Ask American Profile 1/20/2008

Q I once saw Beau Bridges playing a sailor with a broken arm on the “L” in Chicago, defending people from bullies who took over the car. What was the name of the movie?
—Doris Snider, De Soto, Ill.

The movie you saw was The Incident, a 1967 morality tale set in a subway car taken over by a gang of New York toughs who terrorize one-by-one the other passengers, none of which is anxious to get involved in anyone else’s situation. Bridges was part of a large ensemble cast brimming with familiar faces: Martin Sheen, Ruby Dee, Johnny Carson sidekick Ed McMahon and Donna Mills.

Q What happened to Elvis’ girlfriend, Ginger Alden, after his death? Did she marry or have children?
—Denise Hood, Pontotoc, Miss.

Alden, a native of Memphis, Tenn., was Elvis’ fiancée at the time of his death and found his lifeless body on Aug. 16, 1977. She went on to a modeling career and work in commercials and television shows, including a regular spot on the 1980s TV soap series Capitol. She later retreated completely from the spotlight. Today, Alden, 51, lives in Sag Harbor, N.Y., with her TV-executive husband and son. She doesn’t grant interviews or share details of her private life.

Q Please tell us about Swoosie Kurtz. She’s a wonderful actress and was a lovely young teenager. Our family was stationed with her and her parents in 1950 at Anderson Air Force Base.
—A. Wheelan, Las Cruces, N.M.

Kurtz, 63, back on television as an eye-patch-wearing former synchronized swimmer in the hit ABC series Pushing Daisies, is the only child of U.S. Air Force Col. Frank Kurtz and wife Margo, an author. Her name is derived from the warplane her father flew in World War II—a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, nicknamed the “Swoose” after a line from a popular ditty of the day about a bird that was half-swan, half-goose. The award-winning actress, who starred in the 1990s TV series Sisters and appeared in dozens of other TV, movie and stage productions, never married and has no children. And Swoosie is choosy when it comes to the roles she takes. “If a part doesn’t ‘speak’ to me,” she says, “I’d rather wait for something better to come along.”

Q I would like to know more about Adam Rodriguez from CSI: Miami.
—Amanda James, Fort Payne, Ala.

Born in Yonkers, N.Y., Rodriguez, 32, started with the dream of becoming a professional baseball player. After a sports injury in high school, he turned his attention to acting while supporting himself in a variety of jobs, including working as a stockbroker. A guest spot on the TV series NYPD Blue led to a role in Brooklyn South, then to parts in Felicity, Roswell, Six Feet Under and his current role as Eric Delko in the hit CBS series CSI: Miami. You also may have spotted him in music videos for Lionel Richie (“I Call It Love”), Jennifer Lopez (“If You Had My Love”) and rapper 50 Cent (“Many Men”).

Q Where was country singer Marty Robbins born?
—Tim and Gail Pettis, Sedalia, Mo.

The smooth-voiced country music crooner was born in 1925 in Glendale, Ariz. During a recording career that stretched over three decades, Robbins had 16 No. 1 singles, including “El Paso,” “Devil Woman” and “My Woman, My Woman, My Wife,” and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He died in 1982 of lung and kidney failure after suffering his third heart attack and undergoing quadruple bypass surgery in Nashville, Tenn.

Q Whatever happened to actor Lou Ferrigno from TV’s The Incredible Hulk?
—Michael D. Pryor, McHenry, Ill.

Ferrigno, 56, the former competitive bodybuilder who was named Mr. Universe in 1973, has appeared regularly—as himself—the last seven years in the TV series The King of Queens, and he recently completed filming a non-Hulk role in The Incredible Hulk movie, starring Edward Norton and William Hurt, to be released this summer. Off the set, he serves as a reserve Los Angeles County deputy sheriff, working with the sheriff’s Youth Activities League and the Special Victims Bureau, which assists children. Married 28 years to wife Carla, Ferrigno is the father of three children.

first appeared: 1/20/2008