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In this era of modern cinema, the journey to movie stardom needn't have Hollywood as its destination, as 23-year-old Sarah Kennedy is pleasantly discovering. For her, it began when she dropped out of Oregon State University during her sophomore year, dissatisfied with life as a coed. Her basic unhappiness stemmed from the fact that, on campus, she was known primarily for her third-cousin relationship to the political Kennedys. Discouraged by this gilt-by-association and by only a fair academic record, Sarah impulsively decided to head east. She settled in Manhattan and was working as a receptionist in a film-production office when a client asked her to appear in a commercial for his company. She agreed, found that she liked the work and subsequently appeared in other TV spots, one of which was viewed by New York movie producer Merwin Bloch, whose attention was focused on Sarah rather than on the sponsor's product. At his invitation, she tested for, and landed, the lead in The Telephone Book, a randy spoof that opens with Sarah receiving an obscene phone call. Instead of finding it repulsive, Sarah is sensually aroused by her caller's voice and immediately sets out to learn his identity. Whether critics will regard The Telephone Book as meritorious or meretricious is still unknown, but for Sarah it means a starring role in her first picture--and a future that promises to make this Kennedy cousin-to-the-clan a public figure in her own right.