Ask American Profile

Harry Connick, Jr., Keanu Reeves, Ed McMahon, Montgomery Gentry

I’ve always been a huge fan of the multi-talented Harry Connick Jr. What has he been up to recently?
—M. Beasley, Alliance, Ohio

A lot! Connick, who began playing with a New Orleans jazz band at age 10, went on to score the movie When Harry Met Sally, release several hit albums and appear in the movies Memphis Belle, Copycat, Hope Floats and Independence Day, plus a recent TV adaptation of South Pacific. He’s set to make his Broadway acting debut in February—playing the lead in Pajama Game—and you can hear him narrating and singing on The Happy Elf, a computer-animated holiday special based on one of his songs, which airs at 8 p.m. Eastern time Dec. 2 on NBC.

What can you tell me about Keanu Reeves, like what movies he’s played in, his address, age and birthday?
—M. Miller, Stapleton, Ga.

Reeves was born Sept. 2, 1964, in Beirut, Lebanon. His name means "cool breeze over the mountains" in Hawaiian. (His father was Hawaiian and Chinese, his mother English.) He lives in Toronto, Canada, and fiercely guards his privacy behind the public persona of his acting roles in almost 60 movies and TV productions. "I’m Mickey Mouse," he once said. "They don’t know who’s inside the suit." Tragedy has shadowed him. In 1999, the baby he expected with girlfriend Jennifer Syme was stillborn; Syme later died in a car accident. Reeves’ films include Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Speed, The Matrix and the recently released Thumbsucker.

What can you tell me about the book Ed McMahon wrote about Johnny Carson? Did Johnny approve of it?
—S. Hopstatler, Stillwater, Okla.

Here’s Johnny, written by late-night TV’s best-known sidekick, Ed McMahon, was released in 2004. Carson, who died in January, was pleased with its outcome. "I wanted it to be a tribute to Johnny," says McMahon, 82. "I knew him for 47 years and we worked together on a daily basis for 34. A lot of people who work together are not friends, but he was my best friend ever. When I was in New York with him and he was going through a bad first marriage, sometimes we had dinner every single night. We remained close even after the show went off the air."

Montgomery Gentry’s Hit Parade

It’s been six years since Montgomery Gentry burst onto the scene with their unique brand of modern-day, rocking country music. The duo’s new CD, Something To Be Proud Of: Best of 1999-2005, is a collection of hits that have built a career that continues to gain momentum. The romping, stomping "Hillbilly Shoes" was the song that got the engines roaring in the first place for Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry. "It’s real, it’s up and it’s in your face," Montgomery says of their first hit. "It set the tone for everything that came afterward." More recently, the autobiographical "My Town" paid tribute to all of the support the duo continues to get from their hometown of Lexington, Ky. "Whether you’re from New Orleans, Lexington or Los Angeles, where you’re from is ‘our town,’" Montgomery says. "It’s great to be a part of a song that celebrates that." Other hits on the new CD include "Daddy Won’t Sell The Farm," "Something To Be Proud Of," "Speed" and "Gone."

Upload Your Own Stories, Photos and Videos

Every week, American Profile magazine brings you stories that celebrate the people and places that make America great. Now we want to hear your stories and see your photos, videos and even audio.

 Start Uploading Now!

 

Discuss this Article