Issue date: April 16, 2000
We're coming up on
summer-movie season, so it must be time for another Will Smith blockbuster.
What will it be this year?
Alisa Kondo, Honolulu
Smith's been called Mr. Fourth of July because of summer hits
Independence Day and Men in Black (never mind last year's so-so
Wild Wild West). This summer it's a golf drama, The Legend of Bagger
Vance, set not for July but for Aug. 4. The 30-year-old actor-rapper
stars as a caddie (with somewhat mystical powers) to Matt Damon's
golfer. Directed by Robert Redford, it's a movie about the game
of life, not just golf. Looking ahead, summer 2001 may be Smith's
biggest yet. The $20 million-a-movie star will play Muhammed Ali
in a biopic to which the legendary boxer has given his approval.
People like to speculate about
what will happen to President Clinton's marriage, but what does
history tell us? Has a president ever divorced in office or shortly
afterward?
Henry Lauer, Bonita Springs, Fla.
No. And only Ronald Reagan was divorced at all. He and adoring
wife Nancy had been married 28 years when he took office in 1981;
a first marriage, to actress Jane Wyman, ended after eight years.
The Reagans, who brought both their Hollywood glamour and friends
to his administration, celebrated their 48th anniversary in March.
They live in L.A., where Mrs. Reagan cares for the former president,
who has Alzheimer's disease.
Former model Cameron Diaz is
turning into quite an actress. I notice she's been in significant
movies recently, such as Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday. What's
next for her?
Jeff Danis, Burlington, Vt.
Her most prominent new movie is the one she's making now, Charlie's
Angels. Based on the '70s TV series that made Farrah Fawcett famous,
and set for holiday release, it's not exactly highbrow but it should
be a crowd-pleaser. Diaz, 27, stars with Drew Barrymore and Lucy
Liu as angels who use martial arts, not guns; Bill Murray is Bosley.
She'll also be seen in the summer chick flick Things You Can Tell
Just by Looking at Her with an ensemble of accomplished actresses.
TV chef Emeril Lagasse is as
funny as many a professional comedian. How did he get started on
a cooking career? Does he have a family?
Eddie Caudillo, Lompoc, Calif.
The star gastronome with personality plus and signature lingo
(like "Bam!" and "Kick it up a notch!") has two teen daughters from
the first of two marriages; he's now single. But the success path
-- six restaurants, five cookbooks, three TV shows and, come June,
one cookware line -- meant missing too much of their lives, so he's
strengthening those ties. Lagasse, 40, grew up in Fall River, Mass.,
and worked in a Portuguese bakery as a kid. He turned down a music
scholarship for culinary school. If he were a musician, he'd be
a great drummer: He could "Bam!" to his heart's content.
Where is my family's favorite
actress, Sally Field? It seems like ages since we've seen her onscreen.
Also, does she have children?
Famous A. Morris Nashville
Field is the mother of three boys, two of them grown, from her
two marriages. But she has always worked, and it's no different
now. Next week, she pops up as Natalie Portman's mother in the feel-good
movie Where the Heart Is (from the book by Billy Letts). Otherwise,
acting is on hold for the two-time Oscar winner because she's finishing
her first movie-directing job, the comedy Beautiful. Starring Minnie
Driver as a woman obsessed with beauty pageants, it's expected to
open in the fall.
After Denzel Washington's Golden Globe-winning performance in The Hurricane, was the book about prizefighter Rubin "Hurricane" Carter re-released?
Sharon Grant, Cincinnati
You bet. Book publishers generally take advantage of movie nominations. In this case, two of three books found renewed interest. The December film, in which Washington plays the ex-boxer jailed for a triple murder he didn't commit, was loosely based on 1991's Lazarus and the Hurricane, by Sam Chaiton and Terry Swinton. It was re-released in December. A new book, Hurricane: The Miraculous Journey of Rubin Carter, by James Hirsch, hit stores in January. His 1974 autobiography was not re-released in the United States.
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THIS WEEK'S BIRTHDAYS
April 16: Martin Lawrence, 35; Jimmy Osmond, 37; Ellen Barkin,
45;
April 17: Marquis Grissom, 33; Liz Phair, 33;
April 18: Melissa Joan Hart, 24; Conan O'Brien, 37; Jane
Leeves, 39; James Woods, 53;
April 19: Jennifer Esposito, 28; Ashley Judd, 32; Al Unser
Jr., 38;
April 20: Joey Lawrence, 24; Carmen Electra, 28; Allan Houston,
29; Luther Vandross, 49; Jessica Lange, 51;
April 21: Iggy Pop, 53; Queen Elizabeth II, 74;
April 22: John Waters, 54; Jack Nicholson, 63;
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