Trivia: The product of a tough, impoverished upbringing, African American actor Robert Guillaume fought his way out of the St. Louis slums by virtue of talent, persistence and an unwillingness to bow down to anyone. After military service and college, Guillaume held down short-term jobs ranging from cook to streetcar conductor, all the while training his voice for potential musical comedy work--training that paid off with his first Broadway show, 1961's Kwamina. Among his many stage credits were the musical versions of Golden Boy (with Sammy Davis Jr.) and Purlie Victorious, and the long-running review Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. When New York stage work was scarce, Guillaume created his own opportunities by giving one-man concerts. After guesting in several of the black-oriented TV sitcoms of the 1970s, Guillaume was cast in 1977 as the imperious, outspoken family retainer Benson in the daytime-drama parody Soap (the actor would be first to admit that many of Benson's more contentious traits sprang from Guillaume's own prickly personality). The role won Guillaume a 1978 Emmy as "Outstanding Supporting Actor." In 1979, Guillaume carried over his Soap role into his own starring series, the now classic sitcom Benson, which ran until 1986 and which won Guillaume another Emmy, this time as "Outstanding Lead Actor." Robert Guillaume also headlined the appropriately titled 1989 series The Robert Guillaume Show, wherein for approximately five months he starred as divorced marriage counselor Edward Sawyer. In the several years to follow, Guillaume would star in shows like Sports night, as well as a number of films like Big Fish and Satin.

Trivia: Actor, producer, and director Tim Reid has committed himself to projects that show American blacks in a more positive light than are generally seen in Hollywood through his United Image Entertainment company. As an actor Reid is best remembered for playing cool disc jockey Venus Flytrap on WKRP and for his short-lived sitcom Frank's Place (1987-1988). Fans of the crime-drama Simon and Simon (1981-1988) will remember him for playing Lt. Downtown Brown. Reid first appeared on television in Frankie Avalon: Easy Does It (1976). He then worked on The Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Hour (1977) and The Richard Pryor Show (1977). He made his feature film debut in Dead Bang (1989) and since then his feature film appearances have been sporadic. As a director, Reid debuted with the acclaimed Once Upon a Time...When We Were Colored (1997). As a writer, Reid has penned scripts for a series of animated videos chronicling Frank Baum's Oz tales. He also produced the feature films Out-of-Sync (1995) and Spirit Lost (1996). On television, Reid starred in the sitcom Sister-Sister (1994). In 1999 he directed the moody thriller Asunder. Though he appeared on screens only intermittently as the 21st century got under way, he did appear in You Wish! And The Reading Room, as well as the gritty 2007 drama Trade.

Trivia: Gifted African American actress Vonetta McGee made her movie bow in the 1968 Italian comedy Faustina. After playing roles in a few "blaxploitation" flicks, McGee and her significant other Max Julien produced and co-starred in Thomasine and Bushrod (1974), a critically applauded black variation on the Bonnie and Clyde story. She went on to appear with Bernie Casey in another intensely personal effort, Brothers (1977), in which she played activist Angela Davis. In 1975, McGee was selected as Clint Eastwood's leading lady in The Eiger Sanction. On television, McGee co-starred with Robert Blake in the weekly series Hell Town (1985) and with Jimmie Walker in the syndicated sitcom Bustin' Loose (1987). McGee died at age 65 in 2010, when she was taken off life support following cardiac arrest.

Trivia: American actress Tyra Ferrell has worked on stage, television and in film. In the latter she gained favorable notice playing opposite John Turturro in Jungle Fever and as the mother who plays favorites in Boyz N the Hood (both 1991).

Trivia: Roscoe Lee Browne was already an internationally famous track star when he attended Vermont's Middlebury College and Columbia University. Browne taught comparative literature and French at Pennsylvania's Lincoln University before turning to acting in 1956. Refusing to limit himself to the subservient roles generally assigned to black actors in the 1950s, Browne established himself in the classics, beginning with his inaugural stage appearance in a New York Shakespeare Festival staging of Julius Caesar. He later appeared in such highly regarded New York theatrical productions as The Blacks and Brecht on Brecht. From his first film appearance in Shirley Clarke's The Connection (1962) onward, Browne projected a commanding, authoritative presence, even when playing "hired help" characters like camp cook Jedediah Nightlinger in The Cowboys (1972). His series-TV credits include the roles of Saunders on Soap (1980-1981 season) and Rosemont on Falcon Crest (1988-1989 season). Having never let a year go by without at least one theatrical engagement, Browne won a Tony award for his work in the 1992 production 2 Trains Running. Outside of his performing activities, Roscoe Lee Browne is an accomplished poet, short-story author, playwright, director, and musical arranger.

Trivia: African American actor Brock Peters was a stage performer as early as 1943, long before he was old enough to attend CCNY. Peters made his film bow as Sgt. Brown in Otto Preminger's Carmen Jones (1954). Five years later, he appeared in another Preminger-directed musical film, playing the menacing Crown in Porgy and Bess (1959); coincidentally, he'd made his earliest stage appearance in that same Gershwin opera. Specializing in roles of unquestioned authority, Peters was at home with the villainous Rodriguez in The Pawnbroker (1965) as he was with the kindly Reverend Kumalko in Lost in the Stars (1974). Conversely, one of Peters' most impressive screen performances was as a victim; in 1962's To Kill a Mockingbird, he played accused rapist Tom Robinson. His more recent movie assignments have included Admiral Cartwright in two of the Star Trek theatrical features (numbers IV and VI), and a brace of roles previously associated with white actors: reclusive Mr. Pendergast in Polly, the 1988 musical adaptation of Pollyanna, and the fatuous Reverend Chasuble in the all-black 1992 remake of The Importance of Being Earnest. Peters also produced the 1973 film Five on the Black Hand Side, and has from time to time pursued a nightclub singing career. On television, Peters was briefly a regular on the daytime drama Young and the Restless, and supplied the voice of Lucius Fox on 1992's Batman: The Animated Series. The recipient of numerous industry awards and honors, Brock Peters was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1976.

Trivia: During her early years as an actress, Rosalind Cash moonlighted as a hospital aide, waitress, salesgirl, and nightclub singer. Cash made her Broadway bow in the 1966 production The Wayward Stork. Her film career began when Charlton Heston personally selected her to co-star in his 1971 sci-fi vehicle The Omega Man. Daytime-drama devotees know Cash best as the matriarchal Mary Mae Ward on General Hospital, but she has made many appearances on television in series, telepics, and miniseries. One thing that set Cash apart from other African-American actresses was her refusal to play stereotypical roles. Though she rarely had the opportunity to demonstrate the full extent of her range and ability, Cash's characters were intelligent, independent, and sexy. In 1987, Cash was given the Phoenix Award by the Black American Cinema Society in honor of her achievements. In 1992, her name was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame. Of all her many accomplishments, Rosalind Cash was proudest of her work with the Negro Ensemble Company, which she co-founded in the late '60s. She died of cancer in the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles at the age of 56.

Trivia: Black comedian and celebrity impressionist George Kirby was primarily a nightclub performer and a fixture of Las Vegas, NV, the place where he launched his career. He frequently worked on television, appearing with Ed Sullivan and Johnny Carson. In 1972, Kirby was a regular on the show Kopycats. In 1985, he was memorable as the lead in the Faerie Tale Theatre production of Puss-in-Boots. His film career began in 1967, when he appeared in the off-beat comedy Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad.