Ask American Profile 11/18/2007

Q I know there are a few male artists who are in both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame. But are there any females?
—Rex Rather, Plano, Texas

Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers, Floyd Cramer, Chet Atkins and producer Sam Phillips are enshrined in both halls of fame. But only one female performer, Brenda Lee, has been so honored. The 4-foot-9-inch powerhouse, known most of her life as “Little Miss Dynamite,” remains active at 62. Her latest CD, Gospel Duets with Treasured Friends, is a collection of hymn collaborations with Dolly Parton, Vince Gill, rocker Huey Lewis and nine other superstar guests that returns her to her roots in spiritual music.

Q Could you please give me some information on Samantha Brown of the Travel Channel? She’s a delight!
—Carolyn Mattz, Palos Park, Ill.

Samantha Brown, 38, was born in Dallas, but her family soon after moved to New Castle, N.H., where she was raised. She holds a bachelor of fine arts degree in musical theater from Syracuse University. Her early work included television commercials, as well as a few off-Broadway plays, before auditioning for the Travel Channel and becoming its wide-ranging maven. She and husband Kevin live in New York City.

Q What happened to Soledad O’Brien and Miles O’Brien on CNN’s American Mornings?
—Vivian S. Rose, Kinston, N.C.

In April, both reporters were reassigned to different positions at CNN. Soledad now is the anchor and special correspondent of special investigations, and Miles became chief technology and environmental correspondent, as John Roberts and Kiran Chetry took over the network’s American Morning. “Anchoring American Morning with Miles for three years was such a pleasure,” Soledad says, noting that people still ask if she and Miles are husband and wife. (They’re not.) “I miss spending the first three hours of my day with him, but we’re still very close. Like he always says, ‘Yes, we’re married—to different people!’”

Q What is my favorite McHale’s Navy star, Ernest Borgnine, doing these days?
—Nancy Cleveland, Joplin, Mo.

Borgnine, 90, has appeared in more than 180 movies and television shows during the last 50 years, but he’ll always be best known for his role as Lt. Quinton McHale on McHale’s Navy from 1962 to 1966. The native of Hamden, Conn., stars Nov. 24 in the Hallmark Channel’s TV movie A Grandpa For Christmas, in which he plays a retired showman who unexpectedly enters the life of the young granddaughter he’s never met. Borgnine lives in Beverly Hills, Calif., with his wife of 34 years, Tova Traesnaes, who heads her own cosmetics company.

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