Ask American Profile 6/21/2009

Jimmy Fallon, Sheree J. Wilson, Hugh O'Brian

Q Why did Jimmy Fallon decide to host a late-night talk show, rather than following in the footsteps of so many other former Saturday Night Live stars by making movies?
—Stephen Higgins, Oneonta, N.Y.

When Fallon, 34, left SNL, executive producer Lorne Michaels shared that NBC would be searching for a late-night replacement for Conan O'Brien, who was taking over Jay Leno's spot. Fallon was interested because he enjoys being in front of a live audience, which doesn't happen when you make movies.


Q Can you tell me what Sheree J. Wilson, who played Alex Cahill on Walker, Texas Ranger, is doing now?
—Richard Haeberle, Washington, Mo.

Wilson, 50, admits that when the TV series ended in 2001, it felt like she was being ripped away from her family. But these days she's busying herself with producing and starring in the movie Easy Rider, The Ride Back, the "prequel" story about the character played by Peter Fonda in the 1969 classic. She hopes for another Texas Ranger TV movie to follow 2005's Trial by Fire, in which her character faced an uncertain future. "[Director] Aaron Norris is trying to get CBS to get me off the floor where they left me shot," laughs Wilson, a mother of two sons who lives in Los Angeles and works in her spare time with her horse rescue organization, the White Bridle Humane Society.


Q In the 1950s, Hugh O'Brian starred as Wyatt Earp in the TV series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp. What has become of him?
—Doug Robinson, Morton, Ill.

Retired from acting, O'Brian, 86, continues to concentrate on Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY), the organization he founded in 1958 to inspire youth around the world to pursue lives of leadership and service through programs in 50 states and 20 countries. "The HOBY program is extremely important in my life," says O'Brian. "I feel like I'm 34 and riding into the sunrise with not enough hours in the day to do what I want to do."

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