"Where'd ya go Pop Culture Chick #6, the chick from the 90's group, Roxette...Marie Fredriksson?"

The chick from Roxette had two assets - she could sing and she was hot. She pranced around barefoot, singing her Swedish ass off as if she were subtly saying, "While I concentrate on getting these English lyrics correctly, I will be trying to seduce you from on stage. Yes?" She did (get the words right). And she did (seduce me - or at least make a 22-year-old Jeff Ircink want to sleep with her). I loved all their songs - "It Must Have Been Love" (from Pretty Woman), "Listen to Your Heart", "The Look" and "Dangerous." From 1986 through the early 1990's, Roxette had 6 top 10 US hits, and were considered royalty in the native Sweden. Still are.

Then on September 11, 2002 (notice the day), Marie fainted in her bathroom after jogging, hitting her head and receiving a concussion. Scans showed she had a malignant brain tumor. Given a 50/50 chance of surviving surgery, the tumor was successfully removed. After chemo and radiation, she's been given a clean bill of health. But it wasn't without some loss. Marie had some permanent damage to her brain - losing the ability to read and count - lost the vision in her right eye, and some loss of movement in her right side. In January 2003, Roxette were awarded the 'Royal Medal with Blue Ribbon' by King of Sweden Carl Gustaf XVI, one of the first public appearances Marie made since her surgery.

Roxette has never stopped performing. Just not as often. Marie sings with her husband and one of her new passions is painting - she has had exhibits around the world. I feel her pain, as we both have suffered loss of sight in one eye, and other injuries that have deeply affected us. I feel a kinship with those who are visually impaired. I can't explain it.

Here's a video of Marie singing live in December 2008. And if you'd like to get a little nostalgic, this video is Roxette singing "Listen to Your Heart" from 1989 (live). In case you had no clue, Marie is 49. I didn't mention her Roxette partner, Per Gessle, as this post series is about Pop Culture CHICKS - not guys. But he's doing well, too.

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"Jo Bob" is still Walking Tall - and he gave me a buck.

So I was having a conversation with our head of acquisitions outside our offices Tuesday when I noticed this very tall, "heap of a man" with his dog across the street near Winchell's Donuts talking on his cell. He looks our way; I look his way and I immediately yell out, "Hey - you're the actor...Bo...Hopkins. No - Svenson. Bo Svenson!"

Yep. It's Bo. He comes over and we shoot the shit and I tell him that when I lived in Bel Air, singer/actor Mac Davis was my neighbor (he still lives there) and Mac and Bo starred with Nick Nolte in the classic football flick, North Dallas Forty, in 1979. People forget about actors as the years go by. Not me - it's an obsession of mine to scour the Internet to find out where a certain actor disappeared to, what they look like now and if they're still in the business. Bo still acts - apparently Quentin Tarantino remembered him and found him relevant enough to cast him in Kill Bill 2.

Very congenial, pleasant man to talk to. Great stories. I did some research on Svenson's career (Wikipedia stuff mostly) - if you're interested.

(WAIT! There's more on Bo.)

Above: Bo's business card I snagged from my co-worker.

Why did Bo give me a buck? That's between Bo and I.

Anyway, Svenson was born in Sweden - his father was a personal driver, athlete, and bodyguard for the King of Sweden. He emigrated to the United States in 1958, served in the U.S. Marine Corps, then pursued a Ph.D. in metaphysics and attended UCLA.

Listed as one of twelve "Promising New Actors of 1976" in John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 28, Bo is considered among the tallest leading men of all time, at 6' 5" being an inch taller than John Wayne and two inches shorter than 6' 7" fellow soldier-turned-actor James Arness.

Svenson's most memorable roles are The Great Waldo Pepper (1975), Walking Tall Part II (1975), Final Chapter: Walking Tall (1977), North Dallas Forty (1979), The Delta Force (1986) and Solitude Point (1998) and has appeared in several films with his friend Fred Williamson. Svenson is an accomplished athlete and has competed in world championships, Olympic selections and international competition in judo, yachting, track, ice hockey and auto racing (NASCAR, PRO-SCCA and F1A). He was television's highest-paid actor for his reprisal of Buford Pusser in the television series "Walking Tall" (1981) - Johnny Carson being the personality who made more.

Check out this recent Variety article about the DVD release of the WWII cult classic "Inglorious Bastards" with Fred Williamson and Bo. It's a "spaghetti WWII" flick and Quentin Tarantino is involved in writing and directing something of a remake. Watch a trailer for the original movie with brief commentary by Quentin. It's reminiscent of "The Dirty Dozen" and "The Great Escape".

Above: Bo with David Carradine at the Kill Bill 2 premier.

Although he's best known as an actor, Bo's also an accomplished writer, director and producer. He hosts PBS Television's "The Di Palma Forum at UNLV" (1999) and is a sought-after speaker and seminarian. Chairman of the Board and CEO of Motion Picture Group of America from 1984-1995, Bo is president of MagicQuest, a Hollywood-based international motion picture and television development, production, distribution and branded advertainment company.

While he has received numerous awards and nominations for his body of work, he especially values the Italian Institute of Art Award of Merit, the American Culture Foundation Man of the Year Award, Italy's Legione Garibaldina Ruole D'Onore, the NAACP Image Award, the Academy of Science Fiction and Fantasy Golden Scroll Award, and the Hollywood Women's Press Club Golden Apple.

If you're curious to learn more about Bo, go to his website: http://www.bosvenson.com/

One last thing about Bo I don't think he'd mind me sharing with you - he's been married to the same woman for 41 years. Imagine that - in Hollywood no less.

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