Ask American Profile 3/16/2008

Q My mother and I have a bet. She says actresses Joely Fisher and Carrie Fisher are related. I say no. Who is right?
—Jacqui Alexander, Laughlin, Nev.

Your mother wins this one. Actor Eddie Fisher is the father of both, but Joely’s mother is Connie Stevens, while Carrie’s mom is Debbie Reynolds. The story goes that Joely, 40, didn’t know of Carrie’s existence until the movie Star Wars debuted 30 years ago and someone pointed out that the actress who played Princess Leia was her half-sister. Joely currently stars in the FOX series ’Til Death and is working on a singing career. Carrie, 51, continues to act occasionally, and she’s also a well-respected Hollywood writer.

Q Prior to having his own orchestra, what bands did Gene Krupa perform with?
—Red Miscavige, Mount Carmel, Pa.

Chicago-born Krupa, whose innovative, high-energy playing revolutionized the role of the drummer during America’s swing era of the 1930s and ’40s, played with various groups, including the Thelma Terry Band, Red Nichols’ Five Pennys and the Bennie Goodman Orchestra, before forming his own in 1938. He died of heart failure in 1973 at the age of 64. Actor Sal Mineo portrayed him in the 1959 movie The Gene Krupa Story.

Q What can you tell me about the little Martian, Gazoo? I know he was on both The Flintstones and The Jetsons, but which show was he on first, and most?
—Dale Englehardt, Bunker Hill, Ind.

The character of the Great Gazoo, a floating, green alien voiced by the great comic actor Harvey Korman, debuted on The Flintstones shortly before the cartoon series was canceled in 1966. He never appeared on any other TV programs, although in one Flintstones episode, Gazoo transports Fred and Barney out of Bedrock to a futuristic world similar to that of The Jetsons.

Q What can you tell me about the astrologer Holiday Mathis? I read her column regularly.
—Ann Hubrick, The Villages, Fla.

Mathis, 38, a Florida native, worked as a telemarketer and delivered singing telegrams before becoming known as “the Rock & Roll Astrologer” by predicting favorable CD release dates and fortuitous matchups between singers and producers for some of the biggest artists in the business. Her “Horoscopes by Holiday” column appears in more than 300 newspapers worldwide, and she’s just released a new book, Rock Your Stars, an astrological guide to everyday living. She also is a songwriter who’s written tunes for the TV shows Desperate Housewives, Hanna Montana and Unfabulous, and she’s married to Stuart Mathis, a rock guitarist who’s toured with Jewel, The Wallflowers, Five for Fighting and LeAnn Rimes.

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