Actors

Journalist William Mann has written a new biography of actor William Haines, "Wisecracker: The Life and Times of William Haines, Hollywood's First Openly Gay Star" (Viking). In 1930 Haines was a big box-office draw. He was also openly-gay to reporters, studio chiefs,and fellow actors. Eventually Haines was booted out of Hollywood, because he refused to give in to studio pressure to conform. He began a highly successful career as an interior designer.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Contesting Tears: The Hollywood Melodrama of the Unknown Woman" by Stanley Cavell about the weepy women's movies of the 30s and 40s.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Leaving a Doll's House, a memoir by British actress and Philip Roth's ex-wife Claire Bloom.

Film critic Stephen Schiff gives us his year's best.

South African playwright and actor Athol Fugard. For years Fugard fought apartheid on the stage in his plays including "My Children! My Children," "The Blood Knot," (in which he put a black actor alongside a white actor on the same stage) and "Sizwe Banzi is Dead." For his efforts Fugard's passport was revoked, and he was put under virtual house arrest from 1967-1971. His new play "Valley Song" is his first play in the post-apartheid Africa.

Guest film critic Steve Vineberg reviews "To Die For."

The stars of the Emmy Award winning TV series Sharon Gless (Christine Cagney) and Tyne Daly (Mary Beth Lacy). The two play New York City Police detectives. The series aired on CBS from 1982 to 1988. This Tuesday, the two will be reunited in the two-hour TV movie "Cagney & Lacey: Together Again." "C&G" was the first TV crime show in which the two central characters were female.

Whitaker is one of the most respected character actors in Hollywood, with a reputation for playibg roles that defy stereotypes associated with black actors. Whitaker was the British soldier kidnapped by the IRA in the "Crying Game." In "The Color of Money," he had a brief part as a pool hustler. He also starred in "Good Morning, Vietnam." His biggest starring role was portraying jazz great Charlie Parker in the movie, "Bird." Whitaker is currently co-starring in Robert Altman's new film, "Ready to Wear (Pret-A-Porter)."

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the new film, "Widow's Peak," starring Mia Farrow, Joan Plowright, and Natasha Richardson.

Movie critic Steven Schiff reviews "A Dangerous Woman" starring Deborah Winger. (PARTIAL REVIEW)

Stephen Schiff reviews the new film by director Jane Campion, "The Piano," starring Holly Hunter and Harvey Keitel.

Performer, comic and writer Sandra Bernhard. Some know her from her role in the ABC sitcom "Roseanne;" she also had a successful one-woman off-Broadway show called "Without You I'm Nothing," which was turned into a film and album of the same name. Her HBO special last year, "Sandra After Dark," satirized the old "Playboy After Dark" variety show. She appeared in Martin Scorsese's "King of Comedy," among other feature films. She was also linked as a possible love interest to Madonna.

Bassett recently had the intimidating job of playing the legendary singer in the new film, "What's Love Got to Do with it." Her performance has been widely praised. Bassett's other roles include the mother of a troubled teenager in "Boyz N the Hood," and the wife of the black Muslim leader in Spike Lee's "Malcolm X."

Handler has played leading roles in seven Broadway productions including, "Six Degrees of Separation," "Brighton Beach Memoirs," and "Master Harold. . . and the boys." He's 32 now; seven years ago he was diagnosed with leukemia. He had a bone marrow transplant, and he's now considered free of the disease. He has a new monologue, "Time on Fire," about his four year struggle with leukemia.

Actress Christine Lahti. She starred in the movie "Housekeeping," co-starred with Goldie Hawn in "Swing Shift," which won her the New York film Critics Award as Best Supporting Actress, and is now in the new film "Leaving Normal." (Universal Pictures) She also has a long stage career, appearing in "The Heidi Chronicles." She talks about how hard it is for women to get good roles in Hollywood, and how she's turned many down because she didn't like the characters she'd be portraying.

Film critic Maureen Corrigan reviews the new Disney animated film "Beauty and the Beast."

Essmann is known for portraying an eclectic mix of characters in his performance pieces. He's currently performing his one-man show, "Artificial Reality," in New York City.

Nuyen played Susie Wong in the Broadway production of "The World of Susie Wong," was in the film version of "South Pacific." And she played the Vietnamese doctor on the television show, "St Elsewhere." She's now starring "China Cry," a new movie on the Christian Broadcasting network

Film critic Stephen Schiff says Streep is best in comedies -- including this dysfunctional tale about a mother and daughter in Hollywood, written by Carrie Fisher, and adapted by her book of the same name.