Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Rick Schroder is giving up protecting his children from the pitfalls of show business.

The actor, who broke into the business at age 5 and was starring in the big-screen "The Champ" at the age of 9, had vowed that his four offspring would not enter the theatrical field as children. But now, he tells this column exclusively, "I'm changing my mind. My 10-year-old daughter really wants to be an actress, and one of my sons wants to be a screenwriter, and if that's what they want, I'll help them. I experienced some hard times as a child actor, and I wanted to shield my children from that, wanted them to be able to focus on having a great childhood and friends. But now I realize they've never had any real jobs or responsibilities, and I think I should try to start looking for something for the boys, who are 13 and 15. I'm concerned I haven't taught them a work ethic. I have a great work ethic."

And that ethic has afforded him a great life. These days Ricky and clan live on a 30-acre farm in The Santa Mountain Mountains, less than an hour's drive from the locations where he shoots his new role as CTU agent Mike Doyle on Fox's hit "24." Before that home was a Colorado ranch, which Schroder bought 17 years ago "for not much money," worked and improved and sold "for not quite $29 million."

He has had, he says, "a great, blessed life. I've been given a great family and career. There were hard times," he admits, "when I didn't know if my acting career would continue — between my early and late twenties it became challenging to get work. It was tough. I was focusing on family — I was a dad at 22 — and my future in acting was iffy. But thanks to Steve Bochco, everything changed, when he signed me for 'NYPD Blue.'" And after "Blue" there was "Strong Medicine," "Scrubs" and the big-screen "Black Cloud," in which he starred and which he wrote and directed.

Work ethic indeed!

HOT OFF THE ICE: First comes speed skating, then comes dancing, next comes acting? That seems to be the way things are heading for "Dancing With the Stars" contestant Apolo Anton Ohno, who along with his partner Julianne Hough, has been wowing the show's judges. "There are a lot of interesting opportunities that have come up — movie scripts, certain acting opportunities, TV shows. We're just going to make sure that it's going to be done in the right way, and make sure I'm doing the things I want to do and that best fit me and my personality," says the two-time Olympic Gold Medal-winning athlete.

"I think the line between athletes and entertainment is getting more and more blurred as we speak. I would be one of the first Olympic athletes to cross over, and I'd absolutely love to be that person," he says, the likes of Sonja Henie and Buster Crabbe notwithstanding.

For now, Ohno tells us he's taking things one day at a time, and right now his focus is on winning at dancing. However, the road ahead won't be easy, especially competing against such impressive dancers as Joey Fatone. "He's got 10 years of dancing experience and choreography with N'SYNC. Everyone knew he was going to do well, but that's the cool thing about the show, it doesn't necessarily matter because the judges are only 50 percent of the vote." Ohno doesn't even see Heather Mills and her amazing prosthetic leg as impossible to beat. "Oh, absolutely not. I think everybody's got a chance at this show," he adds. "We've always said that we are our biggest competition because we can't control how well somebody else dances. We can only control how well we dance."

THE VIDEOLAND VIEW: "The Office's" Oscar Nunez is in wait-and-see mode with his Wednesday night Comedy Central show "Halfway Home." The improvised half-hour show about a group of ex-convicts in a rehab house in L.A.'s Crenshaw district has drawn mixed critical reaction, and ratings numbers that Nunez describes as "good — not awful, not great. I think the network has faith in our show, they think it's funny, and they're giving it a chance to find its audience."

Future installments of "Halfway Home" include "a tip of the hat to 'Young Frankenstein,' one of my favorite movies," says Nunez, who plays a convicted prostitute. There's also an episode featuring guest star Dax Shepherd as a con man. Nunez, the creator and one of the executive producers of the show that's heavy on talent honed at L.A.'s famed The Groundlings improv theater, adds that with all the cast members having known each other for years, "We trusted them. We knew they're all very funny, and that takes the work out of it. This group could be put into any premise — on a tugboat, in an airliner — and they'd be funny."

KEEPING TRACK: "Nashville Star" winner Angela Hacker has words of wisdom for those making a rapid ascent up the fame ladder. "I kind of wish I would have kept a journal," she says. "When I sat watching myself on the last show I was wondering, 'What was going through my head?' and realized I don't know what was going through my head at the time." Hacker admits she's felt at times "overwhelmed" by all the new attention and demands in her life these days, "but ultimately it's been an incredible experience."

(With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily Feimster)

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 2007 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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