Question: In an e-mail from a friend, containing vital information, it was indicated that Susan Lucci is the daughter of Phyllis Diller? Any truth to that information?
Answer: This may be hard to believe, but chain e-mails rarely contain factual information. Except for the one about Microsoft giving you a million dollars to go to Disney World. That one is TOTALLY true — my friend's uncle's third cousin's daughter knows a guy who went to school with somebody who knows someone who lives down the street from someone who got it! The Phyllis Diller-Susan Lucci link is an old, dumb rumor that will not die. It is untrue.
Question: We have two questions about the CBS series "NCIS." Is the actor who plays Agent McGee the same actor who played a boy who turned into a black cat in the movie "Hocus Pocus"? Also, my husband would like to know if all of Abby's tattoos are real.
Answer: Sean Murray, who plays McGee, did indeed appear in that 1993 film. Pauley Perrette, who plays Abby, has several real tattoos of her own, but at least two — the spider web and an intricate cross —are fake and were added for the show.
Question: I know that Joely Fisher of "'Til Death" is the daughter of Eddie Fisher and Connie Stevens. I am not concerned about the whereabouts of Eddie, but whatever happened to the adorable Ms. Stevens?
Answer: So, no offense, but I can surmise two things from your question: (1) You're old. (2) You don't watch the Home Shopping Network. Stevens still does lots of infomercials for her own line of cosmetics on HSN and on other cable channels, usually at 3 a.m. And she recently showed up on an episode of "Fat Actress" as the mother of Kirstie Alley.
Question: In the 1950s there was a novelty song that included the lyrics "I said my pajamas and put on my prayers, turned off my bed and jumped into the light," etc. Can you tell me the title and the artist?
Answer: That's "I Said My Pajamas and Put on My Pray'rs," which was on the charts in early 1950. The best-known version was recorded by Tony Martin and Fran Warren.
Question: Who's the guitar-playing woman singer in the American Express commercial?
Answer: That is Nicole Atkins from the group Nicole Atkins and the Sea.
Question: Recently, I was watching the movie "Dangerous Minds." The character named Emilio bore a striking resemblance to Viggo Mortensen. I was curious to see if they were one in the same.
Answer: Nope. Wade Dominguez played Emilio in that 1995 film. He died in 1998 of respiratory failure at age 32.
Question: Could you tell me if the actor who plays the father in the "Love Comes Softly" series of TV movies, Frank MacRae, is the son of actors Shelia and Gordon MacRae? Frank looks like a carbon copy of Gordon.
Answer: Yeah, well, we've got some name confusion here, and once we clear that up, I think you'll understand. Frank McRae is the black actor who plays Cookie in those movies. And he isn't related to the other MacRaes, who were, for the record, white. I think you're referring to Dale Midkiff, who plays Clark the dad. He isn't related to the MacRaes either.
Question: I'm looking for the name of an old TV show. A woman (who was not the main character) used to holler out her window for her husband as follows: "Henry! Henry Aldridge!" I thought maybe it was "The Real McCoys" or "Lassie," but my neighbor Val is sure it's not. I have a 5-year-old whom she calls for like that when she's at my house and has had more than one glass of wine.
Answer: So here's the deal — you tell Val the name of the show if she promises to stop being so annoying. The show is "The Aldrich Family," a family sitcom that ran on the radio from the late 1930s until the early 1950s, and on TV from 1949 until 1953. There was also a series of Henry Aldrich movies and short subjects in the 1940s. Teenage bumbler Henry was played by several actors over the course of the series, the best known being Ezra Stone.
Question: Who sang the theme song for "The Golden Girls"?
Answer: The song is called "Thank You for Being a Friend." The version used on the show was performed by Cynthia Fee, and the original version, which was a pop hit in 1978, was performed by Andrew Gold, who also wrote it. They're both available commercially.
Question: I was watching an episode of "The Addams Family" from 1964, and the next-door neighbor was played by an actress named Cynthia Pepper. Is she the first wife of former Beatle John Lennon? She looks like her.
Answer: Same name, different dame. Lennon's first wife was named Cynthia Pepper, but this Cynthia Pepper was born Cynthia Culpepper and grew up in Hollywood. She appeared on a fair number of 1960s TV shows, from "My Three Sons" to "The Flying Nun," as well as in the 1964 Elvis Presley movie "Kissin' Cousins."
Question: What's the name of the song in the Mojo HD channel commercial?
Answer: The song is "Everything, Everything," and the band is Low Light Supercharger.
Question: Someone brought up Michael Caine movies, and I thought of something I had seen as a teenager. I think it was a BBC production about a young woman who did not trust men because her father (played by Sean Connery) was a scoundrel. She was dumped by her boyfriend (Caine) because of this. Can you tell me the title and let me know if it's possibly on DVD?
Answer: That's "Male of the Species," a BBC production that aired on NBC in 1969. Paul Scofield and Anna Calder-Marshall were also in the cast. The narrator was Laurence Olivier. Unfortunately, it's not on video or DVD.
Question: What can you tell me about the guy who plays Charlie Prince in "3:10 to Yuma"? He did a great job.
Answer: Charlie is played by Ben Foster, who played Angel in "X-Men: The Last Stand" and also appeared in the films "Alpha Dog," "The Punisher" and "Phone Booth." On TV he played Russell Corwin on "Six Feet Under" from 2003 until 2005.
Question: Back around 1992 I watched and critiqued a movie that was assigned by the professor in a "Film as Art" class that I took. The movie took place in Australia, I think, and was about a young woman who kept a diary. She spoke aloud what she wrote in her diary, so you knew her hopes/dreams/frustrations, etc. I remember in the closing scene that she stood in the middle of a fence opening, symbolizing whether or not she would pursue her dreams or accept her status quo. Can you tell me the correct name of the movie? I thought it was "My Special Diary" or "My Own Special Diary," but I cannot locate it. Also, do you know if it's still on video?
Answer: Sounds like the 1979 film "My Brilliant Career," with Judy Davis and Sam Neill. It's on video and DVD.