Trivia: Philadelphia native Karen Malina White first caught audiences' attention when she took on the role of Charmaine Brown on The Cosby Show in 1989. She would also make waves in the film Lean on Me, but would continue to get mileage out of the role of Charmaine, playing it again on the spin-off A Different World, which she remained with until 1993. White would go on to make appearances on shows like Chicago Hope and My So-Called Life, in addition to appearing in a number of productions on-stage.

Trivia: Though ultimately credited with carrying the West Coast rap musical subgenre into the mainstream, rapper and hip-hop artist extraordinaire Coolio (born Artis Leon Ivey Jr.) endured a decidedly shaky and obstacle-laden road to success. Born in South Central Los Angeles in 1963, Coolio grew up in the ghetto during the '60s and '70s. During his adolescence, he lived out the myth of the young urban "gangsta," flirting dangerously with hardcore crimes that included gang violence, larceny, concealed weapons, and crack cocaine addiction. After cleaning up his life with extensive drug rehabilitation and "straight" jobs as a fireman in the Pacific Northwest and a security guard at LAX airport, Coolio launched himself as a rap performer. Initially, Coolio struggled (with several singles that accomplished little of note) before his breakthrough arrived -- via "guesting" on WC and the Maad Circle's 1991 album Ain't a Damn Thing Changed. One turn led to another, and as a product of his association with WC and Maad, Coolio caught the attention of Tommy Boy Records. This association produced a series of multi-platinum albums -- notably, the seminal late-1995 release Gangsta's Paradise; the title track (spun off of a 1976 Stevie Wonder tune) became something of a musical phenomenon and a cultural landmark. Thanks to Tommy Boy's efforts, the single gained initial notoriety by appearing on the soundtrack to the Michelle Pfeiffer juvenile delinquency drama Dangerous Minds. Musically, however, that represented Coolio's highest commercial peak for many years, and his subsequent albums sold fewer copies. Perhaps foreseeing this decline, he began branching away from recording and into acting around 1996, which was a wise turn, to say the least; it compensated for ongoing legal trouble and decreased record sales in the years to follow. In terms of contributions to filmed entertainment, Coolio began on the small screen, as an extension of his rap work, by recording the theme song to the popular Nickelodeon children's series Kenan & Kel; he then extended this into a kind of goofy, family-friendly comic persona, with trademark wild dreadlocks, ever-present on both Nick and on the revival of the '70s game show Hollywood Squares. The rapper's on-camera cinematic roles began inauspiciously, with turns in such lackluster motion pictures as Phat Beach and Dear God, but he scored his first part in a Hollywood A-list movie the following year, as the banker in Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin. The film qualified as a critical disaster (though not a commercial one). The onscreen exposure of Batman doubtless helped Coolio's image and lifted his stature, though not to the degree that one might expect. After 1997, he consistently turned up in low-brow fare that attracted little attention -- such as the 2000 inner-city opus Dope Case Pending (opposite Kid Frost) and Darrell James Roodt's little-seen sci-fi horror outing Dracula.3000 (2004). In 2005, Coolio teamed with Class of 1984 director Mark L. Lester for the direct-to-video sci-fi action opus Pterodactyl.

Trivia: American leading and supporting actress Vanessa Bell Calloway got her first major break playing Imani Izzi in Eddie Murphy's Coming to America (1988), one year after she had made her film debut. The winner of an NAACP Image Award, Calloway has also appeared in numerous other films, including voicing a character in the animated film Bebe's Kids (1992), What's Love Got to Do With It? (1993), and Crimson Tide (1995). Her television credits include a recurring role as Yvonne Caldwell on the daily serial All My Children, during the 1984-1985 season and in 1987.

Trivia: Actor Orlando Brown began his career when he was just a kid, appearing in films like Safe Harbor and The '70s throughout the late '90s. As the new millennium dawned, Brown began to define his teenage years through a close association with Disney, working on several projects with the company. He provided the voice of Sticky on the animated series The Proud Family, as well as that of Cornelius Fillmore on the cartoon show Fillmore! In 2003, he cast in the series That's So Raven opposite Raven Simone as Eddie, the main character's best friend. He would stay with the series for its entire run until 2007, when the show wrapped.

Trivia: Best-known as teenage son Theo on the legendary sitcom The Cosby Show, Malcolm-Jamal Warner had already made a handful of TV appearances when he joined the show's cast in 1984. The precocious 14 year old showed up for the last day of casting, but quickly won over the producers and remained with the show until it ended its run in 1992. Warner would go on to try his hand at several other projects, starring in the comedy series Here and Now until 1993 and taking on the role of The Producer on the children's series The Magic School Bus from 1994 to 1997. Warner would also star in the sitcom Malcolm & Eddie starting in 1996, staying with the show until 2000. In 2003, the actor began appearing on the sci-fi series Jeremiah and continued with the show until it was canceled in 2004. Warner would then take on the recurring role of Bernie on the sports-oriented comedy Listen Up in 2005, and subsequently kept busy making appearances on shows like Dexter and The Cleaner. In 2009, Warner found yet another outlet for his talents on the small screen, joining Sherri Shepherd on the sitcom Sherri. Though the series didn't last, it did provide Warner's television career with a satisfying second wind that was highlighted by a leading role on the BET comedy series Reed Between the Lines (which won him an Image Award), and a recurring character on NBC's Community.

Trivia: A popular comic turned actor who started his career on-stage as a dare, funnyman Eddie Griffin's memorable supporting roles in such films as Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo have built the comedian an ever-growing fan base and a path to his first starring role in 2002's Undercover Brother. Born in Kansas City, MO, Griffin's career began when he accepted a dare to take the stage on amateur night at a local comedy club. Soon developing a personal style reminiscent of such classic comics as Richard Pryor and Redd Foxx, Griffin gained further exposure opening for comic Andrew Dice Clay on a 22-city tour and later in a series of impromptu performances at Los Angeles' popular Comic Store. Quickly following with performances on HBO's Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam and a Cable Ace Award-nominated special, Griffin began branching out into acting. Roles in such films as The Last Boy Scout (1991), Coneheads (1993), and Jason's Lyric (1994) soon led to a sitcom (Malcom and Eddie) in 1996, and Griffin's film appearances became more frequent. After headlining 2001's Double Take alongside Orlando Jones, Griffin seemed poised for leading-man status, and with his role as Anton Jackson in 2002's Undercover Brother, it seemed as if Griffin had conquered not only the stage, but the silver screen as well. In addition to his comedic skills, Griffin is also a gifted dancer and choreographer. Griffin joined the cast of Scary Movie 3 the following year, and continued to perform as a stand-up comedian throughout the early 2000s. In 2005 he starred in the comedy The Wendell Baker Story alongside Luke Wilson, Andrew, and Owen Wilson, and appeared in a series of ultimately forgettable films over the course of the decade (Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, Date Movie, and Norbit among them), but continues to remain popular as a stand-up comedian.