Issue Date: December 9, 2007
Q: Has Paris Hilton made good on any of her post-jail promises to do philanthropic good deeds?
Laurel Brockman, Chatham, N.J.
Not at press time. Hilton, 26, made a vague post-jail promise that she followed up with a specific vow to pay a five-day visit to Rwanda. It was originally set to occur last month, but planning had hardly begun before the socialite's trip was postponed for "restructuring."
Tom Brokaw knew even as he lived it that 1968 was pivotal. As a reporter for NBC, he covered the assassination of Robert Kennedy, the riots at the Democratic Convention in Chicago and the counterculture of San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury. Sunday night on The History Channel, Brokaw, 67, offers perspective in a two-hour special, "1968" with Tom Brokaw. Since leaving "Nightly News" three years ago, he has been working on the show and companion book. He admits that at times it was overwhelming, but "it never felt like it wasn't working." Is there anyone who wouldn't be interviewed? "Neil Young," Brokaw says. "He was very pleasant. He just said, 'I don't want to go back.' "
Q: In interviews about his autobiography, Eric Clapton talks about marriage to Pattie Boyd, who I recall was first wed to George Harrison. What is she up to?
Barbara B. Campbell, Penn Valley, Calif.
Boyd, now 63, has written a memoir of those two marriages, titled "Wonderful Tonight." It is not as compelling a read as Clapton's book and is not selling as well, but it does delve into detail about the two marriages, both of which were passionate but tumultuous. Former Beatle Harrison, she says, was already unfaithful when Clapton, Harrison's good friend, stole her away. Clapton eventually wasn't so faithful himself.
Q: Who is this Dr. Mehmet Oz, often seen on "Oprah"? Where is his practice? And what is his specialty?
Orlando Loren Hodges, Detroit
Oz is a heart surgeon in New York. He became Oprah's go-to doc because he's good on TV. He's also a best-selling author with another doc, Mike Roizen, an anti-aging expert. Together they make disease prevention and aging easy to understand on TV and in the four books they have co-authored. I have been devouring the newest, "You: Staying Young." Roizen tells me that he's made disease reversal and aging his passion because he realized, "I had found something that could change the health of the country ... no, the world."
Q: Actress Jessica Lange seems to have disappeared. Is she still working? Ginger Forsell, Lapeer, Mich.
Yes. Lange, 58, and Drew Barrymore, 32, will co-star in an HBO Films version of "Grey Gardens," playing Jackie Kennedy's reclusive aunt, "Big Edie," and cousin, "Little Edie," Beale. Their story was told in a 1975 documentary and a Tony-winning 2006 Broadway musical of the same name. Also, Bonneville, a road-trip film Lange made in 2006 with Kathy Bates and Joan Allen, will be released late in February; she has completed a CBS TV remake of "Sybil," playing a psychiatrist; and a fantasy film that she made with Nick Nolte called "Neverwas" is now available on DVD.
Q: What happened to Campbell Brown, who used to be on NBC's weekend "Today" show?
P. Art, Crittenden, Ky.
Brown left NBC for CNN. She is now planning for two major events: a baby boy due Christmas Day and a show of her own on CNN, to begin in February. "I feel pretty Zen," Campbell, 39, tells us about juggling pregnancy and the new show. "They balance each other out." To help with any new-mom anxiety, she will rely on her mom, who will stay with Brown and her husband, Dan Senor, a Fox News analyst, after the baby is born.
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BIRTHDAYS
December 9
Jesse Metcalfe 29
Felicity Huffman 45
December 10
Raven-Symone 22
Kenneth Branagh 47
December 11
Gary Dourdan 41
Jermaine Jackson 53
December 12
Jennifer Connelly 37
Madchen Amick 37
Sheila E. 50
December 13
Jamie Foxx 40
Steve Buscemi 50
Dick Van Dyke 82
December 14
Dee Wallace Stone 59
December 15
Adam Brody 28
Don Johnson 58
 Ask Lorrie Lynch a question about a celeb!
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