Recently in Where are they now? Category

Loni Anderson was the subject of my "Whatever Happened to..." feature this week. Here is the story:

Based on her looks, time seems to have stood still for Loni Anderson.

But believe it or not, the sultry co-star of the classic sitcom "WKRP in Cincinnati" is now 62 and even has a teenage grandaughter.

Playing the blond, buxom and brainy Jennifer Marlowe on "WKRP" for five seasons made Anderson a star. Her high-profile marriage and subsequent divorce from third husband Burt Reynolds further enhanced her fame.

Anderson, who lives in Los Angeles, still acts and appeared in two short-lived series in recent years: "The Mullets" and as Tori's Spelling's self-absorbed mom in the autobiographical comedy "So NoTORIous."

"That was a great comedy that we did, and I wish we were still doing because what a great character to play," she said. "I've been a Goody Two-shoes all my life, I don't like to play one. I really like being the naughty person, I like the evil, I like the left of center and I like comedy.

"Comedy is my favorite thing to do."

In the post-"WKRP" decade, she co-starred with Lynda Carter in the detective series "Partners in Crime" and in the sitcoms "Easy Street" and "Nurses."

The role in "Nurses" came in 1993, about at the same time that Anderson underwent a very bitter and public divorce from Reynolds, whom she had been with since the early 1980s and married in 1988.

Reynolds and Anderson adopted a son, Quinton, who is now 19. And Deidra, Loni's daughter from her first marriage, has given her two granddaughters.

"I love being me," she said. "I've loved it through the good and the bad because it took all of that to make you who you are. I love my family, my children. I've just had a very blessed life, a great career - and now, the man of my dreams."

The man is Bob Flick, whom she met in her native St. Paul, Minn.

"We met a long time ago when I was a senior in high school," Anderson said. "We were in love then but we lost contact with one another until just recently. So, it's a love story through the ages."

"We're planning on getting married," she added. "We've moved into a new house, and we're having a wedding and it's all very exciting."

If she could choose just one DVD of her work to be placed into a time capsule, she wouldn't choose "WKRP."

"As far as just an individual performance that I loved was `The Jayne Mansfield Story."'

In that movie, Anderson starred opposite future California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who played Mansfield's husband, bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay.

This is an early look at my weekly "Whatever Happened to.." column published each Wednesday in the LA Daily News, The Long Beach Press Telegram and The Daily Breeze...
When Edna Garrett bid farewell to Blair, Joe, Natalie and Tootie on "The Facts of Life" in 1986, it was just the beginning of another chapter in the life of the woman who played her: Charlotte Rae.

"I've had a busy, busy time for quite awhile," she told me last week. "I made a movie with Peter O'Toole and Marcia Gay Harden which I thought was going to come out at the end of November but it wasn't quite ready. It's called 'Christmas Cottage.' Then I did a few cruises where I sang and lectured, I did a club in San Francisco called The Plush Room and it was a lot of fun. Then I did a cameo in a movie with Adam Sandler that's coming out in June."
Rae, who turns 82 on April 22, has done guest spots in recent years on such shows as "King of Queens" and "Strong Medicine" and as the voice of Nanny in "101 Dalmations: The Series."

She doesn't mind being forever known as Mrs. Garrett, the character who began as the housekeeper on "Different Strokes" in 1978 then spent seven seasons looking after some of the students at a private all-girl school.

"That was such a dear show," she said. "We really presented issues that were wonderful for opening up dialogue between parents and their kids. It was warm and sweet...Friends of mine who actors, in their early 30s, tell me they grew up with us and tell me they have such a feeling for Mrs. Garrett and the girls. I guess it's meant a lot to them. It makes me feel very, very grateful."

Prior to her Mrs. Garrett years, Rae had already made a splash on television with guest spots with Ed Sullivan and as a cast member of such shows as "Car 54 Where Are You?" "Hot L Baltimore," "Sesame Street" and many television movies including her Emmy-nominated performance in 1975's "Queen of the Stardust Ballroom."

But she also has wowed on the stage in productions of A "Three Wishes for Jamie," "The Threepenny Opera," "Li'l Abner," and "Pickwick."

Back in 2001, Rae reunited with most of the "Facts of Life" cast for a reunion movie and remains quite close to some of the girls.

"I'm very close with Lisa (Welchel) and her husband and children and Nancy McKeon and her husband and she has two little ones," she said. "I admire Mindy (Cohen) very much but I haven't seen her in years. She doesn't like it when I say I discovered her but, it's true. I'm grateful that we had her because she was a wonderful compliment to the other girls. A tremendous talent."

