Trivia: Tina Yothers rose to child stardom as Jennifer, the second-oldest child of the Keaton family, on Gary David Goldberg's quintessential '80s sitcom Family Ties (opposite Michael J. Fox, Meredith Baxter-Birney, and others). An actress from age three, born into a showbusiness family, Yothers signed one of her first major parts in 1981, shortly before the seven-year Family Ties assignment, when Alan Parker and co. tapped her to play the daughter of Albert Finney and Diane Keaton in his gut-wrenching treatment of a contemporary divorce, Shoot the Moon (1982). Yothers' post-Ties career placed its strongest emphasis on telemovies, such as Laker Girls (1990) and A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Jealous Jokester (1995), and she achieved a colorful bit of recognition by playing scandal queen Tonya Harding in the TV movie Spunk: The Tonya Harding Story (1993). Though she would make a smattering of guest appearances on various TV shows, she didn't return to the screen in any regular capacity until she signed on for the fourth season of Celebrity Fit Club.

Trivia: A native of rural Humboldt, IA, character actor Christian Clemenson left his home state when a scholarship that he netted as part of his paperboy route afforded him the opportunity to attend the prestigious Phillips Academy preparatory school in Andover, MA. That experience imparted Clemenson with a deep-seated love of theatrics, and he spent his Iowan summers during college acting in local stage productions. The upstart subsequently attended Harvard as an undergraduate and Yale Drama School as a grad student, then moved to Los Angeles in the mid-'80s, where he accepted a long series of bit parts and supporting roles in A-list features, typically cast as nebbishy professional types. Early films in which Clemenson appeared included Heartburn (1986), Legal Eagles (1986), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), and Broadcast News (1987).Beginning in the late '90s, Clemenson began placing a stronger emphasis on television work, with guest roles in series including Ally McBeal, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The West Wing, and NYPD Blue. He received critical kudos for his portrayal of ill-fated executive Thomas E. Burnett Jr., a victim of the September 11th terrorist attacks, in Paul Greengrass' feature United 93 (2006), then joined William Shatner, Candice Bergen, and James Spader of David E. Kelley's offbeat seriocomedy Boston Legal in a recurring capacity during the show's second season; on the program, Clemenson played Jerry "Hands" Espenson, a troubled lawyer plagued by Asperger's Syndrome. He went on to win Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2006 for that role, and continued to appear on the show, later attaining regular status and staying with the series until it folded in 2009. Clemenson would continue to appear regularly on screen as the years went on, appearing on shows like CSI: Miami and Harry's Law.

Trivia: Like other Saturday Night Live alumni, Julia Louis-Dreyfus made the move to feature films, but she achieved true stardom on TV as Seinfeld's inimitable Elaine Benes. Born to an affluent family and raised in Washington, D.C., Louis-Dreyfus studied theater at Northwestern University. Along with working as a member of The Practical Theater Company, Louis-Dreyfus cut her sharp comic teeth as part of Chicago's Second City troupe. She soon followed in the footsteps of prior Second City-ers John Belushi and Bill Murray, joining the cast of NBC's Saturday Night Live from 1982 to 1985 (along with Northwestern classmate and eventual husband Brad Hall). Louis-Dreyfus bounced to films with appearances in Soul Man (1986), Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989), before returning to TV on the second episode of a low-rated NBC primetime sitcom starring comedian Jerry Seinfeld in 1990.As Jerry's ex-girlfriend-turned-pal Elaine, Louis-Dreyfus proved that she could hold her own as the sole female member of Seinfeld's do-nothing quartet of neurotic New Yorkers. With her "big wall of hair," signature shoes and penchant for over-enthusiastic exclamations, Louis-Dreyfus' Elaine was no mere foil, but rather a full participant in the show's increasingly popular, irony-laden comic shenanigans. Along with winning an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 1996, Louis-Dreyfus won the Golden Globe in 1994 and the Screen Actor's Guild award in 1997 and 1998. During Seinfeld's phenomenally successful nine-year run, Louis-Dreyfus also played supporting roles in North (1994), Father's Day (1997), and as a libidinous sister in Woody Allen's Deconstructing Harry (1997). After Seinfeld went off the air in 1998, Dreyfus took some time off from appearing in front of the camera to spend time with her husband and two sons, but she did the voice of Princess Atta in the Pixar animated blockbuster A Bug's Life (1998).Louis-Dreyfus subsequently returned to TV as the Blue Fairy in the TV movie musical Gepetto (2000) before attempting another sitcom. After two of her Seinfeld co-stars failed to make their own series fly in 2000 and 2001, Louis-Dreyfus opted for a non-traditional approach, playing a struggling lounge singer in the real time, laugh track free Watching Ellie in 2002. Louis-Dreyfus would continue to remain one of the most beloved comedic actresses in TV, starring on The New Adventures of Old Christine, and the political satire Veep.

Trivia: The daughter of Austrian actress Gusti Huber, Bibi Besch has been a Hollywood fixture since 1977, and a TV regular since long before that. A versatile character actress with nary a trace of a European accent, Besch's film roles have ranged from Carol in Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Kahn (1979) to Belle in Steel Magnolias. Her television career has encompassed the daytime soaps The Edge of Night, The Secret Storm, Love Is a Many Splendored Thing, and Somerset, and the nighttime serials The Secrets of Midland Heights (1980) and The Hamptons (1983). Devotees of the late Northern Exposure will have vivid memories of Bibi for her Emmy-nominated portrayal of the mother of Maggie O'Connell (Janine Turner), who reacts to a mid-life crisis by accidentally burning her daughter's home to the ground. In real life, Bibi Besch is the far less inflammatory mother of actress Samantha Mathis. Besch died of cancer on September 7, 1996, in the home of her sister-in-law, Jenny Besch. The actress was 56.