In this article: Birthdays Bounce links: Sammy Sosa

Sosa, 30, is so generous he's called "Sammy Claus" at home in the Dominican Republic. During baseball season, he lives in a 55th- floor eight-bedroom Chicago condo. But he has winter homes in Miami and the Dominican Republic. Once so poor that he would shine shoes and sell oranges to put rice and beans on the table, Sosa is in the middle of a four-year, $42.5 million contract with the Cubs. "I'll never forget where I come from," says last year's National League MVP. "I'm still hungry, and I'm still humble."

Cybill Shepherd was the one woman on TV who offered a funny but intelligent take on life after 40. Since her sitcom got dumped a year ago, I've heard nothing about her.
Lianne Hass, Steamboat Springs, Colo.

The ex-model, whose stunning looks got her into show biz, lived through another letdown soon after CBS axed Cybill: She and fiancé Robert Martin split. But if, as author Nora Ephron has said, writing well is the best revenge, Shepherd, 49, may be ready for hers. She's penning Cybill Disobedience, slated for spring. We can only hope it's full of juicy info about the men in her life, such as Peter Bogdonavich, her Last Picture Show director and lover; Bruce Willis, whose chemistry and tension with her were palpable on Moonlighting; and Elvis, with whom she shared a month of love.

Calista Flockhart has such an unusual name. What does it mean? Does the Ally McBeal star have some exotic background?
Audrey Snyder, Springfield, Mo.

According to Flockhart, 34, "Calista" - which was her great-grandmother's first name - is Greek for "most beautiful." Her background, however, is more American; it even includes a stint as a high school cheerleader. The attention she gets now has as much to do with her rail-thin body as her success in Ally or movies such as A Midsummer Night's Dream. "You have to ignore 99% of what the media says and maintain your sense of humor," she says. "A lot of the tabloid stories about me are so well-written. They're very clever." She may be tiny, but Flockhart feels fierce. For fitness, she kickboxes. "I love the punching."

Who's the cute little girl with the big, famous voices who has America humming the Pepsi jingle?
Janet Thomas, Washington, Pa.

The voices are electronically dubbed, but she's Hallie Eisenberg, 7, who says she knew when she was 2 she wanted to be on TV. "I'd watch little kids on commercials, and I'd say, 'Hey, how come she's on and and I'm not?' " The ads have made the 4-foot soon-to-be second-grader a star, but she assures us her pals "still treat me the same." At age 5, she starred in Paulie, a movie about a parrot that inspired her to get one (she also has a dog and a cat), and she just finished working with Robin Williams. She likes to climb basketball poles, rollerblade and dance. "I take tap, ballet and jazz lessons." What's she doing with all the money? "Saving for college."

Please tell me my favorite actor, Tom Selleck, hasn't retired. I haven't seen him in a while, but he's too young to stop acting.
Kathern Johnson, Tucson, Ariz.

Selleck, who had a part in early summer's The Love Letter, is just picky. "I'm offered a lot of features I don't want to do," says the handsome 49-year-old. "I want to work more often, but I can afford to be selective." Since Magnum, P.I., ended 11 years ago, Selleck has had an uneven film career, but while he waits for the right script, he's content to work his 63-acre California ranch, where he lives with his wife, former British dancer Jillie Mack, and their daughter, Hannah, 10.

What is the relationship between radio shock jock Howard Stern and pretty sidekick Robin Quivers? Sometimes she acts maternal with him, other times flirtatious.
Joan Caouette, Santa Maria, Calif.

Quivers and Stern, both 45, have a long (nearly 20-year) and complex history but have always been just friends. Quivers has been close to Stern's wife, Alison, since early on. Alison Stern, a social worker, has even brokered the radio duo's off-air fights. In her 1995 autobio, Quivers said she was "deathly afraid" of meeting Alison, thinking she might not like her. As it turned out, "I liked her more than him."

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Birthdays

July 11 Richie Sambora, 40; Suzanne Vega, 40; Deborah Harry 54
July 12 Kristi Yamaguchi, 28; Lisa Nicole Carson, 30; Bill Cosby, 62; Milton Berle, 91.
July 13 Cameron Crowe, 42; Harrison Ford, 57.
July 14 Matthew Fox, 33.
July 15 Brian Austin Green, 26; Forest Whitaker, 38; Kim Alexis 39.
July 16 Stewart Copeland, 47.
July 17 David Hasselhoff, 47; Phoebe Snow, 47 .

Contributing: Bart Mills, Bob Nightengale, Jeanne Wright

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