Rae, who keeps busy with her grandchildren when not working, is excited about the recent re-release on CD of an album she made back in 1955 called "Songs I Taught My Mother" which is filled with "silly, sinful, and satirical" songs.

"It's got the greatest material," she said. "The best songs."

And if another good TV role comes along?

"I love television," she said. "I wouldn't mind getting a recurring part on television. I wouldn't want to do it every week."

DOUBLE TAKE: A few years back, Charlotte Rae became another Charlotte on a "Sex and the City" spoof for the TV Land Awards. She was joined by Sally Struthers (Samantha), Bea Arthur (Carrie) and Katherine Helmond (Miranda).

Online extras:
On her "Facts" character: "They wanted me to be perfect as Mrs. Garrett. I kept saying, 'Can't I scream at the kids?' Can't I get angry then apologize?' But they always made me to be absolutely perfect....But she grew. She got married and went into the Peace Corps. It was a good way to end.""

On Cloris Leachman taking over for seasons 8 and 9: "I was happy for her. I was with it seven years and the contract was up. I just felt that I had delved into every nook and cranny of Mrs. Garrett. I know that Jean Stapleton (Edith Bunker on "All in the Family") said the same thing. It was time to move on."

Just like there were two Darrins on "Bewitched," there were also two Trixie Nortons on "The Honeymooners."

Jane Kean stepped into the role originated by Joyce Randolph when the adventures of Ralph Kramden and company were revived on "The Jackie Gleason Show" with Art Carney (Ed Norton) and Audrey Meadows (Alice Kramden) also on board.

"They were going to add songs and dances and I was considered better qualified," Jane told me this week from her L.A.-area home. "I started in color in 1966 then we did about 3-4 years of the show then Jackie decided he was going to do some films. Then CBS convinced him to redo 'The Honeymooners' and we did them again and we did specials."

Jane, who turns 85 next month, said there were no hard feelings from Randolph.

"She came over to me in Sardis one night after I started playing Trixie and congratulated me on the good job I was doing," she said. "I went back with Jackie a long time. That whole facade that he has about being 'The Great One' and all, he wasn't really like that. He was quite insecure and more humble."
"I would have been Trixie in the very very beginning but (sister and professional partner) Betty and I were starting to really move and I didn't want to break up the act."

Betty Kean, eight years older, would call her kid sister on to do a few numbers in the beginning. Years later, their managers suggested the siblings from Hartford, Conn. put a comedy act together and be something of a female Martin and Lewis.

"We got together for ('The Ed Sullivan Show') and we had so many good offers from good clubs from the London Palladium to the Copacabana that we were together for eight years."

Kean still performs in various venues including large cruise ships where she does her one-woman show complete with films clips. She also penned her autobiography "A Funny Thing Happened to Me on the Way to the Honeymooners...I Had a Life" a few years ago.

"Everybody in the world thinks the only credit I have is Trixie on 'The Honeymooners,'" she said. "I was just anxious for people to know more about my background in nightclubs and on Broadway."

She's still quite social with showbiz pals through a group called Showbuddies which also includes Betty Garrett, Nanette Fabray and Anne Jeffreys, among others.

Says Jane: "It gets a litte raunchy sometimes!"
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Younger readers might not know who Christopher Atkins is but I know plenty of you do! TMZ.com posted these ten-and-now pics today and it brought back all the memories of Christopher in "The Blue Lagoon" opposite Brooke Shields. He also starred in "The Pirate Movie" opposite another 70s-80s teen star, Kristy McNichol.
But liked him best when he lost the perm and was on "Dallas" and had a steamy affair with Sue Ellen Ewing (Linda Gray). Then there was THE defining role of a male stripper in "A Night of Heaven" opposite Lesley Anne Warren.

Mindy Cohn long ago faced this fact of life: some people will always think of her as Natalie Green.

But since "The Facts of Life" ended its nine year run back in 1988, the 41-year-old Cohn has continued to make a living as a working actress and still dreams of bigger and better roles. She's been the voice of Velma on the "Scooby-Doo" cartoons for nearly a decade and has a part in the upcoming feature film "Sex & Death 101" starring hunky Simon Baker and recovering shoplifter Winona Ryder.

But many casting directors haven't been able to see past her indelible portrayal of the quick-witted Natalie who lived with Blair, Jo, Tootie and Mrs. Garrett at that boarding school during most of the 80s.

"Ultimately, I want people to be able to see me that I'm an actor," Mindy told me this week. "Sometimes people see me with whatever label and I've not yet been able to show what I can do. That's the exciting part. I still have the tenacity and the hunger and my patience is going to pay off. My motto in life is 'The best is yet to come.'"

Mindy, a native of Los Angeles, got the role in "Sex" the old fashioned way: she auditioned. She plays Trixie, the confidante and best friend of Baker's character.

