Trivia: Wryly humorous Canadian character actor Conrad Bain was all wrapped up in such athletic pursuits as hockey and speed skating when, in his junior year of high school, he suddenly became fascinated with acting. He studied at Alberta's Banff School of Fine Arts, served in the Canadian army during World War II, then resumed his training at New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He worked at the Stratford (Ontario) Shakespeare Festival and in live television before scoring his first real success in the 1956 Broadway revival of Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh. In the early 1970s, Bain began popping up in such New York-based films as Lovers and Other Strangers (1970) and Woody Allen's Bananas (1973). He gained national fame in the TV role of stuffy next-door neighbor Dr. Arthur Harmon on the Norman Lear sitcom Maude (1974-78). Bain was later awarded top billing as wealthy Phillip Drummond, foster father to Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges, on Diff'rent Strokes. His most recent regular-series assignment was as presidential aide Charley Ross on the George C. Scott TV vehicle Mr. President (1987). Conrad Bain's identical twin brother Bonar Bain occasionally guested on Conrad's various TV series. Conrad died at 89 in early 2013.

Trivia: Actor Todd Bridges is probably best known as big brother Willis on the classic '80s sitcom Diff'rent Strokes. He was only 13 years old when he was cast in the series in 1978, though he had already cut his teeth in the world of television on shows like Little House on the Prairie and The Waltons. Even before that, Bridges had scored gigs in commercials, and his family had relocated from San Francisco to L.A. to support his young career when he was just six. He stayed with Diff'rent Strokes until 1986, when the series ended, and like a lot of child stars, Bridges had a hard time transitioning into the world of adult acting. He began to struggle with drug problems and trouble with the law, and the struggles forced the actor to move his career to the back burner as he battled to become free of addiction. With time and work, however, Bridges did surmount his problems and emerged ready to take on the world of acting again. He began a production company with his brother, Little Bridge Productions, and began working behind the camera too, directing 2003's Blackball. Additionally, Bridges has toured the country, speaking at schools on the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse.

Trivia: Oklahoma native Danny Cooksey moved with his mother to Los Angeles to pursue a country music career in 1980, when he was just five years old. Not long after arriving, a talent scout took note of Cooksey's precocious charm and asked him to audition for the show Diff'rent Strokes. Cooksey soon won the role of Sam McKinney on the series and played the character for three years, with more roles to follow. He made a brief appearance toward the beginning of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and played red-headed bully Bobby on the Nickelodeon series Salute Your Shorts. Cooksey also got involved in voice acting, lending his talents to such animated shows as Xiaolin Showdown and Pepper Ann.

Trivia: Best known as housekeeper Pearl Gallagher on the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, actress Mary Jo Catlett got her start on the stage, appearing in numerous musicals like Hello Dolly! and Promenade. Moving from the stage to the screen, the comedienne paid her dues in show business during the '70s, appearing on everything from Fantasy Island to The Smurfs. After playing Pearl for four years between 1982 and 1986, Catlett got right back into the habit, wracking up a massive list of appearances throughout the '80s, '90s, and 2000s, even taking on the recurring role of Mrs. Poppy Puff on the animated series SpongeBob SquarePants.

Trivia: American actress/dancer Dody Goodman gained a measure of newspaper column space for her dancing solos in such '40s Broadway musicals as High Button Shoes and Wonderful Town. Adopting the guise of a fey airhead, Goodman was good for a few off-the-wall quotes whenever she submitted to an interview. She came to the attention of nighttime talkshow host Jack Paar, who after becoming enchanted by Goodman's ditzy persona and seemingly spontaneous malaprops, invited the lady to become a semi-regular on The Tonight Show. As Goodman's fame grew, she became difficult to handle on the show, and Paar wasn't happy with her upstaging habits. Commenting on another guest one evening, Paar quipped "Give them enough rope." "And they'll skip!" ad-libbed Goodman brightly. Dropped summarily by Paar in 1958, Goodman spent the next decade showing up on other talk programs, game shows and summer stock as a "professional celebrity." Goodman staged a comeback in 1976 as Louise Lasser's mother on the TV soap opera parody Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. After this, Dody Goodman's career gained momentum with regular appearances on TV's Diff'rent Strokes, movie roles (Grease [1978]) and cartoon voiceover work (The Chipmunk's Adventure [1987]). She died in 2008 at the age of 93.

Trivia: Born in the Bronx, Shavar Ross moved to Georgia with his mother at age six when his parents separated. Ross' father headed to Los Angeles to launch a career in show business, and it was on a visit to see his dad in Tinseltown that the youngster -- then just eight years old -- was discovered by a talent scout. He would eventually win the role of Dudley on the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, launching a career that would come to include countless TV appearances on shows like Family Matters and Friday the 13th. Ross also got involved in voice acting, lending his vocal talents to various Hanna-Barbera cartoons, and completed four years of ministry school, after which he founded the Alive Church, a nondenominational Christian church in Los Angeles. He also launched his own production company, Tri-Seven Entertainment.

