Ask American Profile 4/5/2009

Rona Barrett, Ruby Gettinger, Billy Gilman, Clayton Moore

Q Can you please update me on Rona Barrett, who I used to see on TV interviewing movie stars?
-James Rogers, Oklahoma City, Okla.

Barrett, 72, who retired in 1991, interviewed more than 750 celebrities such as Cher, John Wayne, Burt Reynolds and Carol Burnett over four decades as an entertainment journalist. She recently released the DVD Rona Barrett's Hollywood: Nothing but the Truth, a compilation of her favorite interviews from the 1970s and '80s. "This was the first time," she says, "that anyone started to ask these stars questions other than 'What is your latest movie?'" Living in Santa Ynez, Calif., she runs a nonprofit foundation that aids elderly poor who need assisted-living care.


Q I really love the TV show Ruby. Can you tell me about the star? She appears to have lost a lot of weight.
-B. Fullen, Fultondale, Ala.

Ruby Gettinger, a 30-something Sunday school teacher in Savannah, Ga., has lost more than 100 pounds since America began watching her battle with the bulge on the Style Network. Born in Portugal while her father was stationed overseas with the U.S. Air Force, she has also lived in Mississippi, Louisiana and California, where she tried to launch an acting career. Ruby has been overweight since age 9 and obese her entire adult life, which resulted in her developing diabetes, thyroid problems and an enlarged heart. Her series has been picked up for a second season, so look forward to more of Ruby's journey to reach her 145-pound goal and improved health.


Q Whatever happened to Billy Gilman? His Christmas CD has always been one of my favorites. Did his voice change and that's why we don't hear of him anymore?
-Nancy C. Bennett, Iowa

The change of his voice is exactly why Gilman, who had begun to make his mark at 11, had to postpone his career when he hit 14. "It was very hard when I had to stop. The doctors said I would really damage my vocal chords if I kept going," says Gilman, who continued his work as national youth chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Now 20, he's singing again and  has finished a new album. "The songs are very catchy," says Gilman, who makes his home in Rhode Island.


Q Please share some information on Clayton Moore, who starred in The Lone Ranger TV series. Did he have children?
-Betty Maddox, Quitman, Ark.

Moore, who died in 1999 at age 85 of a heart attack, was a trapeze artist in the 1934 Chicago World's Fair and a movie stuntman. He appeared in bit movie parts from the late 1930s until he saddled up in 1949 for his most famous role, the "Hi-ho, Silver!" masked man. He is survived by an adopted daughter, Dawn, who is thrilled to announce the August issue of a U.S. postage stamp commemorating the Lone Ranger and Silver. "I know he would be incredibly proud," she says.

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