Ask American Profile

Norma Jean, Richard S. Prather, Jonathan and Anthony Lapaglia

Whatever happened to the country singer Norma Jean? She was on The Porter Wagoner Show.
—Edmund R., Ohio

Norma Jean moved to Branson, Mo. (pop. 6,050), about three years ago, where her big project is The Cowboy Church, a come-as-you-are, non-denominational church that provides a healthy dose of country gospel music. “It’s more music than preaching,’’ says Norma Jean, who also has a new CD, I’m the Loneliest Star In Texas, which includes her hits Let’s Go All The Way and Go Cat Go, as well as some new material. Born Norma Jean Beasley, she started playing guitar at age 5 when her family moved from Wellston, Okla. (pop. 825), to Oklahoma City, where she grew up. By age 13, she had her own radio show on KLPR. She became a regular on Red Foley’s Ozark Jubilee television show in 1958 and dropped her surname. She moved to Nashville, Tenn., in 1960, becoming the featured vocalist with Porter Wagoner on both his network television show and also on the Grand Ole Opry. She had several hits that charted before she married in 1967 and left the show. Most recently, she performed reunion shows with Wagoner and Buck Trent in Parsons, Kan. (pop. 11,514), and West Plains, Mo. (pop. 10,866).

I’m interested in knowing more about Richard S. Prather, who authored the Shell Scott detective books. These books were very popular when I was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s.
—David P., via e-mail

Richard S. Prather, who wrote 40 Shell Scott novels, is now 82 and very active. He and his wife have a home in Sedona, Ariz. (pop. 10,192), where he takes care of their organic garden, watches golf on TV and keeps up with correspondence from his fans. He’s even working on another book in the Shell Scott series. “It’s not 16-hour days like it used to be for me,” Prather says of his current manuscript, “so there’s no way to tell when it will be done.” The last one, Shell Shocked, was released in 1987. Prather’s books were notable for their light touch at a time when most detective novels were of the hardboiled variety. Though wildly successful, the books never made it into movies or television. “We had nibbles and options, but for some reason it never happened,” Prather says, admitting that he’d be happy to see Scott come to life onscreen someday. All 40 Shell Scott books are available through the website: www.ereads.com.

I would like to know if Jonathan Lapaglia, who plays a detective on The District, and Anthony Lapaglia, who plays an FBI agent on the show Without a Trace, are related. They sure look alike.
—Margaret M., Tennessee

They sure do, which makes sense because they are, indeed, brothers. Born in Adelaide, Australia, Anthony and Jonathan originally had completely different career paths. Older brother Anthony was a teacher in New York, until he decided to try an acting career. It was a good move—he’s worked in films and onstage, has a Tony award and was nominated for an Emmy for his role as Daphne’s obnoxious brother in Frasier. He and his wife, Gia, live in New York. Jonathan, on the other hand, studied medicine and worked in Australia and London as a physician for three years. As he became interested in acting, Jonathan started taking classes during his off hours, eventually quitting medicine and moving to New York to go into acting full force. After attending the Circle in the Square Theater School, Jonathan got a starring role in the TV series New York Undercover, and has worked steadily since. He is single and lives in Los Angeles.

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