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Issue date: June 20, 1999
In this article:
Birthdays
Last week's Who's News
This week's bonus:
Rachel Leigh Cook
Wayne Brady

Rachel Leigh Cook was great as a geeky outsider in the teen Pygmalion tale She's All That. What was she really like in school? And how did she like working with good-looking Freddie Prinze Jr.?
Keri Burgess, Yuba City, Calif.

Prinze, she tells us, "is the sweetest guy. He obliterates what image anyone may have of young guys in Hollywood." But, then, Cook, 19, is level-headed herself, particularly about movies' effect on teens. Studios "should try to make scripts with a moral story line. If you show irresponsible characters doing terrible things, get the repercussions in there." Cook was neither super-popular nor antisocial in real-life school. "All of high school and all of life," she says, "can be tracked back to preschool and morals like 'play nice with other children.' ... People don't treat other people the way they want to be treated, and those are words to live by for sure."

How many houses or properties does Kathie Lee Gifford own?
D.T. Flowers,New Castle, Del.

The 45-year-old morning-show yakker, who recently let it be known it's her salary paying the bills, owns five properties with husband Frank Gifford, the former football commentator. Their main residence is a seven-bedroom, nine-bathroom mansion in Greenwich, Conn. - an easy commute to the ABC studios in New York City where she tapes Live With Regis & Kathie Lee daily. The Giffords also own a beach house in Rehoboth Beach, Del., where autographed Kathie Lee photos hang in a popular restaurant; a condo and vacant house lot in the Florida Keys; and a five-bedroom retreat in the Rocky Mountains 10 miles from Vail, Colo.

I've seen every Jim Carrey movie, some several times, because no one is funnier. When will we see him onscreen again?
Shane Wallace,York, S.C.

This winter he stars in the Andy Kaufman bio Man in the Moon. Carrey, a high school dropout who once worked improv clubs to support his parents and siblings, got so into playing the late Taxi actor that he stayed in character at all times. Some fellow actors said they feel as if they never met the real Carrey. A self-described self-revelation junkie who has been twice married (once to actress Lauren Holly), Carrey, 37, has been out lately with Ashley Judd.

Wayne Brady is a riot to watch on the improv show Whose Line Is It Anyway? His ability to make up songs on the spot is an extraordinary talent.
Deb Leppanen, Duxbury, Mass.

It's also so unusual that it's earned him a development deal with ABC for a new sketch/variety show. The 27-year-old newlywed tells us he began making up stories and songs at age 6. "I was shy and had a stutter, so I didn't like talking to people. I used to make up plays based on Robin Hood, the Lone Ranger and Superman. I would do all the voices, all the commercials, then interview myself, pretending I was a big star." He broke out of his shell after joining ROTC in high school. Does he ever draw a blank when he has to invent a song in a millisecond? "I don't want to jinx myself, but ... I have a really good hit-to-miss ratio."

Dirty Dancing star Jennifer Grey is beautiful in the new ABC comedy
It's Like, You Know, but she also looks so different it's startling. Is it only because she had cosmetic surgery on her nose?

Lori Jewell,Cassadaga, N.Y.

Rarely has one nose job gotten so much notice. And in fact, it was a second operation on her nose, done to fix a problem with the first, that altered Grey's face so drastically she's no longer recognizable as Patrick Swayze's sweet dance partner in '87's Dancing. To her credit, Grey, 39, who's dated Johnny Depp, George Stephanopoulos and Matthew Broderick, talks openly about her new look - even made fun of it on the promising It's Like, recently renewed for fall.

Who actually buys the outrageous clothes modeled at fashion shows? I certainly never see such dress on regular folks.
David Wagner, Yuma, Ariz.

Ensembles seen in New York, Milan and Paris aren't meant for real people. "Most are designed for the press," says John Schulman, director of Giorgio Beverly Hills. "Designers want to show off their most creative work." A designer's overall collection may be more appealing than the runway indicates - but it's all grossly expensive. At Giorgio, where Daryl Hannah and Sharon Stone shop or sip lattes at the cafe, a simple evening dress is priced between $1,200 and $10,000.

Contributing: Jeanne Wright

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This week's Birthdays

June 20: Nicole Kidman, 32; John Goodman, 47.
June 21:
Prince William, 17; Juliette Lewi, 26.
June 22:
Tracy Pollan, 39; Meryl Streep, 50; Ed Bradley, 58.
June 23:
Frances McDormand, 42; Clarence Thomas, 51; June Carter Cash, 70.
June 24:
Preki, 36; Mick Fleetwood, 57; Michele Lee, 57.
June 25:
George Michael, 36; Carly Simon, 54.
June 26: Derek Jeter, 25; Chris O'Donnell, 29; Chris Isaak, 43.

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