Some teen heart throbs don’t age well, and then there’s Robby Benson. In this exclusive clip from this Friday’s season finale of “Oprah: Where Are They Now?” (Feb. 21 at 9:00 p.m. ET on OWN), check in with Benson, who seems to be doing just fine since leaving the spotlight and has become an undeniable silver fox. See? Not every child star becomes a complete mess or stars in a bad reality TV series!
But we knew Benson was going to be fine after his ’70s heyday, since in 1992 his voice performance as the Beast in Disney”s “Beauty and the Beast” helped the box-office hit to become the first animated film to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. Still, life today is very different for Benson, who in this episode shares the frightening secret he hid for years, how he reinvented himself as a screenwriter, composer and college professor when the on-camera roles dried up, and why John Ritter”s death was so hauntingly personal to him.
Also on the show, when sitcom star Jackée Harry last appeared on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in 1995, she expressed her desire to become a mother. Today, she introduces the son she yearned for back then, and candidly admits why she had no desire to be a TV star back when she was starting out. She also admits to a rather provocative ‘diva” phase after winning an Emmy for her role on “227,” and what finally snapped her back into reality.
The recording industry was shaken to its very core in 1990 when, in an unprecedented move, recording artists Milli Vanilli were asked to return their Grammy Award amid allegations that they were not the singers performing on the record. Now, those who actually recorded the hit “Girl You Know Its True” long before Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan, the “faces” of Milli Vanilli were recruited, speak out about the experience that robbed them of their moment in the spotlight and cast a long shadow over the integrity of the music industry.
In 1983, Bob Paris was named Mr. Universe, then proceeded to shock the world when he came out as a gay man just six years later. He explains why after coming out, his body building career disappeared before his eyes, and why he is happier today than ever before.
Finally, Brooke Burke-Charvet explains how she does it all as a wife, mother, host of “Dancing with the Stars” and entrepreneur. She opens up about her shocking thyroid cancer diagnosis, how she coped, and how being a cancer survivor has forever changed her outlook on life.