Stacy Dishes on Mischa Barton and The Food Network

DEAR STACY: I admire Mischa Barton and hope you can give some background on her, such as where she grew up and what other shows she has done. Is she super tall? Does she have a boyfriend? -- T.H., Cleveland

London born Mischa Barton

DEAR T.H.: Barton was born in London but moved with her family to New York when she was a toddler. At age 9, she began her theatre career with a lead role in Tony Kushner's "Slavs!" which led to roles in a number of other successful plays. She was also a Ford model. In 1996, she landed a short-term role playing Lilly Benton Montgomery on "All My Children."

But most people first got a glimpse of the actress when she played the ghost of a girl who had been poisoned in 'The Sixth Sense." A few features later, she landed her most lucrative gig to date on 'The O.C." Though she looks even taller on TV, she stands at 5'9."

As for her love life, Barton and her boyfriend, Brandon Davis, broke up in July after a yearlong relationship, so she appears to be flying solo for the moment.

DEAR STACY: I have cable, but my husband and I don't have computers. I would like to get some of the recipes that I see on the Food Network. Who can I write to to get the recipes? It's not fair we all don't have e-mails, etc. -- Mrs. B.A., Queens, N.Y.
 
DEAR MRS. B.A.: The Food Network has a toll-free customer service number: 1-800-565-FOOD, which has operators to take orders.
 
DEAR STACY: Is it true that Frankie Muniz is getting married? Who to? -- Lisa D., Springfield, Mass.
 
DEAR LISA: Yes, the "Malcolm in the Middle" star is off the market. In July, the 19-year-old became engaged to his cute blond girlfriend, Jamie Gandy, who is not an actress. He met her in her hometown of New Orleans while filming the movie "Stay Alive." No official date has been set, but maybe he should at least wait until he's old enough to drink at his wedding.
 
DEAR STACY: I love the TV show "House." The star looks very familiar to me from something else, but I can't remember where I saw him before. Did he have another series? -- Josh H., Cleveland
 
DEAR JOSH: Hugh Laurie is so good at disappearing into characters that that could be what caused your confusion. Besides having series including "Fortysomething" and "Tracey Takes On" to his credit, the 46-year-old actor from Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, has a long list of movie roles, ranging from the amiable Mr. Little in the "Stuart Little" features to Vincente Minnelli in the acclaimed TV production "Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows," to the Cockney dognapper Jasper in the live-action "101 Dalmatians."
 
DEAR STACY: Can you identify the female vocalist in the movie "Richard III" (1995)? This talented woman has the most pleasant voice I've heard in a long time. -- Richard E., Queens Village, N.Y.
 
DEAR RICHARD: Jazz artist Stacey Kent played the ballroom singer in the Ian McKellan film to which you refer -- the Shakespeare drama moved to an alternative, WWII-era fascist England. Kent left the United States to study languages abroad, then linked up in Oxford with saxophonist Jim Tomlinson -- now her husband. She did a year's study at the Guildhall School of Music, then honed her skills on the London jazz scene. She's had six international best-selling albums so far, and is beloved by the likes of Clint Eastwood, who invited her to sing at his 70th birthday party. Check out her site at www.staceykent.com.
 
DEAR STACY: Could you please tell me why Richard Dean Anderson left "Stargate SG-1"? I miss him. The show isn't the same without him. What has he been doing since he left? -- Marianne O., Long Island, N.Y.
 
DEAR MARIANNE: Anderson took a pause in his acting career to focus on fatherhood -- he has a 7-year-old daughter, Wylie, with girlfriend Apryl Prose -- and to devote his energies to helping the environment. He is a Board Member of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and actively involved. In March, he traveled to the ice floes of Canada to draw attention to mass slaughter of harp seals. He also produced a series of river documentaries with the Earth River Expeditions.
 
DEAR STACY: Whatever happened to the hunky Jon-Erik Hexum, who had a TV series? I heard he passed away. -- Abbe P., Astoria, N.Y.
 
DEAR ABBE: The handsome up-and-comer, a successful model, was fooling around with a prop .44 Magnum that had blanks in it while making the CBS series "Cover Up" in 1984. Unaware, so the story goes, that even a blank can inflict terrible damage at close range, he put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger. Despite the best efforts of the crew to get him to a hospital, he went into a coma from which he never recovered.
 
SEND YOUR QUESTIONS to Stacy Jenel Smith at Creators Syndicate, 5777 W. Century Blvd., Suite 700, Los Angeles, CA 90045. Due to the large volume of mail, personal replies cannot be given.

©2005 Creators Syndicate, Inc.