Trivia: Born in a tough Los Angeles suburb, actress Lindsay Wagner quickly became accustomed to having to work hard and fight harder for the things she wanted out of life. The blonde, 5'11" Wagner supplemented her modelling and singing income by teaching theater arts to schoolchildren. In 1971, she was signed to a $162-per-week contract at Universal Pictures, under whose auspices she played supporting roles in such TV series as The Bold Ones and Owen Marshall, M.D. and co-starred in the theatrical features Two People (1972) and The Paper Chase (1973). Though she received good reviews for her work in the last-named film (in which she was cast as the daughter of imperious law professor John Houseman), Lindsay was summarily dropped by her studio in 1975. At the same time, Universal executives were looking for a tall, athletic actress to play a "bionic woman" opposite Lee Majors in a special two-part installment of the weekly TV series The Six Million Dollar Man. Lindsay's contract was extended an extra few days to permit her to play the role of Jaime Sommers -- and when the two-parter was spun off into the Bionic Woman TV series in 1976, Lindsay, still bitter over her firing, demanded a then-staggering sum of $17,500 per program, and a percentage of the merchandising profits. After the cancellation of Bionic Woman in 1978, Lindsay kept her star shining brightly such made-for-TV movies as The Incredible Journey of Dr. Meg Laurel (1979), Callie and Son (1981), I Want to Live (1983), Convicted (1986), The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Dedrickson Story (1989), and I Want to Keep My Daughter (1995). She has also appeared in several TV-movie sequels to The Bionic Woman, including 1993's Bionic Ever After. In addition to maintaining her successful acting career, Lindsay Wagner has entered the booming instructional-video market with Lindsay Wagner's New Beauty: The Accupressure Facelift.

Trivia: Supporting actor, onscreen from the late '80s.

Trivia: The first time that American actor Bruce Boxleitner set foot on stage, it was with a total of four hours' preparation. While in high school, Boxleitner was forced to jump into the role of My Fair Lady's Henry Higgins when the young man originally cast in the part came down with mononucleosis the day before the show. The applause that greeted Boxleitner's debut was enough to inspire him to continue studying drama at the Goodman Theatre. His first Broadway play flopped, but he managed to secure steady work in a series of villainous supporting roles in Hollywood. With the help of fabled super-agent Jay Bernstein, Boxleitner climbed to stardom, reaching a particularly lofty rung with his four season-stint (from 1983 to 1987) as government agent Lee Stetson on the TV series Scarecrow and Mrs. King. More recently, Bruce Boxleitner was seen as fictional ballplayer "Jumpin' Joe Dugan" in the 1992 Babe Ruth biopic The Babe.

Trivia: Actress, singer, and entertainer Diahann Carroll was awarded a Metropolitan Opera scholarship to attend the High School of Music and Art in New York at the age of ten. While a sociology student in college, Carroll modeled, which led to work as a singer in nightclubs and as a TV performer. In 1954, she made her debut on Broadway (House of Flowers) and in films (in Carmen Jones). She won a Tony Award for her Broadway starring role in No Strings (1962) and later starred on the TV series Julia (1968-69), a TV breakthrough in that it was the first regular series to star (not co-star) a black actor. Carroll was nominated for a "Best Actress" Oscar for her work in Claudine (1974). She was married to actor/singer Vic Damone.

Trivia: Supporting actor, onscreen from the '70s.

Trivia: Supporting actor Merritt Butrick had extensive experience performing in California theaters before coming to feature films such as Star Trek II (1982) and Shy People (1987) during the 1980s. He also worked regularly on television. Butrick died in 1989.

Trivia: A holder of an economics degree from Philadelphia's Temple University, Philly-born actor Robert Prosky kicked off his career by winning a televised talent contest. With his sharp-edged voice and mashed-potato features, Prosky rose to prominence as a character actor, spending 23 years with Washington, D.C.'s prestigious Arena Stage. In 1983, he was cast in the original Broadway production of Glengarry Glen Ross, winning a Tony award for his performance; he later received excellent notices for his performance as an aging Soviet bureaucrat in A Walk in the Woods. Prosky's first film role was as the backstabbing mob boss in 1981's Thief. Since that time, he has graced several films in a variety of roles -- few more likable than the wistful, washed-up horror show host in Gremlins 2 (1988), the TV station manager in Mrs. Doubtfire, and the enigmatic projectionist in Last Action Hero (1993). Among Robert Prosky's many TV assignments was the regular role of Sgt. Stan Jablonski, who in 1984 took over the morning roll call from the late Sgt. Phil Esterhaus (Michael Conrad) in Hill Street Blues.

Trivia: Educated at the University of Pennsylvania, actor Philip Sterling made his first Broadway appearance in the 1955 musical Silk Stockings. Sterling was later spotlighted in such New York stage productions as Summertree, An Evening with Richard Nixon and Broadway Bound. In films from 1969's Me, Natalie, he has generally been cast as father figures or corporate bigwigs. His more notable film roles include Mr. Lipman in Joan Micklin Silver's Hester Street (1975) and Hollywood mogul Joseph Schenck in the 1980 TV movie Rita Hayworth: The Love Goddess. In addition, Philip Sterling has made numerous appearances in episodic television; in 1975, he co-starred with Wayne Rogers in the summer-replacement series City of Angels.