• December 19, 1983
• Vol. 20
• No. 25

Lookout

Mimi Rogers fancies herself as something of a financial whiz. She speaks offhandedly of public offerings and the latest T-bill rate. It is possible that she has a better eye for investments than she does for television shows. Slated to play the female lead in NBC's Remington Steele, Rogers, 28, chose instead a one-year CBS contract, which led to the filming of Gibb, an unsold pilot. Next, Mimi landed on NBC's The Rousters, which ran five episodes before disappearing in October. It is scheduled to return Dec. 20. The producer Stephen (The A-Team) Cannell calls her "a natural actress with great technique." Depending on the ratings, The Rousters may disappear yet again. Rogers, however, is unlikely to drop from sight, given an affinity for attaching herself to highly visible men. After liaisons with Tom Selleck and Ed Marinaro, Mimi is currently dating Bobby Shriver. She took up acting five years ago. It was seven months before she got an agent, but her persistence paid off. While the fate of The Rousters is uncertain, Rogers says she's "pretty happy. I could see being an actress for a long time." If not, there's always a Wall Street career to consider.

Like many a country and Western singer, Danny Cooksey started his career behind bars—only his were attached to a crib. Born in the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, he sang along with the radio at 2 and memorized the lyrics to several songs before he was 3. "I listened," says Danny, now 8, "liked what heard and started singing." The strawberry blond second-grader recorded his first tape when he was 5 and hit the road shortly thereafter. He has opened for Merle Haggard and Johnny Lee at such hallowed halls as Gilley's in Pasadena, Texas and Billy Bob's in Fort Worth. His dream is to play the Grand Ole Opry. The youngster has won an armful of awards (including the Oklahoma Country Music Association's "Entertainer of the Year"), been on Good Morning America, The Dukes of Hazzard and taped That's Incredible! When not strummin' his guitar, Danny races his Hot Wheels car collection around his jam-packed bedroom, which features posters of C&W stars, hockey sticks and a waterbed. His fan club (Grandma Joy Wagner is its president) numbers more than 200, many of whom turn out for his weekend gigs. Cooksey pulls in roughly $500 (which his parents bank for him) an appearance but insists that he sings for pleasure. "I like to make people happy," Danny says. "When I see them smile, clap and yell, it makes me feel good."