Q. Is Jay Leno married? How many children does he have? - C.R., Shelby, N.C.
A. Leno (his formal name is James Douglas Muir Leno) has been married since 1980 to the former Mavis Nicholson, a comedy writer who has helped him with his jokes. They have no children.Q. In the miniseries "Sinatra," was Frank Sinatra's voice used throughout or did they use another singer for the early years? - M.M., Roselle, Ill.
A. The mini's soundtrack was sort of done by committee. As explained by producer Tina Sinatra, Phillip Casnoff, who played Sinatra, lip-synched to Sinatra recordings but in the early scenes, Casnoff did the voice. Two familiar numbers, "All or Nothing at All" and "I'll Never Smile Again," had to be replicated because the master recordings were so bad; Australian singer Tom Burlinson did those. The later Sinatra was provided by Frank Jr.
Q. In 1935, I met the great singer Gene Austin. He claimed to have received the first gold record for "My Blue Heaven." In many cities, I've listened to radio stations that play "golden oldies" but they all claim never to have heard of Gene Austin and insist I must be confused, it must be Gene Autry. It's hard to believe that a great recording artist of the 1930s could have disappeared. Is he still living? - J.B.S., Cochise, Ariz.
A. Austin's heyday was the 1920s. And, indeed, his recording of "My Blue Heaven" sold in the millions - five million at last count - but it was before the recording industry started handing out gold records. Austin had a string of hits and played vaudeville and radio, but by 1935, he quit show business to pursue his real interests: "traveling, drinking and gambling," as he told an interviewer. He was 72 when he died in 1972.
Q. The darling young policewoman on "Picket Fences" was on a soap opera. Which one? Tell me about her. - E.S.W., Apopska, Fla.
A. Good eye: Lauren Holly, who plays Maxine Stewart in "Fences," spent three years as Julie Chandler in "All My Children." She was born in Bristol, Pa., and grew up in Geneva, N.Y., where her father was a college professor. Her mother taught at the University of Rochester (N.Y.). Holly attended Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y., and London's Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. She made her movie debut in "Seven Minutes to Heaven." She's married to actor/producer Danny Quinn.
Q. Settle this bet: Is the woman who played Becky Buchanan on "One Life to Live" the same woman who plays Jill on "Home improvement"? - M. & M., Buffalo, N.Y.
A. Patricia Richardson, who is Jill, has never done a soap but has appeared on the prime-time series "Double Trouble," "Eisenhower and Lutz" and "FM." Jill Voight and Mary Gordon Murray played Becky.
Q. Did Robert Urich, star of "Crossroads," ever play Dr. Mark Toland on "One Life to Live"? - C.C., Redford, Mich.
A. Urich may be the TV series champ but he's never done a daytime serial. This season's now-canceled "Crossroads" was his ninth series in 20 years. "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" was his first back in 1973. Tommy Lee Jones, Urich's "Lonesome Dove" co-star, played Toland on "OLTL," 1971-75.
Q. I enjoy watching Ada Maris, of "Nurses." Tell me about her, where she was born, where I can write. - A.G., Philadelphia.
A. Maris was born and raised in East Los Angeles. She attended Boston University and UCLA. She's worked in regional theater, in nightclubs with a one-woman show. She was in the syndicated series "What a Country" and two features, "About Last Night" and "Stiffs." Write: Touchstone Television, 500 S. Buena Vista Blvd., Burbank, Calif. 91521.
Q. Didn't Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs, who was in "The Jacksons," appear on "Fame" a while back? - Mrs. L.A., Allen Park, Mich.
A. Jacobs wasn't in "Fame." He's best known as Freddie "Boom Boom" Washington in another, different kind of show about a school, "Welcome Back, Kotter." He played one of the original Sweat Hogs.
Q. Who played Martin on "My Favorite Martian"? How can I see how he looks without his antenna? - F.C., Denver, Colo.
A. That's veteran character actor Ray Walston in the 30-year-old series. To see 1993's antenna-less Walston, try "Picket Fences," on which he plays an irascible judge.
Q. What ever happened to Patty Duke after "The Patty Duke Show"? How long did that show last and how old was she in it? - C.L., North Tonawanda, N.Y.
A. What DIDN'T happen to Duke? She was 16-to-19 when she played twins Patty/Cathy Lane in the series, seen 1963-66. An actress since she was 8, she became a star on stage and screen with her work as Helen Keller in "The Miracle Worker." The TV series followed. She did TV movies, features and several other series, some as Patty Duke Astin during her marriage to actor/director John Astin. Her private life had more downs than ups, which she chronicled in an autobiography, "Call Me Anna."
Q. I'd like to know about the lady who plays Ruth Anne on "Northern Exposure." I think she'd be fun to be around. - J., Austin, Texas.
A. Peg Phillips is 74 and an actress come lately. A native of the Northwest, she decided to study acting when she was 65. She lives in a 100-year-old log cabin not far from Seattle, where "Exposure" is filmed. She was hired first as a bit player, but stayed on to be a series regular.
Q. When and where was Jack Lord born and what is his real name? Did he appear in a series other than "Hawaii Five-O"? - E.W.R., Philadelphia.
