The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 152

SHOWCASE Tojo Yamamoto was long of the 'Japanese Claw' "'X A i Ask Showcase Ken Bnk Commentary vf mT- Jonathan Frid and David Selby and company. I remember especially her distinctive smile and cheekbones, giving her face a very unique look, and that is what I base my identification of her in The Hulk upon; Mrs. Banner has the same smile, though her hair is darker. I have seen her in a few things since these two programs every once in a while, notably a guest appearance in an episode of The Rockford Files. R.GNashville I think you've got me.

That was a difficult question, and, while I knew the questioner's point regarding SullivanMarx, I still believed the dream wife was Sullivan. I stand corrected and appreciate your bringing this to my attention. Oj I am a great admirer of Hudson Leick, who makes guest appearances as Callisto on Xena: Warrior Princess. I thought she may have also appeared in one of the Conan the Barbarian films. Do you have anything on her acting career? Where could I write to her? RWNashville Heidi Hudson Leick, 31, was born in Cincinnati, and grew up in Rochester, N.Y.

A model in Rochester and Tokyo, she studied acting for two years at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre and made her professional TV debut in the ABC Afterschool Special Sexual Considerations. Her episodic TV credits include Law and Order, eight episodes of Melrose Place (as Shelly Hanson), Touched by an Angel, Hercules, 7th Heaven, Safe Harbor and MTV's You Wrote It, You Watch It. TV movies are Knight Rider 2010 and Hijacked: Flight 285, and she was Tracy Stone in the 1994 series University Hospital. Feature film credits are After the Game, Denial, Chill Factor, Dangerous Cargo and Blood Type, and she recently finished the movie American Lover. Leick appears occasionally at sci-fifantasy conventions and was at the Memphis Xena Convention 2000 this past summer.

She enjoys swimming, horseback riding and snow skiing. You may wish to write the I ludson Unck Official Fan Club, P.O. Tojo Yamamoto In 1986 you tell me if it is available on video. I'd like to get it for my sister for her urxoming birthday. JDyNashville Troy and Connie actually made three flicks together, the two you mentioned and Palm Springs Weekend, plus they were in the TV series Hawaiian Eye.

You got the right movie though. That is Susan Slade from 11, and it is not on video. Another Troy goodie is My Iih Runs Cold, opposite Joey Heatherton, like real creepy. But it's not on video either. Parker, by the way, is a i 1 1 native (born Mary Lamar Rickey) who grew up in Memphis.

At last report, she was living near Santa Monica, Whatever happened to Allen Flint, who used to host Candid Camera? Also, my husband is a real wrestling fan. Could you give us some information on Tojo Yamamoto, the Nashville wrestler who died in Hermitage in the early 1990s? P.GCamden Funt died Sept. 5, 1999, of a stroke. He was 11 days shy of his 85th birthday. Nashville pro wrestler Tojo Yamamoto died Feb.

19, 1992, an apparent suicide, at age 51, according to The Tennesseun obituary, written by Brad Schmitt. Horn in Hawaii, he came to Nashville in 1959 and fell in love with the state. He became famous in the South as a wrestler in the 1960s and 1970s as a salt-throwing, wooden clog-pounding villaia I lis trademark ring move was the "Japanese Claw" in which he would grab his opponent by the abdomen and twist the muscles to inflict tortuous pain. In mid-1991, Yamamoto had been diagnosed with kidney disease and severe diabetes which knocked him out of wrestling, leaving him depressed. He spent his last years training wrestling stars such as Randy "Macho Man" Savage.

Police reported Yamamoto shot himself in the right temple with a automatic pistol and that he died instantly. A handwritten, notarized will and thank-you note were found next to his body, and he requested that his ashes be thrown into the Tennessee River. Yamamoto was said to have been a proud and private person. He was an excellent cook and had a restaurant in Old lown Village in the mid-l()7()s. In 1982, he and tag team partner Nick Gulas opened a Donelson Pike restaurant called Gulas and Tojo's Oriental and Greek F(xds.

Gulas and Yamamoto were winners of the National Wrestling Alliance Mid-American Tag Team Championship for three yeas. Yamamoto also wrestled in Japan and throughout the U.S. and held, several other championship belts. I have a question concerning a movie with Connie Stevens and Troy Donahue. It was made in the early 1960s.

It's the one where she becomes pregnant, and the father is killed before they can marry. Her parents adopt the child, and everyone believes that the baby is Connie's little brother. My sister and I have had discussions about this movie. I think it is called Susan Slade but she doesn't think so. The only other TroyConnie movie I remember is Parrish.

If you know the movie I am talking about, can iif II HI 1 "s-45- 'J Hudson Leick Xena's favorite foe Box 775, Fair Oaks, Calif. 95628, as I have no address on IxMck. Could you please tell me what happened to the following people and their shows on Channel 8: Debbie Fields, Dessert Cooking; Justin Wilson, Cajun Cook; and Jeff Smith, Frugal Gourmet' K.QMcEwen The rights to the cooking shows by Fields and Smith have expired and no new offers are being made to public television. Wilson's Cajun Cook will be back, but no date has been set. Oj In an answer to a recent question you really missed the boat Three or four weeks ago, you printed a letter from a reader who was asking about an uncredited actress in the pilot of The Incredible Hulk from about 20 years ago.

The question was concerning the actress portraying the wife of Bill BixbyDavid Banner in the dream sequence at the begmning of the program. She is not credited, probably since she did not speak in the role, and the reader specifically mentioned that this was not a question about Susan Sullivan, who portrayed Dr. Elaina Marx in the episode. Nevertheless, you confirmed that that was indeed Susan Sullivan as Elaine Marx, and left it at that But that was not the questioa This happens to be one of my favorite programs. I own a copy of the video, and, by coincidence, had watched it, again, just a few days before the question appeared in your column.

I am not positive of the actress in question, since she is not in the credits, but I am reasonably sure her name is Lara Parker. She is best remembered, perhaps, as the witch Angelique in the original Dark Shadows, playing opposite ww tvC Wf wrvm Calif, with her Lara Parker husband and Da Angelique three children and is a writer. If you'd like to take a peek inside the homes of some country music stars, check out Channels Celebrity Homes at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow and next Monday. Billy Ray Cyrus takes viewers onto his 500-acre farm near Frankin tomorrow night and shows his swimming pixil, teepee and farmhouse.

On Oct. 9, Ricky Van Shelton offers a tour of his 150-acre farm and displays his big garden, his classic car collection and his rehearsal hall, formerly a pig barn. Ask Showcase If you have a trivia question about television, movies, video or music or something else you're dying to know, drop a line to Ask Showcase, The Tennessean, 1100 Broadway, Nashville 37203. Or send e-mail to kbecktennessean.com. Sorry, but due to volume of mail, personal replies cannot be guaranteed.

If 'fi 'i i 'if-ii i I If 5 v-efrVf If i4i 1 -0 1-1 'hsJ Troy Donahue and Connie Stevens emote in Susan Slade. 4 Sunday, October 1,2000 THE TENNESSEAN SHOWCASE wwwtemessean com i i i i i i i.