Ask American Profile 7/28/2002

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Ask American Profile

Yes, the smooth-voiced host of PBS’ The Joy of Painting died in 1995 from cancer. He was 52. The always smiling, bushy-haired, velvet-voiced, bearded host encouraged viewers to pick up a brush, insisting that they could easily create their own artwork by following his instructions. He’d urge the beginning painter to make “happy little clouds” or “pretty mountains,” insisting that anyone could paint a landscape by following the directions on his half-hour program. The show began airing on PBS in the early 1980s and quickly snowballed into an entire industry of books, art supplies, and art classes where the Bob Ross method was taught. That business is still going strong, and the television show still airs on many PBS stations. Ross is survived by his son, Steven, a Bob Ross instructor who often appeared on the show.

During the recent closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, a jazz singer named Dianne Reeves sang while Kurt Browning skated. She was terrific. I’ve never heard of her. Can you please tell me about her?
—Carol B., Texas

The year started off quite nicely for eclectic jazz singer Dianne Reeves, who performed Fascinating Rhythm from her album, The Calling, at the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City—then won her second Grammy days later for that same album. Her first Grammy came a year earlier for In the Moment, Reeves’ first live album. Born in Detroit in 1956 and raised in Denver (where she lives today), Reeves says she got her musical gift from her parents, an uncle, and a cousin. She has released more than a dozen albums. Her influences include pop, gospel, rhythm and blues, African, Brazilian, and Caribbean music. Reeves has a number of appearances scheduled in the United States and Europe this year and next. Much of her time these days is occupied with her duties as the newly appointed Creative Chair for Jazz with the Los Angeles Philharmonic for the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

My wife and I are big fans of The Andy Griffith Show. We wonder what happened to Aneta Corsaut, who played Helen Crump the schoolteacher. The reruns are as funny as when the show first ran.
—Ed E., Pennsylvania

Sadly, Aneta Corsaut died of cancer in 1995 at age 62. Before she joined The Andy Griffith Show, Corsaut starred opposite Steve McQueen in the horror classic The Blob. She went on to make guest appearances on numerous television shows. In fact, she was supposed to make only one episode on The Andy Griffith Show, but there was such good chemistry between her and Andy Griffith that she stayed—until their characters finally married after six years of courtship. After the wedding, Andy and Helen left the show. Corsaut returned to series television in the late 1970s, playing a nurse on the short-lived television series House Calls. The Hutchinson, Kan., native later appeared on the soap opera Days of Our Lives in 1984. Corsaut joined all her former co-stars for the reunion television film, Return to Mayberry, in 1986.

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