In this article: Birthdays More on Oprah Winfrey and Beloved Last week's Who's News

She was disappointed people didn't embrace Beloved's topic, a former slave's struggle with her past, but Winfrey isn't easily discouraged. She's on to producing movies for her "Oprah Winfrey Presents" franchise on ABC, she'll develop programming for a new cable station, and she plans to publish a magazine. Beloved, now on video, made $22.8 million in its short release. (By comparison, Wild Wild West made $33.6 million over the July 4 weekend alone.) Money aside, Winfrey told us last fall, "I am forever changed by the experience."

What is Katey Sagal - the very funny Peg Bundy of Married ... With Children - up to these days?
Leslie Macler, Napa, Calif.

That's Sagal you hear as Leela the one-eyed space captain if you watch Fox's prime-time cartoon Futurama. She's a no-nonsense gal, says Sagal, "who's lonely and in search of a mate." In real life, Sagal, who in her youth was one of Bette Midler's Harlettes, remains married (to musician Jack White) with children Sarah, 4, and Jackson, 3. "Keeping the house together is the hardest thing I've ever done," she says, "and the most rewarding. I handle it by putting one foot in front of the other. I make a lot of lists."

Ryan Phillippe, star of Studio 54 and Cruel Intentions, stands out in a crowded field of hot young actors. What's next for him?
Ashley Penny, Melbourne, Fla.

Would you believe ballet shoes? In his next film, Company Man, he's a Russian ballet dancer, "sort of like Nureyev," he says. "It's a political satire, a Wag the Dog of the '60s." This summer, Phillippe, 24, married his girlfriend of two years, Cruel Intentions co-star Reese Witherspoon (with him above). They expect a baby this fall. "What I love about Reese," he says, "is her strength. She can handle anything. She knows how to take care of business. Also, there's a side of her that's so playful. I tend to get dark sometimes, and she's always making me laugh."

I predict big things for Jennifer Paige, whose first single, Crush, topped pop charts worldwide. Is her second single, Sober, based on her life?
Larry Bauer, Lansing, Mich.

No. Paige, 25, didn't even write Sober, a song about addictive love. Sometimes described as a '90s Debbie Gibson, she had a solid upbringing in Atlanta with lots of support for her musical interest. She began singing in coffeehouses at age 8, favored music practice over other activities, and by 13 was writing songs. She moved to Los Angeles two years ago at the suggestion of singer and former Wings actress Crystal Bernard, who heard Paige sing in Las Vegas. She's still getting established in the music biz, but acting is on her mind, too.

It was good to see Madeleine Stowe back onscreen this summer in John Travolta's The General's Daughter. Where's she been?
H.M. Smith, Atlanta

For a while, Stowe says, she lost her "zest" for acting. "It was hard to sit and read scripts. My mind would wander off. I didn't feel charged." The 40-year-old actress, who lives in Texas with husband Brian Benben and their daughter, May, 3, explains: "I'd always felt a discontent with myself and what I've done. But I think that feeling may have gone away. I am completely calm. I don't feel turbulent anymore. I feel much lighter about life than I ever did before." Because she's back to liking her work, Stowe says, she's researching some "history-based" projects.

Meet the Press moderator Tim Russert is tough on guests but respectful. I've often wondered: Does he come up with those well-targeted questions on his own?
Mervyn Becker, Van Nuys, Calif.

Russert crafts his own queries, but "I call everybody. One of my great barometers is my dad, a retired truck driver in Buffalo." Good questions, Russert tells us, result from preparation and persistence. He reads six newspapers and endless magazines and books, and watches or reads transcripts of any shows his guests are on. "If you know everything there is to know about your guest's position, you can anticipate the 'packaged' answers." If all this homework sounds as if it leaves little time for life, Russert assures us he makes it work, except "I don't go out on Saturday nights."

This week's Birthdays

Aug 8: JC Chasez, 23; Dustin Hoffman, 62; Esther Williams, 76.
Aug 9: Gillian Anderson 31; Whitney Houston 36.
Aug 10: Rosanna Arquette, 40.
Aug 11: Will Friedle, 23; Joe Jackson, 44; Jerry Falwell, 66.
Aug 12: Casey Affleck, 24; Pete Sampras, 28; Mark Knopfler, 50.
Aug 13: Debi Mazar, 35; Joycelyn Elders, 66; Don Ho, 69; Fidel Castro, 72.
Aug 14: Halle Berry, 31; Magic Johnson, 40; David Crosby, 58.

Contributing: Nancy Mills, Bart Mills

The June 25-27 Who's News misstated the name of Vanessa Williams' upcoming TNT film, Don Quixote.

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