Are Canadian Hallmark Channel actors Andrew Walker and Paul Greene related?
Q: I watch the Hallmark Channel’s movies. Two actors, Andrew Walker and Paul Greene, look very much alike. Are they related?
A: Not as far as I can find. But they are both Canadian, as are many Hallmark actors. Between them Greene and Walker have about two dozen Hallmark credits, many of them for Christmas movies.
Q: There is an episode of “Law & Order” called “Baby It’s You.” The episode never named the offender but I remember an additional episode in which the offender was finally revealed. Do you know why the second episode has never been shown?
A: It has, but not as a “Law & Order” episode. “Baby It’s You,” from 1997, was the first part of a crossover between “L&O” and “Homicide: Life on the Streets.” Baltimore detectives from “Homicide” appeared on “L&O,” then stars of the latter series appeared in the “Homicide” episode, also called “Baby It’s You.” Since the shows are distributed separately, you don’t as a rule find “Homicide” mixed with “L&O.” But DVD sets of “Homicide” and “Law & Order” have included both parts of this story and other crossovers as extras.
Q: I know 2020 was the final year for the series “Supernatural.” Did it end? It just disappeared months ago. Any more episodes?
A: As happened with many shows, production on the series was stalled by the pandemic. Only 13 of the final 20 episodes have aired. Five more finished shooting but, as TVLine.com reported, visual effects and sound still needed work and those departments had shut down. Two other episodes had not been shot as of mid-May. Because of this and other COVID-19 delays, The CW will not officially start a new network season until January. But it will have some fresh programming in the fall, including those remaining “Supernatural” episodes, assuming they have been finished. Then the 2021 lineup will include a new series with “Supernatural” costar Jared Padalecki: a reworking of the Chuck Norris drama “Walker, Texas Ranger.”
Q: Everywhere I look on TV, there is the late Richard Anderson, who appeared in countless TV series
and films going back to “Forbidden Planet” in 1956. I remember him best as Travers in a first-season episode of my favorite TV Western, “The Big Valley.” Can you furnish anything on his life and career?
A: Richard Anderson (not to be confused with Richard Dean Anderson) was best known to many as Oscar Goldman on “The Six Million Dollar Man” and “The Bionic Woman,” the rare actor regularly playing the same character on two series at the same time.
Born in New Jersey but brought up in New York and California, he was drawn to acting by his love of Westerns, particularly ones with Gary Cooper. The Hollywood Reporter noted that Cary Grant was a fan; with his help Anderson landed a movie contract and close to 30 credits leading up to his most significant early role in “Forbidden Planet.” Other noteworthy films include “Paths of Glory” and “The Long Hot Summer” although, as Variety noted, by the end of the ’50s he had begun concentrating on television work, and a lot of it. (He played five different roles on “The Big Valley” alone.) Twice married and divorced, he had three daughters. He collected classic cars, was an active philanthropist and had the class and style that prompted actor friend Lee Majors to nickname him “Old Money.” He died in 2017 at the age of 91.
Q: A movie from about 1965 had to do with two children, one Christian and one Jewish, who were curious about each other’s faith, and surreptitiously went to each other’s place of worship. I would love to know its name.
A: That would be “Hand in Hand,” a much-praised movie known to many from its telecast in 1967 on the old “CBS Children’s Film Festival.” Made in 1960, it concerned a Catholic boy (Philip Needs) and a Jewish girl (Loretta Parry) who become friends in England. It boasted a well-known director, Philip Leacock; a cinematographer, Freddie Young, who would win Oscars for “Lawrence of Arabia” and other films, and a solid supporting cast. The movie is available on DVD.
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