"She's the only character in the movie that Simon doesn't have sex with!" she said. "She goes on this adventure and remains the voice of reason. It was a really easy card to play once you meet Simon Baker."
Despite her fame, Mindy considers herself to be just like any other working actress in L.A. - always looking for the next good role.

"I still love it," she said of her acting career. "On camera stuff, it's very spotty but I've definitely been able to to do 2-3 things a year to keep me viable. As an actor, my voiceover career had never made me feel unemployed for the past seven years.

She could just cash in on her "Facts" background but Mindy wants new challenges: "That's why I turn down those VHI shows like 'I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here,' 'Celebrity Fit Club' and 'The Surreal Life.' The compliment of that is people still remember me 25 years later and actually like what they see. It's an amazing amount of money to to do these shows...The issue is longevity and holding out for things I'm proud of and excited about. I don't want to play Mindy Cohn on television."

But she did join former co-stars Charlotte Rae, Lisa Welchel and Kim Fields for a 2001 reunion movie. (Nancy McKeon was shooting her Lifetime series "The Division" at the time and could not participate).

"We all never got paid, and still don't get paid for DVDs and reruns," Cohn said. "So the consensus was that this was going to be a very big pay-day for us and we had earned it. So if the script was halfway decent, we could have a kick in the pants, have an adventure together and get a big pay day. It really was that we felt we were owed."

During the show's nine seasons, many guest stars and co-stars came and went. Molly Ringwald was on the show's first season before the focus was pared down to just the four main girls and Mrs. Garrett. Then Charlotte Rae left the series in the seventh season and Cloris Leachman was brought in to replace her for the final two years.

But no cast member has had more success than George Clooney who spent an entire year as a member of the cast playing a handyman who worked at Edna's Edibles, the eatery the girls helped Mrs. Garrett run: "I feel the same way about George as Helen Hunt and so many of the actors I was blessed to meet in the beginning of their careers."

Even though Clooney is a superstar, Mindy remembers him as someone who was more concerned with having a career than being a star.
"Overnight success my eye," she said of Clooney. "It's about patience and preservance."

Here are some other bits from our chat:

Favorite episode of "Facts": "It's been so long that I don't know. It's all like one good memory."

Her life off-screen: "I do my life quietly. There's lots of things I've been doing, I'm a real person to me. I do everything that everyone else does: family, education, relationships. I don't think anyone's that interested. I'm a very private person but there are no deep, dirty secrets there."

On being discovered as a child while at school one day: "I tend to be a spiritual person and I believe there were no accidents. I was meant to be there that day when Norman Lear and Charlotte Rae came to visit. But that really was not the track I was on.... A lot of the success of me has to do with the producers and writers of the show that took this novice and helped by developing certain kind of stories and relationships. You kind of vamp until you feel it."

On sticking with acting post-Facts of Life: "I didn't know whether it was my 15 minutes (of fame) or something I really wanted to do. I went to school (graduating with a degree in Anthropology, took acting classes and did some theater in New York to decide it this was the career I wanted."

C'mon, you know you were!

I just loved Joanie's spunky best friend on "Happy Days" and it sure was fun to interview the actress who played her, Cathy Silvers, recently for my weekly "Whatever Happened to...": column that runs in the Daily News and other papers. Here is the story:

Cathy Silvers grew up as the daughter of television comedy star Phil Silvers ("Sgt. Bilko") then became a star in her own right as Jenny Piccalo on "Happy Days."

As the best friend of Joanie Cunningham (Erin Moran), Jenny provided crack comedic timing during the show's final three seasons.

"It's the most fun I ever had in my life, absolutely, bar none," Silvers said in a recent interview.

"Driving to Paramount Studios every day for three years, sitting on a set with Henry Winkler and Tom Bosley and Marion Ross and Erin Moran and Ted McGinley and Crystal Bernard - it was just like, you gotta be kidding me. And Anson (Williams) and Donny (Most).

"It was too good to be true."

Silvers continued acting after the show left the air, doing guest spots on such comedies as "Wings," "Punky Brewster" and "1st and Ten." She also had a role in the 1996 movie version of "Bilko" starring Steve Martin.

Silvers, now 46, has parlayed her television stardom into a business career.

"I think (TV fame) was a leg-up," she said. "But I went to college. I actually did take four years off and went to American University and got a degree in marketing. I have a pretty big company now,; it's a successful company, and we have a lot of businesses."

She operates a delivery service that provides order organic produce from farmers' markets to customers throughout Los Angeles County. The Los Angeles resident is also a vegan chef with a private practice, teaching people how to transition from unhealthy to healthy eating habits.

