INFORMATION PLEASE
Lea Thompson: full-length film
I saw Lea Thompson mention that she was going to direct an episode of her show Switched at Birth. Has she directed before? — Kim Johnson
This marks her third time doubling as director of her ABC Family show. She did the same dual duty on a couple of the Jane Doe mystery movies she made for Hallmark Channel several years ago, and the recent Dancing With the Stars contestant is getting ready to direct her first fulllength feature ... which also will involve her daughters, Zoey and Madelyn Deutch. Thompson’s husband is Howard Deutch, who guided her in the movies Some Kind of Wonderful and Article 99, and also helmed Pretty in Pink and The Whole Ten Yards. He’s done considerable TV work lately, including such shows as Jane the Virgin, American Horror Story and True Blood.
I enjoyed seeing A Hard Day’s Night on TCM on New Year’s Eve. How many other movies did the Beatles make? — Lou Shaw, via email
That 1964 classic was the first, followed by Help! (directed by Richard Lester) in 1965. Though they appeared at the very end of the otherwise animated Yellow Submarine (1968), the Liverpool lads fulfilled their three-picture deal with United Artists with the 1970 documentary Let It Be. The Beatles also made movies individually. Ringo Starr was the most prolific, appearing in Candy, The Magic Christian, 200 Motels, Blindman, That’ll Be the Day, Sextette, Caveman and band mate Paul McCartney’s Give My Regards to Broad Street. John Lennon made How I Won the War, and George Harrison turned up in Shanghai Surprise and in uncredited roles in Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Life of Brian.
Did Rainn Wilson make any television shows or movies between the time The Office ended and his new show, Backstrom, started? — Roger Land, via email
He took a few small jobs, a couple of them voice-only roles, but he told us that he was grateful to have some “down” time between the two series. In fact, he had initial doubts about accepting the Backstrom offer since he didn’t want to leap into another weekly job too soon after wrapping up his Office role as Dwight.