Who’s News: Tim Meadows, Anna Torv and more! – USA Weekend

Tim Meadows, 49, has been creating characters since he was a kid growing up in Detroit, the youngest of six children of a janitor and a nurse’s assistant. “My family gave me the opportunity to be funny,” the star of TBS’ Glory Daze says. “They nurtured me and let me be myself. Everybody in my family is talented. We were like the Jackson family but not as good.” Catch the show Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

Anna Torv, a native of Australia, has found a new home in Vancouver, where she films the Fox sci-fi show Fringe (Thursdays, 9 p.m. ET/PT). “Vancouver seems to be the yoga capital of the world,” says Torv, 32.”There’s a street just near where I live that actually has a different yoga studio on each corner. It’s a really nice form of exercise.” Her most difficult pose? “My legs are kind of tight, so I’m not very flexible in putting my body down on my legs. I can’t do the splits very well. That’s a waste of time. But I’m learning.”

Is Jackson Rathbone, of the Twilight films, any relation to the legendary film star Basil Rathbone?
Sharon Perez, Dousman, Wis.

The hunky actor, 25, is no relation to the thespian who shares his last name. Basil Rathbone, who died in 1967, is most famous for playing private eye Sherlock Holmes in more than a dozen Hollywood flicks from 1939 to 1946. The younger Rathbone, meanwhile, was born in Singapore and is in fact the great-grandson of Monroe Jackson Rathbone II, who was chairman of Standard Oil of New Jersey, which later became Exxon.

What is Edyta Sliwinska doing now that she’s no longer on Dancing With the Stars, and why did she leave the show?
Janet Jozwiak, Riverhead, N.Y.

After 10 seasons on the ABC dance floor, Sliwinska says it just was time to hang up her DWTS dancing shoes. “I decided it’s time to move on with my life, pursue other projects and finish school,” Sliwinska said on her Twitter feed. The Polish professional dancer, 28, is now majoring in media and communication at UCLA. As for husband Alec Mazo, who also danced on DWTS for five seasons, “we are together, hopefully forever,” she says.

Last year there was a program on E! called Giuliana & Bill. Is that going to return this fall?
K.D. Bruce, Milwaukee

The reality show Giuliana & Bill did indeed air reruns on E!, but a new season recently began on Style Network, the series’ original home. The third season of the reality show will follow the celebrity couple’s (Giuliana Rancic, 35, is a co-host of E! News; her husband, Bill, 39, is the Season 1 winner of The Apprentice) attempt to have a child, including a devastating miscarriage. You can catch new episodes Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

I recently heard a song that was sung by Mandy Patinkin. I’d like to know: Did he make any albums, and does he still sing?
Maridel Ely, Cincinnati

Mandy Patinkin, 57, who starred on TV’s Chicago Hope and Criminal Minds, has released seven albums since 1990. His last one, Mandy Patinkin Sings Sondheim, was released in 2002. He won a Tony Award for his performance in Evita (1980). He still sings and has upcoming solo concerts listed at his official site, mandypatinkin.org.

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