Silvers just wrote a book called "Happy Days Healthy Living," released in October, and is currentlyon a tour promoting it for Random House. She also hosts "The Healthy Living Show" on the Web-based Healthy Living Network (TheHealthy LivingShow.com).

"I'm speaking pretty much all over the country now about being healthy, about a green planet and drinking green smoothies so you can have a greener, healthier life and body."

Most of the "Happy Days" cast contributed segments to the first half of her book, which is dedicated to "Happy Days." Series star Ron Howard wrote the forward and creator Garry Marshall wrote the introduction.

Many of the former castmates remain close.

"I hang out with Henry Winkler a lot, and Erin Moran and I don't live far from each other, and I was just at Marion Ross' house a couple of months ago," she said. "We're all friends."

Since I spend so much time on this blog prattling on about "Gossip Girl" and "Brothers & Sisters," I don't know if I've ever made clear just how much I worship "The Dick Van Dyke Show." I have several seasons on DVD and that show is just as fresh as I'm sure it was during its original run. It's so sharp, so witty and it had one of the best casts in television history. One of those cast members was Rose Marie who I interviewed for this week's "Whatever Happened To..." profile which is in today's LA Daily News and other papers. I got the nicest note from the lady herself last week and I will treasure it always.

Here is my story:

Rose Marie may be 84 years old, but she is still never seen in public without a trademark bow on her head which she has worn since she was a child star.

And one of the stars of the classic sitcom "The Dick Van Dyke Show" still has a way with an anecdote: "I had one of the craziest compliments once. I did this lecture and a guy came over to me and said, 'You worked with my father!' And he was 80 years old. How do you think I felt?"

Once known as Baby Rose Marie, the comedy legend made her debut in short films when she was three years old and has countless credits on stage and screen dating back eight decades.

She became a radio star on NBC at the age of five and made a series of films. She dropped the "Baby" from her stage name at 15 when became a nightclub performer before becoming a comedian.

But Rose Marie is forever known for the five seasons (1961-66) she spent playing comedy writer Sally Rogers on "Van Dyke." Sally spent the workday coming up with gags for a fictional TV show along with Dick Van Dyke (Rob Petrie) and Buddy Sorrell (Morey Amsterdam). Also in the cast was Mary Tyler Moore as Rob's wife, Laura.

The series left the air after 158 episodes not because it was cancelled, but because creator Carl Reiner wanted to stop when the series was at its peak.

But it has lived on in syndication ever since.

"Everybody still says to me, 'It's still the best show on the air.' I think because it still fits today for some reason for another. It's never been off the air and we never even made a show in color."

Toward the end of the show's run, Rose Marie unexpectedly lost her husband of 20 years, Bobby Guy.
"I brought my daughter up because my husband died when he was 48 years old," she said. "So I had a double duty to take care of her, take care of me, take care of my mother and make sure I still went on with the career. I'm very grateful to my fans because they kept me going."

Post "Van Dyke," she was a regular on "The Doris Day Show" and later had a semi-regular seat in the upper center square on the original version of "Hollywood Squares."

Starting in 1977, she along with Rosemary Clooney, Helen O'Connell and Margaret Whiting toured for several years in the musical revue "4 Girls 4." The actress has remained in recent decades with TV guest spots on such shows as "Murphy Brown," "Suddenly Susan," "Andy Richter Controls the Universe," "Wings" and "The Hughleys," among others.

In 1996, she and Amsterdam appeared together in an episode of "Caroline in the City." Amsterdam died later that year. But the surviving cast members of "Van Dyke" got together in 2004 for a reunion television special (pictured, above).

"I started when I was three and I'll be 85 in August. I've been in the business all my life and I love it, I've loved every phase of it. I have good friends, I have a wonderful family. I'm very happy with my career and the way I've lived."

Imagine holding a master's degree and being a Fulbright Scholar, but everyone's image of you remains that of the big, blonde musclehead who was Sylvester Stallone's Russian boxing nightmare in 1985's "Rocky IV"?

Welcome to the career of Dolph Lundgren.

"I understand why," he admitted when we spoke Thursday. "They like to compartmentalize people. But I like to surprise the audience and people in Hollywood. Part of my life is trying to do as much as possible whether it be psychological, intellectual or emotional."

He had subsequent roles in such big studio films as the Bond feature "A View to a Kill," "Johnny Mnemonic," and "Universal Soldier" which all highlighted the Swedish-born Dolph's physical abilities.

Since he is so often typecast, the 50-year-old Dolph has taken things into his own hands and begun taking on directing jobs such as "Missionary Man," a western he also stars in which debuted on DVD a few weeks ago.

"It started out with just being interested in directing and trying to tell a story," he said. "It has evolved into people looking at me differently and it feels good, it feels fresh."

