Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
When asked for a unique destination that he would recommend, “Expedition Unknown” host Josh Gates says, “Cuba. Go right now and you’ll see Havana as it existed 50 years ago — classic cars, sleepy streets and music in the air. Go in five years and there’ll probably be an Applebee’s where (Ernest) Hemingway used to drink.”
For ESPN sportscaster Chris Fowler and his wife, Jennifer Dempster, travel is a way of life. “We never get sick of it,” says Fowler, 51. “Travel really is our vice, moreso than any possessions. We will spend money to enjoy a nice trip and see a place we haven’t visited before.” Fowler, whose duties include hosting “College GameDay” and ESPN’s tennis coverage, also is Brent Musburger’s play-by-play replacement for ABC’s “Saturday Night Football.”
At first glance, it may seem odd that “Access Hollywood” host Billy Bush would executive produce a documentary about rhino poaching in Nepal. After all, the television personality is best known for reporting on celebrities. Also, he’s admittedly bug phobic. But he was excited to team up with the World Wildlife Fund in Nepal to tell the story of the endangered one-horn rhinos and what is being done to help protect them from extinction for the Nat Geo WILD documentary “Chasing Rhinos with Billy Bush.”
His high-pitched voice and shaggy bangs are as much his trademarks as his dry, sardonic wit. And Emo Philips, 53, a comedian for most of his adult life, can’t imagine doing anything else. “It’s just something that works for me,” says Philips, who resides in Los Angeles. “I get to travel and tell my stories on stage. It’s the ideal life for me.” Though he executive produced the original 1992 version of “Meet the Parents” (the film that didn’t star Robert DeNiro) and dipped his toes into film and television work, Philips isn’t looking to make a mark for himself as an actor.
“I’m a good stand-up comedian and can’t say the same about my acting abilities,” he says. Philips talks about his travels, including a trip to Nepal where he got to witness — among other things — a cremation ceremony.
Margaret Cho knows a thing or two about traveling. After beginning her standup career at 16, she toured the United States nonstop, bringing her unique brand of comedy to venues across the country. At 26, she broke barriers with her short-lived ABC sitcom “All-American Girl,” where she played a fictionalized version of herself. It was the first American television series where all the lead actors were Asian-American. In her standup routines, Cho talks frankly about how producers asked her at times to try to be more — and less — Asian. Now 39, Cho is ready to debut her new VH1 series “The Cho Show.”
Chris Isaak used to joke that he had less screen time in the three films he’s been in so far than in the video for his breakthrough single, “Wicked Game.” Those days are gone. The San Francisco-based singer-actor stars as the father of a young boy believed to be a reincarnated Buddhist teacher in Bernardo Bertolucci’s “Little Buddha” (now playing in Chicago at the Fine Arts). Last year, Isaak took a break from recording for filming in Nepal and Seattle.