Look! It’s Russell Wong

Russell Wong has been recognized. Best known for his role as the cruel, playboy husband in “The Joy Luck Club,” the 6-foot actor seems oblivious to the gawking female guests at the Four Seasons Hotel. He’s more interested in finishing his fruit salad and peppermint tea. Wong, who stars as Jian-Wa Chang in the syndicated series “Vanishing Son,” took a breather to chat with us during his first trip to Chicago.

Steadfast Stedman — Meet the Man Behind Oprah

“Stedman is very ambitious and driven,” Oprah Winfrey said. “One of the things I admire and love about him is that once he gets something or figures it out, he always wants to give back and share. And he feels very strongly about the sports world and particularly athletes being able to work beyond athletics.”

The Art of Persuasion: `Minbo’ Proves Words are Mightier Than the Sword

The yakuza – the Japanese equivalent of the Mafia – has achieved notoriety of romantic proportions in films such as “Black Rain” and “The Yakuza.” But in his brilliantly clever “Minbo – Or The Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion,” director-writer Juzu Itami presents the group as nothing more than a bunch of thugs who take pride in chopping off bits of each other’s pinkies and think nothing of hiding cockroaches in food to blackmail restaurants for hush money.