Issue Date: November 28, 2004
Mark Harmon plays the much-married (and divorced) Leroy Jethro Gibbs on the CBS hit "NCIS." How many times has Harmon been married? How many kids does he have?
Eileen Mericle, Ames, Iowa
Harmon, 53, has two teenage sons with wife Pam Dawber, 53, his one and only. He's glad the show helps real "NCIS" enlistment but says he was drawn to playing Gibbs largely because of his flaws: "His personal life is a train wreck. He lives alone, he's addicted to caffeine, and he obviously has borderline horrendous taste in women."
How many of our elected officials in Congress have immediate family members serving in the military who have been deployed to Iraq?
Joe Torres, Alamogordo, N.M.
The exact number of extended family is difficult to pinpoint, because the Pentagon keeps no such records. However, we found that of the 535 members of Congress, eight have sons in the military, three of whom have been deployed to Iraq. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., is the only member whose son was there at press time; the son of Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., was to be deployed this month.
Kaley Cuoco, who stars on "8 Simple Rules," is a good young actress. How old is she? Is she seeing anyone?
Brad Coverstone, Anna, Ohio
Cuoco celebrates 19 on Tuesday, which makes her a bit older than Bridget Hennessy, the teen she plays on ABC. "I never went to a regular high school," says Cuoco, who was home-schooled, "so to play a popular student is really fun for me, and so is playing a girl who gets all these great guys. It's not that easy in the real world." Cuoco tells us she is happily single: "My focus gets taken away so easily when there's a guy. Just like Bridget's."
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How does a sports entrepreneur and former basketball team owner become a self-help guru? Pat Croce (CROW-chee), host of the new syndicated daily reality show Pat Croce: Moving In, says it's simple: Get a lot of life experience. "I'm not a therapist," says the charismatic 50-year-old, who also wrote a best seller and continues to give motivational speeches. "My street smarts, in combination with my IQ and a passion for people, is what makes it work." Croce and crew travel by Winnebago and literally move in with families. He's not into makeovers and tells us he urges people to be authentic: "I'm looking for the better you."
I'm 76 and have never had a male star excite me the way Mark Ruffalo did in "In the Cut." He's a doll.
Margaret Peers, Tavares, Fla.
Ruffalo, 37, is a reluctant sex symbol. And he's been married four years to actress Sunrise Coigney; they have a son, 3, and expect a baby in early 2005. Look for the actor in two new romantic comedies: a Rob Reiner movie, with Jennifer Aniston, due in April; and then If Only It Were True, with Reese Witherspoon.
I am a huge fan of the gymnastic Hamm brothers (I like Morgan better), but I know so little about them. What can you tell me?
Wendy Hoffman, Neenah, Wis.
Now 22 (Morgan is older by 30 minutes), the close duo share much: a car and apartment in Columbus, where they train under Ohio State University coach Mike Avery, and a penchant for poker. The fraternal twins will enroll as sophomores at OSU in January and already have begun training for the '08 Games.
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Linda Bloodworth Thomason, TV producer and close of friend of Hill and Bill, added novelist to her résumé this fall with the publication of "Liberating Paris." It's no surprise that the brain behind "Designing Women" should pen a novel depicting "cosmopolitan, well-educated, articulate Southerners." This time, however, she looks at a disappearing way of American life against the backdrop of Paris, Ark., a town losing Main Street to the big-box stores on the outskirts. "I don't think people in cities know what's happened in small towns," Bloodworth Thomason says. "It's a loss of family, friends and community that's irreplaceable."
"Law & Order"'s Jesse L. Martin is both handsome and talented. What does he look for in a woman?
Wilma James, Queens, N.Y.
"I'm looking for a woman who is incredible," Martin tells us. And he's ready to settle down, but "I have a schedule that allows only for looking, not for partaking." Martin says he still loves "L&O" after five seasons but wants to branch out. In the musical "A Christmas Carol," on NBC this Sunday at 9 p.m. ET, he does just that, singing and dancing as the Ghost of Christmas Present.
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BIRTHDAYS
November 28: Jon Stewart, 42
November 29: Don Cheadle, 40
November 30: Clay Aiken, 26; Ben Stiller, 39
December 1: Richard Pryor, 64; Woody Allen, 69
December 2: Britney Spears, 23
December 3: Julianne Moore, 44
December 4: Tyra Banks, 31; Marisa Tomei, 40
Contributing: Bridget Byrne, Gayle Jo Carter, Evelyn Poitevent, Frappa Stout
 Ask Lorrie Lynch a question about a celeb!
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