Q. Isn't Kristy Swanson, better known as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, unusually experienced for such a young actress?
A. Call her focused. Described as a cross between Lucille Ball and Linda Hamilton, Swanson as a youngster persuaded her parents to submit her snapshot to a Los Angeles talent agency to launch a career in commercials and acting. At 22, she's been on television's "Knots Landing," starred in the movies "Mannequin 2: On the Move" and "Highway to Hell" and appeared in others, such as "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and "Pretty in Pink." Swanson takes such opportunity in stride. "I find that setting too many goals causes stress," she says.Q. My favorite actor in the whole history of acting is Mike Myers, of "Saturday Night Live." I'd like to know how old he is, if he's married and if he's been in any movies or other TV shows. And what's his address? - T.S.K., Broomall, Pa.
A. Toronto-born Myers is 29, single, started in TV as a kid in Canadian commercials, joined Toronto's Second City right out of high school, later joined the Chicago troupe and from there joined "SNL" as a bit player in 1989. He's worked in features in Canada and in the U.S. TV movies "John and Yoko," "Strong Medicine" and "Breaking Up" and, of course, this year's feature, "Wayne's World." Write: NBC-TV, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112.
Q. Isn't Jill St. John itching to get back to work and stop being merely Mrs. Robert Wagner?
A. Not in the least. "There's no negativity in my life," says the upbeat 52-year-old, who is probably best known for her spicy role in the 1971 James Bond film, "Diamonds Are Forever." St. John says she is content to observe her spouse's booming career. Her main goal, she confides, is to be "the oldest person on the ski lift at Aspen."
Q. Does Ben Vereen have to quit the entertainment business because of injuries from a car accident this summer?
A. The Tony-winning dancer and TV star nearly lost his life in June when he was hit by a truck on a dark stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway. He had critical internal and head injuries and a fractured leg and was anticipating a year of physical therapy. But he healed faster than expected and is set to play an FBI agent in the movie "The Taking of Gary Feldman," scheduled to begin production this month. "Ben's the toughest fighter who ever lived," said his close friend Dan Curtis, who co-wrote the script.
Q. Doesn't "Baywatch" star David Hasselhoff have a secret life as a singer?
A. Hasselhoff, who plays chief lifeguard Mitch Buchannon in the syndicated series, was a musical comedy performer as a child. In 1988 he hooked up with a German composer and record producer to record "Looking for Freedom," which went on to become the No. 1 album of the year in West Germany (Madonna was runner-up). His fourth album has just been released, and in Europe his popularity is compared to that of Elvis and the Beatles. Otherwise, he is married to actress Pamela Bach and is a father.
Q. Any chance of a comprehensive anthology of Bob Marley's music?
A. "Songs of Freedom," the first compilation to chronicle Marley's 18-year career, was recently released in a limited-edition CD format as well as cassette editions from PolyGram records. The collection of 78 tracks features some previously unpublished material. Some proceeds will be donated to a school for poverty-stricken children in Ethiopia.
Q. I watch the old "Dick Van Dyke Show" and I was wondering what happened to Jerry Paris. - P.D., Mount Clemens, Mich.
A. The "Van Dyke Show" was Paris' last series as an actor (he was in "The Untouchables" and "Michael Shayne," among other series). While doing the "Van Dyke Show," he turned to directing (winning an Emmy) and went on to be one of TV's top sitcom directors with "That Girl," "The Odd Couple" and "Happy Days" among his credits. He died in 1986.
Q. Tell me a little about Stacy Galina of "Knots Landing": how old she is, where she's from, what other acting she's done, where I can write her. - J.B., Sacramento, Calif.
A. Galina's 26, born in Baltimore, raised in Atlanta and intended to be a ballerina until foot trouble sent her into acting. She moved to Los Angeles in 1986 to study acting, did a few guest TV roles and the TV movie "Exile" before she did a one-shot role on "Knots" as Greg Sumner's niece. She was killed off after one episode but surfaced again a few months later in a different role. Write: Lorimar Telepictures, 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232.
Q. Tell us the name of the show in which Andy Griffith starred as a collector of space junk. We've been trying for weeks and can't come up with it. - K.L., Wapakeneta, Ohio.
A. It was "Salvage I," and Griffith's company Jettison Scrap and Salavage only collected space junk in the pilot movie for the 1979 series. In other shows, they went after icebergs, diamonds and oil. But the exotic adventures only lasted part of a season.
Q. Tell me where to write Jaleel White of "Family Matters." - M.K., Oak Park, Mich.
A. Lorimar Telepictures, 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232.
Q. My family and I have a bet going on this: I was under the impression that Linda Evans, who later starred in "Dynasty," also co-starred in the 50s with John Forsythe as his daughter in "Bachelor Father." - R.M., Portland, Ore.
