Tom Shales, Pulitzer Prize-winning television critic for the Washington Post. He has a new collection of essays, "Legends: Remembering America's Greatest Stars," which takes a look at such stars as Jackie Gleason, Bing Crosby, Natalie Wood, and Gilda Radner.
Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews an English translation of the novel, "The Beautiful Mrs. Seidenman," by Polish writer Andrzej Szczypiorski. Although it was a bestseller in Europe, the novel was banned in Poland because of the writer's involvement with Solidarity. With the recent political changes, Szczypiorski's book is now published in Poland and in July he was elected to the Polish Senate.
French actress Isabelle Adjani. Her most famous role was in the film "The Story of Adele H." Her latest film, for which she won the French equivalent of an Oscar for Best Actress, is about the life of Camille Claudel. Claudel was French sculptor Rodin's mistress and a sculptor in her own right.
Academy Award-winning film director Costa-Gavras. His films include, "Z," "State of Seige," "Missing," and "Betrayed." His new film, "The Music Box," stars Jessica Lange as an attorney who must defend her Hungarian immigrant father against accusations of committing a series of war crimes.
Rock singer, guitarist and record producer Dave Edmunds. Although he was born in Wales, his music is influenced by the American roots of rock and roll. As a producer, he's worked with the Stray Cats, The Fabulous Thunderirds, and he produced the come-back albums of the Everly Brothers and Dion. In the 1970's, he got together in London with Nick Lowe and formed the band Rockpile. Edmunds has a new album coming out soon on Capitol called "Closer to the Flame." It's his first in five years.
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead takes a historic look at boogie-woogie piano music. Includes such piano players as Meade Lux Lewis, Albert Ammons, Pete Johnson, and Jimmy Yancey.
Artist-teacher Tim Rollins and his student Carlos Rivera. In collaboration with his South Bronx high-school students Rollins has created "excellent...slightly miraculous art." ("New York" Magazine). Since 1981, the group known as K.O.S. (for Kids of Survival -- mostly black and Puerto Rican students), has had showings of its work in over 50 shows. Now there's a showing of their own, "Amerika," in New York.
Television critic David Bianculli considers the networks' penchant for the docudrama and looks at NBC's upcoming movie, "Howard Beach: Making the Case for Murder."
Actress and comedienne Lily Tomlin. For years she's been doing her impressions of such characters as Ernestine, the nasal telephone operator on "Laugh-In." Now she's doing a whole cast of characters in the revival of her one-woman show, "The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe."
John L. Marion, chairman and chief auctioneer for Sotheby's auction house. Marion's brought the gavel down on more than 50-million dollars worth of fine art and antiquities, and presided over the recent explosion in art prices. Marion's written a beginners guide to collecting, called "The Best of Everything."
Photographer Bert Andrews. Since the early '50s, Andrews has been photographing the African-American theatre. There's now a collection of Andrews' photos, called "In The Shadow of the Great White Way: Images From the Black Theatre."
Historian and author Frederic Morton. Morton's new book is "Thunder at Twilight: Vienna 1913/1914." In it, Morton examines that city on the eve of the First World War. Book critic John Leonard described the mix of intellectualism, arts, and political intrigue going on in Vienna at that time as "waltzing on the edge of the abyss." Morton's previous book, "A Nervous Splendor," looked at Vienna in 1888 and '89.
