Issue Date: April 7, 2002
Shepard Smith on the Fox News Channel is very entertaining. What's his background?
Brit Ballenger, Burke, Va.
The 38-year-old anchor of "The Fox Report" and host of "Fox News Live" is a small-town boy who's fallen in love with New York. Smith grew up in Holly Springs, Miss. -- "no fast food, no movie theaters" -- and attended the University of Mississippi. He got married and broke into TV news in Florida. After stints at "A Current Affair" and "Fox News Edge" in L.A., he joined Fox News Channel when it started in 1996. Now divorced, he spends time enjoying Manhattan. "I like the Knicks, the restaurants; I like Central Park a lot." And the job? "I've got the most-watched newscast anywhere on cable, with bosses who don't tell me how to think. It's a dream come true."
I like Tom Welling, star of the WB's "Smallville". What else has he done? Traci Grant, West Bloomfield, Mich.
Not long before his role as super teen Clark Kent, Welling, 24, wasn't sure what he wanted to do. Born in New York and raised in Michigan, the tall teen (with size 14 feet) acted in high school plays and excelled at basketball and soccer. He opted out of college and, after a brief stint as a construction worker, was "discovered" in a bar by an Abercrombie & Fitch scout and became a model. A few years later, he moved to Los Angeles and landed a part on CBS' "Judging Amy"; he has since appeared in UPN's "Special Unit 2" and Fox's "Undeclared". But it's his role as the adolescent Superman that has the green-eyed brunet plastered all over gushing Internet fan sites. Unfortunately for his admirers, rumor has it that Welling is engaged to his girlfriend of three years, a "special woman" named Jamie.
What can you tell me about Paige Turco, star of CBS' "The Agency?" Where did she grow up?
Rose Castro, Albuquerque
In Springfield, Mass., where she dreamed of becoming a dancer. Turco studied ballet until an ankle injury at 14 forced her to reinvent herself. She began acting, but another setback came with her first film role: She quit 1988's "Bright Lights, Big City" mid-film because the replacement director wanted her to do nude scenes. "My mother said I have to be true to myself," says Turco, 36. Meanwhile, "my grandmother said, 'Honey, do it now, while you can.' " Turco found her niche in daytime and then prime-time television, as Bailey's alcoholic girlfriend on "Party of Five", and now as a CIA agent. A visit to the agency's grounds in Langley, Va., was "scary. We had to have a background check, you couldn't run. ... You found yourself walking very carefully." Scary, too, is how real the show can be: "We shot our anthrax episode long before any of this was going on. It's a little freaky."
Olympic short-track speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno has caught the attention of women across the nation. Does he have a girlfriend?
Tina Ro, Los Angeles
We think he's single, but Ohno, 19, won't say. "It's hard to have a serious relationship because I travel so much. My schedule is crazy," he says. "Most of my past relationships have been somewhat out of the ordinary." So has his life: He hasn't seen his mom since his parents divorced when he was 1. Reared by his father, Yuki, a Seattle hairdresser, Ohno was a rebellious kid who liked breakdancing and inline skating. At 14, he became the country's top short-track skater, just two years after joining the sport; he finished high school on the Web. Now the 5-foot-8, 165-pound World Cup champ is an Olympian. His striking good looks have attracted movie and TV offers and a pending book deal. But in the end, Ohno ("Chunky" to his friends) is "a dreamer" who just wants to have fun. His ideal date? "Good food, good weather -- the rain can be very romantic."
 Online extra: full Apolo Ohno interview
Singer Nelly Furtado, who landed the Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance with her hit "I'm Like a Bird", may be telling the truth. The 23-year-old wraps up her "Burn in the Spotlight" tour in two weeks in Ottawa, and then she's off to Mexico, Brazil, Japan, South Africa and Europe for more shows. Her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, has kept her moving since its release in October 2000; it went gold last March. Noted for her fast-talking style and strong, melodic voice, the Portuguese Canadian has said her "world-music album" is full of the musical influences in her life, including LL Cool J, Mary J. Blige and Salt 'N Pepa, whose songs she samples during her shows. "But I try to listen to everything shamelessly. It's about sharing energy." Furtado knows about energy: She'll be back in the studio by August and hopes to release a new CD by spring 2003.
Go to top
BIRTHDAYS
April 7 Jack Black, 33; Russell Crowe, 38; Jackie Chan, 48; Francis Ford Coppola, 63
April 8 Patricia Arquette, 34; Robin Wright Penn, 36
April 9 Cynthia Nixon, 36; Dennis Quaid, 48; Hugh Hefner, 76
April 10 Haley Joel Osment, 14; Mandy Moore, 18; Babyface, 44
April 11 Bret Saberhagen, 38
April 12 Claire Danes, 23; Shannen Doherty, 31; Vince Gill, 45; Andy Garcia, 46; David Letterman, 55
April 13 Rick Schroder, 32
Contributing: Tameka Hicks, Evelyn Poitevent, Patty Rhule, Jeanne Wright
In
this article:
Birthdays
Update on Nelly Furtado
Also:
Online extra Complete Apolo Ohno interview
Interview Jeff Tweedy and Wilco
Last week's Who's News
Ask Lorrie Lynch a question about a celeb!
|
