Acting

Actress and comedienne Lily Tomlin. For years she's been doing her impressions of such characters as Ernestine, the nasal telephone operator on "Laugh-In." Now she's doing a whole cast of characters in the revival of her one-woman show, "The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe."

Actress Elaine Stritch. She appears this week on public television's "American Playhouse" series, starring in Richard Nelson's story of three aging friends. Elaine Stritch is an established Broadway star, who appeared on Broadway in "Company," "Pal Joey," "On Your Toes," and "Bus Stop." She currently stars on Broadway with Jason Roberts in "Love Letters," and she plays Mrs. McGee on "The Cosby Show." (Interview by Sedge Thomson)

Actor Tom Hulce. He was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of Mozart in the movie "Amadeus," and for a Golden Globe for his role as brain-damaged garbage man in "Dominick & Eugene." More recently, Hulce played the black-sheep of the family in "Parenthood." Next week, Hulce stars in "Murder in Mississippi," a made-for-TV movie about the freedom summer.

Actress Laurie Metcalf. Metcalf plays Roseanne's sister in the hit TV series. She's appeared in several movies, such as "Uncle Buck," "Making Mr. Right," and "Desperately Seeking Susan," and she plays a cop in the new film "Internal Affairs," starring Richard Gere and Andy Garcia. Metcalf got her start at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater, which she started with John Malkovich and Terry Kinney.

A double interview today....first, Terry talks by telephone with South African musician Abdullah Ibrahim. Long an exile in this country, we find out how Ibrahim thinks this weekend's release of Nelson Mandela will change the artistic climate in South Africa.

Actor Peter Riegert. In "Local Hero" he co-starred with Burt Lancaster, playing a young oil executive who goes to Scotland with the intent of buying a Scottish village. And in the romantic comedy "Crossing Delancey," he played a Lower East Side pickle merchant smitten by an ambitious and literary single Manhattan woman. He's also acted in "Animal House," and "Chilly Scenes of Winter." He'll soon be appearing in the film, "A Shock to the System," with Michael Caine and Elizabeth McGovern.

Actor Tim Robbins. He starred in the film, "Bull Durham." He now stars in the new film "Cadillac Man" with Robin Williams.

Actor Martin Landau. He was nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actor for his roles in "Crimes and Misdemeanors," and "Tucker." And he's starring in the new HBO movie, "By Dawn's Early Light." He plays a President of the United States who is trying to avert a full-scale nuclear war with the Soviet Union.

Cage stars in the upcoming David Lynch movie. The actor says he enjoyed Wild at Heart's dreamlike atmosphere, which allowed him to push the boundaries of his performance. He joins Fresh Air to discuss some of his earlier work, and the extremes he's gone to capture a character. Cage is the nephew of Francis Ford Coppola; he changed his name to distinguish himself from his famous family.

The stage and screen actor's career has spanned nearly 50 years. One of his most well-known films is the Magnificent Seven. Wallach is currently touring the country in the play Love Letters with his wife Anne Jackson, and also has a role in the upcoming film, Godfather Part III.

Writer Wendy Smith is author of Real Life Drama, about the Group Theater, which was founded in the early thirties to bring social realism to the Broadway stage. The ensemble of actors and directors stayed together for ten years and had a lasting effect on American theater.

Actor Gary Busey. Busey electrified audiences and the critics with his starring role in "The Buddy Holly Story." More recently, Busey was the arch villain in "Lethal Weapon." He co-stars with Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves in the new movie, "Point Break."

Actor and writer Eric Bogosian. Bogosian's one man, multi-character performances highlight the pressures of modern life and explore the underside of the American Dream. Bogosian's latest show, "Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll" has been released in book form (by Harper Collins) and as a movie. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Actress Colleen Dewhurst died last night in New York. We remember her with an excerpt from a November 1987 interview with Terry. (Rebroadcast of 11/06/1987)

Actor and director Kenneth Branagh (rhymes with "Savannah"). His new movie, "Dead Again," is a psychological thriller starring Branagh and his real-life wife, Emma Thompson. In 1989, Branagh made a film adaptation of Shakespeare's "Henry the Fifth," with himself in the title role. That movie was nominated for an Oscar as best film. Branagh studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, spent two years with the Royal Shakespeare Company, as well as acting, managing, and directing other groups and working on several BBC productions.

Actor Hume Cronyn. For more than 50 years, Cronyn has been one of the most distinguish actors working. He's written a new memoir about his life, called "A Terrible Liar." (It's published by Morrow). (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Actress Claire Bloom. After a long and illustrious career playing opposite the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Richard Burton, and Sir John Gielgud, Bloom is now performing a one woman show, called "Women Observed." In it, she reads roles from Anna Karenina, Jane Eyre, The Turn of the Screw, and A Room of One's Own. (The performance runs Thursday through Sunday at New York's Symphony Space). (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Actor Joe Mantegna. Mantegna plays a tough cop investigating a murder in the new David Mamet film, "Homicide." Mantegna's worked with Mamet several times before, starring in his movie, "House of Games," and in the Mamet play, "Glengarry, Glen Ross."

Actor Stephen Lang. He starred in the film adaptation of "Last Exit to Brooklyn," and is about to play Hamlet on Broadway. He's also co-starring in a made-for-TV movie based on the story of the rape of Nancy Ziegenmeyer.