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The 26-year-old beauty, one of three gushing hosts of ABC's Oscar pre-show last month, is very interested in acting, and she'll be seen this summer in the movie drama Coyote Ugly with ex-ER doctor Maria Bello. But she's not ready to hang up a lucrative modeling career. Banks, who's dated director John Singleton (and was in his movie Higher Learning) and singer Seal (Kiss From a Rose), was the first black woman on the cover of Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issue, and companies like Swatch, Cover Girl and Victoria's Secret have her under contract to help them appeal to a diverse audience.

What ever happened to baseball player Dale Murphy, once one of the greatest stars in Atlanta Braves history? I've heard he is working for the Mormon Church.
John Jared, Charlottesville, Va.

The two-time MVP and potential Hall of Famer is working for the church as president of its Boston Mission. He oversees 209 missionaries in New England, work for which he's not paid. (He gets the use of a car and house, plus a food allowance.) "This is the most challenging thing I've ever done," says Murphy, 44, a Mormon since 1975. "It's so rigorous." Considered an oddity in baseball because of his clean living, the seven-time All-Star wishes he could help players who have difficulty dealing with life off the field. "It makes you sad. I see people looking for something. I saw people who weren't happy. Money isn't a determining factor."

Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek sounds so smart. Where was he educated? I've heard he's not happy about the success of Regis Philbin's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
Jane Samples Port Hadlock, Wash.

Trebek, 59, went to a college prep school and then Canada's University of Ottawa, from which he graduated in 1961. But he doesn't want to put that education and all his Jeopardy! experience to the test on Millionaire. After Trebek made snide remarks about Millionaire's easy questions, Philbin, who knows a ratings draw when he sees it, invited Trebek to play a celebrity version. At press time, Trebek remained a firm no.

I always wonder whether fitness experts such as TV's peppy Denise Austin have ever been fat and out of shape.
Carol Wilson San Francisco

The only time the tautly toned Austin, 41, was overweight was after her two girls' births, she says. But the 600-plus letters and e-mails she gets weekly from her Lifetime and video-buying fans keep her in touch with dieters; they convinced her there's a whole world trying to lose 10 pounds. Thus, her new book, Take Off the Last 10 Pounds, hitting stores now. No fad high-protein or carb-addicts diet for her. "You can't live that way," she tells us. "You have to find a way you can eat for life."

I love The Sopranos, HBO's mob-family drama, but I don't recall seeing actress Edie Falco before. What more do you know about her and her previous roles?
Elena Petillo, Brick, N.J.

Falco's work was little known till she won both an Emmy and a Golden Globe for the critically acclaimed Sopranos. Now, the public can't get enough. Born to an artistic family on New York's Long Island (Dad was a musician; Mom, an actress), Falco barely eked out a living taking small parts in movies such as Bullets Over Broadway and occasional spots on TV shows such as Homicide. Often, Falco, 36, was forced to wait tables to pay the rent. No more. She lives in New York with a longtime boyfriend, but she's in London now as the lead in Side Man, a Tony-winning drama about a musician's family. And she's the star of Judy Berlin, an independent movie made by her best friend that was the talk of winter's Sundance festival.

Where's Dana Carvey, the ex-Saturday Night Live player whose impersonation of President Bush made his career? With a new presidential race brewing, I should think we'd see him around.
Beverly Palmer, Utica, N.Y.

He is around, but you've got to stay up late. He was a sub for David Letterman while Letterman recuperated from heart surgery (interestingly, Carvey, 45, has had angioplasty), and he has swapped political opinion with Bill Maher on Politically Incorrect. Already Carvey does a wicked impersonation of Vice President Al Gore; surely a George W. impersonation is coming. This fall, you'll see him with SNL pal Adam Sandler in a movie comedy, Little Nicky.

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THIS WEEK'S BIRTHDAYS
April 30: Kirsten Dunst, 18; Isiah Thomas, 39; Cloris Leachman, 70.
May 1: D'Arcy, 32.
May 2: Jeff Agoos, 34; Christine Baranski, 48; Bianca Jagger, 55.
May 3: Wynonna Judd, 36; James Brown, 72; Pete Seeger, 81.
May 4: Lance Bass, 20; Randy Travis, 41; George Will, 59.
May 5: Danielle Fishel, 19; Sage Stallone, 24.
May 6: George Clooney, 39; Roma Downey, 40; Tony Blair, 47; Willie Mays, 69.

Contributing: Bob Nightengale, Jeanne Wright