Carol St. John, Addison, Ill.
Brothers & Sisters was canceled in May, so chances are slim you’ll ever see it again other than on DVD. But if you’re a fan of Field, the one-time Gidget and Flying Nun is heading back to the big screen in 2012 for a pair of roles: The two-time Oscar winner plays the beloved Aunt May of Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker in July’s The Amazing Spider-Man, and she stars as Mary Todd Lincoln, the wife of Daniel Day-Lewis’ Honest Abe, in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln come December.
Who’s News Column Contributors: Gayle Jo Carter, Brian Truitt
Wahlberg hasn’t forgotten the fans.
Blue Bloods star Donnie Wahlberg, a divorced dad of two sons, appreciates that his cast “understands the fan connection” to his recently reunited New Kids on the Block. “They were feeding my kids before I got here, so I got to take pictures with them,” says Wahlberg, 42. “Tom (Selleck) will always stop by and talk to the fans — who tell him ‘My mom loves you.’ ”
LL Cool J
“Going home with a Grammy and giving it to your grandmother is a wonderful thing,” says LL Cool J, 44 — that’s what the first-time host of this Sunday’s awards show (8 p.m. ET, CBS) did with his two Grammys. “It was the best feeling in the world.” The nine-time nominee is “excited” for the opportunity. So are Cool J’s four kids going to get to come with Dad? “I’ll definitely bring my wife, but (with) my kids running around — it might be a bit much,” he says with a laugh. “They may have to sit this one out.
Who’s News Column Contributors: Gayle Jo Carter, Brian Truitt
Zombies keep Reedus busy for now.
Kelly James, Union, N.J.
Right now, the actor is busy trying to survive a zombie apocalypse as redneck-with-an-attitude Daryl Dixon in the hit AMC series based on the comic book. The show films in Atlanta and returns with new episodes tonight. However, the actor will be starring opposite Naomi Watts in the upcoming drama Sunlight Jr. In the meantime, you can catch up with the fledgling filmmaker and photographer’s other screen roles: Reedus starred in the cult crime movie The Boondock Saints and its sequel, played an assassin in Robert Redford’s The Conspirator, and appeared as a biker in Lady Gaga’s music video for her song Judas.
Who’s News Column Contributors: Gayle Jo Carter, Brian Truitt
Andrew Patrick, Cincinnati
After nine years at CNBC covering Wall Street and financial affairs, Francis moved to rival Fox Business Network and made her debut on the channel last month as a reporter and anchor. Long before becoming “The Empress of Energy,” the cable-news fixture and Harvard graduate was a child actor who starred in the horror film Bad Dreams, assorted made-for TV movies and on the long-running family series Little House on the Prairie.
Who’s News Column Contributors: Gayle Jo Carter, Brian Truitt
Lynda Morganelli Portage, Ind.
Unfortunately for you and the rest of the show’s faithful, it crossed over into afterlife when it was canceled two years ago. If you’re a fan of star Jennifer Love Hewitt, though, things are looking up in 2012: The actress, who dated co-star Jamie Kennedy for a time, will star in a brand-new Lifetime TV series, The Client List, alongside Cybill Shepherd. Based on the 2010 made-for-cable movie of the same name, it earned the former Ghost Whisperer star and sometime pop singer a Golden Globe nomination.
Who’s News Column Contributor: Brian Truitt
Duncan is “busting my butt” to slim down.
Hulking movie star Michael Clarke Duncan has slimmed down a bit for his first regular TV gig on the new Fox series The Finder. To stay in shape, he lifts weights and does reps on a dip machine daily on set. “Every week, you’re in somebody’s living room or dorm room or bedroom,” says the 6-foot-5 Duncan, 54. “It’s very important for me that my fans understand I’m busting my butt every day in the gym trying to make The Finder look excellent and trying to make myself look excellent.”
Dasher has designs on fashion.
