Ask American Profile
Elijah Wood, Paula Zahn, The District
—Cheryl H., Colorado
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings catapulted the 22-year-old star from respected child actor to serious movie star. Before that, he worked in many films, making it difficult to pinpoint the movie that, “put him on the map.” Born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he started out as a child model and did local television ads until his family moved to Los Angeles so he could pursue acting roles. His first acting job was in a Paula Abdul video. He made his movie debut in Avalon, and went on to significant roles in Forever Young with Mel Gibson, The Good Son with Macaulay Culkin, and North. Although the critics panned North, they praised Wood’s performance. He solidified that impression with his work in The Ice Storm, which was both a critical and popular success. You might argue that he emerged as a real up-and-comer as the intelligent high school student who discovers an asteroid hurtling towards Earth in Deep Impact. That film exposed him to a far larger audience.
I’m puzzled as to why Paula Zahn is no longer on American Morning and wonder what she’s doing now.
—Virgil S., Florida
The newswoman who caused a bit of a stir when she left the Fox News Channel to join CNN in 2001, has moved into prime time. She now hosts the cable channel’s Live From The Headlines as well as its People In the News. The 47-year-old Omaha native has been a reporter for more than 20 years. Zahn spent 10 years with CBS, co-hosting The CBS Morning News and serving as anchor for the Saturday evening news. In 1999, she joined the fledgling Fox News Channel as anchor for its nightly news, and went on to host her own news/interview program there, called The Edge with Paula Zahn. When CNN succeeded in signing her away from FNC in 2001, her arrival was announced with a 15-second spot that asked, “Where can you find a morning news anchor who’s provocative, super-smart and, oh yeah, just a little bit sexy?” Zahn and the head of CNN immediately voiced their disapproval of the ad, and it was pulled from the air, but not before it became a big news story itself. Since that controversial start, Zahn has settled into her duties at CNN. An interesting bit of trivia about Zahn: She’s been playing the cello since she was 5 years old, attended Stephens College in Missouri on a cello scholarship, and made her Carnegie Hall debut with the New York Pops in 1992.
My husband and I are curious about a line on the credits following each week of The District, which reads, “For Jack Maple—who lived it.” Who and what does this refer to?
—Dick and Patricia M., Wisconsin
Jack Maple helped to create the series, which is based on his own experience as a deputy police commissioner of New York City. Maple passed away two years ago, at age 49, from colon cancer. A native of Richmond Hill, N.Y., Maple started his career in law enforcement as a transit cop in New York City, keeping the subways safe for residents. Over the years, Maple began tracking and charting transit crimes, discerning patterns that allowed him to put officers in areas where they were most needed. When the head of the Transit Police, Benjamin Bratton, was named police commissioner of New York City in 1994, he took Maple with him. As deputy police commissioner, Maple took his charting technique to the entire police department, reducing the crime rate in the city as a result. He left the New York job soon after Bratton left, going on to work as a consultant to police departments across the country. He wrote a book, The Crime Fighter, and then began co-writing the series, The District.
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