Trivia: The son of a Wall Street broker, towering (6'5") actor Fred Gwynne was born sucking on the proverbial silver spoon. Gwynne attended the prestigious Groton prep school, where he made his acting bow in a student production of Henry V. He then attended Harvard, where he studying drawing with artist R.S. Merryman and was active in dramatics and as a staffer of the Harvard Crimson. Upon graduation, Gwynne played Shakespeare with the Cambridge repertory before heading to New York City. He appeared in such Broadway plays as Mrs. McThing and was cast in a bit role in the Oscar-winning film On the Waterfront, but for many years his principal source of income was as a book illustrator and commercial artist (his first published work was titled The Best in Show). In 1961, Gwynne was co-starring in the Broadway musical Irma La Douce when TV producer/writer Nat Hiken, who'd cast Gwynne in a handful of guest roles on the 1950s sitcom Sgt. Bilko, hired the actor to play NYPD officer Francis Muldoon on the weekly comedy Car 54, Where are You? A year after the series' cancellation, Gwynne was starred in his most famous TV role: bolt-necked, soft-hearted Herman Munster in The Munsters (1964-66). Afterwards, Gwynne distanced himself from television for the most part. In the 1970s and 1980s, he distinguished himself on Broadway in powerful dramatic roles, often playing autocratic Southerners (e.g. Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and an elderly Klansman in Texas Trilogy). Fred Gwynne also returned to films during this period, playing key roles in such major productions as The Cotton Club (1984) and Shadows and Fog (1992); he died of pancreatic cancer shortly after completing his critically acclaimed role of the judge in My Cousin Vinny (1993).

Trivia: Born Peggy Yvonne Middleton, Yvonne De Carlo began studying dance in childhood, and in her teens appeared in nightclubs and on-stage. She debuted onscreen in 1942, going on to a number of secondary roles. Finally she was cast in the title role of Salome -- Where She Danced (1945) and played leads in The Song of Scheherazade and Slave Girl (both 1947), after which she was typecast as an Arabian Nights-type temptress in harem attire; she also appeared frequently in Westerns, and occasionally showed talent in comedies. De Carlo was a co-star of the '60s TV sitcom The Munsters. In 1971 she appeared on Broadway in the musical Follies. She married and divorced stuntman and actor Robert Morgan. She continued appearing in occasional films through the '90s and authored Yvonne: An Autobiography (1987). De Carlo died of unspecified causes at age 84 on January 8, 2007.

Trivia: There is more to character actor Al Lewis than meets the eye. Best known to baby boomers for playing the roles of Officer Schnauzer in Car 54 Where Are You? and Grandpa in The Munsters, he holds a doctorate in child psychology from Columbia University, has penned two children's books, produced a kid-oriented home video, and once hosted a series of Saturday morning television shows on WTBS. He has also been a circus performer, a school teacher, and a vaudevillian. Lewis became an actor after earning his degree, teaching, and writing his books. He studied with the Paul Mann Actor's Workshop in New York. On television, he first appeared in "Trouble-In-Law" on The U.S. Steel Hour (1959). The following year, Lewis appeared in the feature film Naked City and then was cast opposite Fred Gwynne in Car 54, Where Are You? The show ran until 1963 and within a year, he was playing the vampiric Grandpa against Gwynne's Frankenstein, Herman Munster. Though The Munsters lasted two years, it has developed a cult following and has re-aired endlessly in syndication and spawned a feature-length sequel, Munster Go Home (1964), and a made-for-TV reunion movie, Munster's Revenge (1981). In 1994, he reprised his role as Schnauzer for the TV-movie version of Car 54 Where Are You? Lewis has gone on to continue making occasional guest appearances on television and a sporadic movie career. In addition to his other endeavors, Lewis has been a high school basketball scout and the owner of a restaurant in New York.

Trivia: First acting gig was a Kellogg's commercial in 1960. Formed a band called Eddie and the Monsters, who released a single in 1983, recalling his role as Eddie (who looked like a wolf boy) on the 1964-66 sitcom, The Munsters. "Whatever Happened to Eddie?" was followed, in 2007, by another song, "It's Only Halloween." Took part in a motorcycling event in Carthage, NY, in 2010 to benefit the blind. Has frequently appeared at Halloween events in his Eddie Munster costume.

