Ask American Profile 5/11/2008

Q I’ve been a lifelong Frank Sinatra fan. How many movies did he make?
—Jake Nichols, Sioux Falls, S.D.

“Ol’ Blue Eyes” was one hard-working star. In addition to his prolific recording and performing career, he appeared in 58 theatrical films and received three Academy Awards for his acting. In honor of the 10th anniversary of his death, 22 classic Sinatra movies will be rereleased May 13 on DVD in lavish new collections including The Golden Years, The Younger Years, The Rat Pack Ultimate Collection and The Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly Collection. And the U.S. Postal Service is putting his image on a new stamp.

Q What’s the name of the movie about Dr. Kellogg, of the cereal company, who advocated colonics? He was played by Lloyd Bridges or one of his sons.
—Hugh McPhail, Murrietta, Calif.

You’re likely thinking of The Road to Wellville, a 1994 comedy with Matthew Broderick, Bridget Fonda, John Cusack, Dana Carvey, and Anthony Hopkins (not Lloyd Bridges) as Dr. John Harvey Kellogg. Dr. K believed that the body could be purged of unhealthy toxins and impulses by a regimen of diet, exercise and enemas—and cereal made from grains, which became the cornerstone of the Kellogg empire in the early 1900s.

Q Many years ago on M*A*S*H, there was a very attractive young blond woman named Blythe Danner making a guest appearance as Hawkeye’s love interest. Is she still acting?
—Bill Wood, Apple Valley, Calif.

Danner, who began her career in theater, remains very active on television. Most recently, she starred on Huff, a Showtime series now available on DVD, for which she received two Emmy Awards. She had a recurring role on the series Will & Grace, playing Will’s mother. Danner, 65, who was widowed in 2002, is the mother of director Jake Paltrow and actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who has given her two grandkids.

Q My husband and I disagree about who plays the angel Earl on Saving Grace. I’m certain I know exactly who it is, but my husband says I’m wrong.
—Cappie Stone, Ashland, Ohio

If you’re certain that it’s Leon Rippy, you’re absolutely right! The North Carolina-born veteran actor, who plays the tobacco-chewing angel Earl on the hit TNT series, has portrayed more than 50 other roles since the early 1980s. You may remember him from the HBO series Deadwood, his guest spots on TV’s Six Feet Under, Diagnosis Murder and Walker, Texas Ranger, or in movies The Alamo, Eight Legged Freaks and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Rippy brings a wealth of real-life experience to any part he plays; he’s worked as a salesman, traveled with a circus and once had a job inseminating cattle.

Q Please tell about Bobbie Gentry and what she’s doing. I loved her singing.
—Bill Woelkers, Scranton, Pa.

Raised in Mississippi poverty, sultry-voiced Bobbie Gentry became a sensation with her hit single “Ode to Billie Joe” in 1967. She went on to win three Grammy Awards, host her own network television series and marry—and divorce—three times. (Her ex-husbands include Las Vegas hotel magnate Bill Harrah and singer-songwriter Jim Stafford.) Born Roberta Lee Streeter, she changed her name to Bobbie Gentry after seeing the 1952 movie Ruby Gentry, about a sexpot who stirs up a small-town scandal. Now 63 and retired from performing for almost 30 years, she lives out of the spotlight in Los Angeles.

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