Ask American Profile 10/11/2009

Cammie King, Nick Arrojo, Irene Ryan, Taylor Kitsch

Q Whatever happened to Cammie King, who played Bonnie Blue Butler in Gone With The Wind?
—Patsy Jackson, Jourdanton, Texas

Cammie King Conlon, born Eleanore Cammack King in Los Angeles, was 5 when she portrayed the daughter of Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara in 1939's Gone With The Wind. Though her part is brief, it's memorable: Bonnie Blue dies after being thrown from a galloping pony, a sequence for which she prepared with a month of riding lessons (although a small stuntman, dressed as her character, actually took the fall). Other than providing one of the voices for Bambi (1942), she never made another movie. Her adult career was in public relations. Now 75, she lives in Fort Bragg, Calif., and appears occasionally at movie nostalgia conventions. The question fans ask her most: What do you remember about Clark Gable? Her response: "Oh, that I was only 5 when he held me and kissed me and put me to bed!"


Q We love What Not to Wear. Please tell us about the fantastic hair stylist Nick Arrojo.
—Patti Benson, Marquette, Mich.

Arrojo, 43, came to America by way of England, where he began his career at Vidal Sassoon. In 2001, he achieved his lifelong dream when he opened his own salon in Manhattan, which was followed by the launch of his own product line. But Arrojo is no longer on What Not to Wear. "I started the new season and I was enjoying working on the show as much as ever," he writes on his website. "Then one day the team came to me and expressed their desire to take a new direction. After seven terrific years as hairdressing host, I'm sad to be leaving the show, but I'm comfortable with the decision, and I can walk away proud of the job that I've done and the people that I've touched."


Q Can you tell me about Irene Ryan, who played Granny on The Beverly Hillbillies? How old was she when she played the role and did she make any movies?
—Nola Anderson, Payson, Utah

Called "Reenie" by her friends, Ryan died in 1973 at age 70 after she suffered a stroke during a performance of Pippin on Broadway. Born in El Paso, Texas, she had a career in vaudeville, radio and film before she took on the role of Daisy "Granny" Moses on the hit TV series The Beverly Hillbillies in 1962 at age 59. Between 1935 and 1960, she appeared in about 45 films, including Desire in the Dust, Bonzo Goes to College and Diary of a Chambermaid.


Q Tell me what Taylor Kitsch, who starred in Wolverine, is up to.
—Kathi King, Moline, Ill.

If you haven't seen the first three seasons of Friday Night Lights, rent the DVDs to see Kitsch as bad boy Tim Riggins. A spokesperson for NBC says he will be returning to the series for the fourth season, which debuts Oct. 28 on DirecTV and then late spring 2010 on NBC. The Canadian actor, 28, also landed the starring role in the upcoming film John Carter of Mars, slated for a 2012 release. Before his acting career took off, Kitsch was a model and appeared in ads for Diesel and Abercrombie & Fitch.

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