Illinois

CHICAGO – She has lived “One Day at a Time” and has come into a second act that really cooks. Valerie Bertinelli has gone from child star to recipe maven with her new book “Valerie’s Home Cooking,” named after her Food Network TV Show. She came to Chicagoland to promote the book on October 22nd, 2017.

CHICAGO – Her latest book is “What Happened,” and much of the U.S. shares that sentiment. Hillary Rodham Clinton promoted that book in Chicago on Oct. 30, 2017. As a former First Lady, Senator, Secretary of State and the first woman to be a major party candidate in history, Ms. Clinton has served this country.

CHICAGO – The 40th anniversary edition of ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind,’ directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Richard Dreyfuss, is in a limited run in theaters now. What better time to resurrect a 2009 HollywoodChicago.com interview with Dreyfuss, and publish it as a podcast talk.

CHICAGO – The 2017 Tribeca Film Festival was not all about film. Besides showcasing Immersive and Virtual Reality programming, this edition of the festival opened up submissions from independent television pilot creators for the first time. One of the four finalists that were accepted to the “Tribeca: TV” portion of the festival was “Lost & Found,” created and directed by Haroula Rose, who is from the nearby Chicago suburb of Lincolnwood, Ill.

CHICAGO – The combination of two different souls with two different problems – isolated in rural Illinois – was the story that director James Choi knew he wanted to produce as his next film project. So armed with a micro budget, a four man production crew and a cast of passionate actors, Choi created “Empty Space.” The film is making its Chicago premiere at the Windy City Film Festival on Saturday, July 1st, 2017.

CHICAGO – On a hot and humid night – with dark ominous clouds enveloping the Hollywood Casino Amphitheater in Tinley Park, Ill. on June 15th, 2017 – the crowd gathered to see Iron Maiden, and spilled into their seats like a cold beer from the tap. The heavy metal-loving masses, with their torn jeans and ever-present mullets, got ready for the latest show in the band’s “The Book of Souls” World Tour by responding in Pavlovian fashion to UFO’s “Doctor Doctor” (Maiden’s intro song), as it boomed from the venue’s speakers.

CHICAGO – It’s time for a certain generation to get their screams of adulation ready, as New Kids on the Block – also known as NKOTB – are back on the road and appearing in Chicagoland at Allstate Arena in nearby Rosemont, Ill., on June 15 & 16, 2017. Joey McIntyre is one of the band members, and he also had a new mock reality premiere in April of 2017 called “Return of the Mac” (Pop TV Channel). HollywoodChicago.com was there to capture some Exclusive Portraits of “The Mac,” when he appeared at Studio Xfinity in Chicago in March to promote the show.

CHICAGO – He has won seven Teen Choice Awards in a row for his portrayal of Ezra Fitz on the ABC Family series “Pretty Little Liars,” and he is now the author of a new book. Ian Harding has written “Odd Birds,” a collection of essays on bird watching and show business. In an event sponsored by Anderson’s Book Shop, he appeared at North Central College in Naperville, Ill.

CHICAGO – April 28th marks the birthday of actress Jessica Alba, and what better way to celebrate than publishing, for the first time, an Exclusive Portrait by photographer Joe Arce of HollywoodChicago.com, taken in 2013 at Anderson’s Book Shop in Naperville, Ill. Alba was representing her book, “The Honest Life” when Arce snapped this photograph of the actress and entrepreneur.

CHICAGO – You know her as a hard-charging reporter on CBS-TV, and their fabled magazine show ’60 Minutes.’ But Lesley Stahl also is a grandmother, and has just written a new book called ‘Becoming Grandma: The Joys and Science of the New Grandparenting.” She recently appeared on behalf of the book at Anderson’s Book Shop in Naperville, Ill.