Although she’s in her early 20s and just out of college, Erica Dasher revisits her high school days to play a student who winds up with an accidental fashion career in her new ABC Family series, Jane by Design. While it’s “surreal” to roam those halls again, “I’m much better dressed this time, but still awkward with boys, so that has not changed,” says the Texas native and burgeoning fashionista. “I’ve always admired fashion from afar, but it’s been fun to immerse myself in this world.”
Who’s News Column Contributor: Brian Truitt
Hannah Selleck
Bob Coram, Indianapolis
The Blue Bloods star’s 22-year-old daughter, Hannah Selleck, is entertaining, but in a way much different from her father. She’s a star in the horse-riding arena, and in December, she represented the USA at the Gucci Masters, an international equestrian competition in Paris. Hannah Selleck began riding at her parents’ ranch at 3, and her father was a pretty talented sportsman back in his day, too. A rider himself, Tom Selleck played college basketball and volleyball at USC.
Who’s News Column Contributor: Brian Truitt
Shue
Jacki Bork, Phoenix
Yes, Helgenberger, who has been on the show since its premiere, has left the show. (She had wanted to depart after last season, but producers talked her into sticking around.) This past week’s episode was the actress’s last as Catherine Willows, but her spot is being filled quickly: New series regular Elisabeth Shue makes her debut as Julie Finlay, an investigator fresh out of anger-management classes, in an episode Feb. 15 also featuring pop star Jesse McCartney.
Who’s News Column Contributors: Gayle Jo Carter, Brian Truitt
Larry Arbogast, Orange, Va.
Great memory! Garrett Morris was one of the original cast members of the long-running late-night sketch show with John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase and Gilda Radner; he starred on SNL from 1975 to 1980. Recently seen in commercials and a small role on Showtime’s Shameless, the New Orleans native, 74, is still hard at work doing comedy in 2 Broke Girls as the cashier at the Brooklyn diner where Max (Kat Dennings) and Caroline (Beth Behrs) work.
Who’s News Column Contributors: Gayle Jo Carter, Brian Truitt
Carole Freeman, Culpeper, Va.
The soap opera has been the launchpad for many actors since the 1960s — including Demi Moore, John Stamos, Vanessa Marcil and Richard Dean Anderson — but Nicole Kidman was never on General Hospital. American audiences were first introduced to her in the 1980s with the Australian series Five Mile Creek and the movie Dead Calm. Kidman will next be starring in The Paperboy, a thriller set in the 1960s that casts her with Zac Efron, John Cusack and Matthew McConaughey.
Who’s News Column Contributors: Gayle Jo Carter, Brian Truitt
Marrianna Getten, Whittier, Calif.
You and the rest of the actor’s fan base are in for a bunch of treats from D’Onofrio this year. First is his feature-film debut as a writer and director, Don’t Go in the Woods, a horror/musical hybrid in theaters now. D’Onofrio also is teaming with Ethan Hawke, with whom he co-stars in the horror film Sinister, for an upcoming TV cop drama for NBC called Blue Tilt.
Who’s News Column Contributor: Brian Truitt
Crawford
Laurie Lee, Winneconne, Wis.
Crawford found a lot of success as a youngster, starting out as one of Walt Disney’s Mousekeeters in the 1950s and starring as the son of Luke McCain (played by Chuck Connors) on the ABC Western The Rifleman, which ran from 1958 to 1963. He was nominated for an Emmy at age 13, but also found the time to have five top 40 hits in the 1960s as a pop singer. Music continues to be a passion for Crawford, 65, who leads the Johnny Crawford Orchestra.
Who’s News Column Contributors: Gayle Jo Carter, Nancy Mills, Brian Truit
McGrath is happy to have U.S. viewers.
Becky Murphy, Dallas, Ga.
The British show’s fourth season is now airing on Syfy, and it’s the most cinematic yet, says Katie McGrath, who plays the witch Morgana. She’s just glad that you and so many other viewers have found Merlin. “I don’t think any of us can quite believe how much America has taken us to their hearts and get it, because it’s a very English show. It means a lot to us,” says the Irish actress, 28, who also co-stars in W.E., Madonna’s new movie. The Merlin series is darker than ever this season, McGrath says, which means Morgana will be involved in more sinister doings. “I like to think of her as the original Angelina Jolie of the medieval world,” the actress says. “Who wouldn’t love to play that?”