He has found directing and acting at the same time a real challenge: "It is tough. You really have to simplify your work as an actor and try to trust yourself and not fish around so much for the performance. You also you need people you can rely on."

But, he added, there are definitely upsides: "You can pick the best close up in editing and your star always comes out of the trailer on time."

Dolph, who also appears in "The Final Inquiry" out on DVD Feb. 19, has kept in touch with Stallone over the years but was never, as rumored, offered a part in 2006's "Rocky Balboa."

"I went to the opening, we're pretty good friends," he said. "He's one of the few people over the years who I stay in touch with."

Thought ya were!
The great star from MGM's golden era of musicals is the subject of my weekly "Whatever happened to..." feature which runs on Wednesdays in the LA Daily News and other papers. But Out In Hollywood readers get the first look...

Enjoy!

Esther Williams, who swam her way to movie history in such "aqua-musicals" as "Million Dollar Mermaid," "Dangerous When Wet" and "Jupiter's Darling," made a rare public appearance last week to donate her elaborate scrapbooks to the Smithsonian.

The woman known as "America's Mermaid" in the 40s and 50s is now 86-years-old and has not made a movie in more than four decades. But she has remained in the public eye with a line of swimsuits and swimming pools and with the release of her 1999 best-selling autobiography "Million Dollar Mermaid."

Williams lives in Beverly Hills with actor Edward Bell, her husband of 13 years: "Husbands take a lot of taking care of so when I'm taking care of him, I'm also thinking about writing \[another book\]," she said. "I've got a lot writing done and I have one book and it was a best seller. My husband was my editor...and it was a page-turner. That's how you make a best seller!"

Williams was able to become a one-of-kind swimming movie star because of her background as a competitive athlete and was a national champion in the 100 meter freestyle.
"The thing that's wonderful about swimming is it's the first thing you can do from your first bath to your last without hurting yourself."

She attracted the attention of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer talent scouts while appearing with swimming star and future "Tarzan" Johnny Weismuller in "Aquacade" during the San Francisco World's Fair.

"When you have a big, beautiful healthy body, you can probably do anything you decide to do. And the person who I got that wonderful piece of news from was Johnny Weismuller who swam everything and was a winner. He was wonderful, he was my coach."

Many of Williams' MGM movies featured elaborately-staged synchronized swimming scenes with her as the centerpiece. Always perfectly graceful on-screen, the actress shared in her autobiography that she had nearly drowned during some of the stunts.

She made her film debut with MGM in 1942's "Andy Hardy's Double Life" opposite Mickey Rooney. Her first swimming role came two years later in "Bathing Beauty." Other film credits included "Ziegfeld Follies," "Easy to Wed," "This Time for Keeps," and "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."

After the "aqua musical" genre faded, the actress took on dramatic roles in such films as "The Unguarded Moment" and "The Big Show." Her final film role came in 1963's "Magic Fountain." Williams' third husband, actor Fernando Lamas, did not want her to continued making movies. They were married from 1969 until his death in 1982.

She never revived her acting career although Williams was among the stars from Hollywood's Golden Age to appear in the 1994 film "That's Entertainment III."

I was having a busy day and was annoyed at the early 5 p.m. start time for a Smithsonian event at the El Portal Theater in North Hollywood. Well, after the evening I had chatting up the likes of Esther Williams, Carol Channing, Rose Marie, June Lockhart and others,. I realize I would have gotten up at 5 A.M. to make it.

I'll be sharing interview with these grand ladies in the weeks to come but today, I just want to write about the experience of being there and watching the above mentioned ladies as well as Florence Henderson, Julie Newmar, and Tippi Hedren dontate keepsakes to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Phyllis Diller had been set to come and was en-route, but was not feeling well and went back home. Angela Lansbury, who was across the country, sent her regrets.

So, I get there and am allowed into the theater before the show begins and see all the ladies taking their places among the treasures they are donating. JoAnne Worley, so funny and energetic, was one of the hostesses and she was rushing around doing her vocal twirling that I love so much. Her first question: "Where's the Diller?"

Someone then asks Worley a question, I don't know what, but I loved answer: "Yes I dooooooooooo!" At that, the show was about to begin and JoAnne twirled: "Curtain doooooooooooown!" Worley began the show then stopped suddenly and scoded herself: "JoAaaaaaane!" She had forgotten to do a trick with her pearls. She stepped aside from the lecturn and swung the large strands around her neck several times like a hula hoop.

Very cool.

After JoAnne introduced the dudes from the Smithsonian and they did a buncah museum talk, Dick Van Patten came out and served as the mater of ceremonies, introducing each legend before they explained their donations or shared their feelings about becoming a tangible part of American history.

