Trivia: Yes, Karen Valentine is her real name; her Portuguese grandfather had Anglicized his surname of Valentin long before Karen was born. Her lifelong "nice-girl" reputation had its roots in her wholesome upbringing on a Sebastopol, California chicken ranch, and her straight-A high-school years, when she was a member in good standing of the Future Teachers of America. Unhappy with being regarded as too squeaky-clean for words, Valentine went out of her way to perform "hot" musical numbers while competing in such talent-and-beauty contests as Miss Teenage Santa Rosa and Miss Sonoma Country. While she never made Miss America, she did manage to make two appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show before reaching the age of 20. While acting in summer stock, she continued seeking out roles that would allow her to shed her goody-goody image. To keep her checkbook balanced between acting assignments, she worked as a model, waitress and switchboard operator. In 1969, Valentine was cast as well-meaning if slightly klutzy student teacher Alice Johnson on the weekly TV series Room 222, winning an Emmy Award for her efforts. A proven audience favorite, she starred in such lightweight TV-movies as Gidget Grows Up (1970), The Girl Who Came Gift-Wrapped (1972) and Coffee, Tea or Me (1973), and was a regular contributor to such daytime programs as Dinah's Place and The Hollywood Squares. Once her star had begun to fade, Valentine was finally able to break loose from her "America's sweetheart" image and attempt to play roles with depth and bite. But such TV series as Karen (1975) and Our Time (1985) were not enthusiastically received by viewers, nor were her laudable dramatic performances in such made-for-TV fare as Muggable Mary, Street Cop (1982) world-beaters in the ratings. From the mid-1970s to the late 1980s, Karen Valentine maintained an on-and-off relationship with the Disney studios, co-starring in such theatrical features as Hot Lead and Cold Feet and The North Avenue Irregulars (1979), and in Disney Sunday Movie TV presentations bearing titles like Skeezer (1987) and Perfect People (1988).

Trivia: After starting out as a free-form stand-up comic in San Francisco and New York, Dick Gautier was nominated for a Tony Award for his portrayal of Elvis-like rock star Conrad Birdie in the 1961 Broadway production Bye Bye Birdie. Gautier was also half of an informal, improvisational comedy team with straight man Peter Marshall. In films since 1972, Gautier is better known for his television work on such series as Mr. Terrific (1967), Here We Go Again (1971), The Liars Club (1974), and especially Get Smart (1965-70), in which he played Hymie the Robot. Get Smart co-creator Mel Brooks later concocted a starring TV vehicle for Gautier, the 13-week Robin Hood spoof When Things Were Rotten (1975). In the 1980s, Gautier embarked on a sizeable career as a voice-over actor, lending his voice to memorable characters in the animated G.I. Joe (as Serpentor) and Transformers (as Rodimus Prime), and as stock characters in shows like Smurfs and The Addams Family. Gautier died in 2017, at age 85.