Ask American Profile

John O'Hurley, Ron Perlman, Susan Oliver, Judy Woodruff, Lynyrd Skynyrd

I have followed John O’Hurley for many years and enjoyed his shows and TV commercials. I think he’s terribly underrated as a performer. What can you tell me about him and what his next project might be?
—Jan McCanless, China Grove, N.C.

The highly recognizable, distinctively voiced O’Hurley, whose career catapulted with his recurring role on TV’s Seinfeld in the 1990s, says his appearance on last year’s Dancing With the Stars TV competition series was life altering. "Physically it changed me," he says. "I lost 25 pounds, but also, at the age of 50, you wonder how you are going to reinvent yourself, so I am doing things I probably would never have done if I hadn’t been on the show." Also musically gifted, O’Hurley has performed as a vocalist with numerous symphonies and recently collaborated with cellist Marston Smith on a double-disc CD of his original classical piano compositions, Peace of Our Minds. O’Hurley recently made his Broadway debut as the male lead, Billy Flynn, in the hit musical Chicago, and has just released a dance DVD with his Dancing With the Stars partner, Charlotte Jorgensen.

I have the series Beauty and the Beast with Ron Perlman and Linda Hamilton. I’d love to see what he looks like without all that Beast makeup.
—Irene Reed, Hubert, Mich.

Although Perlman is well known for his portrayal as the Beast in the 1980s TV series, he continues to work consistently, appearing in the CBS-TV series Magnificent Seven and in Wild World and Operation Sandman, both of which were UPN Movies of the Week. He’s also appeared on the big screen in Enemy at the Gate, Blade II, Star Trek: Nemesis and Hellboy. You can see him this summer in the TV movie Desperation, based on a book by Stephen King.

I would like an update on Susan Oliver, a very pretty blonde who starred on Peyton Place back in the 1960s. She also guest starred on an episode of The Andy Griffith Show in 1964, "Prisoner of Love," in which she played a prisoner who both Andy and Barney fell for.
—A. Smithee, Bangor, Maine

Blond-haired, blue-eyed Susan Oliver (whose real name was Charlotte Gercke) made dozens of TV appearances throughout the 1960s and ’70s and died of lung cancer in 1990 at age 58. The actress also was a TV director and even an accomplished aviator who in 1967 became the first woman to fly a single-engine aircraft solo across the Atlantic Ocean, a feat she detailed in her 1983 memoir, Odyssey: A Daring Transatlantic Journey. She was named Pilot of the Year in 1970 and later nominated for an Emmy for her role as Amelia Earhart in a TV movie.

Do you know if Judy Woodruff is doing anything specific now that she's no longer with CNN?
—Marli Neumann, Bullhead City, Ariz.

Woodruff replies: "I’m actively exploring a number of journalistic projects, among them consulting with the Pew Charitable Trusts about producing a year of televised reports on what’s on the minds of America’s younger generation. I’ll be a senior fellow this fall at Harvard’s Shorenstein Center for the Press, Politics and Public Policy. I remain a consultant and occasional contributor for CNN, have appeared on NBC News’ Meet the Press as an analyst and am preparing to pack two sons off to college." Woodruff was born in Tulsa, Okla., and now lives in Washington, D.C., with her three children and husband, Al Hunt, who recently left The Wall Street Journal to become managing editor of Bloomberg News.

Double Dose of Lynyrd Skynyrd

Two new releases from the classic Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd offer proof that the group’s legacy lives on. In addition to helping create the musical template for countless Southern rockers that followed, Skynyrd spawned a number of spinoffs as other groups branched out from various shakeups of the original band. The new Family CD brings together for the first time the biggest hits by Lynyrd Skynyrd as well as "blood-kin" acts .38 Special, the Rossington Collins Band and the new Van Zant duo of brothers Johnny and Donnie. Gimme Back My Bullets originally was released by Lynyrd Skynyrd in l976 and has been expanded to include six bonus tracks and a DVD featuring performances from a 1975 BBC-TV appearance.

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