15-year-old likes young roles
David Mendenhall said one of the secrets to his success is his youthful appearance. And although the 15-year-old actor is happy playing 12-year-olds, he said he’d eventually like to play older teens.
Category: Interviews
Newscaster job helped fuel Rocket’s film career
Charles Rocket launched his acting career in a different way than most of his peers. While colleagues were paying their dues in local theater and moonlighting as waiters, Rocket was appearing on the nightly news as a reporter.
Successful trial run kept `L.A. Law’ star in acting
If he had listened to his parents, Jimmy Smits would be teaching astronomy to Brooklyn high school students. Instead, Smits is earning his income as a lawyer. Smits, 31, appears as Victor Sifuentes, one of the attorneys on “L.A. Law.” NBC’s hit series about a fictional Los Angeles law firm airs at 9 p.m. Thursdays on WMAQ-Channel 5.
Rebecca Schaeffer — patient actress skips soap for bubbly `Sister Sam’ role
While many would-be actresses would jump at the chance of nabbing a three-year contract on a television soap opera, Rebecca Schaeffer passed it up. “If I give you the real reason why I didn’t take it, I’m going to sound so cocky,” Schaeffer said during a break from working on her role in “My Sister Sam,” a CBS sitcom that airs at 7:30 p.m. Mondays on
WBBM-Channel 2. “But I got offered a role on `Loving’ within a couple of months after I had moved to New York. So I thought, if I got this so quickly, I might want to hold out for something that I really wanted to do.”
Georgia Satellites extend orbit to city
Four Southern rockers called the Georgia Satellites have been lost in space during their current concert tour. “The crowds haven’t been what they should be, especially for having two good rock ‘n’ roll bands out together,” said guitarist Dan Baird in a phone interview from an Elektra Records office in Los Angeles.
Patrick Francis Bishop wants recognition
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.”
England’s General Public keeps the beat going strong
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.”
David & David emphasize lyrics
“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.”
Until December pushes image
“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.”
Dolph Lundgren muscles his way to movie stardom
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 discards image of tomboy kid on TV’s `Boss’
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.
Courteney Cox gets big break by dancing with `The Boss’
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.
TV toons score a big hit for new record company
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.
Jets take off as pop-star family
“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.”
Soap opera star Jack Wagner saves weekends for singing
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.
Britons want U.S. to take the Cure – Rock group courts American audience
Wherever the band goes, other members of the Cure tend to get overshadowed by the group’s vocalist, Robert Smith, who has been called the thinking man’s pinup. Smith looks like a dark version of Boy George. But Tolhurst said that he and fellow members Simon Gallup (bass), Porl Thompson (keyboards) and Boris Williams (drums) prefer to let Smith handle most of the media work.
“We’re Not Special People”
Rank & File don’t look like a country band, but they are. Led by the Kinman Brothers, Chip (25) and Tony (26), Rank & File is the hottest thing to come out of Texas since the yellow rose. Originally, Chip and Tony were founding members of a San Francisco based punk band called the Dils.