Q. What has happened to Daniel J. Travanti, who starred in "Hill Street Blues"? - B.E.H., Salt Lake City, Utah.
A. Travanti's career has been in low gear with an only occasional movie role since "Hill Street" departed in 1987. He'll be back as a TV cop next fall in an ABC series, "Missing Persons." He plays the commander of the missing persons bureau of the Chicago Police Department.Q. I think Jason Alexander is terrific as George in "Seinfeld." Give some background information on him. Where can I write to him? - M.G., Philadelphia.
A. Alexander, 33, is a New Yorker and started acting at 17 in children's theater. He had a drama scholarship to Boston University, kept acting in commercials. He has a long list of theater credits, including a 1989 Tony Award for his work in the musical "Jerome Robbins' Broadway." He's made a few features and TV movies. "Seinfeld" is his first series. Alexander is married to writer/actress Daena Title and they have a young son. Write: NBC-TV, 3000 W. Alameda Ave., Burbank, CA 91523.
Q. I'd like to know if Cathy Baker, who is Jill on "Picket Fences," is the same Cathy Baker who was on "Hee Haw." Give some information on the Baker of "Picket Fences." - N.K., Carmichael, Calif.
A. The name's not the same. The "Hee Haw" honey is Cathy, but the "Picket Fences" Jill is Kathy. "Picket" is her first TV series. She was born in Midland, Texas, and grew up in Albuquerque, N.M. She graduated from the University of California-Berkley and made her movie debut in 1983 as Alan Shepard's wife in "The Right Stuff." Other features include "Edward Scissorhands," "Article 99," "Jennifer Eight" and "Mad Dog and Glory."
Q. Kathie Lee Gifford of "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee" said her name before she married was not Crosby. I'm sure it was and others are too. - C.R., Orchard Park, N.Y.
A. After all, Kathie Lee should know. She was Kathie Lee Epstein until she married composer Paul Johnson in 1976 and changed her name professionally to Kathie Lee Johnson. The marriage ended in 1983. She became Kathie Lee Gifford in 1986.
Q. Tell me where to write Nicollette Sheridan, of "Knots Landing." - C.J., Mount Clemens, Mich.
A. Lorimar Telepictures, 300 Lorimar Plaza, Burbank, CA 91505.
Q. I love watching the reruns of "Chico and the Man." Tell me about Freddie Prinze. Was there a TV movie about his life? - M.F., Oberlin, Ohio.
A. Prinze was a youngster from the slums of New York who made his mark in high school as a comic. He graduated from New York's High School for the Performing Arts and did stand-up comedy in clubs. He was first on TV on "The Jack Paar Show" but it was a later appearance on "The Tonight Show" that brought him to the attention of Jimmy Komack, who was looking for a young man to co-star in "Chico and the Man." Prinze got the job. Stardom came fast, so did all the trappings and the pressures. Soon Prinze was into drugs, out of control and fascinated by guns, which he carried constantly. His friends tried to stop him without success. Prinze shot himself in the head in 1977. He was 22. His mother claimed he did not commit suicide but was under the influence of drugs.
Q. Where can I write to "Unsolved Mysteries"? - B.B., Wichita Falls, Texas.
A. Write: NBC-TV, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112.
Q. Jim Davis had a western series in the 1950s. He was a railroad agent with a female partner. What was the series? - E.Z., Sterling Heights, Mich.
A. "Stories of the Century" in 1954 was the first of two syndicated series Davis did in the '50s. Mary Castle and Kristine Miller co-starred as his partner. His later series: "Rescue 8," 1958-60; "The Cowboys," 1974; and, of course, the one for which he is known, "Dallas," 1978-81.
Q. As a young boy, I remember watching a TV show called "My Friend Irma." I don't remember much about it except Mom and I would laugh and laugh. - J.S, Tucson, Ariz.
A. Irma was the cliche dumb blond but as played by Marie Wilson she was friendly, sexy and fun. Wilson made a career of playing similar characters, but Irma was the best known. She created the role on radio in 1947. Irma had a sensible roommate and the pair were surrounded by comic characters at work and at their rooming house. The TV version was seen 1952-54.
Q. We immensely enjoyed Eric Schweig, who played Daniel Day-Lewis' adopted brother in "The Last of the Mohicans." Give some background of this handsome actor, ethnic origin and what else he has been in. - C.B., Omaha, Neb.
A. Schweig is half Inuit and grew up with a white family in the Canadian northwest, where he went to school. He started acting in Canadian productions in Vancouver, where he lives. He's 25, unmarried and recently did two TV movies, "Elysian Fields" and "The Broken Chain."
Q. Tell me if the man who plays Adam Chandler on "All My Children" was on "Bonanza." Tell me a little about him. - C.B., Nescopet, Pa.
A. David Canary, 54, played Candy on "Bonanza" twice: 1967-70 and 1972-73. It was his second TV series. The night-time soap "Peyton Place" was his first big break after working in New York theaters and serving a stint in the Army. He broke into daytime soaps in 1980 with a short role in "The Doctors," followed that with a two-year stint as Stephen Frame in "Another World" before joining "AMC" as Adam/Stuart Chandler in 1983. He's won a string of daytime Emmys in the role.
Q. Where can I write Matthew Borlenghi of "All My Children"? - K.A., Cokoes, N.Y.
A. ABC-TV, 77 W. 66th St., New York, NY 10023.
Q. What happened to Peggy Wood of "I Remember Mama" and "The Sound of Music"? I have never heard that she died, but I am sure she must have by now. - J.V.B., Racine, Wis.
A. Wood was best known for her years in the theater, starting in 1910 in the chorus of "Naughty Marietta." She did few movies but did get an Oscar nomination for her work as the Mother Abbess in "The Sound Music," her last film. On TV, she starred in "Mama" and made one her last TV appearance in the soap "One Life to Live." She died at age 86 in 1979.
Q. As a child in the 1960s, I remember a fantasy movie called "The Horn Blows at Midnight," usually shown on New Year's Eve. Is this movie still being shown on TV or is it on video tape? - J.B., Highlands Ranch, Colo.
A. The 1945 comedy is probably better known for the mileage that Jack Benny got out of characterizing it as a bomb. It didn't get good reviews or good box office, but time changes some opinions. As one critic noted, "It's broad, funny, no classic, but not the turkey Benny joked about either." It's available to TV and is on laser disc.
Q. Were any Oscars awarded to "The Quiet Man" and "Shane"? - A.B., Chicago.
A. "Shane" had four Oscar nominations in 1952, including Best Picture, and took home one for Best Color Cinematography. "The Quiet Man" in 1953 had five nominations. It also won for Best Color Cinematography and John Ford picked up the Best Director award.
Q. Recently David Letterman had Ellen Barkin as a guest. He kept referring to her husband but never mentioned his name. Who is it? - M.L.E., Farmington, Mich.
A. Barkin has been married to actor Gabriel Byrne since 1986. The pair met at work on the the movie "Siesta." They have two children: Jack, 3, and daughter Romy, 1.
Q. I'm at my wits' end. Please tell why the actress who played Blake on "The Guiding Light" has been replaced by the current Blake. One of my senior citizen friends told me the original Blake died. - M.V.W., Huntersville, N.C.
A. Your friend is wrong. There are two ex-Blakes out there. Elizabeth Dennehy, who was Blake 1988-89, left for the greener fields of prime time; and Sherry Stringfield, Blake 1989-92, decided not to renew her contract. Elizabeth Keifer, veteran of "General Hospital" and "One Life to Live," took over.
- Send your questions to Celebrity Questions, Detroit Free Press, 321 W. Lafayette Blvd, Detroit, MI 48231.