rbrown

Young Grinch Unmasked!

For diminutive actor Josh Ryan Evans, one of the best things about playing the young Grinch in the blockbuster holiday film Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas was the opportunity to sing Broadway showtunes with director Ron Howard. Evans tells TV Guide Online that between takes he coaxed Howard  who appeared in the 1962 film version of The Music Man  into joining him in a chorus of "Seventy-Six Trombones." "We were singing, and the whole cast and crew were sitting there in silence just waiting for us to finish," recalls Evans, best known as living doll Timmy on NBC's offbeat soap Passions. "I realized the silence and said, 'Ron, I think maybe they want to go back to work.'" Being a part of The Grinch  which is fast approaching the $150 million mark at the box office after less than two weeks in release  also gave Evans the chance to spend a few days mugging backstage with the king of funny faces, Ji

Thu, Nov 30, 2000

Sibling Rivalry Overtakes Malcolm Set

Christopher Masterson, who plays smooth-talking delinquent Francis on Malcolm in the Middle, tells TV Guide Online that there are two major hazards working on the set of the hit Fox comedy: falling objects, and practical jokes concocted by his TV bro Erik Per Sullivan (Dewey). "He seems like this sweet little kid, but he's thinking these demonic thoughts," Masterson jokes of Sullivan, who gained fame as the terminally ill Fuzzy in The Cider House Rules. "He'll pull some kind of prank on you within 10 minutes of your arrival." The little terror has been known to slip a cupcake onto Masterson's seat just as he is about to sit down, or toss random objects out onto the set after the director yells 'Action!' "He also plays little mind games with you," adds Masterson, who previously had a recurring role on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. "He'll ask you questions and then confuse you so much that you ca

Wed, Nov 29, 2000

Casey Kasem, Where Are You?

He's been the voice of Shaggy on Scooby Doo, Where Are You? for 23 years, but Casey Kasem isn't expecting to land a part in the upcoming live-action movie version of the popular cartoon series. "I'd love to have a role, but I doubt it," the veteran radio host and voiceover actor tells TV Guide Online. "Instead of using the voice actors, they'll probably just have the actors do it the way they would do it." Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar are said to be in talks to play young sleuths Fred and Daphne in the big-screen Scooby. Meanwhile, Matthew Lillard, the killer in the first Scream, has been linked to the role of Shaggy, their happy-go-lucky hippie bud. Regardless of who lands the plum part, Kasem says he's happy for Scooby's long-running success. "I think it's bigger today than it's ever been," says Kasem, who has provided voices for cartoon characters ranging from Peter Cottontail to Robin the Boy

Wed, Nov 29, 2000

Culp Channels RFK

Steven Culp says playing the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy in the White House drama Thirteen Days was an intimidating prospect  especially given the long line of actors who had portrayed him in the past. Culp, who co-stars with Kevin Costner and Bruce Greenwood in the pic (opening Dec. 20), tells TV Guide Online that he helped prepare for the role by watching tapes of Martin Sheen and other actors playing RFK. One performance in particular  Kevin Anderson in 1992's Hoffa  really blew Culp away. "I went, 'Oh God, he's the guy to beat,'" he says. "It scared me a little bit because I thought he really caught it." At least one advantage that Culp has over many other Kennedy imitators is a strong physical resemblance, which helped land him a small role as RFK in the 1996 TV movie Norma Jean and Marilyn. "I actually didn't tell them that I had [played Kennedy] before," he says of his audition with T

Tue, Nov 28, 2000

Costner's History Lesson

With his new White House drama Thirteen Days (due Dec. 20), Kevin Costner hopes to teach audiences a lesson in heroism by showing how President John F. Kennedy averted war during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. But the Oscar winner acknowledges that many Americans are more likely to be interested in who the late president slept with. "It does distress me, but that's our human nature," he tells TV Guide Online. Still, Costner's not one to be swayed by public opinion. There's no Marilyn Monroe in this JFK pic  just a straightforward war room drama co-produced by Costner and featuring the actor in the role of presidential aide Kenny O'Donnell. "I like reading about our leaders in this way. I don't like reading about who they slept with. I like men and women who, in the face of all odds, stand for something." Costner, who's had his share of wild ups and downs at the box office, says ticket sales are not a primary concern when he's making

