hollywood's richest and most famous women. Roseanne Barr, Jodie Foster, Geena Davis and Lily Tomlin, to name a few.

"Diane Keaton had a lucky comb!" Karonis dishes, offering a tidbit of celebrity trivia from her days as a stylist and makeup artist to the stars.

These days, at age 60, Karonis has an entirely different kind of clientele. Most of them have silvery hair and limited finances, and arrive at her south Sacramento salon in wheelchairs.

They are residents of Bruceville Terrace nursing home, and Karonis makes them feel like Academy Award winners.

"Nobody in Hollywood really needed me," says Karonis, who spent about a decade painting the faces and styling the tresses of Tinseltown's hoi poloi. "Here, I am needed."

Bruceville Terrace, which is part of Methodist Hospital of Sacramento, has operated a beauty salon for a couple of decades. But never one quite like this, says nursing director Linda Turner.

"Sheila has brought such a nice, homelike touch to it," Turner says.

Louis Armstrong and Bing Crosby sing from a portable stereo. White wicker furniture beckons residents to sit and chat while they wait for hair and nail appointments. Framed snapshots of clients cover one wall. Muffins, cookies, tea and coffee are served on delicate china.

"It's a place where you can relax and have a good time and not think about your troubles," says resident Carol Bowler, 65.

But the biggest buzz around the salon is about the lady with the clippers.

"Her skills are excellent," says Bowler, a former hairdresser. "My hair was a mess before, and now I love it!"

It is those kinds of reviews, Karonis says, that make her new job so rewarding – and the hugs and kisses. She rarely got such payoffs in Hollywood.

Karonis began her Hollywood career in the early 1990s as beauty director for Bobbi Brown Cosmetics and Nordstrom. That, she says, led to work in the movie industry and connections with important moguls including Iris Grossman, a top casting director. Karonis became Grossman's personal makeup artist.

Soon, Karonis found herself prettying up clients like Barr and Davis and Keaton and Foster and Drew Barrymore for awards shows and other special occasions.

She shares her star stories only when asked.

Davis "is even more beautiful and lovely in person" than she is on the big screen, Karonis insists. Foster "wasn't into makeup at all back then," she says. "Just a little bit of red lipstick." Tomlin "was a lot of fun, and she always wanted a very natural look."

"I had a ball with everyone."

But the glitz and glamour eventually became too much, and in 2001 Karonis and her husband Ted, who have four adopted children including two with special needs, moved to the Sacramento area. They now live in Elk Grove.

Karonis can pull in $100 an hour for makeup sessions with wealthy clients. But those jobs are far less soul- satisfying, she says, than working with people at Bruceville Terrace for a $12-per-haircut reimbursement from Medi-Cal.

Karonis was determined to make the drab "hospital-ly" salon into "a happy place, where people are treated the way I would like to be treated." The refurbished salon, which Karonis calls Garden Terrace, opened last month.

Cynthia Aston, 59, is among many clients giving it glowing reviews.

"I'm very impressed," Aston says, shaking the bouncy wedge haircut Karonis has given her. "Is that really my hair? Dang! I love it!"

Ditto for Ardell Darrington, 83, and her pixie cut.

"You look beautiful!" Karonis says, standing back in admiration.

Then the stylist snaps a picture of her happy client.

"I am queen for a day!" Darrington says, and she wheels herself out of the salon with a smile and a wave.

Call The Bee's Cynthia Hubert, (916) 321-1082.