Rick Springfield


'80s Rock Icon Rick Springfield
With chart-topping hits and soap opera stardom, Rick Springfield was the definition of an '80s heartthrob. Rick's career began with guest spots on some of the most popular shows of the past, including The Incredible Hulk, Battlestar Galactica and Wonder Woman. In 1981, he began the role he is best known for—the tall, dark and handsome Dr. Noah Drake on General Hospital.

The same year he joined the cast, Rick released "Jessie's Girl" and catapulted straight to the top of the music charts. Rick dove headfirst into the pop music scene and went on to sing 17 more top 40 hits, including "Love Somebody" and "Don't Talk to Strangers." He has sold more than 19 million records and is still a rock icon, singing his heart out to adoring fans all over the world.

Rick Springfield surprises one of his biggest fans


 
Dawn claims to be one of Rick's biggest fans, so he's decided to surprise her with a visit and Oprah tickets. Dawn works in human resources at a hospital and has been told a new doctor needs a tour.

Surprise! Instead of a doctor, Dawn gets to meet a rocker. When Dawn sees her '80s idol standing right in front of her, she's a little more than shocked. "She's vibrating!" Rick says.

"I'm sorry, I'm in shock that you're actually sitting in my office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin," Dawn says.

Rick Springfield performs 'Jessie's Girl.'


 
Oprah asks Rick the question on everyone's mind—is Jessie's girl a real person? "Oh, yeah," Rick says. "All my songs start from a core of a relationship." Although his fantasy girl was real, Jessie wasn't. "Her boyfriend's name was actually Gary and not Jessie, but Gary just somehow didn't sing right," Rick says. "So I changed it to Jessie."

Watch Watch Rick perform his number one hit, "Jessie's Girl."

Rick can't say Gary's girl's name—because he can't remember what it was! "I was never really introduced to her. It was always just, like, panting from afar," he says. To this day, Rick thinks Gary's girl doesn't know the famous song is all about her. "As far as I know, she doesn't know," he says. "And I lost contact with them before the song came out."

Rick Springfield talks about finding happiness in a fame-filled life.


 
Rick's rock star lifestyle has taken him all over the world, but he'd been traveling long before he started touring with his band. As a kid growing up with a father in the military, Rick says he was accustomed to moving around. "I was two years at every school, you know, and traveled everywhere, went to England when I was a kid and discovered music and girls," he says. "I've always been a traveling guy."

Although he says he's had an amazing life, Rick says he found true happiness in an unexpected place. "I think I just reached the end of my rope and was walking around and just really miserable, walking around the pool and looking at this big house and married to a beautiful woman and going, 'This isn't it. I thought this would be it,'" Rick says. At that moment, he says he found out what it was—family. "I had a great family. I get choked up talking about my family," he says. "I love my family with a passion, and that's what held me together as a kid."

Rick Springfield and his family


 
In 1985, Rick says he decided to leave the spotlight for awhile. "My wife was about to have our first baby, and I wanted to help raise him," he says. "So I just stopped my career and disappeared for five years while my two sons were born and became a house husband."

He doesn't regret his decision at all. "Now it was the most amazing thing that I could have done because I have an incredibly close relationship with both my boys and a great relationship with my wife," he says. "She's been through everything with me. I mean, we were dating before 'Jessie's Girl' was ever heard of, so she knows me like nobody knows me."

When it came to raising his two children, Rick says he was a little more relaxed with the rules than his wife, Barbara. "I was raised in a very strict household," he says. "My mom was really strict, which I fought all my life." On the other hand, Rick says Barbara was brought up with few rules. "She was really let free, so she turned it around and became the real disciplinarian. And I'm going, 'No, no, I want them to be free.' I don't want to have all those stupid rules that I had, like don't put your elbows on the table and don't chew with your mouth open and all this stuff."

Rick says he has a soft spot for another addition to his family—his dogs. "Dogs are my totem animal," he says. He even incorporated his dog Ronnie into the album cover of Working Class Dog. "I went to the record company and said, 'I want to put my dog on the front cover of the record'—and they all laughed," he says. Since he was a General Hospital star, Rick's record company wanted his face to be on the cover—but Rick had other ideas. "So I went home and I took a photo of Ronnie in a shirt and tie and a little Polaroid and cut it out and did 'Rick Springfield, Working Class Dog,' and took it in to them and they bought it. It ended up being nominated for a Grammy for the best cover of the year. I was very happy about that—it was vindication."

Rick Springfield sings 'Love Somebody.'


 
 Rick ends on a sweet note with another hit from the '80s, "Love Somebody."

"Something comes over you when you hit the microphone," Oprah says. Rick seems like a regular guy, she says—until he picks up a guitar. "The teenager comes out," Rick says.

Henry Winkler says he doesn't see himself as a television icon.


Television Icon Henry Winkler
When our producers wanted to invite TV legend Henry Winkler to the show, Oprah gave the idea two big thumbs up—and even had Al's Diner rebuilt on set!

A TV icon was born when Happy Days premiered in 1974—the jukebox-thumping, motorcycle-riding Arthur " Fonzie" Fonzarelli. By 1976, the show had 22 million viewers and was number one in the ratings. But becoming "the king of cool" wasn't an easy road for Henry. Born to immigrants who fled Nazi Germany, Henry says he struggled in school but eventually graduated from the Yale School of Drama. He got his acting career started in commercials—even sharing one with future Oscar® winner Morgan Freeman. Soon, Henry started landing guest roles in shows like The Mary Tyler Moore Show. After Happy Days ended, Henry continued playing The Fonz in guest appearances on the show's spin-off, Laverne & Shirley.

Since Happy Days ended, Henry has produced, directed and starred in many box office hits. He's also added the role of children's author to his list of accomplishments.