Mon, Nov 27, 2000

Jones and Ingels Reunite

Estranged Hollywood couple Shirley Jones and funnyman Marty Ingels are getting back together. "We've worked it out," Ingels tells TV Guide Online. "Instead of giving the money to a lawyer, we decided to give it to a brilliant therapist." The unlikely duo is wrapping up their six-month trial separation, and Ingels says he and TV's Partridge Family mom will be reunited in their Beverly Hills home by the end of the month. He also reveals that he's going to surprise his wife with a $3,000 bicycle-built-for-two with a fringed top  a nod to Jones's role in the movie classic Oklahoma!, which featured the hit song "Surrey with the Fringe on Top." Ingels adds that they plan to celebrate their on-again, off-again 25-year relationship by inviting friends and family to a big party in January. That same month, the couple also will conduct a paid lecture on marriage  accompanied by therapist Ron Podell  through The Learning Tree in Los

Wed, Nov 22, 2000

Jones and Ingels Reunite

Tue, Nov 21, 2000

Mo'Nique's Blunt Talk

Mo'Nique says it's about time Hollywood stars tell it like it really is in their personal lives. In fact, the outspoken actress plans to get the ball rolling with her very own, soon-to-be-published self-help book. "In Hollywood, so many of us wear masks that, when they come off, we're totally lost," the star of UPN's The Parkers tells the TV Guide Channel. "It's time that people become okay with the skin they're in." The sometime stand-up comic says her new book, Mo'Nique's Big, Beautiful and Lovin' It, will tell her life story without all the usual gloss. "I think a lot of times when people turn on TV and they see us, they think that we have these great lives  and it's always been that way," she says. "Oh my God! I just wanna let people know we go through the same things, the same trials and tribulations, the same disappointments, the same victories, the same struggles [as they do]. "I thi

Thu, Nov 16, 2000

Lady Aberlin's Final Bow

Emotions were very real in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe Tuesday afternoon as actress Betty Aberlin taped her final appearance as Lady Aberlin on the long-running PBS series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Fred Rogers, who is ending the genteel kid's series after three decades on the air, tapes his final segments next week (to air in 2001). Aberlin, who joined the series in 1968, tells TV Guide Online that she was doing her best not to think of it as her swan song. "It would be too hard to bear, I think, if Lady Aberlin knew this would be the last time," she says. "I don't like to even think I won't be seeing the other neighbors  human and puppet  anymore." Viewers shouldn't expect any big farewells in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe  home to such characters as King Friday, Queen Sara and Henrietta Pussycat. In one of the final scripts, Daniel Striped Tiger is sad because he's made an art project and is told by someone that it will n

Wed, Nov 15, 2000

Galecki: Gay for Pay

Johnny Galecki now has two gay roles under his belt  1998's The Opposite of Sex and the soon-to-be-released Bounce. But the former Roseanne star says he's not a bit worried about getting typecast. "I'd played the same character on TV for five years (Roseanne's David Healy), so I wasn't concerned about playing two consecutive gay characters," the 25-year-old actor tells The Advocate. "They [are] well-written and very different gay characters. There were more interesting aspects to the characters than their sexuality. In Bounce, it didn't come into it at all." Bounce writer-director Don Roos tells the magazine that he actually hesitated in calling in Galecki for the role of the meddling office assistant because he didn't want to ask the actor  who is heterosexual  to play gay twice. "I held off. I was being protective and a little homophobic," says the openly gay Roos, who also helmed The Oppo

Tue, Nov 14, 2000

Watching Scotty Grow

Former child actor turned porn star Scotty Schwartz says he's ready to hang up his G-string. The 32-year-old, who starred in 1982's The Toy and went on to become an actor/agent in the adult movie biz, tells TV Guide Online that his appearance at the Adult Video News awards show in Las Vegas on Jan. 8 will mark his official farewell from the industry. "After 14 years of hanging out with the gang, it's time to move on," says Schwartz, who bared all in movies like Scotty's X-Rated Adventure and New Wave Hookers 5. "I just got tired of it. Like anything else, when you hang out with a group of people or have a job for a number of years, it gets tiresome." Schwartz says he grew especially tired of his gig as an agent to several X-rated stars. "It is the most horrifying job," he says. "There's so much flakiness. They'd be late, or not show up at all. There's a small amount of drug use, and everybody drinks. All of their actions fell back on me, so I wa

Fri, Nov 10, 2000

Edna Unger Returns!

