Dear Ken: Who was the actress that played opposite Boris Karloff’s monster in “The Bride of Frankenstein”? What other movies did she make?

That was Elsa Lanchester, a star of the British stage and screen before she came to the U.S. Married to Charles Laughton until his death in 1962, she died in 1986 at age 84 of bronchial pneumonia. Among her film credits were “The Private Life of Henry VIII,” “Rembrandt,” “The Bishop’s Wife,” “Come to the Stable,” “Witness for the Prosecution,” “Bell, Book and Candle,” “Lassie Come Home,” “The Secret Garden,” “Mary Poppins” and “Willard.” Her last film role was as Grandma in “National Lampoon’s Vacation” in 1893,  

Dear Ken: How old is Howie Mandel? Didn’t he make some movies before he got on “Deal or No Deal” and “America’s Got Talent”?
The Canadian stand-up comedian is 55. He has made a few films but most fans recognize him from his role as Dr. Wayne Fiscus in the TV series “ER.” His movies include “A Fine Mess,” “Walk Like a Man,” “Little Monsters” and “Room Service,” and he was the voice of Gizmo in “Gremlins.”

Dear Ken: How old was Julie Andrews when she made “The Sound of Music”? How many children does she have?
Dame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, 75, was 29 when she made the classic family musical opposite Christopher Plummer. More recently she has been the voice of the queen in “Shrek Forever After” and the voice of Gru’s mom in “Despicable Me.” She has a 47-year-old daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton, with whom she has co-written over 20 children’s books. Their latest book, “The Very Fairy Princess,” was released in May. Andrews also has two stepchildren with her producer husband, Blake Edwards, and the couple adopted two daughters in the early 1970s.
 
Dear Ken: My mom’s favorite singer was a fellow named Vaughn Monroe. What were some of his hits?
Baritone Monroe, who died in 1973 at age 61, hit the pop charts mostly in the 1940s with such tunes as “Racing With the Moon,” “In the Still of the Night,” “There I Go,” “There I’ve Said It Again,” “Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow,“ “Riders in the Sky” and “Someday (You‘ll Want Me to Want You.” He was also a big-band leader and actor.

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