Headline: ‘Blind Side’ star failed at high school football
By Ken Beck, columnist
news@williamsonherald.com
Dear Ken: Please share some background on the African-American actor who starred as Big Mike in the movie “The Blind Side.”
That is 6-foot-8-inch Quinton Aaron, 25, starring opposite Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw as Michael Oher. Born in the Bronx, N.Y., he attended middle school and high school in Augusta, Ga., where he tested the gridiron. “I played like one semester of football in high school and wasn't good at it at all,” he said. A good singer, he auditioned for “American Idol” to no avail and later made his film debut in 2008 in “Be Kind Rewind.” He also had two small roles in episodes of “Law & Order.” Aaron, nicknamed Q, had to work out hard to play the football star and was trained by Georgia Tech’s conditioning coach, while a nutritionist fed him five meals daily to hike up his metabolism. “I had two-a-day workouts, seven days a week, on the football field, and then I had to lose weight,” said Aaron, “which meant if it tastes good it's not good for you. So I couldn't eat it.” The diet and exercise must have worked as the gentle giant, who weighed in at 472 pounds before training, dropped 100 pounds.
Dear Ken: How old is Marlo Thomas who starred in the 1960s sitcom “That Girl.” Isn’t she married to Phil Donahue?
Marlo, daughter of Danny Thomas, the late comedian and founder of St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, is 72. Born in Detroit, she grew up in Beverly Hills and has been married to Donahue since 1980. The winner of three Emmy awards, she portrayed Judge Mary Clark in four episodes of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” in 2004. Before “That Girl” Thomas was a guest on such shows as “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, “77 Sunset Strip,” “Make Room for Daddy,” “Bonanza,” “My Favorite Martian,” “McHale’s Navy” and “Ben Casey.”
Dear Ken: How many movies has child actor AnnaSophia Robb made? I saw her in “Bridge to Terabithia” and she was fabulous.
Robb, 16, who was born in Denver, Colo., has made nine films and has two more set for release this year. Among her other movies are “Because of Winn-Dixie,” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “Spy School” and “Race to Witch Mountain.” And she starred in the TV movie “Samantha: An American Girl Holiday.” Robb loves dancing, singing and rafting. You may wish to visit her official Web site, www.annasophiarobb.com.
Dear Ken: What was the name of the actor who played Andy Rooney’s father in those “Andy Hardy” movies so long ago?
Lionel Barrymore originated the movie role in 1937’s “Family Affair,” but once MGM realized they had a gold mine on their hands and launched the series, Lewis Stone came aboard as Judge Hardy and Fay Holden played Andy’s mother for the remainder of the way. And that was Ann Rutherford as Andy’s girlfriend Polly Benedict.
If you have a trivia question about actors, singers, movies, TV shows or pop culture, e-mail your query to Ken Beck via www.sherlocksbooks.com where you can also find classic films and TV shows on DVD or visit Sherlock’s Book Emporium in Lebanon.
Posted on: 2/4/2010
