Ask American Profile

Hunter Tylo, Peter Jenkins, Jean Stapleton

Did the actress who played Taylor in CBS’s The Bold and the Beautiful ask to be let go from the soap opera? She was an important part of the show.
—Betty C., Iowa

Hunter Tylo’s character was killed off because Bradley Bell, the show’s executive producer and head writer, felt the “character is too good and has too much integrity to take her down other paths,” Tylo says on her official website, www.tylotimes.com. The 40-year-old Fort Worth native had been with the show since 1990. Acting wasn’t always in Tylo’s plans. She had considered becoming a veterinarian and had a college scholarship but decided to forgo those plans to raise a son she had with her first husband. After the marriage was over, she moved to Dallas where she got work as a model and in commercials. TV Guide has touted Tylo as one of the sexiest women in daytime television, and in 1993 and 1998, she was chosen as one of People magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People in the World.” Tylo has a lot to keep her busy until her next acting project. She is on the board of Retinoblastoma International, has started her own charity, and has launched her own makeup line, Chosen By Hunter Tylo. She has four children—sons Christopher and Mickey and daughters Izabella and Katya—and is married to actor Michael Tylo, whose credits include several soap operas.

Peter Jenkins wrote A Walk Across America and a book on Alaska. His Walk book only took him halfway. Did he finish his walk? Will there be another book?
—Billie E., Texas

Peter Jenkins wrote two books about his 4,500-mile, five-year cross-country trek. A Walk Across America told the story of his walk from Alfred, N.Y., to New Orleans, La. The Walk West described the rest of the journey, which ended at the Pacific Ocean near Florence, Ore. An art student who studied sculpture and ceramic art, Jenkins, now 51, started his well-charted walk in October 1973. “I set off with a backpack and my dog Cooper looking for America, searching for adventure, wondering about my country. I lived with and listened to people from every kind of life. I learned a great deal,” he says. The two books documenting his travels became best sellers and still delight readers after all these years. Jenkins’ most recent book, Looking For Alaska, is another step in his American journey. He and his family moved to the state for a year and a half, covering 20,000 miles as they explored the land and met the people who live there. They are now back home on a farm in Tennessee, and Jenkins is planning his next book and adventure.

I’ve never heard any personal information about actress Jean Stapleton. Is she married, children? We still watch reruns of All in the Family.
—Sadie M., North Carolina

The actress who played lovable dingbat Edith Bunker had a long, happy marriage that produced two children. Stapleton, who turned 80 Jan. 19, married William Putch, a producer and director, in 1957, and they remained together until his death in 1983. Their children, John and Pamela, both followed their parents’ footsteps into show business. Pamela is a producer and actress, and John is an actor-screenwriter-producer-director. You might remember him as Valerie Bertinelli’s friend in the show One Day At A Time, and he’s appeared in numerous other television shows and movies. Stapleton, a native New Yorker, had a few relatives in show business, but attended Hunter College and worked as a secretary for a while before turning to acting in the theater herself. She worked regularly on Broadway and appeared in some movies also, but it was All in the Family that made her a household name. She continues to work on stage and in films.

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