Ask American Profile 10/12/2008

Courtney Hansen, Rancho Deluxe, True Confessions, Jon Lindstrom

Q What can you tell me about Courtney Hansen on the Spike TV show Powerblock? She sure seems to know a lot about cars.
—Alan Dumas, Orlando, Fla.

Hansen, 29, picked up much of her car smarts around her father, Jerry Hansen, a renowned Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) racer with an unmatched 27 championship wins. She grew up in Minnesota, where her family owned the Brainerd International Raceway, and recalls a childhood of speed and star power. “Paul Newman would come on vacation to our summer home every year and race his Trans Am against my dad,” she says. Growing up in the racing pit, it wasn’t long before she was nosing around under the hood. Today, in addition to Powerblock, she also hosts the Spike series Great Builds and the Fox Sports Net series Destination Wild. Her book, The Garage Girl’s Guide to Everything You Need to Know About Your Car, was released last year. “It covers all the basics,” says Hansen, who was named one of the “Sexiest Women in the World” by FHM magazine in 2005. “And men can learn from it, too.”

Q In the ’80s, I think, there was a movie with Sam Waterson and Kurt Russell. They played a couple of rambunctious cattle thieves. What was the title?
—Don Edwards, Texarkana, Texas

Rancho Deluxe was the 1975 “comedy Western” that starred Sam Waterson (two decades before Law and Order) and Jeff Bridges as rakish rustlers in modern-day Montana. Just as memorable was the movie’s soundtrack, entirely composed and performed by Jimmy Buffett, who also appeared, as himself, in a honky-tonk scene.

Q I remember a movie from the ’80s with Robert DeNiro as a priest and Robert Duvall as a cop. They were brothers. What was it called?
—J.P., Clinton, Ill.

You’re recalling the 1981 movie True Confessions, in which DeNiro’s high-ranking priest and Duvall’s justice-seeking cop are brothers brought together after many years apart by a horrific Hollywood murder that rocks the foundation of DeNiro’s church. It’s available on DVD.

Q What ever happened to the actor who played Kevin Collins on General Hospital and Port Charles?
—Myra Spencer, Medford, Ore.

Jon Lindstrom’s daytime-soap career began with roles on Rituals, Generations and Santa Barbara before he created the character of Dr. Kevin Collins on General Hospital, then transitioned the good doc over to Port Charles from 1997 to 2003. After that, Lindstrom, 50, got busy on several other projects, including the jewel-heist drama The Hard Easy, which he wrote and produced. He also popped up in several television shows, including CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Everwood, a TV movie called The Sitter, and the film Must Love Dogs. Lindstrom lives in Los Angeles, where he likes to “spend time with my girlfriend, cook dinner for friends, go surfing and skiing when I can, and hang with the people that count.”

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