Dear Ken: What’s the skinny on Dax Shepard, who stars as Charles Bronson in the movie “Hit and Run”?

Actor-comedian Shepard, 37, began his career on the MTV hidden-camera practical-joke reality show “Punk’d” before getting into such films as “Employee of the Month,” “Idiocracy,” “Let’s Go to Prison,” “Baby Mama” and “When in Rome.” He now stars on the TV series “Parenthood” as Crosby Braverman. Engaged to actress Kristin Bell, he graduated magna cum laude from UCLA with a degree in anthropology and enjoys racing motorcycles. Shepard wrote and co-directed “Hit and Run,” which also stars Bell, Beau Bridges, Kristen Chenoweth, Bradley Cooper and Tom Arnold. He’s already working on his next production, “Send Lawyers, Gun and Money.”

Dear Ken: What happened to Alfalfa of the Little Rascals? Did he make any movies besides those comedy shorts?

The child actor was killed in a fight in 1959 at age 31. He left “The Little Rascals” series at age 12 and continued to work in films but also bred and training hunting dogs and was a hunting guide. Among his clients were Roy Rogers, Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda. His movie credits include “Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch,” “Courage of Lassie,” “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “Pat and Mike,” “Island in the Sky,” “The High and the Mighty,” “Track of the Cat” and “The Defiant Ones.” He was married once, for four months. An etching of a dog on his grave maker signifies his profession as a dog breeder.

Dear Ken: Is David Janssen, who starred in “The Fugitive” TV series, still alive?

Janssen, who was born David Meyer, in Naponee, Neb., died of a heart attack in 1980 at age 48. Besides starring as Dr. Richard Kimble in “The Fugitive,” he also starred in the TV series “Richard Diamond, Private Detective,” “O’Hara, U.S. Treasury” and “Harry O.” The latter series is now on DVD. While serving in the U.S. Army he became friends with Clint Eastwood and Martin Milner. Janssen’s film credits include “To Hell and Back,” “Dondi,” “The Green Berets,” “Marooned” and “Two-Minute Warning.” 

Dear Ken: What’s new with Lucy Liu of “Kill Bill” and “Charlie’s Angels” fame”?

Liu, 43, who most recently was a guest on the TV series “Southland,” will co-star as Dr. Joan Watson to Jonny Lee Miller’s Sherlock Holmes in CBS TV’s contemporary updating of the famous Arthur Conan Doyle detective. Set in the U.S., the series debuts Sept. 27.

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