Issue date: November 19, 2000
Why didn't we see
Goldie Hawn's daughter, Kate Hudson, in anything before Cameron
Crowe's Almost Famous?
Sarah Stanton, Chicago
Hudson, 21, wisely avoided the teen comedies she was offered.
"And that left me with very few choices," she says. With fall's
Almost Famous an unqualified hit and Hudson a magazine cover
girl, it's no surprise she was offered a Playboy pictorial.
She turned it down. Growing up, Hudson, whose father is Goldie's
ex, Bill Hudson, lived primarily with her mother, who turns 55 Tuesday,
and actor Kurt Russell, whom Hudson calls Dad. From them, she learned
acting is a job, not a lifestyle. "They never brought it home,"
she says. As for a romance of her own, Hudson is engaged to Black
Crowes lead singer Chris Robinson.
The recent re-release
of 1973's The Exorcist made me wonder how old Linda Blair
was when she played the possessed child. Has she acted since? What
about family?
Carole Crowley, Millville, Mass.
Today Blair, 41 and single, is more devoted to causes than to career. She's
an animal- rights activist, which makes sense when you know that
she originally wanted to be a vet. Blair was just 12 when she made
her mark in movie history by vomiting pea soup and performing other
unspeakable acts in The Exorcist, released two years after
filming. Later credits, including movies, were mostly unmemorable.
Was that actor Christopher
McDonald playing a TV weatherman in the summer hit The Perfect
Storm? A friend and I have a bet.
Gerry Watson, Rochester, N.Y.
It was. And though McDonald, 45, makes jokes about his minute
onscreen -- "for some reason they decided to stay with the boats"
-- he took his role seriously, learning the lingo from a Boston
meteorologist who reported the perfect storm. The movie's out on
video this week, so you can look more closely at McDonald, a regular
on CBS' Family Law who's in three new movies, too. There's
Requiem for a Dream, just released; Billy Crystal's 61*
for HBO, about Roger Maris' home-run record; and an untitled Coen
brothers film with a very thin Billy Bob Thornton. "He was drinking
a lot of lemon water," McDonald says of Thornton, "and looking as
much like a leading man as he can."
Is the Hawaiian pop
star Hoku married? If not, does she have a boyfriend?
Sam Mudge, Quincy, Mass.
At 19, Hoku -- the latest member of the celeb one-name club --
is a bit young for marriage. She has a boyfriend, but he's not famous
and she's not serious. Best known for her debut single, Another
Dumb Blonde, which quickly climbed the charts earlier this year,
Hoku is the daughter of Don Ho, of Tiny Bubbles fame. Like
the careers of all the other young female popsters of the moment,
Hoku's is upbeat and Disney-driven. She may be bikini-clad in her
videos, but she says she's not comfortable being a sex symbol. Rather,
"I enjoy just being the girl next door."
What happened to
Later Today hosts Jodi Applegate, Asha Blake and Florence Henderson
after their show was canceled?
Barbara Falls, Brockton, Mass.
All had new offers, but Henderson, at 66 the eldest of the three
by far, was doing the most at press time. Disappointed that NBC
canceled the show after less than a year -- "I felt we were gelling,"
she tells us -- Henderson remains loyal to Today producer Jeff Zucker.
"He's much younger, but he's my mentor." Henderson, who returned
to her houseboat in Marina del Rey, Calif., remains a contributor
to the expanded Today, but she's acting, too, recently on
King of Queens and Ally McBeal.
Don Henley's spring
solo album suggested he's happier now than during the '70s heyday
of the Eagles. What changed?
Betty Seman, Park City, Ill.
His whole life. Once a confirmed bachelor, Henley, 53, wed ex-model
and fellow Texan Sharon Summerall, 38, and discovered the rewards
of family. The sweet ballads on Inside Job, his first solo
CD in 11 years, speak to that five-year marriage and their three
kids. He hasn't lost his edge, though. Inside Job has its
share of social commentary, and he still works for political and
environmental causes, like preserving Thoreau's Walden Woods.
Go to top
THIS WEEK'S BIRTHDAYS
November 19: Savion Glover, 27; Jodie Foster, 38; Meg Ryan,
38; Ted Turner, 62; Larry King, 67
November 20: Bo Derek, 44; Judy Woodruff, 54
November 21: Ken Griffey Jr., 31; Troy Aikman, 34; Björk,
35
November 22: Mariel Hemingway, 39; Jamie Lee Curtis, 42
November 23: Bruce Hornsby, 46
November 24: William F. Buckley, 75
November 25: Christina Applegate, 29; Amy Grant, 40
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