A. Forsythe didn't have a daughter in the series, seen 1957-62. He was bachelor father to niece Kelly played by Noreen Corcoran. But a teenage Evans did appear in the series as friend of Kelly's in an episode called "A Crush on Bentley."
Q. My friend and I love David Newsom, of "Homefront." Tell us his age, marital status, where he's from and what other acting he's done. - K.S., Franklin, Mich.
A. Newsom's in his mid-20s, born in Glen Ridge, N.J. and attended Ithaca (N.Y.) College. He's single. He's done guest roles on "China Beach" and "Quantum Leap." And he's looking for a new job since his role in "Homefront" has been written out to make way for a new female character.
Q. My wife and I enjoy "Brooklyn Bridge." Tell me what you can about Louis Zorich, Grandpa. I'm sure our paths crossed years ago. I'd like to drop him a few lines. - H.Z., Morton Grove, Ill.
A. It's possible. Zorich is a Chicago native, trained at the Goodman Theater after World War II. He has a long list of theater and movie credits including Arthur Miller's "A View from the Bridge, " "Beckett," "Death of a Salesman" on Broadway and features "Fiddler on the Roof," "Coogan's Bluff," "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" and the recent "City of Hope." He's married to actress Olympia Dukakis and they have three children. Write: Paramount Television, 5555 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90038-3197.
Q. Tell me the actors who played in "Peter Gunn" in the early '60s. What are they doing now? - L.S., Lafayette Hill, Pa.
A. Craig Stevens was suave private eye Gunn. He still turns up on TV occasionally. Lola Albright was Edie, his girl friend. She also acts occasionally. Both have been on "Murder, She Wrote." Herschel Bernardi - Lt. Jacoby, Gunn's cop pal - and Hope Emerson and Minerva Urecal, both of whom played Mother, owner of the cafe where Edie sang, all have died.
Q: Where, oh where did Disney studios come up with the little fella who starred in "Honey, I Blew Up the Kid"?
A: He's actually two. Identical twins Daniel and Joshua Shalikar, 2, beat out 1,100 other, mostly older, candidates. Although they took well to rehearsal, the lights, cameras and bustle of actual filming bothered them. Also, keeping their attention more than 30 seconds was a real trick, and some scenes had to be repeated 10 or 15 times. All this meant dreaming up new games daily to keep their interest. Cameras rolled in the morning with one twin; then came lunch and naptime and switching twins in the afternoon. Daniel and Joshua caught on fast. By the end of the five-month shoot they were tossing out lines like "I wan' go trailer" (for their breaks), and were fighting over whose turn it was before the cameras.
Q: What relation, if any, is martial artist-actor Brandon Lee and martial-arts master Bruce Lee?
A: Brandon Lee, 27, was 9 when his father, Bruce, died of a brain edema. Afterwards, his American mother Linda moved the family from Hong Kong to Los Angeles. Lee says he doesn't mind walking in his father's shadow but declined to play him in the forthcoming movie bio "Dragon." It would have been too eerie, he said. Today Lee lives in the Hollywood hills and choreographs his own steps for movies, like the recent "Rapid Fire." "A fight," he says, "can express things people might not be able to say with words."
Q: What motivated actors Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer to come out with another Spinal Tap record?
A: They created a cult that fans won't let die since their album debut with "Smell the Glove" in 1984 and the Rob Reiner-directed mock-rockumentary "This Is Spinal Tap." Their latest spandex-induced ear-splitting satire of the music industry is "Break Like the Wind," which includes such titles as "Bitch School" (about training dogs) and "Stinkin' Up the Great Outdoors" (about a rock tour). Explains Guest, who plays lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel: "This is the ultimate achievement for an actor. To act as another character who is writing music. The object is to write something funny that is also accessible."
Q. Years ago, I saw "The Great Gatsby," starring Alan Ladd and Shelley Winters. All my friends, who are not as old as I, say I couldn't have. Is there a tape of it? - S.L., North Glen, Colo.
A. Tell your friends Ladd played Jay Gatsby, with Betty Field as Daisy Buchanan and Winters in the supporting cast, in a 1949 version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel. There was also a 1926 silent version and, the one your young friends probably remember, the 1974 version with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow. Only the 1974 version is on tape.
Q. Give me some information on Steve Cochran. I really liked him in "Come Next Spring." What is he doing now? - J.W., Vacaville, Calif.
A. Cochran made his movie debut in 1945 in "Wonder Man." "Come Next Spring" was one of the few movies in which he didn't play a villain or a heel. He died of a heart attack in 1965 at 48. His last movie, "Tell Me in the Sunlight," which he also directed and produced, was released posthumously in 1967.