Celebrity Extra: Daisy Edgar-Jones
By Dana Jackson
Q: I've been watching the miniseries "Under the Banner of Heaven" on FX. All the actors are top-notch. Can you tell me about the lead actress who plays Brenda? Also, who plays detective Pyre's wife in the movie? She looks just like Kirsten Dunst, but I didn't see her name in the opening credits. -- S.S.
A: A relative newcomer to American audiences, Daisy Edgar-Jones is an English actress, but 2022 is definitely her year. Just 23 years old, she has that star quality that should soon make her a household name. In addition to playing the lovely and charming yet stubborn Brenda in "Under the Banner of Heaven," she can be seen as the lead in the upcoming film "Where the Crawdads Sing," based on the best-selling novel of the same name. If you have Hulu, you can also watch her in another series, "Normal People," which is set in Ireland.
Rebecca Pyre, wife of Andrew Garfield's Detective Pyre, is played by Adelaide Clemens. She does bear a strong resemblance to Dunst, but she's an Australian actress with an impressive list of credits. Most notably, she played Tawney Talbot in another heart-wrenching drama, "Rectify," which aired on Sundance TV from 2013 to 2016.
Daisy Edgar-Jones in "Under the Banner of Heaven". Photo credit: FX
Q: Are they going to broadcast the Daytime Emmys this year? I remember watching it and the Soap Opera Digest Awards all the time when I was growing up. -- J.K.
A: Yes, the 49th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards will air live on CBS at 9 p.m. ET on Friday, June 24. It also will be available for streaming through Paramount+. All four of the remaining daytime soaps ("The Young and the Restless," "The Bold and the Beautiful," "Days of Our Lives" and "General Hospital") have been nominated for Outstanding Drama Series. Other categories cover daytime talk shows, game shows and children's programming.
Q: I was shocked and saddened to hear about singer Naomi Judd's death to suicide recently. How many children did she have, and was she married at the time she passed? -- D.L.
A: Country music star Naomi Judd was born Diana Ellen Judd in a Kentucky coal-mining town. She had a tough childhood with an alcoholic father, and she suffered sexual abuse by another relative. She had both physical and mental illness as an adult in the form of hepatitis C and crippling depression. Naomi had the voice of an angel and had two beautiful, talented daughters, singer Wynonna and actress Ashley. She also left behind a husband, Larry Strickland, a former backup singer for Elvis Presley whom she married in 1989.
The day after Naomi died at age 76, her daughters accepted the already planned honor of their mother's induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville. The Judds were supposed to embark on a farewell tour beginning in September. According to a source for People magazine, the family will meet to see if they can "proceed [with the tour] in an obviously different incarnation. They want to be respectful of their legacy but, more importantly, as to what Naomi would have wanted."
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