Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
A lot of people are fooled by his name. Patrick Francis Bishop sounds about as American as you can get. But the Eurasian star of “General Hospital” considers himself more Asian than Caucasian. “I think it’s the same for most kids of mixed marriages,” Bishop said. “If a person’s half black and half white, society tends to think of him or her as black.”
Blame it on the babies. That’s what General Public’s Ranking Roger (a.k.a. Roger Charlery) said when asked why the group took two years to release its second album. Both Roger and Dave Wakeling, the British nucleus of the band, became fathers for the second time during the recording of “Hand to Mouth,” the followup to 1984’s “. . . All the Rage.”
“I know to some people we sound like a magician act,” said singer David Baerwald. “But we decided on our name quite simply. David (Ricketts) and I were rehearsing, and people would just talk to us as if we were one person. It’d be, `What do you think about that, David and David?’ It was kind of funny at first, but then we just ended up liking the sound of it. We couldn’t think of a better name that described us, so well, so we stuck with it.”
“Our music is live sex,” said Adam Sherburne, singer and guitarist for the San Francisco-based trio Until December. “We look good, sound great and put on fun shows for the audience. We’re your atypical all-American band out for a good time.”
Before he hit it big last year as the Russian boxer in “Rocky IV,” Dolph Lundgren was best known as the boyfriend of singer/actress Grace Jones. Today, the Swedish actor doesn’t have a steady girlfriend. He’s too busy starring in “Masters of the Universe” for Cannon Films.
Alyssa Milano has been acting for about half of her life. When you’re 13 years old, that’s not a long time. But the young actress already has starred opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger and John Gielgud. Television viewers may know her as the tomboy daughter on ABC’s popular “Who’s the Boss?” series. The sitcom, starring Tony Danza, airs at 7 p.m. Tuesdays on WLS-Channel 7.
People who recognize Courteney Cox remember her as the girl who danced with Bruce Springsteen in the “Dancing in the Dark” video. Although Cox did little more than look enthused and dance with “The Boss,” her 20 seconds of video exposure opened the door for her in Hollywood.
Steven Gottlieb could very well have become a successful Wall Street lawyer. Instead, Gottlieb, educated at Yale and Harvard Law School, founded a record company. But lest you think a new Madonna might be discovered on his label, let’s get the facts straight: The first and only album released on TeeVee Toons is last winter’s successful “Television’s Greatest Hits,” a two-record compilation of 65 themes from American television. More than 300,000 copies were sold in the United States, it went gold in Australia and it hit No. 18 on the charts in Japan.
“We’re just like any other American family,” said Leroy Wolfgramm, the eldest sibling in the Jets, a hot new pop group. “We fight with one another. We eat. We sleep. And we help one another. We’re just all-American kids.”
Though Jack Wagner is eager to talk about his music, he is the first to point out that had it not been for his exposure on “General Hospital,” he may never have given music a serious thought as a career option.