Trivia: It took versatile actor James Belushi several years to slowly come into his own, which wasn't an easy task following in the fiery footsteps of his flamboyant, self-destructive brother, the late comic John Belushi. Despite that obstacle, the easy-going actor with the crooked smile still managed to forge a respectable career playing co-leads in a variety of film genres, including comedy, action, and drama in roles ranging from a sleazeball thief to a cop to a party animal in a gorilla suit. Prior to his first television appearances, the Chicago-born actor earned a degree in Speech and Theater, and worked on-stage in The Pirates of Penzance and True West. Like John, James joined the notorious Second City improvisational comedy group. He also began making regular guest appearances on Saturday Night Live, where his brother became famous in the mid-'70s. Making his feature film debut playing James Caan's calm partner in 1981's Thief, James Belushi began acting under John Landis (who also directed his brother) in Trading Places (1983). He continued playing supporting roles and occasional leads -- most notably in Oliver Stone's Salvador with James Woods in 1986 -- but his big break came when he played a bad cop in 1988's Red Heat with Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was equally popular in K-9 the following year. Although his subsequent films were not as successful, Belushi continued to grow as a dramatic actor. In 2001, Belushi began headlining the successful ABC sitcom According to Jim.

Trivia: Blonde, slim, and polished television actress Courtney Thorne-Smith first appeared as Stacy Hamilton on Fast Times, the television series spin-off of the successful teen movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High. She made her film debut in the sports comedy Lucas, which also starred the rising young stars Winona Ryder, Corey Haim, and Charlie Sheen. When she did work on films, they were mostly lightweight comedies like Welcome to 18, Summer School, and Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise. Back on television, she appeared in the short-lived sitcom Day by Day and some TV movies before joining the cast of L.A. Law as Kimberly Dugan. Staying with TV dramas, she played Alison on the FOX soap opera Melrose Place from 1992-1997, and then she joined the cast of Ally McBeal and its truncated spawn Ally as Georgia Thomas. She also appeared in the Carrot Top movie Chairman of the Board. After a few guest-starring roles on Spin City, she moved over to ABC for the family sitcom According to Jim as Jim Belushi's wife, Cheryl.

Trivia: Upbeat, high-octane actress and comedienne Nicole Sullivan gravitated to dramatic performance at age seven and reportedly caught the comedy bug from her New York state assemblyman father and antiques dealer mother. After high school, Sullivan enrolled in the prestigious Northwestern University, then studied at London's British American Dramatic Academy for one year before settling in Hollywood in the early '90s. The actress reportedly endured a long string of failed auditions and failed television pilots upon arrival, though she eventually broke through to public recognition as one of the resident performers on the Fox network's revue comedy program MADtv. That only marked the beginning, and within a few years of her MAD debut, Sullivan branched out in innumerable directions, such as voicing Mira Nova in the direct-to-video animated sequel Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins (2000) and making guest appearances on series programs including Crank Yankers, Monk, and Family Guy. Sullivan connected with much steadier work by signing on to play Holly Shumpert on seasons 4-6 of the popular Kevin James sitcom The King of Queens from 2001-2004, then moved into features, including the animated outings The Ant Bully (2006) and Meet the Robinsons (2007), and mirrored these accomplishments on the small screen with voiceover work on the animated series Slacker Cats. In 2008, Sullivan returned to the sitcom format with Rita Rocks; she played Rita Clements, a working wife and mother who moonlights as a rock star. She went on to appear in Black Dynamite and Let It Shine

Trivia: With a father like the legendary Frank Zappa, one might assume that it may be difficult to gain recognition for your own independent accomplishments outside of the larger-than-life legendary status built in the family name. Not so for guitarist virtuoso/actor Dweezil Zappa. After winning a Grammy at the age of 18 and topping the charts in 1988 with the humorously rebellious "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama," the younger Zappa found popularity not only in the music scene, but in movies and television as well.Born September 5, 1969, in Hollywood, CA, Dweezil took to the guitar from an early age. With teachers like his father, Eddie Van Halen, and Steve Vai, Dweezil quickly gained musical footing and mastered the instrument. Occasionally playing on his father's recordings and with sibling Ahmet, it wasn't long before Dweezil opted for a solo career and released his first album, Havin' a Bad Day, in 1986. Following with My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama two years later, Dweezil proved that his talents on the guitar were no fluke and scored a big hit with the title single. Dweezil's musical talents would later be employed with his brother, Ahmet, as they formed Z and released their debut album, Shampoohorn, in 1994. Aside from their musical partnership, Dweezil and Ahmet got big laughs with numerous talk show appearances and eventually filtered their unique and wacky chemistry into a USA Networkvariety show called Happy Hour in 1999. With it's no-holds-barred, anything-goes format and a pension for inviting wild guests, it wasn't unusual to see such luminaries as Danny Bonaduce drop his pants and do a table dance. Often spotted in small roles and cameos, Dweezil may also be a familiar face to moviegoers and TV addicts with his roles in Pretty in Pink (1986) and Jack Frost, as well as his voice work on Duckman and appearances on Hollywood Squares. Pitching in as a composer for the theme of The Ben Stiller Show, among others, Dweezil's love for music never trailed too far behind his movie and television appearances. Frequently seen in the company of singer Lisa Loeb, Dweezil released Automatic, his first album in nearly a decade, in 2000.

