Trivia: Angela Lansbury received an Oscar nomination for her first film, Gaslight, in 1944, and has been winning acting awards and audience favor ever since. Born in London to a family that included both politicians and performers, Lansbury came to the U.S. during World War II. She made notable early film appearances as the snooty sister in National Velvet (1944); the pathetic singer in The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), which garnered her another Academy nomination; and the madam-with-a-heart-of-gold saloon singer in The Harvey Girls (1946). She turned evil as the manipulative publisher in State of the Union (1948), but was just as convincing as the good queen in The Three Musketeers (1948) and the petulant daughter in The Court Jester (1956). She received another Oscar nomination for her chilling performance as Laurence Harvey's scheming mother in The Manchurian Candidate (1962) and appeared as the addled witch in Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), among other later films. On Broadway, she won Tony awards for the musicals Mame (1966), Dear World (1969), the revival of Gypsy (1975), Sweeney Todd (1979) and, at age 82, for the play Blithe Spirit (2009). Despite a season in the '50s on the game show Pantomime Quiz, she came to series television late, starring in 1984-1996 as Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote; she took over as producer of the show in the '90s. She returned to the Disney studios to record the voice of Mrs. Potts in Beauty and the Beast (1991) and to sing the title song and later reprised the role in the direct-to-video sequel, The Enchanted Christmas (1997). Lansbury is the sister of TV producer Bruce Lansbury.

Trivia: Actor Marc Singer made his movie bow in Go Tell the Spartans (1978), after a few guest shots on such TVers as Hawaii 5-0. In films, Singer is most closely associated with the role of Dar, the bare-chested sword-and-sorcery protagonist of the Beastmaster films. On TV, he played aspiring pugilist Johnny Captor in the five-week miniseries The Contender (1980), extraterrestrial-bashing hero Mike Donovan in V (1984-85) and Matt Cantrell in the 1986 episodes of Dallas. Marc Singer also "appeared" as the voice of Man-Bat in the opening installment of the Fox Network's Batman: the Animated Series (1992). Singer is the older brother of actress Lori Singer.

Trivia: Trained at the American Mime Theatre, long-legged, redheaded Anita Morris learned how to use "body language" for utmost effect. After appearing as a singer/dancer/actress in such Broadway musicals as Jesus Christ Superstar, Seesaw, The Magic Show, Sugar Babies, and Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Morris brought down the house in Nine, the 1982 stage musical version of Fellini's 8 1/2. Her bawdy portrayal of the hero's mistress earned her a Tony Award nomination that year and helped to secure her stardom. Morris' TV-series credits include the roles of Babs Berrenger in Berrenger's (1985) and Barbara Whiteman in Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1987); her films include The Happy Hooker (1975), Ruthless People (1985), Bloodhounds of Broadway (1990), and Radioland Murders (1994; released posthumously). Anita Morris died of cancer in 1994, and was survived by her husband, director Grover Dale.

Trivia: Mason Adams was once described by a colleague as having a "non-actor's face." This has hardly hampered Adams' professional success, which has hinged almost exclusively on his instantly recognizable voice. After receiving an MA in Theater Arts and Speech from the University of Wisconsin, Adams became a teacher at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse. In radio from 1940 onward, Adams gained fame in the title role of the popular soap opera Pepper Young's Family. Typically cast in kindly, folksy roles, Adams enjoyed playing villains and psychos, notably the evil Atomic Man on the radio saga Superman. A prolific commercial spokesman, Adams has for nearly four decades been principal pitchman for the Smuckers condiment company. From 1977 through 1982, Adams played managing editor Charlie Hume on TV's Lou Grant. In films, Mason Adams has occasionally been permitted an opportunity to break free from his paternal TV image, e.g. his corporate bad-guy assignment in 1988's F/X.

Trivia: The career of William Prince dates back to his first stage work in the late '30s. On film, Prince came across as handsome and personable, but somehow, despite the fact that he appeared in numerous feature films, his career never caught fire and major movie stardom eluded him. His best movie role was as the good-looking but vapid Christian in the 1950 Cyrano de Bergerac. Ageing gracefully into a solid character actor, Prince remained in demand for film and TV roles into the 1990s. William Prince's latter-day TV reputation rested on his hundreds of soap opera appearances: He played Ken Baxter on Another World, Ben Travis on The Edge of Night, Judge Henderson on Search for Tomorrow, Russell Barry on A World Apart, and the father of the title character in Young Dr. Malone. Prince passed away at age 83 in Tarrytown, NY.

