Issue Date: January 25, 2009
Dustin Hoffman, 71, has two Oscars and a 28-year marriage, but he still worries about his looks and height (5-foot-5 1/2). He puts these insecurities to work in his new movie, "Last Chance Harvey," playing a morose writer of jingles who surprises himself by falling in love later in life with a character played by Emma Thompson. "I was not attractive at all," Hoffman recounts of his own bachelor days. "I figured I'd be in plays and go from town to town. But I had this freak accident happen called Mike Nichols. I always think it was some kind of joke that he cast me in 'The Graduate.'"
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Where were the mother and son team of Toni and Dallas at the finale of "The Amazing Race?" Did anything become of the blooming romance between Dallas and eventual winner Starr?
B. Albrecht, Amherst, Ohio
The sparks turned into dating, including a sky-diving date for the extreme-sports lovers. The couple's biggest challenge, Starr Spangler tells us, is living on opposite coasts: She's in NYC, and Dallas Imbimbo is in California. "We're working on the distance," Spangler says. The two are in "the early stages" of creating a high-adventure travel show. Imbimbo and his mom didn't make the finale because they lost their money and passports, which led to their elimination.
Amazing Race duo was plagued by passport problems
Imbimbos: Monty Brinton, CBS
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Yvette Nicole Brown loves dogs, which doesn't come across in the new movie "Hotel for Dogs." "I love dogs so much, I'm afraid to get one because I want the dog to have a good life, and I'm not sure I can measure up to be the kind of owner it will deserve," she tells me. Brown, a successful commercial and character actress, says she's "starting to realize what a blessing it really is. I thought to be a working actor, you had to be on a series, and since that eluded me, I don't think I noticed you can have a nice career without being a regular on something."
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I'm curious about Tina Fey's credentials, given that she's a writer as well as an actress. Does she have an education, or did she know people in the business?
Bob Flint, Merced, Calif.
Both. Fey had connections, among them her pal and former "Saturday Night Live" head writer Adam McKay. Fey, 38, was with Chicago's Second City theater group, after graduating from the University of Virginia in 1992, when McKay asked her for writing samples. A week later, SNL producer Lorne Michaels hired her.
Tina Fey: from UVA to SNL.
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Please help me. When does "Lost" return?
Karen Palmer, Binghamton, N.Y.
It's back, as of this past Wednesday, and once again filled with twists and turns. Michael Emerson, 54, who plays Ben Linus, tells us he never knows what secrets to keep. "I'm never even sure if I know anything worth knowing," Emerson tells us about the ABC show, starting its fifth season. "That's what makes it dangerous." He didn't dare tell his wife, actress Carrie Preston ("True Blood"), when he shot "the most shocking grave scene. She's such a fanatical 'Lost' viewer," Emerson says. "She wants to be surprised. She hates spoilers."
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Stephen King has gone multimedia. "N.," one of the tales in the best-selling author's latest short story collection, "Just After Sunset," was turned into an original Web video series in conjunction with Marvel Comics. The collaboration has inspired King, 61; he's thinking about doing a YouTube video for his novel "Under the Dome," out later this year. Such projects are definitely fun, King says. "But with all these multimedia things, the story is the story still, the book is the book, and that's the source material. As J.R.R. Tolkien might say, 'That's the one ring.' It rules the other one."
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My husband and I loved "Gilmore Girls" and want to know when we might see star Lauren Graham again.
C. Stock, Salinas, Calif.
Graham, 41, will make her Broadway debut as Miss Adelaide in the March revival (previews begin Feb. 3) of "Guys and Dolls." Or perhaps her Sundance film "Arlen Faber" will come to your local cinema. Also in the works -- an ABC comedy in which she plays a self-help guru.
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BIRTHDAYS
January 25: Alicia Keys, 28
January 26: Wayne Gretzky, 48; Ellen DeGeneres, 51
January 27: Bridget Fonda, 45
January 28: Elijah Wood, 28; Nick Carter, 29; Sarah McLachlan, 41
January 29: Heather Graham, 39; Oprah Winfrey, 55
January 30: Christian Bale, 35; Phil Collins, 58; Gene Hackman, 79
January 31: JustinbTimberlake, 28; Minnie Driver, 39
Contributing: Gayle Jo Carter, Nancy Mills, Brian Truitt
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