Trivia: Best remembered for his high-profile acting roles on two 1970s television sitcoms -- that of genial news writer Murray Slaughter on CBS's The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-1977) and that of sweet-natured Captain Merrill Stubing on ABC's The Love Boat (1977-1986), stage-trained actor Gavin MacLeod in fact began his career typecast as a villain. He landed parts in Hollywood features including The Sand Pebbles (1966), Deathwatch (1966), and The Comic (1969), and enjoyed a tenure as Joseph "Happy" Haines on the sitcom McHale's Navy from 1962 through 1964. After The Love Boat permanently laid anchor in the mid-'80s, MacLeod signed on as a spokesperson and pitchman for Princess Cruises and returned to regional theatrical work. He also tackled guest spots on programs including Touched by an Angel and (in a move that surprised everyone) the HBO prison drama Oz. Off-camera, MacLeod is an outspoken born-again Christian. He hosted a popular talk show on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, along with his wife, Patti (whom he divorced in 1982 and remarried three years later), called Back on Course, and personally funded many of the Greatest Adventure Stories from the Bible animated videos for children.

Trivia: Universally recognized as Ship's Doctor Adam Bricker on the blockbuster prime-time sitcom The Love Boat (1977-1986) -- a part he held for the entire nine-season run of the series -- actor Bernie Kopell entered the doors of show business via a most unlikely route. Born in Brooklyn, Kopell attended Erasmus High and then New York University (with a dramatic art major). After a stint at sea aboard the naval vessel USS Iowa, Kopell signed on to drive a taxicab in Southern California -- and achieved his big break on the day that Oregon Trail (1959) film producer Dick Einfeld hitched a ride in the back of his cab. In a span of minutes, Kopell reportedly managed to convince Einfeld that he was not really a cab driver but an actor in serious need of work. The effort paid off, and Kopell snagged his first part -- a two-line part in Oregon as an aide to president James K. Polk. In the early '60s, Kopell joined the Actors' Ring Theatre in Los Angeles, where he developed a knack for characterizations and voices; this led, in turn, to character-type roles on a myriad of television programs including The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Steve Allen Show, and My Favorite Martian (which often, though not always, cast the wiry Kopell as a Hispanic). By the early '70s, Kopell had landed steady assignments on Get Smart, Bewitched, That Girl, and other series. The Love Boat, however, embodied his breakthrough. He followed it up with an emcee assignment on The Travel Channel (hosting its Railway Adventures Across Europe) and a surge in theatrical work, with portrayals in regional productions of such plays as Rumors, A History of Shadows, and Death of a Salesman.

Trivia: Actor Fred Grandy enjoyed two distinct careers -- an initial career as an actor and a proverbial second wind on the political stage. As a thespian, Grandy signed for guest spots on early-'70s series including Maude and Phyllis, but built his reputation via his nine-season portrayal of Yeoman-Purser Burl "Gopher" Smith, right-hand man to Captain Merrill Stubing (Gavin MacLeod), on the popular television sitcom The Love Boat (1977-1986). He proved popular with audiences, but by the mid-'80s reportedly grew tired of acting and gravitated to the political arena because he found it more challenging. Indeed, in 1986 -- the year of Boat's cancelation -- Grandy was elected as a Republican member of the House of Representatives from Iowa.

Trivia: For millions of Americans, the prime-time situation comedy The Love Boat will be forever inseparable from the image of Ted Lange, an actor cast for nine seasons as the genial Isaac the Bartender on the Pacific Princess luxury liner and trademarked by his iconic "two-finger drop" greeting. Yet Lange's portrayal of Isaac scarcely hinted at the actor's dexterity or dramatic range. In truth, this actor received classical dramatic training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, and would go on, after the Princess took its final voyage in September 1986, to establish himself as a revered creative force in regional theater.Lange initially broke into films with many portrayals in Hollywood programmers during the early '70s, including Trick Baby (1972), Blade (1972), and Black Belt Jones (1974), and landed a regular role in the one-season ethnic sitcom That's My Mama (1974), as a streetwise philosopher opposite Clifton Davis (Amen) and Theresa Merritt. The Love Boat, of course, brought Lange his most widespread recognition; nonetheless (as indicated), he hearkened back to his theatrical roots beginning in the late '80s and divided his time between writing, directing, and stage acting roles. His resumé as a scribe sports at least 17 original plays including Lemon Meringue Facade, Behind the Mask -- An Evening with Paul Laurence Dunbar, and Evil Legacy -- The Story of Lucretia Borgia, while he has appeared dramatically in productions including Hair and Taming of the Shrew and has directed plays ranging from Othello to the rock & roll musical Born a Unicorn.