Pamelyn Ferdin, the former child star best remembered as Edna Unger on The Odd Couple and as the voice of Peanuts character Lucy Van Pelt, says fans still have no problem picking her out in a crowd. As a result of the continued attention, the onetime fixture of 1970's TV  with her trademark high-pitched voice and perky smile  says she's considering making a comeback. "I'm starting to think, 'Well, heck, maybe I'll think about it,'" the 41-year-old Ferdin tells TV Guide Online, adding that she doesn't regret dropping out of the public eye to become a registered nurse. "I had been in [show] business from the age of 3, and I just needed some time to be normal." Ferdin never completely gave up performing, however. She's done plenty of voiceover work, most recently as perky little Shelly Kelly for The WB's Detention. She's also kept busy as an animal-rights activist. In fact, next month she's scheduled to appear in a Los Angeles court to a

Mon, Oct 23, 2000

Furlong's Life Behind Bars

Edward Furlong confesses it was "scary as hell" filming the scene in the gritty prison drama Animal Factory (opening in select cities Friday), in which his character is raped by Tom Arnold's. Actually, prior to shooting, Furlong couldn't understand why actor-director Steve Buscemi chose the affable comic actor to play his attacker. "You put Tom Arnold in that situation, and [he's] a scary-looking guy  he can be big and ugly and psycho-looking," the 22-year-old actor tells TV Guide Online. "But in life, he's very nice; he's very sweet." The former T2 star says it was also strange working with oddball actor Mickey Rourke, who spent two days on the set of Animal Factory, playing a cross-dressing prisoner. "I didn't recognize him at all," he says. "I remember the read-through we did; everybody was saying, 'Mickey Rourke was so good.' I was like, 'That was Mickey Rourke?!'" During the shoot, Furlong found himself

Thu, Oct 19, 2000

TV's Cissy Grows Up

Kathy Garver, who played perky teen Cissy on Family Affair, admits she feels a touch of sadness whenever she catches reruns of the enduring 1960's family sitcom. "It does bring a sadness to me but, then again, there's that memory that lives on and is right there and that I can go to," says Garver, 52, one of only two surviving cast members from the popular series (she's joined by John Whitaker, 40, who played TV brother Jody). Despite the deaths of three key cast members  Brian Keith, Sebastian Cabot and Anissa Jones  Garver remains hopeful that there will someday be a reunion movie based on the series. The actress-producer told TV Guide Online at the recent Hollywood Collectors and Celebrities Show that she's currently trying to win rights to produce the Family Affair pic. Rights to the project were most recently held by Sid and Marty Krofft, the producers behind the legendary 1970s kid's show H.

Thu, Oct 19, 2000

Marla Gibbs Comes Clean

Marla Gibbs, who rose to fame playing a maid on The Jeffersons, asserts that in real life she has always preferred to do her own dust-busting. "I have to get up and start cleaning this place after I get off the phone," Gibbs says, referring to the interview she was giving to TV Guide Online from her Los Angeles home. The 69-year-old mother of three says she only once hired a maid, and that was back during the original run of The Jeffersons, about 20 years ago. In some ways, Gibbs admits, having a housekeeper around made life even more complicated. "She was Chinese, and she would cook this food," she recalls, "and we had no idea what we were eating." Gibbs still enjoys watching reruns of The Jeffersons, now a staple on cable's Nick-at-Nite and still seen on TV stations around the country through the syndicated Screen Gems Network (check local listings). "It was such a wonderful, wonderful company," says the actress, who currently kee

Wed, Oct 18, 2000

City of Angels Star Trashes TV

Despite starring roles in the CBS hospital drama City of Angels and the soon-to-be-released, big-screen romantic comedy Loving Jezebel, Hill Harper is not at all happy with the state of TV and movies today. "I feel television has died," the actor tells TV Guide Online. "It's such a make-the-doughnuts mentality. It's about finding 48 minutes of material so you can have 12 minutes of good commercials. If they thought they could get good commercials out of 10 people being naked and spinning on their heads in the middle of an island, that's what they'll do." Harper says there are some exceptions to the rule, including City of Angels, The Sopranos, The Practice and The West Wing. "But there are more Nash Bridges and Diagnosis Murders than there are West Wing," he complains. If he were a TV programmer, Harper says he'd take more risks. "It doesn't take a lot of money to take risk," he says. "It just

Tue, Oct 17, 2000

Wil Wheaton Grows Up

With his days as a child star and a rebellious teen well behind him, former Stand by Me kid Wil Wheaton is busy reinventing himself as a comic actor. "I've always been told by people that I'm funny and that I have a good sense of humor and that I should take some of the passion I have for serious things and apply it to comedy," says Wheaton, 28, who's been popping up lately onstage at L.A. improv spots such as ACME Comedy Theatre and Theatresports. "I took some comedy classes and workshops, and I took to it very quickly. I found that it was something not only that I enjoyed doing but that I was good at." Comedy isn't the only thing keeping Wheaton busy  he's also raising two stepchildren, ages 9 and 11, with wife Anne. "It's always a really intense game to see who gets to play me in the Star Trek Monopoly game," jokes Wheaton, best remembered by TV audiences for his role as Cadet Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Mon, Oct 16, 2000

