Trivia: The daughter of actor James Daly and sister of actor Tim Daly, Emmy award-winning American actress Tyne Daly was destined early on to enter the family business. After graduation from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, Tyne worked on stage and appeared in TV guest spots starting in the early '70s. While applauded for her talent, Daly found full stardom eluding her for several years during a long string of busted TV pilots like In Search of America (1971), Doctor Granger (1972), Fitzgerald and Pride (1972) and Hotshot Harry and the Rocking Chair Renegades (1979) did little to make her bankable (though her performance as Kate, female partner to Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry Callahan, in the 1976 action opus The Enforcer, most assuredly helped).Then in 1981, Tyne Daly and Loretta Swit were cast in the pilot of Cagney and Lacey, an unusual (for U.S. prime time television) story of two policewomen who could handle their jobs with courage and assuredness. The success of the pilot led to a series in 1982, with Daly cast as Detective Mary Beth Lacey (opposite Meg Foster and later Sharon Gless). The series witnessed the character fighting to be accepted on equal terms with her male counterparts, and also struggling to maintain a normal home life as wife and mother. Daly's realistic portrayal earned her considerable praise from real-life law enforcement officials. Cagney and Lacey was cancelled in 1983, but returned to the air a year later thanks to a letter-writing campaign mounted by viewers. By the time the series ended in 1988, Daly had won four Emmy awards for her portrayal of Lacey. In 1994 she starred opposite Kellie Martin in the short-lived inspirational TV drama Christy, and in 1995 appeared in a trio of Cagney and Lacey reunions. In subsequent years Daly switched venues, devoting her energies to the Broadway stage. Her accomplishments during this period included scoring a personal triumph and winning a Tony as Mama Rose in the 1989-90 revival of the 1959 musical Gypsy, and taking on untold challenges in a five-role, one-woman show, Mystery School, at Gotham's Angel Orensanz Foundation Center in 1998 (revived 2008). As time rolled on, the actress (like Cagney co-star Gless) returned to television, notably with a key supporting role as the lead character's domineering, judgmental mother on the series drama Judging Amy (1999-2005) (a series on which Gless occasionally appeared as a guest star). Having caught the theatrical bug, however, Daly also retained her footing on stage in such outings as the acclaimed Rabbit Hole (2006) (opposite John Slattery and Cynthia Nixon).

Trivia: American actress Meg Foster was trained at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse, a rigorous and exacting establishment that lets practically everyone in for one year and practically no one in for their second year. Foster survived the entire program with the steely-eyed grit that characterized her best film and stage roles. With such notable exceptions as The Osterman Weekend (1983) and The Emerald Forest (1986), many of Foster's films have been cheapjack exploitation efforts unworthy of her skills. She has racked up her most impressive credits on TV, including the lead role of Hester Prynne in the 1979 PBS multi-part adaptation of The Scarlet Letter. In 1982, she was cast as Chris Cagney opposite Tyne Daly's Mary Beth Lacey on the TV series Cagney and Lacey. When the series went into its second season, Foster was replaced by Sharon Gless; the official reason was that she played her character "too tough, too hard," but unofficial sources noted that audiences perceived Foster's performance as too "butch." This setback slowed down her TV career though she was always welcome (if not always well-served) on the big screen.

Trivia: Blonde leading-lady Sharon Gless owns the distinction of being the last-ever "contract player" at Universal Studios. Signed by Universal in 1969, Gless did yeoman work as a supporting player on such series as the ABC medical drama Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969-76) and films including Airport 1975 (1974). She was a regular on the short-lived detective drama series Faraday and Company (1973-74) before achieving a degree of stardom as Maggie, "girl Friday" to Robert Wagner and Eddie Albert, on the popular crime-caper series Switch (1975-78). Her next series was the weekly House Calls (1979-82), in which she replaced departing regular Lynn Redgrave amid Redgrave's contractual dispute with series producers. It was another replacement assignment that solidified Gless as a bankable (and versatile) name: in 1982, she replaced Meg Foster as NYPD officer Chris Cagney on the detective series Cagney and Lacey, which for many years provided her with the greatest amount of viewer identification in her career. She remained in this role until the series' cancellation in 1988, winning two Emmy awards along the way, then reprised the part (with her co-star Tyne Daly) in a series of well-received TV movies from 1994 to 1996. Then, beginning around 1997, a second wave of popularity arrived for Gless, and she retained her footing as a small-screen mainstay over the following decade or so, with contributions to immensely popular series programs including Promised Land, Queer as Folk, Touched by an Angel, Burn Notice, and Nip/Tuck. In 2001, the Lifetime women's network opted to do one of its Intimate Portrait biographical documentaries on Gless. In the 21st century Gless could be found on numerous episodic television shows including Burn Notice and Nip/Tuck, and she played the title character in the lesbian romantic drama Hannah Free as well producing that film.

