Lots of TV actors want
to become big movie stars. George Clooney, who recently departed
ER, seems a better bet than most. Is that what he's after?
Steven Crown,
Ewa, Hawaii
Clooney has plenty of movie work on his plate. but he's too practical
to chase something as nebulous as film stardom. "I don't set goals
in my life or in my career," he once told us. "If I don't achieve
it, then I've failed." Clooney, 37, whose L.A. home is the center
of a "big web of fun," is more knowledgeable about the entertainment
industry than most actors and well-liked by co-stars, producers
and studio heads. So it's no surprise his first big deal is to write
and produce (no, no acting) a sitcom for HBO about a young actor
trying to break into Hollywood, a story Clooney and his celebrity
friends - who he hopes will also write episodes - remember only
too well.
It's amazing that political
commentators James Carville and Mary Matalin, so strident in their
separate views, are able to stay married. How do they do it?
Linda McCulloch, Colorado Springs
"At our core, we have the same value system, a belief in this
country and in democracy," Matalin tells us. "Where we differ is
on philosophy, on the role of government. We quit talking about
that after our first fight - on our first date." It can get rough,
however. Matalin admits the past year, from the breaking of the
Monica Lewinsky story through the impeachment vote, she didn't always
get along with Carville. "It was a terrible year. Not just for us
- for a lot of people. This was about values. Friendships
have busted up over this." Not theirs. Matalin, 45, and Carville,
54, have been married five years and have two daughters, Emerson,
almost 1, and Matty, 3 (who has told them to "take turns" talking).
"We're both offbeat. We're both late bloomers," Matalin says. "We're
perfect for each other."
It's too bad Christian
pop singer Amy Grant and her Nashville Network TV star husband,
Gary Chapman, are breaking up. What happened? Will the pending divorce
affect their work?
Helen Cook, Yuba City, Calif.
They won't say why, but she initiated the split after three kids
and 16 years; he is openly suffering. Singer-songwriter Chapman,
41, has hosted Prime Time Country for 212 years and has no
plans to give it up. But Grant, 38, always overshadowed him, and
her good friendship with Vince Gill probably didn't help. At press
time, the couple had not filed divorce papers and each was working
on an album. Want to bet on a ballad about broken love?
Maybe because he so often
plays villains, actor John Malkovich is an intriguing figure. What
do you know about the real person?
David Dunbar, Sherman Oaks, Calif.
He's actually more down-to-earth - and way more peaceful - than
his roles might lead you to think. "Fatherhood is the only really
important thing in the world to me," says the 44-year-old actor,
whose onscreen dastardly deeds may have typecast him forever. "It
was something I was waiting to do my whole life." A Chicago native,
Malkovich lives in France with his companion, Nicoletta Peyran;
their daughter, Armandine, 8; and son Loewy, 5. He recently completed
Joan of Arc and is now making the aptly titled Being John
Malkovich, a comedy with Cameron Diaz and John Cusack. He's
often philosophical: "I've had a lot of failures, but I don't beat
myself up over them. You do an art film; nobody wants to see it.
It opens; it closes. Life goes on."
We hear so much about
new
Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, but his lieutenant governor has been
overlooked. Can you give us some details about this low-profile
lady?
John Huff, Naperville, Ill.
She's Mae Schunk, 64, a white-haired schoolteacher who didn't
give two hoots about politics until Ventura came calling. She helped
the big guy bridge the gender gap while also strengthening the ticket
on his weak issue, education. Schunk, to whom Ventura has handed
the reins on all K-12 policy, is a believer in small class size
(15 to 17 students) and learning the basics. A teacher for 36 years,
she showed up at school the morning after her November win, though
her principal told her to take the day off. Schunk bows to Ventura
in one area: grammar. She doesn't try to fix his, and once told
reporters: "It really doesn't always take the best grammar to get
the idea across."
Where is actor Morgan
Freeman lately? He's one of my favorites.
Luby Hines Goldsboro, N.C.
He's turned producer and tells us he's having fun. Freeman's first
effort, The Mutiny, airs next Sunday on NBC; he doesn't star.
It's the true story of a World War II home-front ammunition explosion
that killed more than 200 black soldiers and ended in the court-martial
of 50. Black history, Freeman says, "is not put forth in the national
consciousness. It has to be pushed and prodded through." Some hope
the film will spur Congress to right an injustice, but Freeman,
61, simply sees it as important to tell. "It is secondary that we
might be catalytical."
BIRTHDAYS
March 21: Matthew Broderick, 37; Rosie O'Donnell, 37.
March 22: Bob Costas, 47; Andrew Lloyd Webber, 51; Orrin
Hatch, 65; William Shatner, 68.
March 23: Kristie Phillips, 27; Ric Ocasek, 50 March 24 Tommy
Hilfiger, 48; Bob Mackie, 59.
March 25: Sheryl Swoopes, 28; Elton John, 54; Aretha Franklin,
57; Gloria Steinem, 65.
March 26: James Iha, 31; Diana Ross, 55; Bob Woodward, 56;
Leonard Nimoy, 68;
Sandra Day O'Connor, 69.
March 27: Mariah Carey, 29; Quentin Tarantino, 36.
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