Pop culture Q&A

November 27, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

By Rich Heldenfels

Q. Can you please let me know if you can find out the name of a movie Peter Strauss did? He came from Europe and worked in a hotel in New York. Then it ended with him owning that hotel and more.

A. Most likely you are remembering “Kane & Abel,” a 1985 miniseries starring Strauss and Sam Neill.

Q. I was watching a rerun of “I Love Lucy.” Can you tell me please who played little Ricky Jr.? Is he still alive and, if so, how old is he?

A. “Little Ricky” Ricardo was played by Keith Thibodeaux, billed as Richard Keith on “I Love Lucy,” reportedly because the show’s makers thought Thibodeaux was too hard for viewers to pronounce. Originally from Louisiana, and a drumming prodigy, Thibodeaux did some acting after “Lucy” ended and later worked with the band David and the Giants. In a 2008 interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, he said that personal problems, including with drugs, ultimately led to his conversion to Christianity and his leaving the band. When the other band members also converted, the group re-formed. But these days, Thibodeaux is executive director of Ballet Magnificat, which he founded with his wife, Kathy. The organization, in Jackson, Miss., aims “to present the gospel of Jesus Christ to the widest possible audience through the medium of dance, dance/drama and personal witness.”

Q. When I was a teenager in high school in my home country, I saw the movie “The Legend of Tom Dooley” that starred Michael Landon and inspired the song “Tom Dooley” by the Kingston Trio. I am now 66 and have been in the U.S. for 34 years and have never seen that movie aired on TV. Can you tell me how I can acquire a copy, whether on DVD or VHS?

A. I do not know of an authorized release of the 1959 film on DVD. I have seen old VHS copies sold on Amazon.com. The movie, by the way, was inspired by the Kingston Trio song, not the other way around.

Q. The young actor Elijah Kelley, who played Seaweed in the 2007 remake of “Hairspray” — where is he and are there any new projects he’s working on? When I first saw the movie, I thought he would be the perfect guy to play a young Sammy Davis Jr. I would love to see him on the big screen again.

A. There were reports a few years ago that Kelley was going to play Davis in a film biography of the singer-actor. But, as far as I can tell, that movie has not happened yet. According to the Internet Movie Database, he was in “Rome & Jewel,” a little-seen 2008 movie based on “Romeo & Juliet,” and guest-starred on “Dirty Sexy Money.” The site also says he is in two movies being completed, “Red Tails” and “The Boys of Abu Ghraib.” Besides “Hairspray,” his music is on the soundtracks “Semi-Pro” and “Sex and the City Volume 2,” and on “Disney- mania 6.”

Q. You answered a question about Christopher Meloni leaving “Law & Order: SVU.” But how was it handled on the show that he left? I missed the first couple of episodes.

A. According to the episode synopsis on NBC.com, Meloni’s character, Stabler, was cleared in a recent shooting. But his police career was in doubt because this was the sixth shooting in which he was involved, and Capt. Cragen (Dann Florek) said Stabler would have to fight to get back on the “SVU” team. Instead, viewers were told, Stabler put in his papers.

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