Who’s News Column Contributor: Gayle Jo Carter, Nancy Mills, Brian Truit
Abby Matheny, Denton, Texas
Rossum, 25, has been mostly focused more on acting in recent years than showing off her impressive soprano voice. The New York City native starred in the action movie Dragonball: Evolution and the indie drama Dare but has found a home on the Showtime series Shameless. The drama, which just began its second season, features Rossum as Fiona, the de facto parent in a dysfunctional household.
Who’s News Column Contributors: Gayle Jo Carter, Brian Truitt
Leclerc trades tips on hearing problems.
Katie Leclerc plays a deaf girl in the ABC Family drama Switched at Birth, and while she’s not deaf in real life, she does have Meniere’s disease, a genetic disorder that makes her hard of hearing and sometimes causes vertigo. Her older sister also has Meniere’s and deals with it almost every day. “I’ll contact my sister and say: ‘Hey, this thing happened. What are your tricks?’” says Leclerc, 25, who also trades tips and advice with fans on Twitter. “It’s nice to have somebody to bounce ideas off.”
Nelson
As he has been doing for more than 50 years, legendary musician Willie Nelson is starting out the year on the road again. Over that time, the singer has made a conscious effort to curb the smoking and drinking that marked his early years. “I started running again, biking, and I got into martial arts,” says Nelson, 78. “I don’t wake up with hangovers anymore.”
Who’s News Column Contributors: Gayle Jo Carter, Brian Truitt
Young is at home in horror and sci-fi.
Jan Suchomel, Necedah, Wis.
Playing the part-human, part-vampire Nicola Tesla on the Syfy series Sanctuary has been right up Young’s alley: The Canadian actor has been a favorite in the sci-fi and horror world for a while, with appearances in the movie The Fog and regular roles on Eureka and Stargate Atlantis. What you might not know, though, is he has some serious acting cred. His father ran a British Columbia community theater when Young was a kid, and Young is the co-founder and co-artistic director of Electric Company Theatre in Vancouver. He also starred as Tesla — the real-life, non-bloodsucking one — in a play based on the scientist called Brilliant!
Who’s News Column Contributors: Gayle Jo Carter, Brian Truitt
Catch Patrick Wilson in the movie Young Adult.
Jane Anderson, Fort Myers Beach, Fla.
Patrick Wilson, the star of the new CBS medical drama, isn’t the son of Newman — although his actual father does get his fair share of screen time. His father, John Wilson, is the award-winning co-anchor of the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. news for WTVT, a Fox affiliate in Tampa. The station also features another Wilson: Patrick’s brother John, who also is an anchor and reporter. You can check out the acting Wilson, who was raised in Norfolk, Va., on the big screen in the new comedy Young Adult.
Who’s News Column Contributors: Gayle Jo Carter, Brian Truitt
Anthony Suriano, Goodyear, Ariz.
That’s Abigail Hawk who plays Detective Melissa Baker, the primary aide to Tom Selleck’s police commissioner on the CBS series Blue Bloods. It has been Hawk’s biggest role, after one-off appearances on Body of Proof and Law & Order: SVU. The blue-eyed actress, who also had a role in the movie Across the Universe and writes music and poetry, recently stepped out of the screen world to star in The Tragedy of Maria Macabre in New York City.
Who’s News Column Contributors: Gayle Jo Carter and Brian Truitt
Gabe Renzo, Dearborn Heights, Mich.
Gilpin, who starred on Frasier from 1993 to 2004 as radio-show producer Roz Doyle, has been acting in TV movies and doing series guest spots over the past seven years. The Texan most recently starred in gymnastics-centric drama Make It or Break It but will pop up this month on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy alongside Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding). They’ll play a pair of sisters.
Who’s News Column Contributors: Gayle Jo Carter and Brian Truitt