ESTHER WILLIAMS: Her father made giant scrapbooks of her career. When she first saw the size of the first one in its blank state she said: "Daddy, those are too big!" Her father replied: "Fill 'em up!"
"So with that order, I filled them up," Williams said. "Pictures of Johnny Weissmuller. Oh gosh, what a group of leading men. One after another in tiny swimsuits. They're all gone...but I'm still here!"

CAROL CHANNING: The Broadway legend donated the dress she wore in the original production of "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" and said: "Tonight is a tremendous night for all of us. We are all historic momuments!"

She then told everyone that the diamond hanging around her neck was worth $40 million: "They just hung it on me before we walked out." She then jumped to another subject before finishing the thought and the audience laughed. Channing stopped and said: "What's so funny? This is terribly serious and exciting...Art is one of the things that keeps the world alive - more than anything."

Channing then mentioned that she is 87 years old and when the audience applauded she stopped and asked: "Oh, is that an achievement?" The diva also used her time to plead for the arts in public schools: "[Students] are bored stiff with the three Rs. That's all they've got. Any art form, it fertilizes your brain." When Channing wondered if she had been talking too much, Rosie Marie - sitting next to her - emphatically nodded her head yes.

ROSE MARIE: The comedy legend, a child star, cast member of "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and still a hoot at 85, joked around that Williams was donating "earplugs," Hedren a tiger, and Henderson "one of the Brady kids." For her part, Rosie Marie donated her original trademark bow as well as the shoes she wore in her first short film which was the first sound short and played with Al Jolson's "The Jazz Singer."
"To think that I'll be there with Linberg's plane," she said of the Smithsonian. "I'm very honored and proud of my career. I think this is almost like getting the Purple Heart....I love my country and I always have and I'm so glad my country loves me by honoring me."

JUNE LOCKHART: Best known as the mom on "Lassie" and "Lost In Space," Lockhart donated her Tony Award to the Smithsonian and said: "There are nine of us and I think you've put together a Supreme Court."

JULIE NEWMAR: Television's Catwoman on "Batman" donated her Catwoman suit and reminisced at how so many grown men, who were little boys when the series was on, now come up to her and say: "Do you know you were my first turn-on? That delighted me."

FLORENCE HENDERSON: She needs no introduction, obviously. She said: "I've been on television so long...I thought maybe they wanted to put ME in the Smithsonian!" She told how she was the youngest of 10 children up and "I had such big dreams, but never did I think I'd be in the Smithsonian."

TIPPI HEDREN: The star of "The Birds" and "Marnie" donated her original scripts from both of those classic Alfred Hitchcock movies as well as from "Countess of Hong Kong." Said Tippi: "I feel that to be involved with this is like getting an Academy Award. I am thrilled...and empowered by this wonderful award."

After the official program ended, I chatted up actor Bruce Davison (an Oscar nominee for "Longtime Companion") and the talented (and very handsome) artist Glen Hanson who drew caricatures of each of the ladies (I will post the image as soon as I get it). Also in attendance was MGM star Margaret O'Brien who I chatted with in the lobby and she was escorted by Joey Luft, the son of Judy Garland and Sid Luft. At the after-party, I chatted up Kathy Silvers (remember her from "Happy Days"?) and Luke Yankee, the son of Eileen Heckart as well as several of the cast members of "Kid From Brooklyn: The Danny Kaye Story." Star Brian Childers snapped a photo of me and Carol Channing and vice-versa and I promised to see the show which runs through next month at the El Portal.

I remember seeing photos in a magazine, many years ago, of Barbra Streisand attending a singing gig of her little sister, Roslyn Kind, somewhere in LA. But while we have all been keenly aware of Streisand's life in the years since, I was not so sure what had become of her sister who also has a wonderful voice.

Well, I found out recently when I was on the set of "The Florence Henderson Show" and Roslyn was a musical guest. We had a little chat backstage and she was looking forward to her singing dates at the Catalina Jazz Club in LA this weekend: "I'm not a jazz singer (laughs) buy I will be at the jazz club on the ist and second at 8:30 and 10:30! Two shows a night."

"I am coming back," she said. "I went through a bad time. I lost my mom and I was the baby, the youngest, and I oversaw her care when she was going through the worst times. And I lost her. And just two years before I had to put my puppy down which was like my son. I'm very sensitive about those things and I kind of got off the road and it stopped me from doing a lot of things."

"My friends like Michael Feinstein said, 'You've gotta get back! You've gotta get back!' So, little by little, I've been coming back. This is the first time I';ll be in performing in LA in so long. I'm coming back with a vengeance."

