Trivia: At first intending to become a minister, actor/monologist Andy Griffith (born June 1st, 1926) became active with the Carolina Playmakers, the prestigious drama-and-music adjunct of the University of North Carolina--Chapel Hill. He spent several seasons portraying Sir Walter Raleigh in the summertime outdoor drama The Lost Colony, spending the rest of the years as a schoolteacher. Griffith continued performing fitfully as an after-dinner speaker on the men's club circuit, developing hilariously bucolic routines on subjects ranging from Shakespeare to football. Under the aegis of agent/producer Richard O. Linke, Griffith returned to acting, attaining stardom in the role of bumptious Air Force rookie Will Stockdale in the TV and Broadway productions of No Time For Sergeants. Before committing Sergeants to film, Griffith made his movie debut in director Elia Kazan's A Face in the Crowd, in which he portrayed an outwardly folksy but inwardly vicious TV personality (patterned, some say, after Arthur Godfrey).After filming Face in the Crowd, No Time for Sergeants and Onionhead for Warner Bros. during the years 1957 and 1958, Griffith starred in a 1959 Broadway musical version of Destry Rides Again; as an added source of income, Griffith ran a North Carolina supermarket. On February 15, 1960 he first appeared as Andy Taylor, the laid-back sheriff of Mayberry, North Carolina, on an episode of The Danny Thomas Show. This one-shot was of course the pilot film for the Emmy-winning The Andy Griffith Show, in which Griffith starred from 1960 through 1968. Eternally easygoing on camera, Griffith, who owned 50% of the series, ruled his sitcom set with an iron hand, though he was never as hard on the other actors as he was on himself; to this day, he remains close to fellow Griffith stars Don Knotts and Ron Howard. An unsuccessful return to films with 1969's Angel in My Pocket was followed by an equally unsuccessful 1970 TV series Headmaster. For the next 15 years, Griffith confined himself to guest-star appearances, often surprising his fans by accepting cold-blooded villainous roles. In 1985, he made a triumphal return to series television in Matlock, playing a folksy but very crafty Southern defense attorney. A life-threatening disease known as Gillian-Barre syndrome curtailed his activities in the late 1980s, but as of 1995 Andy Griffith was still raking in the ratings with his infrequent Matlock two-hour specials. The actor worked on and off throughout the late nineties and early 2000s, and co-starred with Keri Russell and Nathan Fillion in the romantic comedy Waitress in 2007.

Trivia: Sturdy, reliable character player Kene Holliday specialized in portrayals of vociferous everymen, with a strong emphasis on television work. Holliday landed one of his first major roles in the small-screen blockbuster Roots: The Next Generations (as Detroit, one of the direct descendants of the iconic Kunta Kinte), and subsequently divided his time between occasional big-screen features (No Small Affair, The Philadelphia Experiment), series work (with many appearances on Matlock), and TV movies, such as the 1988 Dangerous Company. Holliday tackled a rare yet effective lead role in the much-anticipated 2007 drama Great World of Sound, as Clarence, a well-meaning record producer in training who discovers that his parent company isn't exactly all that it professes to be.

Trivia: Lead actor, onscreen from 1985.

Trivia: Having made her feature film debut in Sex and the College Girl (1964), blonde actress Julie Sommars went on to appear in television movies of the '70s and in the occasional feature film through the mid-'80s. Fans of the television drama Matlock (1986-1995) will recognize her for playing Julie March.

Trivia: In films from 1970, George DiCenzo is best known for his portrayals of scowling urban authority types. DiCenzo's TV and movie characterizations have included Vincent Bugliosi in Helter Skelter (1976), Major Benchley in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1978), Arnold Rothstein in The Gangster Chronicles (1981), and Sam Baines in Back to the Future (1984). Numbering among his series-TV assignments are McClain's Law (1981; as Lt. Edward DeNisco), Dynasty (1984-1985 season; as Charles), Equal Justice (1990, top-billed as Pittsburgh D.A. Arnold Bach), and Joe's Life (1993; as Stan Gennaro). George DiCenzo has also kept busy behind the scenes as an associate producer.

Trivia: Though Leslie Easterbrook has only one major feature film role to her credit, it happens to come courtesy of one of the most durable comedy franchises of the 1980s (and briefly into the 1990s). Playing off her looks, Easterbrook first gained notice as Marilyn Monroe-wannabe Rhonda Lee on the hit sitcom Laverne and Shirley from 1980 to 1983. Along with a supporting role in the sex comedy Private Resort (1984), Easterbrook further made her bombshell mark as Sgt. Callahan in the hit misfit comedy Police Academy that same year. Though she returned to TV on the daytime serial Ryan's Hope from 1985 to 1987 and played a substantial part in the TV docudrama The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story (1988), Easterbrook also reprised the role of Callahan in all six of the Police Academy sequels. After the franchise ended in 1994, Easterbrook continued to appear frequently as a guest star on primetime TV, acted in the TV movie Two Voices (1997), and displayed her vocal talents in musical theater.

Trivia: Of Afro-Trinidadian descent.The youngest of four siblings.In 1984, signed as a model with FORD Modeling Agency after winning the Supermodel of The World Contest.Won the lead role in Coming to America (1988) in an audition process that included over two thousand actresses.Featured in Will Smith's "The Wild Wild West" music video.Was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series for her performance in 413 Hope St. even though the show only lasted 10 episodes.

Trivia: New York native Mary-Margaret Humes began her career in show business competing on the pageant circuit, winning the 1975 Miss Florida USA pageant and taking home third place in the same year's Miss USA. She soon transitioned into film, making a memorable appearance as a Vestal Virgin in Mel Brooks' History of the World, Part I, and making several guest appearances over the years on everything from The A-Team to Grey's Anatomy.