Trivia: Ubiquitous Canadian actor/director Al Waxman is not always cast in leading roles, but he is invariably given special billing, usually with a box around his name in the opening credits. This honor is well-deserved; in show business since the 1950s, Waxman labored long and hard to make a name for himself. During his first Hollywood stay in the 1960s, Waxman worked as a waiter and bouncer between engagements. He was fired from his job as a short-order cook at Barney's Beanery after sneaking extra portions of food to his fellow starving artists. Returning to Canada in the late 1960s, Waxman directed several intriguing but unsuccessful low-budget films, among them Tviggy (the story of a Jewish model), The Crowd Inside, and the soft-core My Pleasure is My Business. He finally struck gold in the role of blue-collar blowhard Larry King on the popular 1970s Canadian sitcom King of Kensington, which clocked in at 111 episodes, 65 of which were syndicated to the U.S. On the strength of this series, Louis Malle cast Waxman as ever-grinning cocaine dealer Alfie in Atlantic City (1980). Waxman has remained busy ever since, as both actor and director (White Light [1991], The Diamond Fleece [1992]). Most American televiewers know Waxman as short-tempered Lt. Bert Samuels on Cagney and Lacey (1982-88). For many years, Al Waxman's wife Sara wrote a food and restaurant column for a major Toronto newspaper.

Trivia: Widely recognized by television viewers for his role as Agent Marcus Dixon on the popular sci-fi action television series Alias, actor Carl Lumbly has been appearing on both the big and small screens since the late '70s. With early appearances on Cagney and Lacey and L.A. Law, as well as roles in such high-profile releases as Pacific Heights (1990) and How Stella Got her Groove Back (1998), chances are you'd recognize Lumbly's face even if his name doesn't immediately ring a bell. A native of Jamaica who attended Minnesota's Macalester College, his career in journalism eventually led to acting when he was assigned to write a story about a local workshop theater. Subsequently immersing himself in the improvisational company for the next two years, it wasn't long before Lumbly made his film debut in Escape From Alcatraz (1979). Gaining an impressive list of small-screen credits with appearances in such popular sitcoms as The Jeffersons and Taxi, the 1980s proved both busy and fruitful as offers continued to roll in. Cast in the lead of the series M.A.N.T.I.S. in 1994, Lumbly essayed the role of a paralyzed scientist who dons a specially designed exoskeleton in the name of fighting crime. Though the show had a small devoted fan base, it was soon taken off the air, and Lumbly rounded out the decade with roles in such made-for-television films as Nightjohn (1996), Buffalo Soldiers (1997), and Border Line (1999). After returning to series work in Alias, Lumbly provided voice work for the animated television series the Justice League, and took the lead in longtime friend Danny Glover's family-friendly drama Just a Dream. The following year found the popular Lumbly remaining family-friendly with a featured role in the made-for-television remake Sounder.

Trivia: Stocky, blondish character actor John Karlen gained a mid-1966s following as Willie Loomis (and several other roles) on the Gothic TV soap opera Dark Shadows. Thereafter, Karlen became a fixture in other Dan Curtis productions, appearing in such feature-length Curtis endeavors as House of Dark Shadows (1970) and Trilogy of Terror (1973). In 1987, Karlen won an Emmy for his portrayal of Harvey Lacey, the contractor husband of Mary Beth Lacey (Tyne Daly), on the TV series Cagney and Lacey (1982-88); two years later he co-starred on the less successful video weekly Snoops. John Karlen's TV movie credits include the role of Jerry Barr in the execrable Roseanne: An Unauthorized Biography (1994).

Trivia: Like many New York actors, Martin Kove was willing to go unbilled to pick up extra paychecks in such East Coast-filmed efforts as Little Murders (1971) and Last House on the Left (1972). By 1984, Kove was pulling down third billing in such films as The Karate Kid, wherein he played Kreese, the "bad" karate expert who trained the film's principal heavy William Zabka for his bout against the simon-pure Ralph Macchio (Kove replaced Chuck Norris, who turned down the role of Kreese because he didn't want karate trainers to be shown in an unsympathetic light). Martin Kove's work on series TV has included the roles of detective Victor Isbecki on Cagney and Lacey and an extraterrestrial named Jesse on Hard Time on Planet Earth.