What kind of other plans are included in this comeback for Roslyn, a very youthful looking woman who turned 57 a few weeks ago?
Roslyn: "I'm starting to get back on tour so they'll be more and more and more. I have a date in Naples, Florida, I'll be doing San Francisco, I'll be doing Oakland. I'll be doing New York. It's going to start building now....We just did a new pressing of my last CD, "Come With Me," it has new artwork, it has color and there's a bonus track in it called "At Times Like This" and it's about my puppy."

I wanted to know what to expect at her upcoming show: "I love this theatrical piece from "The Baker's Wife" called "Meadowlark," I did it on Broadway (in the musical revue '2 From Brooklyn") and it stopped the show every night so I hope it stops the show here. "Meadowlark" has always been, since I started doing it, a tour-de-force piece. I had so many people say to me, 'You're committing vocal suicide! Do you know how many divas do this in clubs?"

Roslyn has played in some of the most prestigious venues around the world including Lincoln Center, The Greek Theater, London's Café Royal and in 2006, made her debut at Carnegie Hall.
Roslyn began performing in her teens when she released her first album, "Give Me You," and appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" three times." Next came her second album, "This is Roslyn Kind." Her latest CD, "Come What May," gor a rave in the New York Times which proclaimed it "splendid and sizzling."
Her theater credits include the Off-Broadway production of "Show Me Where the Good Times Are," "Leader of the Pack" and "Ferguson the Tailor."

I wondered, "Am I allowed to ask you about your sister?"
Roslyn: "Depends what you want to know."
Greg: Do you all sing together in the car?
Roslyn: Yeah! We do! We just recently did that in London when she was performing in London. We warmed her up in the car. We had a great time."
Greg: So you're both here in LA and you see each other and it's all good?
Roslyn: Oh yeah.
Greg: You seem so much like each other.
Roslyn: Well, we have the same bloodline! (laughs)

For more information about the Catalina gig, other dates and to hear her sing, go to Roslynkind.com.

Alison Arngrim will forever be known to most people as bad girl Nellie Oleson on "Little House on the Prairie."
Now 46, the one-time child star figures if you can't beat the rap, make the most of it. Instead of moaning about how tough it is to transition to adult stardom unless you're Jodie Foster, Arngrim has taken put together an act and taken it on the road.

"I do my stand-up comedy, I do my one-woman show called 'Confessions of a Prairie Bitch' which has become quite successful," she said last week. "The title says it all. show, I do have a facsimile of the wig and we make fun of that and ask,'How do I look now? Do I look the same?' I tell people I had myself laminated in the early 80s."

Even without the wig, the actress hasn't really changed much since those days.

"Unlike a lot of Hollywood, I never had any work done or got a nose job so I just kind of look exactly the same which is a little spooky," she said. "Some days I go out and no one says anything and other days, it's like they put out an APB - I can't go 10 feet without: 'You're Nellie Oleson! what are you doing here?' It's pretty cool."

She has kept busy with her stage act which is popular in France and a lot of other unlikely places: "I'm going to be up with the Vancouver Gay Men's Chorus in February and then I'm doing a prison guard's convention in Las Vegas. I'm sort of all over the map."

She's also kept busy with various television guest appearances and a decades-long dedication to AIDS/HIV activism. I saw her at the recetn Ribbon of Hope Awards where she was part of a dramatic presentation paying tribute to the anniversary of ACTUP. I dunno why, but I thought Alison was there as a lesbian and not as a straight ally. She thought this was funny: "No. I'm married to a guy! I'm sort of a human ally."

But she does have strong ties to the LGBT community and there are deep reasons why.

"A child of the 60s, I was never raised to divide people up into black and white and gay and straight so it was always sort of stunning to me when I grew up and found out that other people really did put people in little boxes and were reallty ugly about it. I've never approved of that. When AIDS hit, my friend Steve Tracy, who played my husband on 'Little House,' died in 1986. I lost a lot of friends. I grew up in Hollywood and it really decimated that entertainment industry and a lot of the people I grew up with. So it was really hard on me and I had to do something so i began volunteering at AIDS project Los Angeles and it really kind of escalated because there really weren't that many people speaking out in 1986. So a lot of people were afraid to talk about AIDS at all and just really didn't want to talk about the issue, for some bizarre reason, were willing to talk about it with someone from 'Little House on the Prairie.' With Nellie Olseon it was OK. So i was able to reach people that other people had trouble reaching. I said, 'Fine, use me, send me. If they won;t listen to you, they'll listen to Nellie. We don't know why but they will."

Arngrin, who appeared in more than 100 episodes of "Little House" between 1974 and 1982, was in the headlines just last month when she made Mr. Blackwell's infamous worst dressed list. This is something else she has a sense of humor about.

