Ask American Profile 3/18/2007

Q I watched the movie Akeelah and the Bee and was blown away by Keke Palmer as Akeelah. What can you tell me about her?
—E. Jerdan, Judson, S.C.

Lauren Keyana Palmer, 13 and nicknamed “Keke” by her older sister, was born in Chicago and began her acting career with a small role in the movie Barber Shop 2: Back in Business in 2004. Since then, the budding actress has appeared on the TV shows Cold Case and ER, been nominated for a Screen Actors Guild award for her performance in the acclaimed TV movie The Wool Cap, played the title lead in Akeelah and most recently co-starred in the Disney Channel movie Jump In!, about the fast-paced world of double-Dutch jump-rope competitions.

Q What do you know about Nate Berkus, the cute “home improvement” man on Oprah?
—C.K. Janis, Springfield, Mo.

Directly out of college, the California-born, Minneapolis-raised Berkus, 34, worked for an auction house, where he learned a great deal about furniture and decorative art. Along with doing the actual auctioneering, he was responsible for the look of the showroom floor, which gave him hands-on design experience. It became his passion. “I consider myself really lucky to be doing what I do for a living,” he says, “which is what I choose to do even when I’m not working.” He’s single and lives in Chicago, where Oprah is based.

Q Can you settle a bet? My dad and I say actor Eric Close was in the TV series The Magnificent Seven. My mom says he wasn’t. She owes us both lunch if we’re right!
—Melissa McCament, Aztec, N.M.

Forty-year-old Eric Close—no relation to actress Glenn Close, as several readers have asked—did indeed star in the Emmy-winning Magnificent Seven series from 1998 to 2000. He’s appeared in smaller roles in numerous other TV shows, currently stars in the CBS-TV drama Without a Trace and can be seen in the upcoming movie Saving Angelo. Enjoy your lunch!

Q How did actor William Shatner conquer his tinnitus? It was reported that it bothered him so much while working on Star Trek that he almost quit.
—Inez M. Stewart, West Baraboo, Wis.

Shatner, 75, suffered from tinnitus (ringing in the ears) after standing too close to a special-effects explosion during filming for a 1967 episode of TV’s Star Trek. Treatment at the University of Maryland Medical Center taught him how to ignore the sound by a process called “habituation,” in which response to a stimulus is lessened through repetition. His 2006 TV game show, Show Me the Money, was canceled recently due to poor ratings, but Shatner continues his starring role in the popular ABC-TV series Boston Legal.

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