Trivia: A small, delicate-looking, perky actress, Thompson studied dance as a child, and was dancing professionally by age 14; she won scholarships to the Pennsylvania Ballet, American Ballet, and the San Francisco Ballet. However, she felt she was too short to become a prima ballerina and gave up dance in favor of acting. After moving to New York she appeared in some 20 Burger King TV commercials, then debuted onscreen in Jaws 3-D (1983). Shortly thereafter she got her first important role, opposite Tom Cruise in the hit All the Right Moves (1983). She is best known for her multiple roles in the three Back to the Future movies; aside from those highly successful movies, she has not gone on to appear in any hit productions. She also appeared in the TV movies Nightbreaker (1989), Montana (1990), and the PBS playhouse co-production The Wizard of Loneliness (1988).

Trivia: Robert Englund began his acting training at age 12, taking drama courses at the University of Oakland, U.C.L.A., California State-Northridge, the Michigan Academy of Dramatic Arts, and the Rochester, NY, branch of R.A.D.A. Englund made his first professional appearance in a Cleveland production of Godspell. His first film role was the bumptious backwoodsman Whitey in Buster and Billie (1974), after which he paid his dues in a series of villainous bit parts: shooting down Burt Reynolds at the end of Hustle (1975); beating up Kris Kristofferson in A Star is Born (1976); and so on. In 1984, he was cast as Willie, one of the few sympathetic Earth-invading extraterrestrials in the sci-fi TV miniseries V.Impressed by this performance, director Wes Craven buried Englund under several layers of latex and collodion and cast him as malevolent, mass-murdering wraith Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). The actor became an instant star, appearing in five Nightmare sequels, hosting a 1988 television spin-off, and basking in the glow of a plenitude of fan clubs. Although Freddy's only redeeming quality was his morbid sense of humor, Englund became an idol to the young, who emulated the actor each Halloween donning Freddy masks and plastic claws. Far from concerned that this idolatry might lead to delinquency, Englund allowed that he enjoyed playing Freddy, and felt pride at having created so memorable a screen persona. (In all fairness, he also emphasized to his most impressionable fans that it was all play-acting, and that his homicidal tendencies were strictly confined to the screen.) Unlike such horror icons of the past as Boris Karloff and Vincent Price, however, Englund was not able to shed his famous character's image when he wanted to move on to other roles. Outside of his Nightmare appearances, Englund's most significant credits were his one-shot directorial stint on the theatrical feature 976-EVIL (1988); his characterization of the title role in a medium-budget film adaptation of Phantom of the Opera (1989); and his hosting chores on the Craven-produced TV anthology Nightmare Café (1992).

Trivia: American character actor Dick O'Neill began showing up in films in 1961. Most of O'Neill's movie roles were in the supporting category, e.g. his portrayal of Sol Zuckermann in The Buddy Holly Story. His extensive TV credits include recurring roles on at least four weekly series. Dick O'Neill was seen as Judge Praetor D. Hardcastle in Rosetti and Ryan (1977), street-smart Malloy in Kaz (1978), corporate vice president Arthur Broderick in Empire (1984), and Fred Wilkinson in the 1987 episodes of Falcon Crest. Fans of the detective series Cagney and Lacey will remember O'Neill for playing Charlie Cagney. Before entering film and television, O'Neill was a well established supporting actor on the New York stage where he appeared on and off Broadway. In the early '50s, O'Neill was a charter member of the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. For the last seven years of his life, O'Neill served on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Screening Committee.

Trivia: Best known for playing biker James Hurley on David Lynch's television series Twin Peaks, actor James Marshall has gone on to play leading roles in low-budget or independent films of the '90s. He made his feature-film debut in the television movie Nightbreaker (1989). As the '90s progressed, Marshall obtained larger roles in more mainstream films such as Don't Do It (1994).

Trivia: Began acting in school plays in second grade. Founding member of the Rude Mechanicals Theater Company in New York City. Starred in The Beat opposite Mark Ruffalo, in his only recurrent television role. Starred in interactive mystery series Push, Nevada, which was canceled before fans could solve it; Cecil gave remaining clues to fans during Monday Night Football commercial break. Credited as a still photographer in 2015 documentary Little House in the Prairie: The Legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Trivia: When actor Norman Bennett got started in acting, he dove in full force, appearing in no less than six films in 1984 alone. He'd already gotten his feet wet with a supporting role in 1983's Terms of Endearment, and as the 1980s continued, Bennett remained extremely active, appearing in projects like 1985's Celebrity and 1988's Pancho Barnes. The actor subsequently slowed down, but didn't stop working, appearing notably in 1992's Ruby and 1998's Hope Floats.

Trivia: Guich Koock was one of seven children born to a Texas farmer and his wife. Koock attended Texas A&M University, where he earned a BA in history and an MA in Texas folklore. Newly married, he spent his immediate post-college years as a bartender, shooting his own food (squirrels, rabbits etc.) to save money. He went on to work as a schoolteacher, woodcarver, blacksmith, rodeo clown, and organizer of the annual Luckenbach, Texas "World's Fair," regaling the crowds with all manner of eccentric displays and contests. The story goes that Koock was downing a brew at a local bar when a casting director for Steven Spielberg offered him the supporting role of a Louisiana deputy in Spielberg's The Sugarland Express. Thus was launched his on-and-off acting career, with Koock generally cast as a bucolic good ol' boy who wasn't as dumb as he looked. After several busted TV pilots, he landed the part of Deputy Harley Puckett in the 1977-79 sitcom Carter Country. Guich Koock has since played variations of that role in such weekly TVers as The Chisholms (1980, as Frank O'Neill), Lewis and Clark (1981-82, co-starring with Gabe Kaplan as the manager of a C&W club) and She's the Sheriff (1987-88, as still another deputy, this one named Hugh Mulcahy).