Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

DEAR STACY: Any information about the young man in the FreeCreditReport.Com commercials would be gratefully appreciated. — Marge R., Howard Beach, N.Y.

DEAR MARGE: The curly-haired cutie you see on those hugely successful spots is French Canadian singer-guitarist-pianist-songwriter-actor Eric Violette. However, he's lip-synching and the voice you hear is that of commercial jingle writing legend Dave Mulhefeld, who concocted the ads. Violette's band in the spots is made up of actors. Single, 28, Violette trained at the National Theatre School of Canada, lives near Montreal and speaks French and English. He's done theater, film and commercial work in Quebec in addition to writing and performing music. He does have a real band, named God Against God. And he claims to have good credit.

DEAR STACY: What's new with Faith Ford? She's such a delightful actress, I'm sorry not to have seen her lately. — Joseph G., Springfield, Mass.

DEAR JOSEPH: Since the demise of her last series, "Carpoolers," Ford has done a Lifetime movie called "Sorority Wars" with Courtney Thorne-Smith and Lucy Hale. Look for it in October.

DEAR STACY: Can you give me some background on the judges of "So You Think You Can Dance"? — Mariana P., Nanuet, N.Y.

DEAR MARIANA: Nigel Lythgoe, 60, hails from Lancashire, England, where he grew up the son of a dockworker. He was drawn to dance and started to train at age 10. As a dancer-choreographer with the BBC's Young Generation dance troupe, he was credited with choreographing more than 500 TV shows. His credits range from choreographing for Ben Vereen and The Muppets, to dancing with stars including Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse. Often working with Simon Fuller, he's a prolific TV producer and director whose credits include not only "SYTYCD," but "American Idol," "Pop Idol" and "Superstars of Dance." As a judge, he was nicknamed "Nasty Nigel" by the British press for his blunt critiques. Mary Murphy, 51, was born in Lancaster, Ohio, and graduated from Ohio University with a degree in physical education and a minor in modern dance. She went on to become a successful competitive ballroom dancer and teacher, and in 1990, opened her Champion Ballroom Academy in San Diego. Her credits range from organizing dance competitions to working in films, including serving as dance double for Julia Roberts and Vanessa Williams.

DEAR STACY: I love watching reruns of "Match Game." One of my favorite stars was Joyce, married to Bobby Van. I heard she died young. What happened? — D.A., Parma, Ohio

DEAR D.A.: I think you may mean Elaine Joyce, who was married to Bobby Van and appeared with him on the show.

Elaine Joyce is now 63 and living in New York City with her husband since 1999, playwright Neil Simon. Van passed away due to brain cancer in 1980. Joyce has a grown daughter by Van and a son by second husband, television producer John Levoff. (She was also famously linked with reclusive author J.D. Salinger during the 1980s.)

DEAR STACY: I'm interested in finding out whatever became of Sigrid Thornton, who appeared in the 1970s movie "Man From Snowy River." — Dave A., Brooklyn, N.Y.

DEAR DAVE: The 50-year-old Canberra, Australia-born actress continues to maintain a busy career Down Under, where recent credits include episodic TV show guestings, a TV movie, "Little Oberon," and a health series, "What's Good for You." Her most recent U.S. project was the 2006 "Nightmares and Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King." She is married to actor and film risk manager Tom Burstall and they have two children, Ben and Jaz.

DEAR STACY: Do you have a biography on the life of Roy Orbison? We never hear anything bout him and his life. Was he married and did he have children? Was he blind? He always wore dark glasses. — A.L.B., Minerva, Ohio

DEAR A.L.B.: Actually, there's plenty of biographical info. about the rock 'n' roll crooner, who died at age 52 in 1988. For instance, there's the 1999 documentary "In Dreams: The Roy Orbison Story," which aired on PBS in 2006. And there's Peter Lehman's 2003 book, "Roy Orbison: The Invention of An Alternative Rock Masculinity." More attention is bound to be paid to Orbison next year, when he's scheduled to be among the Hollywood Walk of Fame star honorees. He had poor vision and wore very thick eyeglasses. He began wearing his sunglasses all the time after leaving his regular glasses on a plane — and finding that wearing the shades helped him deal with stage fright and shyness, and contributed to a mystery man persona that served him well. He was married, twice. His tempestuous marriage to Claudette, who inspired "Oh, Pretty Woman," included a divorce and remarriage, and ended with her death in a 1966 motorcycle crash. His widow, Barbara, was a teenage German girl when they wed and eventually became his manager. He had three sons with Claudette, two of whom perished in a house fire in 1968, and two more sons with Barbara.

DEAR STACY: I heard that "Behind the Green Door" actress Marilyn Chambers died recently. She wasn't that old, was she? What was the cause of death? — Ken A., New York

DEAR KEN: The porn star was 56 when she died this past April of a cerebral hemorrhage and aneurysm related to heart disease. She'd been taking painkillers and anti-depressant pills, but the coroner determined there were not enough of those in her bloodstream to have caused death.

To find out more about Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith and read their past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2009 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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