Trivia: A trained dramatic actor, Shelley Berman rose to fame in the 1950s by becoming the first "sit-down" comedian. Berman's calculatedly self-pitying nightclub monologues concerned his tiltings with the minor frustrations of everyday life. His specialty was the "telephone" monologue; seated on a stool and holding an imaginary receiver, Berman invariably cast himself as the victim of Ma Bell bureaucracy and thick-headed unseen "second parties." He tended to wear his neuroses on his sleeve, and was well-known for his unpredictable temperament; in one notorious TV-special appearance of the 1960s, Berman was interrupted in mid-monologue by a ringing offstage pay phone, whereupon he stomped backstage and tore the offending phone off the wall. A busy TV guest-star, Berman showed up frequently on the Paar/Sullivan/Allen variety show circuit of the 1950s and 1960s, and played seriocomic roles on such TV series as Peter Gunn, The Twilight Zone and The Girl From UNCLE. He also played a recurring role on the satirical soap opera Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1977), and was co-producer of the 1970 summer replacement series Comedy Tonight. Berman's film credits include The Best Man (1964), Divorce American Style (1967) and Son of the Blob (1970). Dropping out of public view due to profound personal problems (not least of which was the death of his son), Shelley Berman staged a comeback in the 1980s with appearances in such films as Teen Witch (1989) and Elliot Faumann MD (1990).

Trivia: A puckish actor/singer, he sprang to national attention when he won the Tony Award for the Abe Burrows/Frank Loesser Broadway hit How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, repeating his role in the film version in 1967. His few film appearances include The Matchmaker (1958), The Loved One (1965), Oh Dad, Poor Dad (1966). Morse won another Tony Award in the '90s for his portrayal of Truman Capote in the one-man show, Tru, and has been nominated another handful of times. His television work has been sporadic, although he did star in the unusual musical-comedy TV series That's Life (1968-69).

Trivia: Michael (aka Mickey) Callan gained fame at the age of 21 when he originated the role of Riff in the Broadway production of West Side Story. For several years, Callan specialized in similar roles on TV and films, while pursuing a second career as a nightclub singer. His gift for light comedy was first exploited in Disney's Bon Voyage (1962), then further refined in his performance as Jane Fonda's amour in Cat Ballou (1965). While Callan was co-starring with Patricia Hardy in the 1967 sitcom Occasional Wife, the two became husband and wife in real life as well as "reel" life. In 1982, Michael Callan both produced and starred in Double Exposure.

Trivia: "Titian-haired" is the manner in which actress Tina Louise is usually described. Despite her numerous comic performances, she prefers to be regarded as a serious actress; according to some of her co-workers, her preference in this manner often takes the form of an ultimatum. Louise was born near Brooklyn, where her father ran a candy store. She studied drama at Miami University, the Neighborhood Playhouse, and the Actors' Studio. A nightclub singer in the mid-1950s, Louise came to Broadway as Appasionatta von Climax in the original 1956 production of the musical Li'l Abner. Two years later she made her first film, the then-torrid God's Little Acre. By the early 1960s, Louise was shuttling between Hollywood and Europe, often appearing in productions of the shoestring variety. Louise is fondly remembered for her three-year (1964 through 1967) stint as Marilynesque movie star Ginger Grant on Gilligan's Island, though she despised the role and made no secret of it on the set. Nor did she wish to have anything to do with the Gilligan cartoon and TV movie follow-ups of the 1970s and 1980s, choosing instead to carve a reputation as a versatile, no-nonsense actress, though she eventually capitulated and appeared in The Castaways on Gilligan's Island. Though she would go on to make other film and TV appearances in the decades to come, even penning a children's book and earning her helicopter pilot's license, Louise would forever remain the most well known for the role of Ginger.

Trivia: Born Arline Golonka (she was named after 1930s film actress Arline Judge) Golonka trained as a singer and dancer from childhood and went professional in a summer-stock troupe while still in her teens. She studied at the Goodman Theatre in her native Chicago before striking out for New York, where she attended classes at the Actor's Studio and made her Broadway debut in the 1958 flop Night Circus. Her later Broadway credits include Take Me Along, Come Blow Your Horn, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; in the latter production, she played a good-natured, empty-headed hooker, a role she'd repeat with variations throughout the 1960s. Before relocating to Los Angeles in 1967 to appear in Penelope, Golonka had accumulated dozens of New York-based film credits, including the 1965 theatrical feature Harvey Middleman, Fireman (1965). Best known for her portrayal of Millie Swanson on TV's Mayberry RFD (1968-71), Arlene Golonka was also a regular on Joe and Valerie (1978-79) and has been seen in such films as Hang 'Em High (1967), The Busy Body (1968) and The In-Laws (1977).

Trivia: Bernard Fox was descended from a long line of British stage actors; perhaps his most famous forebear was his uncle, veteran comic actor Wilfred Lawson. Fox made his screen debut in 1956's Soho Incident, appearing in several other British films before he was brought to Hollywood by actor/producer Danny Thomas in 1963. Generally cast in stuffy, old-school-tie roles, the toothbrush-mustached Fox flourished in American films and TV programs well into the late 1980s. Bernard Fox was most widely recognized for his TV work, notably his recurring appearances as gentleman's gentleman Malcolm Merriweather on The Andy Griffith Show and wacky warlock Dr. Bombay on Bewitched; he also played Dr. Watson opposite Stewart Granger's Sherlock Holmes in the 1972 TV-movie adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles. He appeared in blockbusters like Titanic (1997) and The Mummy (1999) towards the end of his career; one of his final roles was reprising his Dr. Bombay character on the supernatural soap opera Passions. Fox died in 2016, at age 89.