Trivia: Perky, red-haired actress Bonnie Franklin is best remembered for playing plucky single mom Ann Romano on the long-running sitcom One Day at a Time (1975-1984). Franklin began her acting career at age 12 when she appeared in the Alfred Hitchcock made-for-television movie The Wrong Man in 1956; that year she also appeared in a feature-film episode of the Kettle family saga, The Kettles in the Ozarks. Through the '60s, Franklin only appeared a couple of times as a guest star on television series such as The Man from U.N.C.L.E. While working on her sitcom, Franklin occasionally appeared in television movies. After the series' demise, her television work became sporadic, and by the early '90s, she had left the medium altogether, though Franklin continued acting in regional theater and in cross-country tours of plays, occasionally returning to the screen for small appearances. Franklin reuinted with her One Day at a Time daughter Valerie Bertinelli in an episode of Hot in Cleveland in 2011, but her return to acting was short-lived. After announcing she had pancreatic cancer in 2012, Franklin passed away due to complications from the disease in 2013 at the age of 69.

Trivia: The daughter of actress Whitney Blake, Meredith Baxter received extensive training in the arts at the Interlochen Summer Camp in Michigan. Meredith worked as an usher, file clerk and cafeteria checker before getting her first film break in Ben (1971). The 5'7" blonde actress entered the "America's sweetheart" category when she was cast as Bridget Fitzgerald Steinberg, the prettier half of a Catholic-Jewish married couple, in the TV sitcom Bridget Loves Bernie (1972). While the series lasted only a year, her "reel" marriage became a "real" one when, in 1974, she wed her B Loves B co-star David Birney. In addition to yielding a new, hyphenated professional name for Meredith, her union with Birney produced three children before the couple divorced in the early 1990s (she also had two children from a previous marriage). In between stage appearances in such productions as Hamlet, Guys and Dolls and Butterflies are Free, Meredith played Nancy Lawrence Maitland on the TV dramedy Family, winning two Emmy nominations during her four-year (1976-80) stint with this series. In 1982, Meredith agreed to star as flower child-turned-suburban mom Elyse Keaton on the weekly TV comedy Family Ties, having been assured that she would be the star of the series in fact as well as in name. As it happened, Family Ties was dominated throughout its seven-year run by co-star Michael J. Fox. A prolific TV-movie actress, she owns the distinction of playing the same real-life character twice, with two entirely different interpretations. When she first played accused murderess Betty Broderick in 1992's A Woman Scorned, Meredith was sympathetic to Broderick's plight, and played the role accordingly (earning an Emmy nomination in the process); but by the time 1993's Her Final Fury rolled around, Meredith, like everyone else involved in the project, was convinced that Betty Broderick deserved what she got--and played the role in the manner of a Gothic Novel villainess. A made-for-TV movie fixture over the course of the next decade, Baxter remained a familiar face on the small screen thanks to appearances in such popular shows as The Closer and Cold Case, later showing her playful side with voice work in such animated series' as Family Guy and Dan Vs. A breast-cancer survivor, she received a public-awareness award from the National Breast Cancer Coalition for starring in and coproducing the 1994 drama My Breast.

Trivia: Pennsylvania-born actress Lauren Tewes achieved broadest recognition for her stint as Cruise Director Julie McCoy on the long-running ABC situation comedy The Love Boat. Unfortunately, Tewes (unlike many of her fellow cast members) left the program prior to the final voyage of the Pacific Princess -- reportedly spiraling into a much-publicized bout of severe cocaine addiction from which she eventually fully recovered, but which cost her the role on the series. Tewes nevertheless demonstrated admirable resilience by returning for at least two Love Boat telemovies and remained active in television and film. Subsequent projects included guest appearances on the small-screen series dramas Hunter and Murder, She Wrote, and roles in features such as The Doom Generation (1995) and It Came From Outer Space 2 (1996).

