Ask American Profile

Barbara Walters, Jimmy Smits, Craig T. Nelson, Jakob Dylan, Don Helms

Barbara Walters, with her enduring broadcasting career, has been a trailblazer in her industry. What are some of her “coups?”
—Martha Y., Michigan

Barbara Walters has been opening doors since her early career, when she became the youngest producer with NBC-TV’s New York station. She appeared on the Today show for 15 years, first as a writer, then as a reporter. In 1974, she became the program’s first female co-host. Two years later, she joined ABC News as the first woman to co-host the network news. Walters has interviewed every American president and first lady since Richard Nixon. She made journalism history by arranging the first joint interview with Egypt’s President Anwar Sadat and Israel’s Prime Minister Menachem Begin in 1977. Walters, a Boston native, graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and has one daughter.

Philip Michael Thomas was not Don Johnson’s original partner on the 1980s television show Miami Vice. Who was?
—Sherrie H., Illinois

Jimmy Smits, 45, who went on to other law-related roles as Victor Sifuentes in L.A. Law and Bobby Simone in NYPD Blue, played Don Johnson’s partner in the two-hour pilot for Miami Vice. But mere minutes into the show, his character was killed off, making way for Philip Michael Thomas to star with Johnson in the series. Smits, a New York native, holds a degree in theater arts from Cornell University.

What else has actor Craig T. Nelson appeared in, other than his new television show, The District, and former comedy series Coach?
—Lisa L., Maine

Craig T. Nelson has acted on the small and big screen. Film credits include Ghosts of Mississippi and Silkwood. He was in the series Call to Glory, the movie The Josephine Baker Story, and the miniseries To Serve and Protect. Before his role as Police Chief Jack Mannion in The District, Nelson played Hayden Fox in the series Coach for nine seasons, for which he received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, two additional Emmy nominations, and four Golden Globe nominations. Nelson, born in Spokane, Wash., lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Doria.

The songs on The Wallflowers’ most recent album Breach seem to be more personal. Is notoriously private lead singer Jakob Dylan, son of folk legend Bob Dylan, opening up a bit?
—Brendan C., Montana

“I don’t really like discussing what songs mean, but inevitably I’m asked,” Dylan, 31, says. “I’m painting pictures of an emotion, I’m not always making a point. I’m not always telling a story, I’m expressing how I feel, and the songs reflect how a lot of people may feel.” Dylan formed The Wallflowers in 1990, and their self-titled debut album was released two years later. Their second album, Bringing Down the Horse, went quadruple platinum and won a Grammy Award. Breach is The Wallflowers’ third album.

Don Helms, steel guitar player for Hank Williams Sr., was a favorite of mine, because I’m also a steel player. Does he still perform?
—Vic D., Georgia

“I still do what I did 50 years ago: playing music and traveling all over the country,” says Helms, 73, of Hendersonville, Tenn., (pop. 37,261). After Williams’ death, he played with Ray Price, Ferlin Husky, Loretta Lynn, Ernest Tubb, and Hank Williams Jr. Helms is the only member of Hank Sr.’s Drifting Cowboys Band still playing music. Since 1989, he’s played with Jett Williams, Hank Sr.’s daughter, touring Europe and Asia. “That’s all I’ve ever done, play the music I played for Hank,” Helms says. “Surprisingly, there’s a lot of people who love to hear that same old Hank music.” Helms and his wife of 56 years, Hazel, have two children.

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