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: Character actor Gregory Itzin's tall and conservative appearance seemed to call for, even demand, sober and distinguished parts, such as those of corporate heavies, cutthroat attorneys, etc. It was with immense irony, then, that Itzin took his cinematic bow on a completely loony note -- as one of the proselytizing cultists karate-chopped by Robert Stack at the airport in the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker classic Airplane! For a time, Itzin seemed to take this as a cue and placed a strong emphasis in his career on comedies, such as the 1982 Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (as one of religious crusader Melvin P. Thorpe's minions) and episodes of Murphy Brown and Night Court. The late '80s, however, saw Itzin turn toward more straight-faced material; he tackled small roles in the Gary David Goldberg melodrama Dad (1989) and Steve Kloves' justly praised seriocomedy The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989). In the 1990s, Itzin's diversity broadened further, with periodic contributions to the domestically themed prime-time dramas ER, Murder One, and (expanding into the fantasy realm) Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. Itzin extended his heavy emphasis on television work into the 2000s, with a particularly high profile in 24, as Vice President (then President) Charles Logan. In 2007, the actor received renewed attention (not all of it positive) with his portrayal of Dr. Greg Jameson, the physician who treats psychopath victim Lindsay Lohan, in the critically despised torture-fest I Know Who Killed Me. Itzen continued his role on 24 throughout 2010, and took on a small supporting role in actor/director George Clooney's political drama The Ides of March (2011).

Trivia: Taught acting at the University of Massachusetts. Co-founded the No Theatre Company. Made his New York debut in the No Theatre Company's 1978 production of The Elephant Man. Made his professional debut in an understudy role in the 1980 world premiere of Arthur Miller's "The American Clock". Received the 1993 Michael Landon Humanitarian Award for his work with the Down Syndrome Congress.

Trivia: Movie and TV leading man Dirk Benedict was young, handsome, muscular and enthusiastic. These qualities were far more important than versatility in establishing Benedict as a dependable screen presence in the 1970s. His theatrical films include Scavenger Hunt (1979), Body Slam (1987), and Shadow Force (1992), their subject matter implicit in their titles. Far more successful on series television than in films, Dirk Benedict played Officer Gil Foley on Chopper One (1974), Starbuck on Battlestar Gallactica (1978), and master impressionist Templeton "Face" Peck on The A-Team (1983-87).

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.