Ask American Profile 6/24/2007

Q Whatever happened to Philip Michael Thomas, who played in Miami Vice with Don Johnson?
—Diane Young, Camp Verde, Ariz.

Thomas, 58, acted in several television and film projects after Miami Vice ended in 1990 and provided the voice for the character Lance Vance in the Grand Theft Auto video game series. Most recently, his passion has gone into writing the songs for a musical called Sacha on Broadway, based on a children’s book he co-authored. “It’s a real family play,” says Thomas, who lives in New York and hopes to bring the production to Broadway.

Q I grew up listening to the music of Judy Collins. What’s my favorite folk singer from the 1960s doing today?
—Mark Sutton, Madisonville, Ky.

Collins has captivated many fans with her sweet voice and piercing blue eyes, including musician Stephen Stills—her onetime boyfriend—who wrote the 1969 Crosby, Stills & Nash classic “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” about Collins and her baby blues. Now 67, she continues to tour with a hit parade of trademark songs, including “Send in the Clowns,” “Someday Soon” and “Both Sides Now.” When not making music, she campaigns passionately for suicide prevention. Her new self-help book, The Seven T’s: Finding Hope and Healing in the Wake of Tragedy, was sparked by her 33-year-old son’s self-inflicted death in 1993.

Q A friend of my grandfather says he took swimming lessons from Clint Eastwood in the 1950s in California. Could this possibly be true?
—Betsy Anderson, Baltic, Conn.

Yes, it could, especially if your grandfather’s friend served in the U.S. Army. Eastwood, who enlisted during the Korean War, was stationed at California’s Fort Ord, where the athletic San Francisco native was assigned work as a swimming instructor. A couple of years later, his military service completed, he landed his first movie role—as a lab assistant in the 1955 drive-in monster mash Revenge of the Creature.

Q Please tell me who sings the theme to the TV series The Sopranos, and if it’s available on CD.
—Richard Witherspoon, Rockport, Ark.

“Woke Up This Morning,” the theme to the recently concluded HBO series, is performed by the English band Alabama 3, which later changed its name to A3 to avoid confusion—and litigation—with the country group Alabama. The song appears on two A3 CDs, Exile on Coldharbour Lane and La Peste, and also on the Sopranos soundtrack.

Q Was the actor who plays Uncle Leo on the TV series Seinfeld also in the movies The Outlaw Josie Wales and Kelly’s Heroes?
—Tony Falo, Lady Lake, Fla.

Yes, indeed. Len Lesser, 84, has been acting for 50 years and has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, often cast as an outlaw, hit man or other villain. But his greatest fame came late in his career, as Jerry Seinfeld’s eccentric uncle. You also may have seen him in his recurring role as Garvin on TV’s Everybody Loves Raymond.

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