DEAR STACY: Can you please tell me if that's Melanie, the folk singer from the '60s and '70s singing in the CVS pharmacy television commercial? Also, what is she doing these days? — Charlie B., N.J.

DEAR CHARLIE: Singer and songwriter Kathy Fisher recorded "Ordinary Miracle" (Sarah McLachlan sang the same song for the film "Charlotte's Web") in the CVS spot. Astoria, Queens native Melanie, now 61, is still performing concerts all around the world. Next week she's set to appear at the Ozark Folk Festival in Arkansas, followed by dates in Kent and Cleveland, Ohio later in the month — then on to a national tour of Australia. Married to her record producer Peter Schekeryk, she has three grown children, Leilah, Jeordie and Beau-Jarred, all of whom are musicians. Beau-Jarred is a guitarist and he tours with Melanie. A concert DVD of her 2007 Royal Festival Hall performance in London was released last year — "Melanie: For One Night Only."

DEAR STACY: Please tell what relation Emily Deschanel of "Bones" is to Zooey Deschanel of "Elf" and other movies? — Lynne S., Cleveland, Ohio

DEAR LYNNE: Emily, 27, and Zooey, 32, are sisters. Their mother is actress Mary Jo Deschanel ("Twin Peaks," "The Right Stuff") and father is five-time Oscar-nominated cinematographer Caleb Deschanel ("The Passion of the Christ," "The Natural," "The Right Stuff").

DEAR STACY: Who wrote the "Hallelujah" song David Letterman played during his Paul Newman dedication? — G.P., Queens, N.Y.

DEAR G.P.: That classic song, heard many times on TV and in films ("Shrek," for instance) was written by Leonard Cohen. Letterman used the Rufus Wainwright version.

DEAR STACY: On the opening show of this season's "Boston Legal," who was the woman who played the opposing counsel at the trial? Didn't she have her own series awhile back? — Barbara B., South Amboy, N.J.

DEAR BARBARA: Ally Walker played the attorney and former love interest of Alan (James Spader). She's known for the series "Profiler," "Moon Over Miami" and "Tell Me You Love Me."

DEAR STACY: Whatever happened to the actor who portrayed Lurch on the old "Addams Family" sitcom? — Bruce D., Cleveland, Ohio

DEAR BRUCE: Ted Cassidy, the unforgettable towering butler of the '60s series, passed away following heart surgery in 1979.

DEAR STACY: Why was the young black member of "The Unit" killed off? — Vale W., Bronx, N.Y.

DEAR VALE: The show's creators planned to have a main character die at some point to retain an authentic feel in the military show, and unfortunately for actor Demore Barnes and his many fans, his Hector Williams character was chosen. After his demise last year, an outcry arose on the Internet, and Toronto native Barnes said he'd never realized how much his character meant to people until his death.

DEAR STACY: Are Concetta Tomei and Marisa Tomei related? — Ray M., Santa Ana, Calif.

DEAR RAY: No.

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

DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.