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Ask Ameri^M
Profile ■
L
We laughed until we cried
at the movie My Big Fat Greek
Wedding. Can you tell us a bit
about Nia Vardalos, who wrote
the script and starred in the
film? We heard that Tom Hanks
and his wife, Rita Wilson, dis
covered her.
—Tony G., Maryland
Nia Vardalos, the woman behind the
sleeper hit movie of the year, grew up in
Winnipeg, Canada. Yes, she is Greek, from a very traditional
family. She got her start working in the box office of the Toronto
company of Chicago's famous Second City group. When one of the
cast members had to be rushed to the hospital 10 minutes before
curtain time, she told the producers she knew the show inside
out, and they put her on. Impressed with her performance, the
producers asked her to join the group. She eventually moved on to
the Chicago Second City troupe, where she met and married fel
low performer lan Gomez. Far years, the actress and writer enter
tained her friends with hilarious stories about her family, until one
of them said she should turn it into a show. That’s exactly what
she did, and the one-woman show became a hit. Rica Wilson, also
of Greek descent, brought her mother to see the show and loved
it. She visited Vardalos backstage, then later sent husband Tom
Hanks to see the show with the idea that it should be turned into
a movie. Two months later, Hanks’ production company offered to
make the movie, with Vardalos keeping the lead role. Vardalos’
other credits include The Drew Carey Show and Boy Meets World and
the features Men Seeking Women and Meet Prince Charming.
Q Please tell me about Mario Lanza, my
favorite tenor. Where was he bom? How did he
die?
—Alice C., Indiana
Lanza was bom Alfred Arnold Cocozza in Philadelphia in 1921 to
Italian immigrant parents. He started singing along to Enrico
Caruso’s opera records when he was still a child. At 16, he declared
his intention to become a professional singer. His mother, bom
You can make a bid to SAVE OUR HISTORY: SAVE OUR SOUNDS!
THE SAVE OUR HISTORY auction for the benefit of SAVE OUR SOUNDS will launch on eßay December 2nd, 2002
and run for four weeks through December 31 st, 2002.
An esteemed group of celebrities have joined together to support the Save Our Sounds Project
by lending their signature to one-of-a-kind Gibson guitars.
Log on to www.eßay.com/saveourhistory or www.historychannel.com/saveourhistory to submit bids.
Funds raised on eßay will go directly to Save Our Sounds initiative to restore and preserve historic recordings.
See more information on page 13 in this week’s issue!
* 1
Her little movie was a “big fat” Hit.
Maria Lanza, had once dreamed of a singing
career and encouraged her talented son to pur
sue his dream. After years of singing lessons
and a scholarship to Berkshire Music School,
he made his operatic debut in a production
of The Merry Wties of Windsor in 1942, chang
ing his name to Mario Lanza in honor of his
mother. His career was put on hold when he
entered the service during World War H. Dur
ing his time in the Army, he sang in shows to
entertain the troops and got married soon after
leaving the service. He picked up his opera
career and was discovered by Hollywood.
Appearances in films throughout the 19505,
and the popularity of the song Be My Love from
one of those films, gave him worldwide fame.
He suffered a massive, fetal heart attack in
1959- He and his wife had four children.
Q Can you tell me about Steve Harris, who co
stars in the ABC series The Practice ? Which role
does he play?
—Waunera T., Kansas
The Practice’s Steve Harris
in an off-Broadway production of Heliotrope Bouquet , gamering crit
ical acclaim. Other theater credits include Macbeth and Julius Cae
sar. Besides The Practice, his other television credits include Law &
Order, Murder One, and Chicago Hope. His movie credits include The
Rock and Minority Report. He is single and lives in Los Angeles.
* Cover photo by Randy Janoski
■ Would you like to know more about your favorite
celebrity or public figure?
Send your questions to:
Ask American Profile, 341 Cool Springs Blvd., Suite 400,
Franklin.TN 37067 or e-mail us at askus@timericonproifik.coni.
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e-mail or other means.
Steve Harris plays attorney Eugene
Young on the ABC series and has
earned two Viewers for Quality Tele
vision Awards and two Emmy nomi
nations for best supporting actor for
his work. The Chicago native has a
bachelor’s degree in theater arts from
Northern Illinois University and a
graduate degree in theater from the
University of Delaware. He performed
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