Ask American Profile

Jean Louisa Kelly, Keith Urban, Veronica Lake

Singer/actress Jean Louisa Kelly was wonderful in Mr. Holland’s Opus. What is she doing now?
—Billy S., Texas

Jean Louisa Kelly, 29, now co-stars in the CBS sitcom Yes, Dear and can be seen in the upcoming movie The Fantasticks. The Worcester, Mass., native graduated from Columbia University in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in English. Kelly comes from a musical background—her father and siblings play instruments and her mother teaches piano. She began singing at a young age and has studied ballet, tap, and jazz dance. Her first professional performance was at age 11 starring in Annie at Rhode Island’s Theater by the Sea. Kelly’s other movie credits include Uncle Buck. Television credits include Mad About You, Law & Order, and Homicide: Life on the Street. Kelly is married and lives in Los Angeles.

Can you give me some details on actress Veronica Lake?
—Frances H., Alabama

Twenty-eight years after her death, the legendary actress probably is best remembered for her haircut that swooped over one eye. The daughter of an Irish seaman, Lake was born Constance Ockleman in either 1919 or 1922 (depending on the source) in Brooklyn, N.Y. After her father’s death, her mother remarried, moved the family to Los Angeles in 1938, and enrolled Constance in acting classes. In 1941, she went for a screen test for Paramount producer Arthur Hornblow Jr., who loved her but not her name. After changing her name to Veronica Lake (her eyes reminded him of a still lake), he gave her a role in I Wanted Wings. Next came the movie Sullivan’s Travels, which made her a star. By 1949, she had four children. Lake dropped out of the public eye in the ’50s. She was rediscovered and cast in Footsteps in the Snow in 1966. She died in 1973.

Is singer Keith Urban Australian? I thought I heard that he was, but you sure can’t tell it when he sings.
—Heather D., North Dakota

Keith Urban, 33, was raised in Australia on a steady diet of country music because his father was a big country music fan. “Actually, the first concert he took me and my brother to was Tom T. Hall, and then Johnny Cash the week after that,” Urban says. He began playing guitar at age 6 and performing in talent shows at age 7. Urban moved to Nashville, Tenn., in 1992 to pursue his dream. “I used to read on the back of Dad’s records and every one of them was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee,” he says. “I told my dad that’s where I had to go to make records.” On hits such as Your Everything and But for the Grace of God, Urban sounds just as country as his American counterparts. He was self-conscious about his accent once and wouldn’t talk on stage during concerts, but that changed. “I don’t really get any responses from the audience,” he says. “The most common one is, ‘You aren’t from around here, are you?’”

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