In this article: Birthdays Last week's Who's News Bonus article: More with Jodi Applegate

Hollywood's latest action hero reportedly is seeing race-car driver Dario Franchitti, but the most important thing in her life is peace of mind. "Your private relationship with yourself is a spring that will feed every other factor," she says. Early in her career, Judd, 31, daughter of country singer Naomi Judd, lived in Malibu, Calif. When her house burned down five years ago, she moved to the family estate near Nashville, where she has a house just down the road from her mother and sister Wynonna. "It gives me a sense of sanctuary."

What is Jodi Applegate's secret? She brings a lot of energy to NBC's Later Today, just as she did when she co-anchored Weekend Today.
Jamie Rhyne, Greenville, S.C.

"I've got the job I've always wanted," Applegate tells us. Plus, she holds herself responsible for her success. Applegate, 35, long has believed, "I can succeed and I can fail, but I've got no one to blame, and it's totally up to me." Her attitude stems in part from her upbringing as an only child whose parents died when she was young. She says she knows that, if she wants a family, she'll have to make one herself. That's exactly what she and husband Rob Nikoleski, an MSNBC sports correspondent, intend when careers permit.

My favorite ballplayer is the Atlanta Braves' Javier Lopez. Does he support any foundations or fund-raisers that benefit children?
Christy Sotello El Paso

Lopez, 29, provides underprivileged kids with tickets to Braves home games through the team's Reach Out program; he also gives baseball equipment to youth leagues in his native Puerto Rico. He has a 4-year-old son of his own with wife Analy, who was his high school sweetheart. When the Braves catcher, who'll make $6.25 million next year, isn't working, he loves flying planes -- the remote-controlled variety. He has eight and spends hours at it weekly as a form of relaxation.

Which classical-music conductor makes the most money?
Carolyn Lewis, Sacramento

It's tough to pinpoint one best earner; many have multiple jobs and recording contracts. But "top symphony conductors around the world are now paid nearly as much as top players in the NBA or NFL," says Jacob Weisberg, critic for the Web magazine Slate. Talents like Chicago's Daniel Barenboim serve more than one master (he's also music director for Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin) to reach a reported $3 million-plus per year. "To make these salaries," Weisberg tells us, "they stretch themselves so thin, they don't end up building great orchestras."

Please settle our family argument about the blind Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. I say he's happily married. Others think he's separated.
Eleanora Marino, Bradenton, Fla.

He's married, and "family is No. 1 to him," says Antonia Felix, author of the new book Andrea Bocelli, A Celebration. She tells us swooning women scream "Andrea, I love you!" while Bocelli is onstage, but his wife, Enrica, 28, and two sons often tour with him. Bocelli, 41, met Enrica at a nightclub when he was a lounge singer. He knew it was love when she touched his hand; she knew when she heard him sing.

What became of Joely Fisher, who was so good as Ellen DeGeneres' best friend on Ellen? I've always wondered whether she's one of Eddie Fisher's kids.
Carol Ramsey, Clayton, N.Y.

Fisher, 31, stars as Sally Bowles in a touring production of Cabaret. And she was a heroic scientist this past summer in Disney's Inspector Gadget. Fisher is indeed a product of one of Hollywood's famous marriages: Her mom is actress Connie Stevens and her dad is '50s crooner Eddie Fisher (though she has said he ignored her while she was growing up). She's ready to start a family of her own with her husband, cinematographer Christopher Duddy.

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DEC 12: Mayim Bialik, 24; Bob Barker, 76.
DEC 13: Steve Buscemi, 42; Dick Van Dyke, 74.
DEC 14: Michael Ovitz, 53.
DEC 15: Mo Vaughn, 32; Don Johnson, 50.
DEC 16: Michael McCary, 28; Steven Bochco, 56; Lesley Stahl, 58.
DEC 17: Milla Jovovich, 24; William Safire, 70.
DEC 18: Katie Holmes, 21; Brad Pitt, 36; Steven Spielberg, 52; Keith Richards, 56.