Trivia: Rough-hewn American leading man Richard Boone was thrust into the cold cruel world when he was expelled from Stanford University, for a minor infraction. He worked as a oil-field laborer, boxer, painter and free-lance writer before settling upon acting as a profession. After serving in World War II, Boone used his GI Bill to finance his theatrical training at the Actors' Studio, making his belated Broadway debut at age 31, playing Jason in Judith Anderson's production of Medea. Signed to a 20th Century-Fox contract in 1951, Boone was given good billing in his first feature, Halls of Montezuma; among his Fox assignments was the brief but telling role of Pontius Pilate in The Robe (1953). Boone launched the TV-star phase of his career in the weekly semi-anthology Medic, playing Dr. Konrad Steiner. From 1957 through 1963, Boone portrayed Paladin, erudite western soldier of fortune, on the popular western series Have Gun, Will Travel. He directed several episodes of this series. Boone tackled a daring TV assignment in 1963, when in collaboration with playwright Clifford Odets, he appeared in the TV anthology series The Richard Boone Show. Unique among filmed dramatic programs, Boone's series featured a cast of eleven regulars (including Harry Morgan, Robert Blake, Jeanette Nolan, Bethel Leslie and Boone himself), who appeared in repertory, essaying different parts of varying sizes each week. The Richard Boone Show failed to catch on, and Boone went back to films. In 1972 he starred in another western series, this one produced by his old friend Jack Webb: Hec Ramsey, the saga of an old-fashioned sheriff coping with an increasingly industrialized West. In the last year of his life, Boone was appointed Florida's cultural ambassador. Richard Boone died at age 65 of throat cancer.

Trivia: Character actor Harry Fleer appeared in several feature films from the late '50s through the mid-'60s, as well as in many 1960s television shows. His early film career was characterized by appearances in low-budget horror outings. Fleer's television credits include guest-starring roles on shows ranging from Superman and Bat Masterson to Twilight Zone and The Green Hornet.

Trivia: Following Korean War service as a paratrooper, Hal Needham drifted into movies as a bit player. His remarkable physical dexterity and willingness to "take it" enabled him to rise up the professional ladder from stuntman to stunt coordinator to 2nd unit director. A longtime chum of Burt Reynolds (himself an ex-stuntman), Needham was given his first chance to direct a theatrical feature with Reynolds' Smokey and the Bandit (1977); the film was a huge hit, assuring Needham future assignments as both director and scriptwriter. The 1980 Reynolds vehicle Hooper was widely recognized as Reynolds and Needham's tribute to the entire fraternity of Hollywood stunters. For television, Needham directed several installments 1989 Burt Reynolds adventure series B. L. Stryker (1989) and the pilot for the syndicated adventure semi-weekly Bandit (1994); there was also a 1992 animated cartoon series titled Stunt Dawgs, wherein the central character was named Needham. Founder of the troubleshooting aggregation Stunts Unlimited (which also served as the title of a 1980 TV movie), Needham has also served as chairman for another movie-industry organization, Camera Platforms International. In addition, Hal Needham is owner of the "world's fastest car," the Budweiser Rocket, now on display at the Smithsonian Institute. Needham was awarded an Honorary Oscar in 2012 for his innovations, just one year before he died at age 82.

Trivia: Petite, dark-haired Sue Randall only ever made two appearances on the big screen, in a supporting role in Walter Lang's battle-of-the-sexes comedy Desk Set (1957), portraying a member of Katharine Hepburn's research staff, and co-starring in O'Dale Ireland's exploitation thriller Date Bait (1960), made for Roger Corman's low-budget Filmgroup company. Millions of baby-boomer television viewers, however, will always remember Randall fondly for her portrayal of Miss Alice Landers, Beaver Cleaver's favorite teacher on Leave It to Beaver; from 1958 through 1962, the object of a crush on the part of the series' young hero as well as his eternal admiration, Miss Landers was virtually a fixture in American popular culture for five years. Randall also had a starring role in the 1955 series Valiant Lady and appeared on series such as Sea Hunt, Perry Mason, The Fugitive, 77 Sunset Strip, The F.B.I., Gunsmoke, Wendy and Me, and I Spy, before retiring in 1965. She was one of the few surviving major supporting cast members who did not participate in Still the Beaver (1983), the revival of the series. Randall died of cancer in 1984 at the age of 49.

Trivia: After stage and modelling experience, raven-haired leading lady Paula Raymond entered films as a Columbia stock actress. In 1950, she moved to MGM, where she played prominent roles opposite Cary Grant (Crisis), Van Johnson (Grounds for Marriage) and Dick Powell (The Tall Target). "Shock theatre" fans remember Raymond best as the screaming heroine in Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1952). Working less and less as the 1950s segued into the 1960s, Paula Raymond closed out her career in inexpensive horror films.