Trivia: While growing up in Chicago, Tom Bosley dreamed of becoming the star left-fielder for the Cubs. As it turned out, the closest Bosley got to organized athletics was a sportscasting class at DePauw University. After additional training at the Radio Institute of Chicago and two years' practical experience in various dramatic radio programs and stock companies, he left for New York in 1950. Five years of odd jobs and summer-theater stints later, he landed his first off-Broadway role, playing Dupont-Dufort in Jean Anouilh's Thieves' Carnival. Steadier work followed at the Arena Theatre in Washington, D.C.; then in 1959, Bosley landed the starring role in the Broadway musical Fiorello!, picking up a Tony Award, an ANTA Award, and the New York Drama Critics Award in the bargain. In 1963, he made his film bow as Natalie Wood's "safe and secure" suitor Anthony Colombo in Love With the Proper Stranger. Occasionally cast as two-bit criminals or pathetic losers (he sold his eyes to blind millionairess Joan Crawford in the Spielberg-directed Night Gallery TV movie), Bosley was most often seen as a harried suburban father. After recurring roles on such TV series as That Was the Week That Was, The Debbie Reynolds Show, and The Sandy Duncan Show, Bosley was hired by Hanna-Barbera to provide the voice of flustered patriarch Howard Boyle on the animated sitcom Wait Til Your Father Gets Home (1972-1973). This served as a dry run of sorts for his most famous series-TV assignment: Howard Cunningham, aka "Mr. C," on the immensely popular Happy Days (1974-1983). The warm, familial ambience of the Happy Days set enabled Bosley to weather the tragic death of his first wife, former dancer Jean Elliot, in 1978. In addition to his Happy Days duties, Bosley was narrator of the syndicated documentary That's Hollywood (1977-1981). From 1989 to 1991, he starred on the weekly series The Father Dowling Mysteries, and thereafter was seen on an occasional basis as down-to-earth Cabot Cove sheriff Amos Tupper on Murder, She Wrote. Reportedly as kind, generous, and giving as his Happy Days character, Tom Bosley has over the last 20 years received numerous honors for his many civic and charitable activities.

Trivia: Beck is a lead actor onscreen from the '70s.

Trivia: Austrian-born actress Vanessa Brown was on the Broadway stage from age 13 in Watch on the Rhine, and at the same time was featured as a contestant on the popular radio series Quiz Kids. Billed as Tessa Brind, Vanessa made her screen bow in the Val Lewton-produced study of wartime juvenile delinquency Youth Runs Wild (1944). She became "Vanessa Brown" for good with 1946's I've Always Loved You, spending the next six years as a popular film ingenue. In 1950 Brown joined the ever-growing ranks of movie "Janes" in Tarzan and the Slave Girl. She also appeared in the 1955 sitcom My Favorite Husband, replacing the series' original star, Joan Caulfield. Brown retired from films to marry director Mark Sandrich Jr. in the mid-'50s, returning briefly before the cameras in 1967. Vanessa worked on the 1977 satirical TV soap opera All That Glitters, and also had a recurring role on the still-thriving real soap opera General Hospital. Back in radio in the early '70s, Vanessa was an occasional guest speaker on the short-wave Voice of America service. In her later years, Vanessa Brown added writing to her accomplishments, penning two books and several magazine articles.

Trivia: With a father who was a prominent jazz trumpeter, a grandmother who danced at The Cotton Club, and a grandfather who was a member of the Nat King Cole Trio, it may seem a given that actor Wren T. Brown would pursue a career in show business. Despite the fact that Brown has been acting almost as long as he can recall, he nearly put his career in the spotlight aside for a shot at becoming a professional tennis player. Though Brown landed his first commercial appearance at age 11, the following six years would be spent running the courts before returning to commercials in McDonald's first "Chicken McNuggets" campaign at age 17. Following a television debut in Knight Rider and a feature debut in Robert Townsend's 1987 comedy Hollywood Shuffle, strong supporting performances in The Hidden (1987) and I'm Gonna Git You Sucka! (1988) eventually led to a leading role in the 1992 feature The Importance of Being Earnest (1992). His appearance in such popular sitcoms and dramas as Seinfeld, Frasier, The West Wing, and Ally McBeal gaining Brown ever-widening exposure, a Dramalogue Award for his role in a production of Shakespeare's As You Like It and a NAACP Image Nomination for his work in 2001's Jeffrey's Plan proved that he had what it took to make it on-stage as well. Moving into the new millennium with roles in Dancing in September (2000) and Biker Boyz (2003), Brown returned to the small screen with a supporting role in the 2003 sitcom Whoopie.

Trivia: Lane Smith attended the Actors Studio during its halcyon days of the late 1950s-early 1960s. Though he didn't go on to stardom like such Studio grads as Dustin Hoffman and Al Pacino, Smith found steady work on the New York stage. In over 100 films and television projects from 1974's Man on a String, Smith has regularly invested three-dimensionality into such cardboard characters as prosecutor Jim Trotter III in My Cousin Vinny (1992) and Coach Reilly in The Mighty Ducks (1993). His latter-day stage work has included a healthy run in the original production of David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross. Smith's TV roles included smiler-with-a-knife space alien Nathan Bates in V (1984) and Dr. Robert Moffitt in Kay O'Brien (1986). In 1989, Lane received a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of Richard M. Nixon in the ABC miniseries The Final Days. Fans of ABC's Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman will recognize Smith for playing the gruff Daily Planet editor Perry White. Lane Smith was married to writer Sydne MacCall.

Trivia: The youngest of the acting Bottoms brothers, Samuel Bottoms made his first film appearance as the retarded Billy in The Last Picture Show, appearing in several scenes with older brother Timothy. Samuel later showed up in two Vietnam-themed Francis Ford Coppola films: he was hotshot PFC Lance in Apocalypse Now (1979) and the more sober-sided Lt. Webber in Gardens of Stone (1987). In 1981, he starred in the TV-miniseries remake of East of Eden as Cal Trask, while his brother Timothy played his father, Adam Trask. Samuel Bottoms went on to co-star with Tim and Joseph Bottoms in 1987's Island Sons, a busted TV pilot.