Dear Ken: Where is Noomi Rapace, who plays the archaeologist in “Prometheus,” from?

Rapace, 32, was born in Sweden. Her mother is a Swedish actress and her late father was a Spanish flamenco singer. She moved to Iceland at 5 where she made her first movie at 7 before moving back to Sweden at 9. Since 2009, she starred in “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” “The Girl Who Played With Fire,” “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest” and “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.” The latter was the first film in which she speaks in English. Divorced, she has an 8-year-old son.

Dear Ken: Who is the guy in the Allstate Insurance commercials with the great voice? What movies or TV shows has he been in?

That is Dennis Haysbert, 58, who starred as President David Palmer in the TV series “24,” played Jonas Blane in “The Unit” and was baseball player Pedro Cerrano in the three “Major League” movies. Among his earliest roles were appearances in the TV series “Lou Grant,” “The White Shadow,” “Laverne & Shirley” and “The Incredible Hulk. Other film credits include “Mr. Baseball,” “Waiting To Exhale,” “Absolute Power,” “Far From Heaven” and “Jarhead.” Next up is “Welcome to the Jungle.” The divorced father of two enjoys golf, tennis and scuba diving and serves as an international spokesperson for RainCatcher, a non-profit organization that provides clean drinking water to those who go without.

Dear Ken: Who had the hit song “Those Were the Days”?

None other than Welsh folk singer Mary Hopkin, 52, one of the first artists to sign on with The Beatles’ Apple Record label. “Those Were the Days” became a No. 1 hit in the UK and No. 2 in the U.S. in 1968, sold 8 million copies and was produced by Paul McCartney. Among her other hit tunes over the next three years were “Goodbye,” “Temma Harbour,” “Knock Knock Who’s There” and “Que Sera, Sera.” Hopkin released an album, “You Look Familiar,” with her son in 2010. Today, she lives a nomadic lifestyle, flitting about between countries and values her privacy. She still sings but not before the public.

Dear Ken: How many episodes did Lloyd Bridges make of “Sea Hunt”? When did the series originally air?

The late Bridges starred as ex-Navy frogman and freelance scuba diver Mike Nelson from 1958 to 1961. There were 155 episodes. The show was created by Ivan Tors, the man behind “Flipper,” “Daktari” and “Cowboy in Africa.” Filming locations of the series included Marineland of the Pacific and Catalina Island in California and such places as Silver Springs, Cypress Gardens and Tarpon Springs in Florida. Among guest stars on the series were the sons of the star, Beau and Jeff Bridges.

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