Trivia: Actress Janine Turner was trained at New York's Professional Children's School. (She can still do a mean tap-dance if called upon.) Though she endured the usual audition rounds while seeking out acting and modelling work, Turner's break came by way of fortuitous happenstance--at 17, she was spotted while standing in a supermarket checkout line by TV producer Leonard Katzman, who asked her to read for a small part on "Dallas." Two years later she was cast as kleptomaniac espionage agent Laura Templeton on TV's "General Hospital," a role that required her to dye her coffee-brown hair blonde. Turners's film debut was in Young Doctors in Love (1982), a spoof of daytime dramas that costarred several other soap regulars. In 1990, Turner was cast as fiesty Alaskan mail pilot Maggie O'Connell on the quirky prime-time series "Northern Exposure," a role that made her a major star. She continued to essay the part until the series' demise in 1995. Turner's more recent assignments have included a standard damsel-in-distress turn in the Sylvester Stallone vehicle Cliffhanger (1993), and a series of automobile advertisements, each as graceful and classy as Turner herself. In the years to come, Smith would remain active on screen, starring on the series Strong Medicine, and appearing on Friday Night Lights.

Trivia: Born December 19, 1972, quick-witted actress Rosa Blasi has gained as much attention for her sharp sense of humor as she has for her prowess as a serious stage performer, and thanks to a high-profile role on the long-running Lifetime medical drama Strong Medicine, she finally found her footing as a television actress after years of supporting roles on the small screen. Cast as single mother and Latino medico Dr. Luisa "Lu" Delgado on Strong Medicine, Chicago native Blasi gradually won over viewers thanks to her winning performance as an inner-city medical specialist who suddenly finds her clinic merging with the prestigious Rittenhouse Hospital.Having made her stage debut at the tender age of eight, Blasi was no stranger to the spotlight when she joined the Piven Performance Company and Second City in an effort to sharpen her skills as a performer, and thanks to roles on such popular sitcoms as Frasier, Becker, and The Drew Carey Show, the emerging actress grew increasingly comfortable on the small screen as well as the boards. In early 2006, Blasi took up her Strong Medicine role, which carried on for many seasons; meanwhile, she found time for movie roles as well. A dramatic part in the Showtime movie Noriega: God's Favorite preceded a fleeting appearance as the wife of Bill Pullman's ill-fated character in the horror hit The Grudge in 2004, with both offering fine examples of Blasi's undeniable onscreen charisma. In addition to her onscreen acting career, Blasi does frequent voice-over work and has become a regular fixture on the talk-show circuit.

Trivia: Best known for playing unapologetically mature, assertive, and intelligent adult women, African-American supporting actress Jenifer Lewis originally launched her career as a vocalist, singing in a church choir in Kinloch, MO. Lewis' passion (and gift) for singing carried her to the Great White Way, where she appeared in a number of sell-out Broadway musicals -- including Ain't Misbehavin' and Dreamgirls. She subsequently migrated to the West Coast for a string of appearances in TV programs such as Roc, A Different World, Murphy Brown, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, Touched by an Angel, and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and graduated to features in 1992. The films in which Lewis has appeared run the gamut of quality, from outstanding (What's Love Got to Do With It?, 1993) to satisfactory (Sister Act, 1992; The Preacher's Wife, 1996) to downright abominable (Frozen Assets, 1992); many, however, demonstrated her fine gifts. More recently, Lewis attained some much-deserved recognition (and ascended to higher than usual billing) with her multi-season portrayal of Lana Hawkins in the prime-time medical drama Strong Medicine (2000).

Trivia: Supporting actor Philip Casnoff appeared on screen beginning in the '80s.

Trivia: A former member of Andy Warhol's Factory and an active member in 1960s New York avant-garde theater, actress Sally Kirkland is best remembered in film for playing a famous Czech actress who is forced to lead a degrading life of anonymity in New York in Anna (1987). The daughter of a fashion editor of Life magazine and a wealthy scrap iron vendor, the tall, slender Kirkland started out as a Vogue model and then studied at the Actor's Studio with Lee Strassberg and Uta Hagen. She launched her acting career off-Broadway, but didn't make much impact until she appeared nude and tied to a chair for 45 minutes in the drama Sweet Eros. By 1964, Kirkland was deeply involved in the Big Apple's avant-garde movement and was also an active drug user until an attempted suicide frightened her into cleaning up her life through yoga and painting. As an actress, she next involved herself with Warhol's clique, appearing in several underground films, notably The Thirteen Most Beautiful Women. Though much of her subsequent film appearances have been in low-budget and exploitation films, Kirkland has had a few shining moments as a supporting actress in such movies as The Sting (1973) and Private Benjamin (1980). For her work in Anna, Kirkland received an Academy Award nomination. In addition to her acting career, Kirkland is a minister of the New Age Church of the Movement of Inner Spiritual Awareness.

Trivia: Holly Robinson Peete began her career in show business in 1969 when she was five years old with an appearance on the children's series Sesame Street, on which her father played non-Muppet cast member Gordon. In adulthood, she would go on to appear on shows like 21 Jump Street and Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, and later on Love, Inc. She became one of the co-hosts of The View knockoff The Talk, and in 2012 she spoofed her breakthrough part by appearing in the big-screen comedy 21 Jump Street. She is married to former NFL quraterback Rodney Peete.

Trivia: Grandfather, Rodolfo Hoyos, was an opera singer. With Ricardo Montalban, her father, Rodolfo Hoyos Jr. co-founded Nosotros, an organization aimed at improving the image of Latino/Hispanic actors in the entertainment industry. Trained at LACC Theatre Arts Academy. Studied with director James Frawley.