Trivia: Though she worked consistently throughout the 1990s, Kimberly Williams made her biggest impression on movie audiences as the sweet ingenue in the remake of Father of the Bride (1991). Raised in New York, Williams began acting in commercials as a teenager. During her second year at Northwestern University, Williams got her feature film break when she was cast as protective father Steve Martin's soon-to-be-married daughter Annie in the (slightly) modernized version of the popular 1950s comedy Father of the Bride. Though the movie became a hit, Williams chose to finish college rather than head immediately to Hollywood, appearing only in the gentle nostalgia piece Indian Summer (1993) before she earned her degree. After school, Williams reunited with screen parents Martin and Diane Keaton to play the now-expectant mother Annie in the genial sequel Father of the Bride II (1995). Moving beyond gentle, crowd-pleasing comedy, Williams co-starred with TV heartthrob Jason Priestley in the hitman black comedy Coldblooded (1995), played Emilio Estevez's sister in the Vietnam drama The War at Home (1996), and appeared in the TV version of the Neil Simon play Jake's Women (1995). Williams' doe-eyed earnestness also won over a cadre of fans when she was cast as the female lead in the Edward Zwick/Marshall Herskovitz series Relativity in 1996, but the critically acclaimed show lasted only one season. Along with acting in Broadway and off-Broadway plays in the late '90s, Williams also played the young Sharon Stone in the film version of Sam Shepard's Simpatico (1999), joined the ensemble cast of the romantic comedy Just a Little Harmless Sex (1999), and starred as a contemporary young woman transported to fairytale land in the splashy NBC miniseries The 10th Kingdom (2000). That assignment seemed prophetic in retrospect, for Williams subsequently gravitated toward television projects and away from the big screen; she played Dana, sister-in-law of the titular suburbanite (Jim Belushi) on the popular ABC sitcom According to Jim (2001), and also began accepting leads in longform features. The majority of these projects constituted sentimental, family-friendly melodramas, such as the 2001 Follow the Stars Home (with Williams as a young woman deserted by her husband after she gives birth to a deformed baby) and the 2002 outing The Christmas Shoes (as a mother dying of congenital heart failure). Also in 2002, Williams turned up in Rodrigo García's drama Ten Tiny Love Stories, as one of several characters who deliver heartfelt monologues on their romantic lives. She married country singer Brad Paisley in 2003 and they have two children. Her film and television career includes Identity Theft, How to Eat Fried Worms, Eden Court, and Amish Grace.

Trivia: Best known to audiences as the androgynous, nerdy "Pat" from Saturday Night Live, where she was a cast member from 1990 to 1994, Julia Sweeney actually began her comedy career as an accountant, of all things. Working as a numbers-cruncher for Columbia Pictures in the mid-'80s, Sweeney ignored her degree in economics to pursue comedy. In 1986, she joined the Groundlings, the famous L.A. improvisational troupe that also produced success stories like Conan O'Brien and Lisa Kudrow. It was there where she developed "Pat" and caught the attention of NBC, which found a place for her on their venerable breeding ground for comic talent, Saturday Night Live. Sweeney, like fellow cast members Mike Myers and Dana Carvey, was given the opportunity to star in a spin-off feature of her very own, called It's Pat. Released in 1994, the film was a massive failure, dumped in only select cities and roundly panned by national critics, who deemed it juvenile and unfunny. The film was reportedly rewritten by close pal Quentin Tarantino, who cast her that same year in a small role opposite Harvey Keitel in his Oscar-winning film Pulp Fiction. Tarantino then executive-produced what was arguably the most important work of Sweeney's career: God Said, Ha!, a film version of her one-woman Broadway show detailing her "cancer year," in which she and her now-deceased brother Mike battled the deadly disease. Though it was a vanishing act on Broadway, God Said, Ha! opened up a new door for Sweeney, who won raves for her brave, funny monologues and earned the respect of peers who were displeased by her previous film work. The film, unlike the work of her television contemporaries, was serious and deeply personal yet quite humorous, perfectly capturing the spirit of Sweeney's unique performance style. Sweeney has also remained active in TV, providing the voice ofMargo for the series The Goode Family.