A. His real name is John Ryan and he was born in New York City, Dec. 30, 1930. That much is certain but the year isn't. Lord shaved years off his birth date after fame came in 1962 with his other TV series, "Stoney Burke."
Q. Tell me where I can write the cast of "Homefront." -T.A.H., Dearborn, Mich.
A. The show's been on hiatus, but will return soon for a few weeks (or so says ABC). Write: Lorimar Television, 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, Calif. 90232.
Q. Answer this if you can: To whom is Dianne Sawyer married? - A.M., West Haven, Conn.
A. She's married to Mike Nichols, now a top stage and screen director, once Elaine May's partner in a comedy/satire act.
Q. If Bob Newhart's sitcom "Bob" doesn't do well this season, will he try something else?
A. Not likely. The comedian has been frustrated with his Friday night time slot because he says his audience - the age group from 18 to 49 - "doesn't stay home on Friday nights." He hasn't been successful with CBS in extracting a change of venue. "If `Bob' doesn't make it, I won't be able to say, `Oh, I know what we should have done.' We're doing it now, everything right. Maybe I don't understand TV anymore. I'd be very gun-shy about giving it another try."
Q. Whatever happened to Leonard Whiting, who played Romeo in the Franco Zeffirelli movie "Romeo and Juliet"?
A. Whiting, now 42 and living in London, has kept busy writing in recent years. He has several unpublished novels and plays completed, including "Romeo and Juliet II," in which the lovers come back to life. Whiting freely admits that the 1968 film was the peak of his acting career.
Q. Has her TV series "Civil Wars" rescued Mariel Hemingway from that child-woman image?
A. She thinks so. "It's totally re-established me in the acting community," says the actress of her ABC series. "There was a sense around the industry that I had gone off and had children and wasn't that interested in acting any longer." Hemingway, whose daughters are 3 and 5, said that the show also has given her the image of a more "serious" actress than her roles in "Manhattan" and "Star 80" in the late '70s and early '80s. At least, she says, "that's what I set out to accomplish."
Q. Can it be true that "The People's Court" has been canceled?
A. After 12 years on television, Judge Joseph A. Wapner, 73, received his pink slip. Taping of new episodes will end in April, although reruns will continue. The once-obscure local judge presided over 4,600 small-claims cases in his TV courtroom, a job he landed in retirement. As for his future, he says he's "pretty much ruled out a Supreme Court nomination."
Q. Didn't the young French actor Guillaume Depardieu have an easy go of it in his film debut since his famous father was the headliner?
A. Pas du tout. "To me," said the 21-year-old son of France's top actor, Gerard Depardieu, "this was the hard way." The two co-starred in "Tous les Matins du Monde." "My life is about being myself - not merely the son of Depardieu," Guillaume said. "But to not do this film because of my father would be to take the easier path. I never choose the easy path." In the movie, Guillaume plays the younger version of the 17th-century composer Marin Marais, portrayed by his father. With two more movies in the can, Guillaume is enjoying his first love: music. He composes classical piano pieces and jams in Paris rock clubs.
Q. I've recently seen talented actor Jim Metzler in two cable movies. I haven't seen him since his big success in "Tex." Why such a long dry spell? Give me some background. - R.C., Rutherford, N.C.
A. Metzler's done two TV series, "Cutter to Houston" and "The Best Times," appeared in the miniseries "North and South" and several minor features, "Hot to Trot" and "976-Evil," and several TV movies as well as the cable movies since "Tex." Nothing spectacular, but hardly a dry spell. A native of Oneonta, N.Y., he attended Dartmouth, spent two seasons with a Boston Red Sox farm team, then tried sportswriting before turning to acting. He worked off Broadway and in regional theater before making his movie debut in "Four Friends" in 1980.
Q. Was cowboy star Tim Holt related to cowboy actor Jack Holt? - S.S., Wyandotte, Mich.
A. Tim was Jack's son. In fact, he was actually Charles John Holt Jr., his dad's real name. Jack Holt kept acting until he died at 63 in 1951. Unlike his father, Tim managed to shake his Western typecasting. He was seen in Orson Welles' "The Magnificent Ambersons" and "Treasure of the Sierra Madre." Tim left acting for the business world in the 1950s. He died at 55 in 1973.
Q. Info, please, on the girl who played Bonnie Butler in "Gone With the Wind." I have read everything and never seen anything on Bonnie. - S.M., Perry, Fla.
A. Cammie King was 4 when she played Bonnie Blue Butler in "GWTW" and it was her sole foray into acting. "My desire to be an actress was not terrific," she told Entertainment Weekly in 1989, during the 50th anniversary festivities of the release of the movie. Now Cammie King Conlon, 59, she lives in a small California town, where she manages an art gallery.
Q. I'd like some personal info on Dennis Quaid. How old, married, children, movies. - C.L., Wichita Falls, Texas.
A. Quaid is 38, married to his second wife, actress Meg Ryan, and has one son, Jack Henry, born in 1992. Among his movies: "September, 30, 1955," "Our Winning Season," "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden," "GORP," "Breaking Away," "The Big Easy," "The Long Riders," "Come See the Paradise," "Great Balls of Fire" and "The Right Stuff."
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