Ask American Profile

Doc, Bee Gees, Billie Burke, Mary Gauthier

Doc is the best show on TV. Why are they taking it off?
—Carolyn A., Texas

"We did four years, 88 episodes, and it was time to move on to something different," says Billy Ray Cyrus, star of the PAX show. "I felt that what I was wanting to accomplish—to bring a TV show that families could watch together, that represented hope, love and faith—seemed to be fulfilled." The native of Flatwoods, Ky. (pop. 7,605), became a huge sensation in 1992 with his first single, Achy Breaky Heart, and continued to record hit songs throughout the decade. He currently is in the studio working on a record, "making the best music I’ve ever made in my entire life," with hopes of having a CD out by fall. Cyrus, 43, also is looking at his future options—television, film and maybe even Broadway—while he enjoys some down time at home near Nashville, Tenn., with Tish, his wife of 11 years, and his kids—Brandi, 18, Trace, 16, Miley, 12, Braison, 10, and Noah, 5, who portrayed Gracie on Doc. "Right now, I’m enjoying making music, being a husband, father, musician, singer/songwriter, just enjoying life," he says.

Could you please give me some information on the Bee Gees?
—Anita R., Wisconsin

The most successful brother musical act was named for Brothers Gibb, a trio with eldest Barry Gibb, born Sept. 1, 1946, in Manchester, England, and his fraternal twin brothers, Robin and Maurice, born on Dec. 22, 1949, on the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea. They moved to Australia in 1958, but moved back to England in the 1960s, where they soon landed a record deal. I Started a Joke and I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You were hits in the late 1960s, but it was the group’s 1977 contribution to the movie Saturday Night Fever, including songs such as Jive Talkin’, Night Fever and How Deep Is Your Love, that cemented the brothers in musical history. Sadly, when Maurice died in January 2003, so did the Bee Gees. Barry, who resides in Miami, and Robin, who has a home in Miami but spends most of his time in England, retired the group’s name. While they continue to work on individual projects, the brothers’ music lives on. Some of their greatest CDs include Saturday Night Fever, Spirits Having Flown and 2003’s Merchants of Dream and Bee Gees Number Ones, released last year.

Could you please tell me what you know about the actress Billie Burke, who played the good witch in The Wizard of Oz?
—Jennie S., North Carolina

Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke was born in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 7, 1885, and grew up touring Europe, where her father was a famed circus clown. The family settled in London, and at 18 she made her stage debut. Four years later, she moved to Broadway, eventually marrying legendary showman Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. Though she preferred the stage, she made 85 films, including Dinner at Eight and Merrily We Live, which earned her an Oscar nomination. She died in 1970 at age 84.

Mary Gauthier Delivers Simple, Yet Powerful Musical Messages

At 43, Mary Gauthier has been writing songs for only eight years, but with her fourth album, Mercy Now, she’s being compared to singer-songwriters Lucinda Williams and John Prine. The title song, a plea for compassion for family members, both personal and universal, is lighting up the switchboards at Americana radio stations. The notion of grace is "a message people need to hear now," says Jody Denberg, of KGSR-FM in Austin, Texas. "There’s a simplicity in her music that is equaled by its intensity." Orphaned at birth, Gauthier grew up in Baton Rouge, La. She studied philosophy at Louisiana State University and ran a successful Boston restaurant before turning to music. In 2001, producer Gurf Morlix was floored to find the beginner’s songs "on par with the great ones—Billy Joe Shaver, Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt." Gauthier shies away from such comparisons, insisting, "I was just born to tell stories."

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