Ask American Profile

Jennifer Garner, Joseph Wambaugh, Clint Walker

Please tell me about Jennifer Garner, who stars on the series Alias. Is she James Garner’s daughter? We love the show.
—Sam R., California

Jennifer Garner isn’t James Garner’s daughter. The Houston native was raised in West Virginia by her mother, a retired English teacher, and a father who is a former chemical engineer. Garner studied ballet for nine years while growing up, then enrolled at Denison University in Ohio as a chemistry major. Her love of the stage was stronger than her love for science, so she became a drama major. Garner moved to New York after graduating in 1994 and was a restaurant hostess while pursuing an acting career. She then moved to Los Angeles and later got a part on the WB show Felicity, where she met her husband, Scott Foley. Before hitting it big with Alias, Garner was in the short-lived series Significant Others and Time of Your Life. Her movie credits include Pearl Harbor and Dude, Where’s My Car? She can be seen later this year in Catch Me If You Can with Leonardo DiCaprio. She and Foley live in the Los Angeles area with their two dogs and one cat.

What has happened to Joseph Wambaugh? I thought he was one of the best crime writers.
—Wesley A., Minnesota

Your opinion is shared by many readers and critics who were thrilled to see new work from the 65-year-old writer after a six-year hiatus. Fire Lover: A True Story came out earlier this year. It moves from the police department to the fire department, offering the true story of John Orr, an arson investigator in California who was exposed as a serial arsonist, responsible for four deaths. His crime was discovered when he allowed too many details to leak into his firefighter-based novel. Wambaugh, a former detective with the Los Angeles Police Department, wrote his first novel, The New Centurions, in 1971, after 10 years with the department. His first nonfiction book, The Onion Field, was a follow-up success, and he left the force to be a full-time writer in 1974. He continued to write both fiction and nonfiction, adapting his books for the movies and television. When he heard the story of Orr, he was inspired. “Here was a guy that wanted to get on the LAPD, where I was, and he wrote a novel,” Wambaugh said in an interview with www.thebookreport.com. “I’m thinking: the guy wants to be me.” Wambaugh lives with his wife in Rancho Mirage, Calif. He isn’t working on a new book, but who knows what may inspire him in the future.

Is actor Clint Walker still living? If so, how old is he, and what is he doing now? He was in the old Western series Cheyenne and one of my favorite movies, The Night of the Grizzly.
—Betty B., Alabama

The 75-year-old Walker is alive and very well, thanks to his interest in a healthy lifestyle. He and wife Susan live in Grass Valley, Calif., and both are well-schooled in the ways of herbal medicine, vitamins, and nutrition. A native of Hartford, Ill., Walker worked as a merchant marine sailor, a sheet metal worker, carpenter, deputy sheriff, and oil prospector before breaking into the movies. His good looks and muscular build soon landed him leading man roles in both television and film. He remains active and creative and is currently working with Western author Kirby Jonas on how to adapt an idea of his into a book called Yaqui Gold.

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