Trivia: Though best known for portraying rather ditzy blondes in television series such as Three's Company and Step by Step, there is much more to Suzanne Somers than meets the eye. In addition to acting, Somers has found success as an author, poet, entrepreneur, spokeswoman, nightclub performer and talkshow hostess. The daughter of a secretary and high school athletic coach, Somers briefly attended a private Catholic School until she was expelled for passing notes to her friends. Following graduation from public school, Somers attended Lone Mountain College in San Francisco. Marrying and divorcing early, Somers had a child to support, so she sought out modelling and acting work, with a few stints as a cocktail waitress. TV bit roles and fleeting appearances in such San Francisco-based films as Bullitt (1968) led to a decorative girl-friday job on a TV game show hosted by Alan Hamel, whom she eventually married. Always just on the brink of stardom, Somers took whatever job came along, gaining a measure of attention as the mysterious "blonde in the car" in the 1973 film American Graffiti (a role later expanded for the film's reissue after Somers became famous). One audition struck gold in 1977 when Somers was cast as the dumbest of dumb blondes Chrissy on the ABC sitcom Three's Company where Somers scored a hit with viewers. This being the Fonzie/Farrah Fawcett Majors era of TV idolatry, Somers was suddenly catapulted into sex-symbol status, with one of her "pin-up" photos selling 500,000 copies. This sudden fame led Somers to insist upon a salary raise - but the producers weren't prepared to pay $100,000 weekly for an actress previously receiving $30,000, nor did they want to give her a percentage of profits. Somers tried to break her contract, but was held to it by the producers, who forced her into what was virtually an extra role, limiting her weekly appearance to one minute, physically separated from her co-stars. Somers was off the show by 1980, and up until 1986 rarely appeared on television. Instead, Somers found success headlining a Las Vegas show where she pulled down $100,000 for each performance. The comeback began with a 1986 syndicated situation comedy, She's the Sheriff, which lasted two years. In the '90s, Somers began marketing exercise equipment products such as the Thighmaster and Buttmaster, via television infomercials. The products' success have made Somers a millionaire...again. She was the mom on the long-lived ABC sitcom Step By Step throughout the 1990s, also appearing in Serial Mom and No Laughing Matter. As the new century began she became a fitness guru by writing multiple books about aging, appearing in the 2009 documentary How to Live Forever in that capacity.

Trivia: The daughter of a postal worker, Brenda Sykes seemed bound for an academic career when, at 19, she was made a Teaching Assistant in Black History in the UCLA High Potential Program. One year later, Brenda showed up as a contestant on TV's The Dating Game. Her appearance not only won her an all-expenses-paid trip to New Zealand, but also caught the eyes of several Hollywood talent agents. In 1970, Sykes was personally selected by prestigious film director William Wyler to play a good featured role in The Liberation of L.B. Jones. After an excellent start, she was consigned to the standardized roles usually played by Africa-nAmerican ingenues in the 1970s, showing up in such exploitational fare as The Drum and Cleopatra Jones. Brenda Sykes' series-TV work has included Ozzie's Girls (1973) and Executive Suite (1976).

Trivia: Thin, jug-eared, and rubber-faced black comedian Jimmie Walker is best remembered for playing J.J. on the sitcom Good Times (1974-1979). His exuberant "Dyno-mite!!" was briefly a popular catch phrase back then. Walker made his feature film debut in Sing Thanksgiving (1974). Following the demise of his show, Walker embarked upon a modest film career and carried on with his standup career. He occasionally showed up on television talk shows and in 70's retrospectives, not afraid to poke fun at his '70s persona.

Trivia: American character actress Gertrude Flynn started out playing innocent young girls on Broadway during the 1930s. She made her film debut in 1954 with Barefoot Contessa and continued appearing periodically in films through the mid-1960s. Flynn made her final film appearance in 1984 in Bad Manners.

Trivia: American character actor Ted Chapman has appeared on stage and television as well as in films such as Bananas (1971). He also frequently appeared in television commercials.