Trivia: Her mother worked as treasurer of the U.S. from 1953 to '61. While living in Washington, D.C., she was chosen by a national magazine as one of the capital's "10 most beautiful women." Appeared in commercials for Nestle ice tea and Purina dog food, among others. Made her film debut playing a student in the James Dean classic East of Eden (1955). Left show business in 1985 after moving to Idaho with her husband. She opened her own antique shop there. Once owned Elvis Presley's 1967 El Dorado convertible. Was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2001; has been in remission since 2002.

Trivia: Trained for an acting career at various Manhattan professional children's schools, Elliot Reid was hired for the CBS radio announcer's staff while still a teenager. His work on the airwaves led to Reid's being hired by Orson Welles for the latter's 1937 modern-dress production of Julius Caesar. Reid was subsequently featured in such Broadway hits as My Sister Eileen and Ladies in Retirement. Uncomfortably cast as a two-fisted hero in his first film, the 1950 anti-Red opus The Whip Hand, Reid was seen to better advantage in comedy roles. Highlights in the actor's film career included the part of Jane Russell's erstwhile suitor in Gentleman Prefer Blondes (1954) and Fred MacMurray's snotty romantic rival in Disney's The Absent-Minded Professor (1960) and Son of Flubber (1963). In the 1960s, Elliot Reid gained a reputation as a sharp-witted political satirist on such programs as The Jack Paar Program and That Was the Week That Was, fracturing audiences with his on-target impressions of such pundits as Lyndon Johnson and Paul Harvey. Other TV work in Reid's resumé included the role of Darleen Carr's father on the weekly sitcom Miss Winslow and Son (1979). Even in the later stages of his career, Elliot Reid would occasionally return to his dramatic-radio roots in such audio series as "Theater 5" and "The CBS Radio Mystery Theater."

Trivia: Won Best Featured Actor in a Play at the 2004 Tony Awards, for his role in Frozen. In 2011, was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie, for his role in Mildred Pierce. Played the part of Auggie in 2018 sci-fi series Nightflyers. In 2018, won Best Supporting Actor at the BAFTA Television Awards for his role in Little Boy Blue. In 2020, played the Bone Collector in the American crime drama Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector.

Trivia: American character actor Norman Grabowski played bit parts in a number of films during the 1960s. He is also known for designing and creating custom cars.

Trivia: Character and voice actor Bob Hastings is best known for his television work on series such as McHale's Navy and All in the Family, but he also appeared in some feature films. Born in New York in 1921, he was busy on the radio in his twenties, specializing in male ingenue and comedy roles, including portraying Archie Andrews in an NBC radio adaptations of Archie Comics in 1944. His first credited television appearance was in 1955, in the U.S. Steel Hour production of No Time for Sergeants. Hastings made his feature film debut in 1962 in the Disney production Moon Pilot, starring Tom Tryon, and that same year got his first regular series role as Lt. Elroy Carpenter, the obsequious aide to Joe Flynn's Captain Binghamton on McHale's Navy. He was with the series for four seasons, and it led to his subsequent big-screen work in the features McHale's Navy (1964) and McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force (1965). He also played Bert Ramsey on the daytime drama General Hospital and managed to work in occasional big-screen work, in pictures such as The Flim-Flam Man. In the 1970s, Hastings played the recurring character of Kelsey the tavern-keeper on All in the Family. Hastings' on-screen acting generally saw him cast as nervous, sycophantic mid-level bureaucrats, or, occasionally, as rough-hewn working-class types. But as a voice artist he has had a much wider range of portrayals, including heroes and authority figures, including the voice of Clark Kent in the 1960s Batman/Superman Hour and, in more recent decades, the voice of Commissioner Gordon on the animated Batman from Fox network. Bob Hastings is the older brother of actor Don Hastings, who is perhaps best remembered by viewers of one generation for his portrayal of the Video Ranger in Captain Video; Bob also appeared in the series, in a much less prominent role. He died in 2014, at age 89.