Audiences of all ages still recognize The Fonz's telltale "aayyy," and millions have seen Fonzie's jacket at the Smithsonian. Still, Henry says he doesn't feel like a television icon. "I don't think of myself in those terms," Henry says. "I am a husband to Stacey. I have three children."

Whether he was bringing another chickadee to her knees or jumping the shark, Henry says playing Fonzie brought out a different side of himself. "The Fonz was everybody I wasn't. He was everybody I wanted to be," Henry says. "He really liked his friends and he took care of his friends. Part of what I based him on was loyalty."

Henry Winkler talks about the impact of Happy Days.


 
Henry says the influence of Happy Days went beyond simple ratings points. When The Fonz said to Richie Cunningham, "Look at this, you're getting a library card for free, and you can meet chicks there," registration for library cards skyrocketed!

After that, Henry says Happy Days creator Garry Marshall started using The Fonz to help kids all over the country. "We did a show where The Fonz wore glasses," Henry says. "The Fonz cried over Richie in the hospital because a school for emotionally disturbed boys who loved The Fonz but would not show emotion, wouldn't cry."

Although TV shows today are very different, Henry doesn't think great family television is a thing of the past. "Life is a circle. And so I think it will come back to that," Henry says. "I don't think the audience wants cutting edge. I think they were so beaten to a pulp outside their home that they want to be entertained and taken care of when they sit down and watch the television."

Henry Winkler overcame dyslexia to become a children's book author.


 
 With writing partner Lin Oliver, Henry has sold more than 2 million copies of his Hank Zipzer children's book series. The titles of the books are fun—including Holy Enchilada and Barfing in the Backseat: How I Survived My Family Road Trip—but the books are based on a struggle Henry says he's faced his entire life. "It is the story of my life as a dyslexic," he says. "So the stories are really me. And then we exaggerate the humor—I never actually flooded the classroom."

In school, Henry says he often repeated classes, and teachers always told him he was smarter than the grades he earned. It wasn't until his stepson was tested in the third grade that Henry learned of his own dyslexia. "Everything they said to him, I said, 'Oh, my goodness, that's me,'" he says. "So at 31, I realized I wasn't stupid. I wasn't lazy. I was trying to live up to my potential, and I had something that actually had a name."

Now, Henry says he wants every child to know one very important thing. "A child that has a learning challenge knows that they're not keeping up. And it's already like an insidious worm that is eating away at their self-image," Henry says. "What I say to children is that you've got greatness in you and you don't know what you can accomplish. ... You are great."

William Shatner played the iconic Captain Kirk.


Star Trek's William Shatner
 William Shatner is going where he's never gone before...it's his first visit to the Oprah show!

The beloved icon beamed onto television screens in 1966 as James T. Kirk, captain of the USS Enterprise, on Star Trek. The studly space explorer dazzled women of all species, but his most infamous encounter was with a crew member of his own ship—Lt. Uhura, played by Nichelle Nichols. Their kiss marked the first interracial kiss on a television drama.

Despite being one of the greatest cult phenomena on television, Star Trek was canceled after only three seasons because of low ratings. Now, devoted Trekkies flock to conventions around the world, feeding the nearly $2 billion Star Trek industry.

Bill traded in his command of Starfleet for a badge in 1982 and joined the cast of T.J. Hooker. In the late 1990s, Bill also lent his star power to commercials for discount travel website Priceline.com. He currently stars as egomaniac lawyer Denny Crane on ABC's Boston Legal.

Bill's half-century career as TV icon, singer, best-selling author and pitch man is proof that even in Hollywood, you can live long and prosper. "I guess I'm here because I was Captain Kirk," he says. "Ultimately, the celebrity it brought me made everything else possible."

William Shatner's Priceline.com commercials helped him land his role on 'The Practice.'


 
When Bill was first asked to do radio commercials for Priceline.com in 1998, he says he didn't even know what a dot-com was!

Bill's campy delivery got the attention of television executives, and he was cast as eccentric, politically incorrect lawyer Denny Crane on ABC's The Practice and its spin-off, Boston Legal. Since joining the shows, Bill has taken home two Emmys and a Golden Globe. "It is so filled with comic genius," Bill says. "It's just great fun."

William Shatner sold his kidney stone for charity.


 
In 2006, Bill made a charity donation of a very personal nature—his kidney stone. While on set of Boston Legal, Bill says he felt terrible pain and was taken to the hospital, where he passed the stone. But this kidney stone's journey wasn't over quite yet. "The doctor says, 'I've got it.' And I said, 'Give it to me. It's mine,'" Bill says.

As it turned out, a gambling website contacted Bill and offered to pay him $15,000 for the stone. After some bargaining, the company paid Bill $75,000, and he decided to do something special with the money.

With another $20,000 in donations from the cast and crew of Boston Legal, Bill donated $95,000 to Habitat for Humanity. "We bought a house in the New Orleans area," he says. "There is a family living in a home. It brings tears to my eyes."

William Shatner and his wife, Elizabeth


 
 When Bill isn't on set, he's writing. He's published more than 30 books, and his new autobiography Up Till Now will hit bookstores in May 2008. "This inter-connectiveness of decisions you make in life is the theme of my book," he says.

In his book, Bill writes about making a detailed list of qualities he wanted in a wife. It was that list, Bill believes, that led to his meeting his wife, Elizabeth.

Bill and Elizabeth share two great loves. The first is horses—Elizabeth works with horses, and Bill runs the Wells Fargo Hollywood Charity Horse Show in Los Angeles. In fact, Bill says his next book will be about horses and how they have affected his life.

Their other common bond is Oprah! "Elizabeth found you first—the magazines and the show—and gradually she lured me into it," Bill says. "Then we put you on the TiVo. ... The biggest compliment is the O Magazine is in the bathroom."



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