"He said I looked like a fashion correspondent for the 1940s Farmers Almanac," she said, laughing. "I kind of had it coming. There was this fabulous event in Tombstone, a 'Little House on the Prairie' cast reunion, and it was a hootenanny which encourage really bad western wear. I did have on a particularly henious outfit involving an orange skirt and a purple top and a cowboy hat., So, yes, I got to be number 10. I was getting calls from every newspaper, every magazine and from friends who were driving down the street and heard it on the radio and nearly totaled the car."

...in "Battlestar Galactica 1980."

This show starred Kent along with Lorne Greene and Barry Van Dyke and it just went on sale on DVD this week! I'm not a real sci-fi dude but I'd watch Kent in anything. Why? Because he was my first crush. You can read all about him in an earlier post: Catching Up With a Childhood Crush

I've started contributing to this fun new weekly feature for our newspaper chain called "Whatever Happened To..." which catches up with famous people from days gone by and updating people on their lives. The first week was Jane Withers (remember Josephine from the Comet cleanser commercials?) and last week was Ann Rutherford who played Scarlett O'Hara's sister in "Gone With the Wind."

This week's was especially fun because I wrote about Kent McCord who has no idea that he was my first crush. I'd watch reruns of "Adam 12" and just focus on his every move - but too young to realize why. But I soon figured it out! He was about as handsome a man as I had ever seen and even now, in his mid-60s, he is still stunning. Anyway, here is the story of what has happened to Kent McCord since his days on "Adam 12" ...

By Greg Hernandez

"Adam-12" may have ended its original run 32 years ago, but fans of the police drama have no trouble recognizing Kent McCord as the actor who portrayed Officer Jim Reed for seven seasons.

"I get that all the time, especially when I'm doing things that are related to police," said McCord, who was born Kent Franklin McWhirter on Sept. 26, 1942.

It's no surprise that the LA native's first acting gig was on "The Adventure of Ozzie and Harriet" since he was a buddy of Ricky Nelson, whom he met at USC. McCord appeared in about 50 episodes from 1962-66, and remembers one scene particularly well.

"I started on that show working background, standing in for Ricky. One day, they were doing a fraternity show where there was a party going on -- early-day 'Risky Business'-type thing -- while Ozzie and Harriet were away from the house. They came home early and I was standing at the door with at my date. Ozzie asked, 'Where's Rick?' and I said, 'Who's Rick?' Those were the first two words I ever said in pictures."

What followed were small parts in a trio of Elvis Presley films, as well as eight appearances as police rookie Reed on the Jack Webb drama "Dragnet 1967." A year later, Webb cast McCord to reprise his role opposite Martin Milner as veteran officer Pete Malloy in "Adam-12." The series ran on NBC from 1968-75, and its positive portrayal of crime-fighting work was credited with boosting recruitment in the Los Angeles Police Department.

"I kind of got spoiled when I got into the business doing 'Ozzie and Harriet,"' McCord said. "That was a real-life family and the (plots) were always based on things that were real -- real things happening to real people. Then I was fortunate enough to do 'Adam-12' which was based on fact. I've always been partial to doing that kind of programming, something that has a beginning, middle and an end, and can entertain as well as educate."

McCord may have never had another series as successful as "Adam-12" but he has kept working. He was one of the leads in the ABC sci-fi series "Galactica 1980," had a recurring role on "seaQuest DSV" in the mid-'90s. His semi-regular role of Jack Crichton on "Farscape," a sci-fi TV cult hit that ran from 1999-2003, gained him lots of younger fans. There's also been plenty of voiceover work, scores of television guest spots and some movies ("Airplane II-The Sequel," "Predator II," and "Megiddo-The Omega Code 2").

In recent years, however, McCord's most notable role has been as a leader in the Screen Actors Guild. He was elected to its National Board of Directors in 1972, as treasurer in 2001 and is currently first national vice president.

He has juggled acting and union work with a home life with his wife of 45 years, Cynthia -- his sweetheart at Baldwin High School -- and their children, Kristen, Megan and Michael.

The still-handsome actor knows he'll never have another role as iconic as the one he played for 175 episodes of "Adam-12," but he's still itching to act.

"Make-believe is a wonderful way to make a living," he said."When you get into my age range -- and for women it happens quite younger -- you are being excluded from this American scene if you watch the programming that is going on. But there are people who revel in the fact that mature people can have interesting lives."

Here is a lengthy clip from the very first episode of "Adam 12":

Here is a clip from Kent's "Galactica 1980" series:

And here is a recent interview with Kent in his capacity as 1st VP of the Screen Actors Guild (Hollywood division). The video is a little dimly lit but it gives you a good idea of Kent today: