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September 10 - 16, 2023 • Terre Haute Tribune-Star • 9 A performer's birthday is a good time for a tribute to the given talent, and Turner Classic Movies frequently takes that opportunity. One of the latest examples – saluting one of the more contemporary performers seen on the channel – occurs Sunday, Sept. 10, the day Amy Irving turns 70. That night, the actress will be showcased in a TCM double feature, with her starring turn in the romantic comedy "Crossing Delancey" (1988) followed by her role opposite Willie Nelson in the appropriately country-music-themed drama "Honeysuckle Rose" (1988). Irving and her "Crossing Delancey" leading man Peter Riegert reunited for a screening of the movie at the most recent TCM Classic Film Festival. Shown by the channel frequently, the picture casts her as a bookstore employee who's quite picky about her suitors, prompting her to lean more toward a womanizing author (Jeroen Krabbe) than the pickle seller (Riegert) her grandmother (Reizl Bozyk, a stage actress in her one movie role) wants to fix her up with. Adapted by Susan Sandler from her play and directed by Joan Micklin Silver, "Crossing Delancey" also is notable for a pre-"Frasier" David Hyde Pierce as a work colleague of Irving's Isabelle. In "Honeysuckle Rose," Irving plays the daughter of a longtime associate (Slim Pickens) of Buck Bonham (Nelson), a performer who spends plenty of time "On the Road Again" … the title of Nelson's hit song that was yielded by the film. A promising musician herself, she joins Buck's tour, and a romance develops unbeknownst to his wife (Dyan Cannon) back home. Well, initially un- beknownst, anyway – and the discovery of the affair leads to hurt feelings all around. The supporting cast includes Irving's actress mother Priscilla Pointer, who worked with her daughter a number of times. Following several television roles, Irving's big-screen career began with a prominent role in a sizable hit: "Car- rie" (1976), the first thriller by novelist Stephen King to be adapted into a movie. She reunited with director Brian De Palma for "The Fury" (1978), and other jobs came quickly for her, with the films "Yentl" (1983) and "Micki & Maude" (1984) and the miniseries "The Far Pavilions" (1984) also among Irving's major credits during her ear- ly professional years. In voice only, she's known for her singing as Jessica Rabbit in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" (1988), and her recurring TV run on "Alias" (2002-05) also gained notice. Irving's personal life has gotten attention as well, par- ticularly for her relationship with Steven Spielberg that began in the mid-1970s, not long after he scored his first blockbuster by directing "Jaws." Because of their breakup, she lost the role of Marion Ravenwood (ultimately played by Karen Allen) in "Raiders of the Lost Ark," but they reconciled and were married from 1985 to 1989. She has a son with him, as she does with another filmmaker she married afterward, Bruno Barreto. She now is married to yet another director, documentary maker Kenneth Bowser Jr., who has a daughter from an earlier marriage. In a sense, fans can be in the room with Amy Irving as she marks her special day on Sept. 10, via TCM if not physically in her presence. spotlight BY JAY BOBBIN Kirk Douglas and Amy Irving in "The Fury" TCM gives Amy Irving a birthday salute Norman Reedus from "Ride With Norman Reedus" Sunday on AMC Q: I was impressed by Brec Bassinger in the "V.C. Andrews' Dawn" movies. Did she make those while she was still doing "DC's Stargirl"? – April Kay, via e-mail A: She landed the "Dawn" job shortly after "Stargirl" wrapped filming, and she told us that she felt fortunate to be available for the Lifetime set of four films, with her reporting to the set within days of having her first conversation about the opportunity. She also said that she appreciated the timing of that production, since she felt that diving right into it right after parting company with her "Stargirl" colleagues gave her something else to focus on … rather than only experiencing sadness over the end of her three seasons of work on that show. Q: I read somewhere that Dr. Joyce Brothers was a big game-show winner before she became a psy- chologist. Is that true? – Ken Winter, Elkhart, Ind. A: She proved to be hugely knowledgeable about the subject of boxing when she was a contestant on the classic show "The $64,000 Question," ultimately winning the top prize of … well, $64,000. Her husband was a boxing fan, inspiring her to choose that subject, and she did a huge amount of research on the topic – helped by the photographic memory she had. celebritypipeline BY JAY BOBBIN Send questions of general interest via email to tvpipeline@gmail.com. Writers must include their names, cities and states. Personal replies cannot be sent.