Ask American Profile 2/10/2008

Q When Little Richard performed at the Fourth of July concert in Washington, D.C., someone handed him a pair of crutches at the end of his performance. What happened to him?
—Barbara Sparks, Glen Burnie, Md.

For much of the last year, Little Richard—whose real name is Richard Penniman—suffered from sciatica pain, and the crutches helped him take the pressure off his leg. But that didn’t derail the good-time boogie-woogie of the flamboyant “Tutti Frutti” singer, 75, who continued to tour and perform.

Q Can you tell me what became of game-show host Bert Convy? Did he have a family?
—Donna Fullerton, Superior, Neb.

Convy died of a brain tumor in 1991 at the age of 57. Born in St. Louis, he played baseball in the minor leagues for a brief time before turning to entertainment, first as a singer, then actor. He appeared as a panelist on several TV game shows and then took over the podium himself, first for Tattletales, for which he received an Emmy in 1977, and then Win, Lose or Draw. He was married twice and had three children.

Q Can you tell me whatever happened to Stone Phillips and why he was fired from Dateline?
—Morris Cason, Logan, Utah

Budget cutbacks at the NBC network were reportedly at the root of the award-winning journalist’s departure last July. “It’s been a wonderful 15 years,” Phillips said good-naturedly at the time. “I wish the people of NBC News all the best.” Born in Texas City, Texas, and raised in St. Louis, he’s keeping a low profile in New York with his wife, Debra, with whom he has one son. When Phillips, 53, began his stint at Dateline in 1992, his co-host, Jane Pauley, said, “He’s so terribly attractive that it takes some getting used to.”

Q I’ve always enjoyed actress Anne Archer. I read that her mother also was an actress. Who was she?
—Loretto Greafen, Elburn, Ill.

Archer, who currently has a recurring role on TV’s Ghost Whisperer as the mom of Jennifer Love Hewitt’s character, is the daughter of Marjorie Lord, who played Danny Thomas’ wife on the television series Make Room for Daddy from 1957 to 1965. Her father is John Archer, the announcer who memorably voiced the tagline, “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!” Archer, 60, is married to TV producer Terry Jastrow and has two grown sons.

Q I heard that the movie You’ve Got Mail was a remake of an older film starring Judy Garland and Van Johnson. What was its title?
—Helen Campbell, Levelland, Texas

In the 1998 movie You’ve Got Mail—just rereleased on a commemorative 10th-anniversary DVD—Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan recycled the basic plotline of the 1949 Judy Garland/Van Johnson romantic comedy In the Good Old Summertime, which was itself a retread of The Shop Around the Corner, a 1940 comedy starring Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullivan.

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