VITAL STATISTICS: MARK LINN-BAKER
By Cheryl Lavin

Age: 32.

Birthplace: St. Louis.

Occupation: Actor.

Current home: New York City.

Marital status: Single.

Children: None.

Working on: "Perfect Strangers," on ABC-TV Wednesday nights.

Worst date: In college in New Haven, Conn., I once took a date to a scenic overlook.  We arrived just in time to witness a shooting.

I stay home to watch: "American Playhouse," on PBS.

The book I've been recommending lately is: "The Bourne Supremacy," by Robert Ludlum.

Favorite pigout food: Sushi.

Favorite performer: Dustin Hoffman.

Personal hero: George McGovern.

I'd give anything to meet: Cyndi Lauper.

My fantasy is: Doing a season of really fine plays and living with my family: my mother, my two younger sisters and my girlfriend.

If I could change one thing, it would be: My diet. I'd eat more healthy stuff and less junk food like greasy tacos.

People who knew me in high school thought I was: A hippie.

My most irrational act: I once purchased a school bus that had been outfitted for camping.  I quickly discovered there's no place in New Haven to park such a vehicle.

My most irrational fear: That I'll never work again.  It's pretty irrational because I've worked constantly since I've gotten out of Yale Drama School.

Superstition: I knock on wood a lot.  Especially when I say things like, "I've worked constantly since I've gotten out of Yale Drama School."

The best time of my life: In 1983, when I was in a production of "Waiting for Godot" that won the Boston Critics Circle Award.

The worst time of my life: When my father died last April.

Behind my back my friends say: "He's cheap."

My most humbling experience: Meeting Lucille Ball at the Emmys.  She's the grande dame of comedy.  I just melted in front of her and basked in her glow.