Issue Date: January 15, 2006
Up next: The SAG Awards
Heath Ledger could be a contender.
|
Once all the Golden Globe statues are placed on winners' shelves Monday night, it will be time to move on -- to the Screen Actors Guild Awards. In two weeks, many of the same stars will walk a new red carpet, this time hoping to snag a coveted Actor, desired because it's given by peers. While waiting to stargaze there on Jan. 29, you can join an ongoing eBay auction to support the Screen Actors Guild Foundation (www.sagawards.org/auction). You can, for example, bid for the same "gift collection" (aka goody bag) this year's nominees will receive, including designer jewelry, spa getaways, gym memberships and VIP tickets to the L.A. opera. Or go after VIP bleacher seats and backstage tours on awards night. The foundation, which -- among other things -- helps member actors in economic distress, has another cool online feature, Storyline, in which children's books are read by stars, many of them previous SAG Award winners and nominees. You can watch actors such as Jason Alexander, Sean Astin, Elijah Wood, Bradley Whitford, Jane Kaczmarek, Camryn Manheim and Eric Close in streaming video. Go to storylineonline.net and read away.
Former president Bill Clinton was a Rhodes scholar. Did he finish all the requirements for a degree?
Tom Washington San Mateo, Calif.
No. Clinton focused on the study of politics and comparative government while he was at Oxford University from 1968 to 1970, but he did not receive a degree. Rhodes scholars are not required to complete a degree, although many do. Clinton left the university in good standing.
Go to top
If "Scrubs'" Sarah Chalke ran the world of TV, Fox's "Arrested Development" and HBO's "The Comeback" would have lived long, happy lives. "[It's] a tricky landscape right now," she says, knowing her own brilliant show is vulnerable. She tells us she is keeping her fingers crossed that the NBC comedy, just launching its fifth season, will find the wider audience it deserves. Chalke, 29, got her sitcom start at 16 as the replacement Becky on ABC's "Roseanne." Asked what makes a good show, Chalke recalls that often-controversial sitcom. "People want to see something new and different," she says. "That's why people responded. The same thing is happening [with Scrubs]."
Does Larry Joe Campbell, who plays Andy on the ABC comedy "According to Jim," have any relatives who were in show business?
Ken Mitch, Maple Valley, Wash.
No. But, believe me, family is important to him. At press time, he and wife Peggy -- "one of the top five humans of all time in my eyes," Campbell says -- were expecting their fifth child. Campbell, 33, describes love for his children as "brand-new, fresh love." Having a brood of six was one of the dreams he wrote down during college in Michigan more than a decade ago. Also on the list: marriage and an acting career. "I gave that slip of paper to my wife at Christmas [a year ago]," Campbell tells us. "She loved it, and we had a good laugh about it."
I hear there is going to be a sixth "Rocky" movie. Details, please.
Angel Marie Moll Bellingham, Mass.
It won't be out until 2007, but filming started last month and will continue with shoots in Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. In this movie, the retired Rocky (Sylvester Stallone, who turns 60 this year) is lured back to the ring for one last fight. Titled "Rocky Balboa," it is written and directed by Stallone, who was Oscar-nominated for writing and starring in the original 1976 film.
Go to top
Alice Cooper says the world is so tumultuous even he can't shock an audience anymore. "In the '70s, I would cut my head off [onstage]," he says. "It was shocking, because there was nothing to compare. Now you turn on CNN and there is someone really getting his head cut off by terrorists." On his latest CD, "Dirty Diamonds," and in an international tour, Cooper, 57, is taking fans back to '70s music that's not overproduced. And he finds off-stage pursuits more arresting, like "the idea that Alice Cooper plays golf well enough to play with Tiger Woods. To me, that's shocking."
Go to top
Miranda Lambert, 22, is proof that winning isn't everything. Taking third place on the "American Idol"-like "Nashville Star" was all she needed to meet her goals: recording a successful CD ("Kerosene), opening for the likes of Keith Urban and George Strait, and earning a nomination for the Country Music Association's Horizon Award. Lambert's life is full of rewards lately. First, she tells us, she gets a private room on her tour bus. Then there's the four-wheeler she splurged on to use back home in Lindale, Texas. One perk she wishes she could go without is a personal trainer: "I don't like to [exercise], but if I want to eat good food every now and then, I have to do it."
I am a huge fan of John Travolta's. Will there ever be a "Welcome Back, Kotter" reunion?
Jennie Crandall Bridgewater, N.Y.
There's nothing in the works, and I think it's unlikely that Travolta, who has his pick of movie parts, would get involved in one. And without Vinnie Barbarino, who would watch? Get your Travolta fixes at the movies, Jennie. His next, due in March, is "Lonely Hearts," based on a 1940s true crime story about two New York homicide detectives pursuing "lonely heart killers" who lured victims through the personals.
Contributing: Gayle Jo Carter, Megan Crissman, Ashley Parker, Kathy Rowings
Go to top
BIRTHDAYS
January 15: Chad Lowe 38; Mario Van Peebles 49
January 16: Kate Moss, 32
January 17: Jim Carrey, 44; Muhammad Ali, 64; James Earl Jones, 75
January 18: Kevin Costner, 51
January 19: Dolly Parton, 60
January 20: David Lynch, 60
January 21: Geena Davis, 50; Placido Domingo, 65
 Ask Lorrie Lynch a question about a celeb!
|
