Trivia: The screen's first authentic black romantic leading man, Williams is often referred to as "the black Gable." He first appeared onstage as a child actor in The Firebrand of Florence (1947) with German actress Lotte Lenya; his mother was an elevator operator at New York's Lyceum Theater, and when she heard of an opening for a child in the play she brought him to the producer, who hired him. He went on to study acting at New York's High School of Music and Art and The National Academy of Fine Arts; for a few months he was taught by Sidney Poitier at Harlem's Actors Workshop. He began working onstage in the mid '50s, then landed his breakthrough role in the play A Taste of Honey in 1960. He debuted onscreen as a rebellious ghetto kid in The Last Angry Man (1959). However, he did not appear in another film for over a decade. In the '60s he began landing roles on TV, including a continuing role on the soap opera Another World and guest spots on TV series. He made a big impression as the costar of the TV movie Brian's Song (1970). His breakthrough screen role was as the lover of Billie Holiday (Diana Ross) in the hit Lady Sings the Blues (1972), which brought him to stardom and established him as a romantic lead. He went on to appear in a number of movies, few of which fully used his talents; he portrayed Lando Calrissian in the second and third Star Wars films, The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983). In the mid '80s he began appearing again frequently on TV, and starred in the short-lived series Double Dare in 1985; he was also a regular for a while on Dynasty.

Trivia: G. Gordon Liddy first gained attention for his involvement in the Watergate scandal that led to President Richard M. Nixon's resignation. He was convicted and spent several years in jail. Afterwards, he wrote an autobiography, Will, and served as a technical consultant when it was filmed. He first appeared as an actor in the made-for-TV thriller The Highwayman (1987), after which he gained substantial popularity as a guest star on the hit series Miami Vice. For several years, Liddy hosted a Washington, D.C.-based radio talk show on station WJFK.

Trivia: Initially written off as a one-hit wonder following the meteoric rise and fall of his superstardom (thanks to the 1992 single "Achy Breaky Heart" and its accompanying album, Some Gave All), country-rocker Billy Ray Cyrus caught his second wind in the early 2000s. He then staged a considerable comeback in film and television, defying the expectations of many naysayers who believed it impossible for Cyrus to escape from the shadow of that one love-it-or-hate-it single. Some limited film experience, of course, accompanied the Kentuckian heartthrob's early music career, by virtue of the music videos and occasional performance films he cranked out (such as the 1992 Billy Ray Cyrus: Live). He failed to gain notice as an actor, however, until the early 2000s. As the new millennium dawned, Cyrus moved from the echelons of Nashville to those of Hollywood. He began at a somewhat low ebb, with a turn in the straight-to-video actioner Radical Jack (2000), opposite DeDee Pfeiffer, sister of Michelle. In that B-picture (which does not feature rollicking musical numbers), Cyrus travels the route hewn by Patrick Swayze, The Rock (in his remake Walking Tall), Lyle Alzado, and many others. He played Jack Reynolds, a leather clad, chopper-riding southerner who uses his steel fist to wipe clean a town full of redneck scumbags; Pfeiffer, of course, portrayed his romantic interest.The following year, Cyrus toned it down several notches and allowed his soft side to emerge, with a direct appeal to the female demographic and to more sensitive male viewers. He signed on as the lead in the PAX channel's series comedy drama Doc, playing Dr. Clint Cassidy, a sweet-natured Montana physician who follows the love of his life to the Big Apple and accepts a position at a Manhattan hospital, where his gracious charm and easygoing style win the heart of many a patient. That program scored with PAX viewers and lasted several seasons. After a minor role in David Lynch's spectacular Mulholland Dr. (a significant step up from Radical Jack) and turns in such features as Valerie McCaffrey's acclaimed black comedy Wish You Were Dead (2002) and Scott Coffey's quirky dramedy Ellie Parker (2005), the former country singer scored a double whammy. He portrayed the dad and manager of "secret teen pop sensation" Hannah Montana (played, in turn, by Cyrus' real-life daughter, Miley Cyrus) on that character's eponymous Disney Channel sitcom, and then found an even broader fan base (drawing from his roots in country rock and sporting a shaggy mane) when the singer-turned-actor joined the fourth season of the competitive reality series Dancing With the Stars as one of the latest celebs to partner up with a professional ballroom dancer. Cyrus and partner Karina Smirnoff, despite earning low scores from the judges, were able to stay in the competition until just before the semifinals due to the viewers' votes (which count as half of their overall score each week). They were eventually booted off the show in May 2007, just after judge Bruno Tonioli controversially referred to Cyrus' latest performance as "crap."Just months later, Cyrus issued a new album on Walt Disney Records, which included covers of "Over the Rainbow," "Brown-Eyed Girl," and "Put a Little Love in My Heart," as well as new songs. Cyrus continued to work on Hannah Montana throughout the 2000s, and appeared in the feature film Hannah Montana: The Movie in 2009. In 2010, Cyrus joined Jackie Chan for a supporting role in The Spy Next Door, and starred in the holiday feature Christmas Comes to Canaan in 2011. Cyrus would continue to work in many areas of performance over the coming years, releasing albums, like 2012's Changed My Mind.