Ask American Profile

Elizabeth Edwards, Dorothy Mengering, Pernell Roberts, Thad Luckinbill

How is Elizabeth Edwards’ fight against breast cancer? It was so sad when it happened, and we never hear anything about her now.
—Martin R., Franklin, Pa.

On Nov. 3, 2004, the day U.S. Sen. John Kerry conceded defeat in the presidential race, Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Kerry’s vice-presidential running mate, John Edwards, announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent a 16-week period of chemotherapy and in March 2005, had a lump removed from her breast, and then received radiation treatment followed by more chemotherapy. Last June, Edwards completed her chemotherapy and reportedly was doing very well.

Is the grey-haired lady from Indianapolis that David Letterman often talks to really his mom?
—Gail McMillen, Portageville, Mo.

Yes, that is indeed Letterman’s mom, Dorothy Mengering, who makes her annual Thanksgiving night appearance from her Indiana kitchen, as well as other televised tidbits throughout the year. She’s a Presbyterian church secretary who remarried after Letterman’s father, Harry Joe Letterman, died of a heart attack in 1973. She says that David, the middle child between two sisters, has always had a wonderful sense of humor, following in the footsteps of his father.

Whatever became of Pernell Roberts from Bonanza? Is he the only member of the original cast still living?
—Jack Arnold Lee, Estes Park, Colo.

The only surviving Bonanza cast member, Roberts was a singer, butcher and forest ranger before becoming an award-winning Broadway actor and finally a TV star in his breakthrough role as Adam Cartwright on Bonanza. After leaving the show, he recorded an album of folk songs and starred as Rhett Butler in a musical version of Gone With the Wind before returning to television in 1979 in the title role of Trapper John M.D., which aired until 1986. He was married three times and had one son, Jonathan, who was killed in a motorcycle crash in 1989. He is now retired.

We would like to know about Thad Luckinbill on The Young and the Restless.
—Leoma Sisel, Nebraska

Luckinbill, who joined the cast of The Young And The Restless as J.T. Hellstrom in 2000, was born and raised in Enid, Okla., and attended the University of Oklahoma. He also has appeared as a guest star on the TV shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Nash Bridges and 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter. He played a cowboy in Madonna’s video for "Don’t Tell Me" and appeared in last year’s short-lived teen-comedy movie Sleepover. Luckinbill is single; when he’s not working, he plays basketball, boxes, surfs and goes to the gym.

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