Ask American Profile 12/24/2006

Ask American Profile 12/24/2006

Q Back in the 1960s, there was a TV show called Lawman. The star had a bit part in Clint Eastwood’s Pale Rider. Do you know who he was?
—Elaine Gibbs, Springtown, Texas

John Russell played marshal Dan Troop in Lawman from 1958 to 1962 and appeared in Pale Rider in 1985. He had roles as well in two other Eastwood movies, Honkytonk Man and The Outlaw Josey Wales. Russell was 70 when he died of emphysema in 1991.

Q I loved the show Karen Sisco and the actress who played her. She looks familiar. Has she been in any other TV shows or movies?
—Joan Murphee, Middleburg, Fla.

Florida-born Carla Gugino, who played sexy, brainy U.S. marshal Karen Sisco in the short-lived 2003 TV series of the same name, made her performance debut as a teenager in a TV episode of Who’s the Boss. A niece of the Let’s Make a Deal “prize model” Carrol Merrill, Gugino, 35, also has appeared in the movies Spy Kids, Sin City and Michael, and the TV shows Spin City, Chicago Hope and Threshold. You can see her in the new Ben Stiller movie comedy Night at the Museum.

Q My all-time favorite actor is James Garner, excellent in any kind of role. What’s he doing now, and has he written an autobiography?
—Joe Copeland, Oak Ridge, Tenn.

The prolific and likeable actor, 78, has not written an autobiography, but perhaps he should—it would be a good read! He sold men’s clothing, modeled bathing suits, worked at a gas station and received a Purple Heart for his military service in Korea—all before finding stardom in the TV shows Maverick and The Rockford Files. Earlier this year, Garner returned for a triumphant homecoming to Norman, Okla., where he was honored with a bronze statue, a street named in his honor and an honorary high school diploma.

Q What happened to Rick Springfield?
—Barbara Schofield, Brookings, Ore.

The “Jessie’s Girl” singer and actor took time off from show business in the 1990s to raise his two sons. But now that they’re grown, he’s back touring with his band and appearing occasionally on General Hospital, reprising his ’80s TV role of Dr. Noah Drake. If you can’t catch him in concert, check out his new DVD, Rick Springfield Live in Rockfield, recorded at the Coronado Theater in Rockford, Ill.

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