Issue date: Dec 19, 1999
Q: Why isn't
Tiger Woods' dad, Earl, at his son's big golf tournaments? After all,
he made Tiger who he is.
Joan Vorwald, Bloomington, Wis.
Children leave the nest, and young Woods, 23, who broke the record
for annual golf earnings with a total of $6.6 million by fall, has
quite a nest of his own now. When he's not playing, Tiger heads
home to a gated community in Orlando, Fla., favored by other pro
golfers, thousands of miles from his parents in southern California.
He's still close with both his mom, Kultida, and Earl, who wrote
Training a Tiger; he visits them often. Besides, they're
kind enough to keep his dogs, Penny and Joey.
Q: My favorite
actress is Melissa Joan Hart of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.
I saw her in some men's magazines this fall looking pretty provocative.
Is she trying to change her wholesome image or what?
Timothy Allen, Fort Myers, Fla.
Hart was stretching her image, if not going for full-blown change.
The photos taken in swimsuits and sexy underwear for Maxim and Bikini
raised more of a fuss than the effervescent 23-year-old expected.
Despite a public wrist slap from Viacom -- publisher of Archie comics
and owner of her Sabrina character -- she made no apologies for
doing as she pleased. Hart, whose new boyfriend is One World's
Bryan Kirkwood, will play Sabrina through this TV season, at
the least.
Q: Please
settle a friendly disagreement about Suzanne Somers. My friends
think she's in her 40s. I say she's at least 50.
Gloria Smyles Seaside Heights, N.J.
Somers is 53, a 5-foot-5, 116-pound grandmother and diet guru
whose seventh book, 365 Ways to Change Your Life, hit stores
early this month. "I'm strangely proud of the wrinkles I have,"
the former Three's Company star tells us. "What I'm giving
up in elasticity, I'm gaining in wisdom." She has had no cosmetic
surgery ("When you're close to me, it's clear I haven't had a face
lift"), but she doesn't rule it out. "When I can no longer hold
it together, I would do that. When you lose your looks, I don't
know what you feel like." As for 365 Ways, "The theme is
the theme of my life: If you don't like parts of yourself, it's
up to you to fix it."
Q: Do the
women who host TV news or talk shows get to wear whatever they like,
or does someone else determine their style?
Marie Gardiner, Oak Ridge, Tenn.
Generally, they wear what they like; for most, it's designer duds.
Star Jones of The View shops at Saks Fifth Avenue's Salon
Z and has a thing for shoes: She owns more than 400 pairs. "I saw
a pair of silk-wrapped evening shoes Manolo Blahnik did a few seasons
back and I bought them in six colors." MTV's Ananda Lewis, an "urban,
grunge, glamorous cowgirl," gets the pick of young designers. "I
have my own style," she tells us, yet "it's been expanded because
I now have access to so much more."
Q: What
can Lara Flynn Boyle, of TV's The Practice, possibly see
in Jack Nicholson? He must have 30 years on her.
Patricia Ruha, Tinton Falls, N.J.
Thirty-three, to be exact. He has charm, money, connections and
great Lakers tickets. And he is said to be as hip as people half
his age, helped by Armani suits, ever-present Ray-Bans and pretty
dates. Liaisons with Michelle Phillips, Anjelica Huston and others
made gossip columns through the decades. But the actor is nothing
if not discreet, believing talk about relationships doesn't belong
in the press.
Q: Why did
MSNBC take John Hockenberry's show off the air? He's one of the
most talented journalists working.
Terry Roshaven, Fort Myers, Fla.
MSNBC honchos said only that they wanted to go in a "new direction."
It didn't help that Hockenberry had just 200,000 viewers a night.
He wasn't shocked, he tells us. "I was the youngest show and had
to go. These things happen, especially in cable." He's busy at NBC's
Dateline, which has a much bigger audience (15 million), yet
his cable days may not be over: "As the [presidential] campaign
gears up, I may have more to do on MSNBC." He's finishing writing
a thriller for Doubleday (due next fall), but his top priority is
caring for 16-month-old fraternal twins Zše and Olivia. "Being a
daddy is a big deal."
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THIS WEEK'S
BIRTHDAYS
Dec 19: Alyssa Milano, 27; Jennifer Beals, 36.
Dec 20: Billy Bragg, 42.
Dec 21: Kiefer Sutherland, 33; Ray Romano, 42; Chris Evert,
45; Jeffrey Katzenberg, 49; Samuel L. Jackson, 51; Jane Fonda, 62.
Dec 22: Ralph Fiennes, 37; Diane Sawyer, 54.
Dec 23: Eddie Vedder, 35; Susan Lucci, 51; Harry Shearer,
56.
Dec 24: Eddie Pope, 26; Ricky Martin, 28.
Dec 25: Rickey Henderson, 41; Annie Lennox, 45; Sissy Spacek,
50; Jimmy Buffett, 53.
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