Buscemi Goes to Jail

Steve Buscemi says he had no intention of including real convicts as extras when he set out to direct the gritty prison drama Animal Factory, hitting theaters Friday. But the hardened criminals quickly won over the Fargo star when he went to scout locations at Pennsylvania's Holmsburg State Prison. On his first day at the prison, Buscemi was blown away to find that virtually every inmate had seen him in the 1997 action pic Con Air. What the actor didn't realize at the time was that prison officials had screened the pic in the big house just prior to his arrival. Nevertheless, a bond was formed and the inmates were hired. "We were really respectful of them, and certainly it was great for the actors to be able to have those guys to mix with," says Buscemi, who appears in the film alongside Willem Dafoe, Edward Furlong, Mickey Rourke, Tom Arnold and John Heard. All of the real cons appearing in the movie are no

Mon, Oct 16, 2000

Ken Berry Takes it Easy

Ken Berry, a TV fixture for decades, with starring roles on shows such as F Troop and Mayberry R.F.D., says he was basically forced into retirement following the 1990 cancellation of Mama's Family, the Vicki Lawrence-led spinoff of the Carol Burnett Show. "It wasn't my idea, but I'm retired," the 66-year-old actor told TV Guide Online at the recent Hollywood Collectors and Celebrities Show in Los Angeles. "The phone stopped ringing in the early '90s, and, finally, I just took my pension and called it a day." Berry holds many fond memories of his work in series television. But he remains particularly enamored of his role as Capt. Wilton Parmenter on F Troop, the 1960s western spoof that first made him a star. "F Troop was like recess," recalls Berry, who starred opposite funnyman Larry Storch and late actor Forrest Tucker. Any truth to those rumors that Tucker was one of the more, er, well-endowed men in H

Fri, Oct 13, 2000

Kiel Sinks Teeth Into Novel

Richard Kiel's best known for playing hulking thugs such as steel-toothed James Bond villain Mr. Jaws, but these days the character actor's working hard to build a second career, as a historical novelist. To wit: He just finished writing a 542-page novel on the life of 19th-century abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay, a book he'd eventually like to turn into a TV miniseries. "A lot of people who've seen me on talk shows know I'm really not like Jaws," the soft-spoken seven-footer tells TV Guide Online, adding that despite his current passion for all things past, "I found history in school totally boring. History, the way it's taught in school, doesn't get into the 'Why' about anything. The Why is the most important thing. History's about people!" Kiel says he hopes to share some day his extensive research on Clay with his world-famous namesake, a boxer who became better known by his adopted Muslim name, Muhammad Ali. "I read Muhammad Ali's book, The Greates

Wed, Oct 11, 2000

Spin City's Bi-Coastal Bostwick

Barry Bostwick's happy to return as Spin City mayor Randall Winston for another season, but he's not thrilled that production has moved from New York to Los Angeles. The former Angeleno, who relocated his family to the New York suburbs to work on the sitcom four years ago, says he has no plans to uproot his family again and head back to La La Land. "I'm just gonna do a weekend back and forth, you know, on airplanes," the actor tells the TV Guide Channel. "I'm gonna 'Alan Alda' it -- his family was being raised in New Jersey when he was doing M*A*S*H. I should get him on the phone and see how he handles the sinus conditions, based on [having] no air in the [airplane] cabin." Bostwick might have a lousy commute, but he is enjoying work with new Spin City co-star Charlie Sheen. "He's totally different from Mike," he says, referring to former series star Michael J. Fox (who left to battle Parkinson's disease). "He's very dry; he'

Tue, Oct 10, 2000

Nikki Kicks Up Her Heels

When she was a little girl, Nikki Cox's parents tried to dissuade her from a career in acting by giving her dance lessons. Now that she's grown up ? and we do mean grown up ? the buxom beauty's getting the chance to act and dance, on her new WB sitcom, Nikki. "I started dancing as a little-bitsy girl," says Cox, who plays a Las Vegas showgirl in love with a wannabe wrestler in the oddball WB comedy, debuting Sunday (9:30 pm/ET). "A dance agent came to the studio where I danced as a child and asked if I wanted to dance professionally. And of course I did. And [that's what led me] into acting. I got lucky. [My parents] assumed I'd try it and get my heart broken. But I got lucky and it worked, so they've had to put up with it ever since." Cox isn't fazed by off the wall sitcoms, having starred in the WB comedy Unhappily Ever After (1995?99). "It's your basic sitcom," she says of her latest gig in an interview with the TV Guide Channel. "In th

Fri, Oct 6, 2000