Kevin James talks to the animals in Zookeeper

Ken Beck

Dear Ken: My family and I loved the sitcom “The King of Queens” with Kevin James. How many episodes were there and what is the comedian doing now?

The actor, 44, was born Kevin Knipfing in Stony Brook, N.Y., and has a brother, Gary Valentine, who is also a professional comedian. James had a solid hit on his hands with the recent film, “Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” and so is continuing to make movies. He is now working on “Grown Ups” and plans to start shooting “The Zookeeper” later this summer in Boston. The live-action film features animals in a zoo who talk in order to help their keeper (James) win the girl of his dreams. An amazing number of top stars will provide the voices of various animals, such as Adam Sandler as a capuchin money, Cher a giraffe, Sylvester Stallone a lion and Judd Apatow an elephant.

There were 206 episodes of “King of Queens” over nine seasons.James, by the way, was on the same high school wresting team as Mickey Foley, aka Mankind.

Dear Ken: What is singer Anne Murray of “Snowbird” fame up to these days? How old is she?

 Murray, 64, a native of tiny Springhill, Nova Scotia, where she has a museum filled with items from her career, lives mainly in Toronto but spends her summers back in Nova Scotia. The former P.E. teacher is a great golfer. The mother of two, she did her final major tour last year and has been working on her autobiography, “All of Me,” which is slated for release late this year.

Among her greatest hits are “Danny’s Song,” “You Won’t See Me,” “You Needed Me,” “Shadows in the Moonlight,” “Daydream Believer,” “You Needed Me,” “A Little Good News,” “Could I Have This Dance,” “Just Another Woman in Love” and “Time Don’t Run Out on Me.” Her most recent albums are “Anne Murray Duets: Friends and Legends” and “Anne Murray’s Christmas Album.” That girl can sing.

Dear Ken: How old is wrestler Hulk Hogan? How many kids does he have and where was he born? How many movies has he been in?

Hogan, who has a son and a daughter, was born Terry Bollea in Augusta, Ga., and turns 56 on Aug. 11. He has made about 15 films that include “Rocky III,” “Suburban Commando,” “Mr. Nanny,” “Spy Hard” and “Muppets From Space.”

Dear Ken: There was a cartoon on TV in the 1960s about a time-traveling turtle who would get into trouble and then cry, “Help, Mr. Wizard!” What cartoon show was that?

That is a not-so-golden oldie from a 1961-1962 TV series called “King Leonardo.” Your character was Tooter the turtle, who appeared in his own segment as a wizard granted his wishes to become someone else and which always led him into trouble. At that point, Tooter would holler, “Help me, Mr. Wizard!” and Mr. Wizard would work his magic by saying, “Drizzle, drazzle, druzzle, drome; time for zis one to come home.”

Keanu Reeves’ character Neo makes reference to the cartoon in a scene in “The Matrix.” 


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