Billy Bob Thornton Was In `Hearts Afire'

Q: Do I remember this year's Oscar-nominated Billy Bob Thornton ("Sling Blade") from a TV show a couple of years ago with John Ritter and Markie Post? What was the name of that show?

A: Thornton played Billy Bob Davis in the John Ritter-Markie Post sitcom "Hearts Afire" (1992-95). The Arkansas native has done several films ("The Stars Fell on Henrietta," "One False Move"), but he's really been in the limelight since his double Oscar nomination for writing and starring in "Sling Blade" (which he also directed). And he gave his former TV co-star John Ritter a great part in the film. Thornton now has another choice movie in the works. He'll play the James Carville-like campaign manager in director Mike Nichols' movie version of the novel "Primary Colors."

Q: Will they be any more of "Orleans" with Larry Hagman? Also, the recent miniseries "Night Sins" seemed to be left open for a possible follow up. Any chance of that?

A: "Orleans" returns to the CBS lineup Friday. And there is a possibility "Night Sins" will be continued as a weekly series, provided the network and the star, Valerie Bertinelli, agree to it. We'll know more about the future of these two dramas later this spring when the networks announce their plans for the fall season.

Q: I say that Goldie Hawn played Private Benjamin in both the movie and the television series. My fiance says Hawn starred in the movie, but another actress played the role in the TV series.

A: Lorna Patterson replaced Goldie Hawn when "Private Benjamin premiered as a TV show in the spring of 1981. Previously, Patterson had been in the series "Working Stiffs" (with James Belushi and Michael Keaton) and "Goodtime Girls," and the "Sidney Shorr" TV movie. Goldie Hawn got her start on television ("Good Morning World," "Laugh-In") but hasn't returned to the small screen since, unless you count her sojourn to India last year for a PBS "In the Wild" special on elephants.

Q: On the recent Screen Actors Guild Awards show, some of the cast members of "Roots" were at the microphone and one referred to the late Madge Sinclair. Could this be the actress who once appeared on "As the World Turns" and recently as a lieutenant's wife on "NYPD Blue"?

A: The reference was to the actress who portrayed Bell in the 1977 "Roots" miniseries, Jamaican-born Madge Sinclair. She's also known for roles in the TV series "Trapper John, M.D.," "Gabriel's Fire" and "Me & the Boys," comic Steve Harvey's first sitcom. Sinclair died of leukemia in 1995. Now, will someone please write and identify the actress B.C. is thinking of?

Q: What is Jaclyn Smith doing nowadays?

A: Smith, the one-time queen of TV movies and miniseries, has slowed down a bit but she's back in front of the cameras filming a new made-for-TV movie called "Before He Wakes." Based on the novel by Jerry Bledsoe, Jaclyn plays a woman suspected of murdering her husband. The movie will air later this year on CBS.

Q: Knowing Carolyn Jones of "The Addams Family" was married to Aaron Spelling, is she Tori Spelling's mother?

A. Producer Aaron Spelling and his third wife Candy are the parents of Tori, star of "Beverly Hills, 90210" and ABC's March 16 movie, "Alibi."

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