Reed, who was born Donna Mullenger in Denison, Iowa, and died of pancreatic cancer in 1986 at age 64, made 40 films and won a best supporting actress Oscar for her role in 1953’s “From Here to Eternity.” Among her other movie credits were “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” “They Were Expendable,” “Green Dolphin Street,” “Hangman’s Knot,” “The Caddy,” “The Last Time I Saw Paris,” “The Far Horizons,” “The Benny Goodman Story” and “Ransom!” The actress raised four children with the second of her three husbands.

Dear Ken: Where was Gina Bellman, who plays Sophia Devereaux on TNT’s “Leverage,” born?

Bellman, 45, was born in New Zealand but moved with her family to England at age 11. She is best known as kooky Jane in the hit British TV series “Coupling” but is an accomplished stage actress and has appeared in numerous films and also done some travel writing. She and her husband have a 2-year-old daughter.

Dear Ken: What actors have played Wyatt Earp in westerns?

Too many, pard. The best known are probably Hugh O’Brian, Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner. But others include Randolph Scott, Henry Fonda, Will Geer, Joel McCrea, Burt Lancaster, Buster Crabbe, Jimmy Stewart, Guy Madison, James Garner, Bruce Boxleitner and Gale Harold Val Kilmer next takes the role in “The First Ride of Wyatt Earp,” a film set for release this spring. Shawn Roberts will play the young Wyatt.   

Dear Ken: Can you enlighten us about Elsie the Cow of Borden fame?

I may not enlighten you but will milk it for all it is worth. Gail Borden Jr. formed the New York Condensed Milk Company in 1858. It eventually became the Borden Company. Elsie first appeared with three other bovines in magazine advertisements in 1936. In 1951 she began to wear a garland of daisies around her neck and daisy petals circled her face. In 1957 Borden announced that Elsie was having twins, held a name-the-twins contest and received nearly three million entries. The winning names? Larabee and Lobelia. Elsie was named one of the Top 10 icons of the century in 2000. No bull. Oh, she did have a husband, Elmer the Bull, who was the mascot for Elmer’s Glue. Borden used a real cow to portray their trademark from 1939 to 1941. The Jersey, formerly known as You’ll Do Lobelia, died from injuries suffered in a truck wreck in 1941 and was buried on a farm in Plainsboro, N.J., where a tombstone honors Elsie, once the most famous advertising icon in the world.  

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