Trivia: Film and television actor Sidney Clute amassed well over 100 big- and small-screen credits across a career lasting just over 30 years. As a result of his personal popularity and the friendships borne of his professionalism, Clute's credits extended for three years beyond his death in 1985. Born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1916, he began working professionally in summer stock productions, and didn't make the leap to film work until shortly after World War II. His movie debut came in an uncredited role in William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), playing a drugstore clerk. His next appearance on film was on the small screen, in an uncredited role in the first-season Adventures of Superman episode "Czar of the Underworld", first seen in 1953. None of the five film and television roles he had in 1953 -- in the series Racket Squad, Fritz Lang's The Big Heat, and Russell Rouse's Wicked Woman -- were credited, but they opened a three-decade career. He was busier in 1954, on the sitcom I Married Joan, the crime dramas Waterfront and The Lineup, and small roles in feature films, including Douglas Sirk's ancient-world costume drama Sign of the Pagan, playing a monk. And that was the shape of Clute's career for the next 25 years, individual days of work on series ranging from Westerns to melodramas, broken by the occasional feature-film role. He did have a recurring role on Steve Canyon as Crew Chief Sergeant Gerke, and producer/director Jack Webb used him in three episodes of Dragnet during the 1950s, but it was the action/adventure series Whirlybirds that kept Clute the busiest over its two seasons from 1957 through 1959. His bald head and hangdog features seemed to register well with audiences no matter which side of the law his characters were on, and his Brooklyn accent (which he could hide effectively) even worked well in Westerns. Directors and producers appreciated his ability to nail a character or a line in short order, as well as his genial personality behind the scenes. Clute was working more often in the 1960s, on Dick Powell Theatre, Wagon Train, Hogan's Heroes, Mannix, Ben Casey, Perry Mason, That Girl, and dozens of other series, though he was probably most visible in the revived series Dragnet, which used him in key supporting roles in seven episodes. His best part in that series was in "Public Affairs: DR-07", as a gun nut on a television talk show who takes an open microphone to express his opposition to California's licensing and registration laws. But his chameleon-like ability as an actor was showcased that same year with an appearance on Iron Horse, in the episode "Wild Track", as a duplicitous 19th century businessman involved in a high-stakes poker game on a train besieged by outlaws -- even those familiar with his work elsewhere could forget that it was the familiar face from Dragnet. Clute was just as active in the 1970s, jumping between theatrical thrillers such as Breakout and Executive Action and dozens of television series. Toward the end of the 1970s, he settled into recurring work on Lou Grant as the newspaper's national editor, and finally, in 1982, he landed a co-starring role in a successful series when he was cast as Detective Paul La Guardia in Cagney and Lacey. As the oldest member of the detective squad -- and the most sympathetic to the two female detectives of the title, played by Tyne Daly and Sharon Gless -- Clute was a memorable presence on the series for its first three seasons. He died suddenly in the fall of 1985 from an especially fast-moving form of cancer. In tribute to the actor, producer Barney Rosensweig, a good friend of Clute's, left his name and image in the credits and continued to have his character referred to as an active member of the squad for the remaining four seasons of the show.

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: American actor Stephen Macht has proven to be a master at playing handsome, outwardly successful men whose inner doubts are never far from the surface. Macht's film debut was in 1977's The Choirboys, after which he appeared primarily in medium-budget shockers like Nightwing (1979) Amityville II: The Possession (1982) and Monster Squad (1987). Macht seemed on the verge of TV stardom when he accepted the leading role of a family man who chucks the suburban life to set up home in the inner city in the 1981 series The American Dream; the critics were impressed, but the audiences were tuned to the competition. Since that time, Stephen Macht has had recurring roles as Joe Cooper on Knot's Landing and as Chris Cagney's lawyer-boyfriend David Keeler on Cagney and Lacey.

Trivia: New Yorker Barry Primus is primarily an actor, but has also doubled and tripled as writer and director. Primus worked on stage for the first decade of his career, then made his screen bow in the Manhattan-filmed The Brotherhood (1968). Additional films include Boxcar Bertha (1972), Heartland (1979) Night Games (1980) and Guilty by Suspicion (1991). Primus also had a continuing role on the TV series Cagney and Lacey (1982-88) as Cagney's(Sharon Gless) erstwhile boyfriend Sgt. Dory McKenna, whose drug problem compromised his value as a cop. After working as director Mark Rydell's assistant on The Rose (1981) Barry Primus has increased his behind-the-camera activities; in 1992, Primus directed his first theatrical feature, the "inside" Hollywood comedy/drama Mistress.