Ask American Profile 4/15/2007

Q Who does the voice for the cartoon character Kim Possible? My daughter loves the show and says it’s someone she’s heard before.
—Betty Houser, St. Louis, Mo.

Your daughter has a good ear. The crime-fighting heroine of the Disney Channel’s popular Kim Possible series is voiced by Christy Carlson Romano, 22, who previously starred as Ren Stevens in the Disney series Even Stevens. The Milford, Conn., native also is a wonderful singer and dancer who’s appeared on Broadway in Beauty and the Beast, Annie, Parade, The Will Rogers Follies and The Sound of Music, and last year published her first novel, Grace’s Turn, about a small-town girl who dreams of becoming a star.

Q What’s going on these days with one of my favorite singers from the 1970s, Maria Muldaur? And was that her real name?
—John Karlson, Alma, Mich.

Muldaur, who was born Maria Grazia Rosa Domenica D’Amato, had a smash hit single in 1974 with “Midnight at the Oasis.” Now 63, she lives in San Francisco and continues to record and tour. Her latest CD, Heart of Mine: Love Songs of Bob Dylan, was released to rave reviews last year.

Q Of all the songs Elvis Presley recorded, which was his favorite?
—Linda Aliff, Spring Hill, Fla.

Presley often remarked that his favorite was “It’s Now or Never.” Based on the Italian song “O Sole Mio” and re-tooled into a catchy cha-cha by American songwriters Wally Gold and Aaron Schroeder specifically for Presley, it became his 14th No. 1 single in July 1960, four months after his discharge from the U.S. Army.

Q I recently saw the great William Hurt in an episode of Nightmares and Dreamscapes in which he battled toy soldiers. He didn’t have a word of dialogue, but he still was riveting. Can you tell me how he got his start?
—Craig Prewitt, Valencia, Calif.

Hurt, 56, studied acting in college and did a lot of theater work before getting in front of the cameras. His first TV role was a small part in an episode of Kojak, but the movies Body Heat and Altered States made him a star. He took the role in the “Battleground” episode of Nightmares and Dreamscapes, available on DVD, because he liked the idea of the mortal combat between his character, a strictly business hit man, and the tiny plastic soldiers. “Violence amongst humans is absurd and ridiculous,” he says. “So when it takes place between humans and toys, it serves as a parody of human violence.”

Q I’d like some info on one of my favorite comedians from the “old days,” Jackie Vernon.
—L.G. Hermes, Hot Springs, Ark.

Vernon, a stand-up comedian whose low-key, self-deprecating humor earned him the nickname “The King of Deadpan,” died in 1987 after suffering a heart attack. He was 63. He’s also remembered as the voice of Frosty the Snowman in the perennially popular animated Christmastime TV special, which began airing in 1969.

Q I loved contestant Bucky Covington on last season’s American Idol. What’s he been doing since the show?
Anna G., Oak Ridge, Tenn.

The North Carolina native, 29, left his day job—working in his father’s auto-body shop alongside his identical twin brother, Rocky—when Idol fame came calling. Though he didn’t win the talent contest, he completed a sold-out tour of 39 cities with other finalists from the show and appeared on The Tonight Show, Fox and Friends, Regis and Kelly and Larry King Live. Covington’s debut CD, a self-titled country-rock mix produced by Mark Miller of the country band Sawyer Brown, has just been released.

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