Dear Ken: When did Lana Turner die and what was the cause of her death?

Born Julia Jean Turner in Wallace, Idaho, she was the daughter of John Virgil Madison Turner, a miner from Hohenwald, Tenn. Her mother moved to Los Angeles when Turner, called Judy by her friends, was 10 and she really was discovered in a café on Sunset Boulevard. The blonde star hit her peak in 1940s and ’50s and among her best films were “The Postman Always Rings Twice,” “Johnny Eager,” “Somewhere I’ll Find You.” “The Bad and the Beautiful,” “Peyton Place” and “Imitation of Life.” She made her last movie in 1991’s “Thwarted” and died of throat cancer in 1995 at age 74.

Dear Ken: Didn’t Robert Redford make a movie where he played a small airplane pilot who put on air shows across the country? What was the title and who else was in the movie?

That was 1975’s “The Great Waldo Pepper” with Redford as Pepper, a biplane pilot who missed out on serving in World War I, so he becomes a barnstormer in the early 1930s and then gets a shot at aviation glory playing a pilot in a WWI film. The cast also includes Bo Svenson, Edward Herrman, Susan Sarandon, Geoffrey Lewis and Margot Kidder. 

Dear Ken: Steve Buscemi is amazing in HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” as politician-gangster Nucky Thompson. How old is he and what are some of his other credits?

Buscemi, 53, was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and was a fireman for four years in the early 1980s before he became a professional actor. His movie credits include “Bloodhounds of Broadway,” “Miller’s Crossing,” “Barton Fink,” “Reservoir Dogs,” “Fargo,” “Escape From L.A.,” “Con Air,” “Ghost World” and “Big Fish.” The actor voluntarily returned to his old New York firehouse the day after 9/11 and worked 12-hour shifts for a week, assisting his former company digging through rubble and searching for missing firefighters.

Dear Ken: What can you tell us about Britt Robertson, who plays a young witch in the new TV show “The Secret Circle”?

Robertson, 21, was born in Charlotte, N.C., and grew up in Chester, S.C. She is the oldest of seven children in her family and was home schooled. She got her first break in the TV movie “Growing Pains: Return of the Seavers,” and played Cara Burns in the movie “Dan in Real Life.” She has a recurring role in the TV series “Swingtown” and starred in the TV movie “The Tenth Circle.” Last year she starred in the CW TV series “Life Unexpected“ and the Disney Channel movie “Avalon High.” In 2012 she stars in the film “The First Time.” Robertson drives a Mercedes C300 and has a pet miniature dachshund named Foster.

If you have a trivia question about actors, singers, movies, TV shows or pop culture, e-mail your query to Ken Beck at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it