"She's a brave one, a true gem in this business," says Barry Watson, speaking of his "Samantha Who?" leading lady, Christina Applegate, who was announced free of breast cancer after a double mastectomy in August. "And as a true gem," he adds, "I think she'll sparkle through this even more."

Watson, who successfully fought Hodgkin's lymphoma during his "7th Heaven" run, knows better than most what Applegate's gone through with her cancer challenge. "We had become really good friends before she found out about the breast cancer. She obviously knew about my history that I had. It's been six years and six days since my last chemo treatment," he adds. "She could give me that look and know I understand, and no words are necessary."

Watson also notes, "Everyone goes through something like this in different ways. I think her way is the best way — having a positive attitude and not succumbing to the disease. No 'Poor me, I've got cancer.' Well, she has a clean bill of health right now. I feel she handled it the same way I did, with as much dignity and humor as possible."

The actor has been told by many fans that he's an inspiration, but "It's something I forget about. I'm just me, a normal person who's gone through something. It's awesome to think I can inspire people somehow. I'm not a grumpy old cancer survivor."

Watson also reports that the mood on the set couldn't be better. "It's a light-hearted set anyway. We have music on all the time and everybody's always trying to crack each other up. Christina really sets the tone." As far as he is concerned, "If Christina wasn't playing Samantha, the show wouldn't have made it past the pilot. No one else could bring what she does to the role. There's this childishness about her that's really engaging."

ON THE PERSONAL SIDE: R&B Singer Michael Keith admits he had some misgivings about opening up his personal life with his new self-titled album — his debut solo album after years of platinum-selling, Grammy-winning success with the group 112. "It's a soul-wrenching kind of album," he says. "All the songs deal with something I've dealt with personally — 'Father' being the most so. Basically, it's me having a conversation with my father about four years ago. I grew up without him," says Keith, who describes his absent parent as a popular figure in their Atlanta neighborhood, a barber and talented basketball player. "Everybody in the hood knew him and loved him, but he didn't have that relationship with his kids. People would be talking about him scoring 30 points in a game, and I'd be welling up with all this pride, but at the same time, thinking, 'Why can't he play ball with me?'"

The mellifluous-voiced music man notes, "I believe in God and in the Bible, and 'Honor thy father and mother,' so I never talked bad about him." When at last he and his dad did have their long heart-to-heart talk "as two grown men, he told me a lot of things that had been going on with him. Some I agreed with, some I didn't, but it was important for both of us to bury the hatchet. That in turn helped me be a better father to my kids … It took a lot of humility and a lot of prayer for me to accept that man's apology for not being there … It's still a work in progress," he admits.

The song has a hook that says, "Father, I forgive you," and Keith tells us that his father broke down and cried when he played it for him. "I'm hoping it will help people gain some insight into their own situations. That's what it's all about for me."

MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THIS: David Carradine tells us he's sustained hundreds of injuries during his career as a martial arts movie star, but he recalls that his favorite happened on the set of "Kill Bill." Yes, we said favorite. The actor reveals that he's a fan of his movie wounds! "I got slashed with a samurai sword on 'Kill Bill.' They wanted to take me to the hospital and I'm like, 'I'm busy working!' They said it would need to be stitched up and I said I'd rather pour salt on the wound and make sure that the scar stays there," says Carradine. "I mean, it was something I got on 'Kill Bill' in China. I wanted to keep that one. It faded because I don't scar very much, but I can still see it. It's just these little white strips."

WIN-WIN: With Election Day here at last, Arsenio Hall has kind words for both candidates' … wives. "You see McCain out there stumping with his wife and daughter? It's like McCain's Angels out there. And Michelle Obama — I can't get that purple dress out of my mind," says the funny man, who has referred to himself in the past as a "Republicrat." Arsenio, who has TV One's "The Blacklist: 100 Greatest Power Moves" series debuting Nov. 9, likes to be an equal opportunity jokester, believing, "We can use the humor and that's kind of what I do."

With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily Feimster.

To find out more about Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith and read their past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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