Rich or Rehab: Lloyd Dobler’s Nephew

When most people think about the movie “Say Anything…,” they think about John Cusack, a boombox and Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes.” Then they think about Lili Taylor singing “Joe Lies.” Then maybe they think about John Cusack, on a payphone in the pouring rain, proclaiming, “I gave her my heart. And she gave me a pen.”

But eventually, after they’ve covered all those things, they will eventually recall that Cusack’s character — the iconic, perpetually romantic kickboxer Lloyd Dobler — had a nephew. You remember this kid. He also did a little kickboxing. He had a mullet. His mom was played by Joan Cusack. And when Lloyd asked, “Hey, my brother. Can I borrow a copy of your ‘Hey Soul Classics’?,” the kid responded: “No, my brother. You have to go buy your own.”

Turns out little Jason Dobler was played by an actor named Glenn Walker Harris, Jr. And since 2009 marks the 20th (!) anniversay of “Say Anything…,” this seems like as good a time as any to find out what happened to him.

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Rich or Rehab: Laura From ‘Family Matters’

It takes a very special girl to win the heart of Steve Urkel. And Laura Winslow — as played by Kellie Williams during nine seasons of TV’s “Family Matters” — was just that sort of special girl.

Williams, a native of Forestville, Md., in the Washington D.C. area, dabbled in modeling and theater before she snagged her starring role on the ABC (and later, briefly, CBS) sitcom at the age of 13. So what has happened to her since the days of laugh tracks and listening to Urkel repeatedly ask the question, “Did I do that?” Let’s find out.

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Rich or Rehab: Linda Blair

Of all the demonically possessed kids to ever show their devilish faces in a horror movie, Regan McNeill in “The Exorcist” is easily the most terrifying — and memorable. Is there anyone who grew up in the ’70s and wasn’t absolutely petrified by the sight of her freaky head spinning all the way around? Or later, when the footage was reinserted into the film, the image of her crawling, spider-like, down a staircase?

It seems only fitting, then, to bring this month’s Halloween-themed Rich or Rehabs to a close with a primer on the queen of the child horror stars, the actress who played Regan: Linda Blair.

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Rich or Rehab: Damien From ‘The Omen’

Imagine being four-years-old, auditioning to play the spawn of Satan and actually getting the part. In other words, a filmmaker and a casting director looked at you, as a child, and said, “Yeah, I can see this kid being the antichrist.”

That’s more or less what happened to Harvey Stephens, the young British child who played Damien Thorn in 1976’s “The Omen.” And, as part of our month-long Halloween-themed series of Rich or Rehabs, I have attempted to find out what that little son of a devil has been up to since.

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How to Be a Better SAHM: Be Betty Draper

Finally, a revelation has formed from all these dedicated Sunday night watchings of Mad Men. I wouldn’t mind being a stay-at-home mom if I could do it the Betty Draper way.

Take Sunday night’s episode (very, very minor spoiler here): her housekeeper doesn’t just clean the house and make dinner, she offers Betty a chance to go back to bed after a rough night with the baby, AND manages the “I don’t want this, I want that” arguments from the kids at dinner time. Continue reading »

Rich or Rehab: The Kid From the ‘Child’s Play’ Movies

As mentioned in last week’s Rich or Rehab, I am devoting the month of October to tracking down child stars of the horror genre. Which brings us to this week’s subject: Alex Vincent, the boy who starred as Andy in the first two “Child’s Play” movies.

First of all, it could not have been easy being a 7-year-old kid and having to share so many scenes with Chucky, easily the ugliest doll in toy history. And I’m talking even before he started cursing at people and trying to murder them. Seriously, that little @*!#ing thing was just not attractive. But somehow Vincent managed to survive the experience. So where is he now?

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Rich or Rehab: The Kid From ‘The Shining’

In honor of October — the year’s most ghoulish, Halloweeny time — every Rich or Rehab this month will focus on kids who starred in scary movies.

Our first horror star: Danny Lloyd, the young boy who mumbled some stuff about “redrum” and darted through a maze to escape from a psychotic Jack Nicholson in “The Shining.” What happened to him after his uneventful and delightful stay at Stanley Kubrick’s version of the Overlook Hotel?

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Rich or Rehab: From Oscar Nominee to Mommy Blogger

Only a few child actors have been nominated for an  Academy Award. Tatum O’Neal, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Justin Henry and Anna Paquin are among them. And so is Quinn Cummings.

In 1977, when she was just 9-years-old, she appeared in “The Goodbye Girl” as Marsha Mason’s daughter. She landed an Oscar nod as Best Supporting Actress for her role, but Vanessa Redgrave ultimately took the prize for her work in the film “Julia.” So what happened to Cummings after her big night in the Oscar spotlight?

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Rich or Rehab: ‘School of Rock,’ Part Deux

In last week’s Rich or Rehab, I wrote about five of the musically gifted kids who starred in “School of Rock.” This week I attempt — and not always successfully — to track down a few more.

Without further delay, let’s get rockin’.

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Rich or Rehab: The ‘School of Rock’ Kids

In 2003, a group of prep school kids joined Jack Black and, through the power of rock ‘n’ roll, urged a nation of moviegoers to stick it to The Man.

Since then, the preteens who starred in “School of Rock” have grown up and now find themselves in different places in their lives, although several of them still seem pretty committed to making music. In part one of a two-part Rich or Rehab — think of it as the Strollerderby equivalent of a  cliffhanger — I attempt to track down 10 of the key School of Rockers.

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