Trivia: Of the many siblings of mega-star Michael Jackson, Michael's youngest sister Janet is one of the few with enough genuine talent to succeed without her family ties. Jackson's fame rests largely on her successful, elaborately produced music videos, wherein the talented singer and dancer projects a more accessible, realistic image than her otherworldly brother. She is also a skilled and agreeable actress, as witness her series-TV stints on Good Times (1977-78), Diff'rent Strokes (1981-82) and Fame (1984). In 1993, Janet Jackson made her movie debut as a South Central L.A. beautician in director John Singleton's Poetic Justice (1993); the film was no classic, but Janet dominated every scene she was in, even those shared with notorious rap artist Tupac Shakur.

Trivia: Many remember Steven Mond as Robbie, the friend of Arnold on the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes who infamously pressures him to use drugs. Mond was a seasoned pro when he started on the series, having already cut his teeth on shows like CHiPs and Quincy, M.E., and he would stay with Diff'rent Strokes until 1985. He then retired from show business, and eventually became a lawyer.

Trivia: Many known Nikki Swasey from her role as Lisa Hayes on the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes. She also made small appearances on 227 and The Cosby Show before moving her career behind the camera, working as a stage director and second assistant director on a number of TV shows like Sunset Beach and movies like Superbad.

Trivia: The epitomical "Southern belle," radiant with finesse, grace, and an aura of down-home hospitality, Tennessee-born actress and chanteuse Dixie Carter received her broadest exposure on television thanks to two memorable sitcom roles: that of TV exercise hostess Maggie McKinney, spunky romantic partner and wife of millionaire Philip Drummond (Conrad Bain), on Diff'rent Strokes, and that of Julia Sugarbaker, Atlanta fashion designer extraordinaire, on the long-running Thomason-produced sitcom Designing Women.Carter was born in McLemoresville, TN, the daughter of two grocery-store proprietors. As a young lady, she projected a heightened gift for song. She studied music at Rhodes College in Memphis, then moved to Manhattan in 1963 to launch herself as a musical-theater star, but her career stalled for seven years given her 1967 marriage to Wall Street financier Arthur Carter (no blood relation to her; the common surname was a coincidence). Carter returned to the stage in 1974, with pivotal roles in such productions as Fathers and Sons and Pal Joey, and landed the part of Brandy Henderson in the soap opera The Edge of Night. In 1979, the actress moved to Los Angeles to commence film work. In the mean time, the marriage to Carter, and then a subsequent marriage, to Broadway star George Hearn, dissolved.By the late '70s and early '80s, Carter started racking up occasional bit parts and guest appearances in such series as Lou Grant, Out of the Blue, and Quincy, M.E. The Diff'rent Strokes part (which lasted only one season -- Carter withdrew from the series and was replaced at the start of the 1985-1986 season by cover girl and one-time Miss America Mary Ann Mobley) represented her highest billing up through that time. Then came the Sugarbaker role. Carter was one of the few members of the ensemble (alongside Annie Potts and Meshach Taylor) to actually remain with the program through the end of its run (in 1993), and fans continued to indelibly associate her with the series even after it wrapped. In the mean time, Carter's third husband, actor Hal Holbrook (who signed for a supporting role alongside his wife on Designing Women), encouraged her to resuscitate her singing career, and she mounted a well-received cabaret act, modeling her approach to old standards after the esteemed Mabel Mercer.Carter's resumé of onscreen work also included appearances in such long-form projects as the feature The Killing of Randy Webster (1981) and the miniseries Dazzle (1995). She gained additional acclaim and recognition with her portrayal of Gloria Hodge on the prime-time black comedy series Desperate Housewives. Carter died of endometrial cancer at age 70 in April 2010.

Trivia: Mississippi-born Mary Ann Mobley won the 1959 Miss America crown by singing a medley consisting of an aria from Madame Butterfly and the pop hit "There'll Be Some Changes Made." Within a year, Mary Ann was featured vocalist on the CBS TV variety series Be Our Guest; she then plunged into a series of youth-oriented theatrical films. Her movie leading men were an odd assortment, ranging from Elvis to Jerry Lewis. Far busier on TV than in films, Mary Ann was a guest on virtually every important prime-time dramatic series of the 1960s; she later played a recurring role on the ABC daytimer General Hospital, and in 1985 replaced Dixie Carter in the part of Conrad Bain's wife on the weekly sitcom Diff'rent Strokes. Trivia cultivators are fond of citing the two plum TV roles that Mary Ann was up for but didn't get; secret agent April Dancer on The Girl From UNCLE (she played the role in the pilot episode, but the series proper starred Stefanie Powers) and Batgirl-aka-Barbara Gordon on Batman (Yvonne Craig took over when Mary Ann fell ill). Mary Ann Mobley married to actor/talkshow host Gary Collins in 1967; the two remained together until Collins death in 2012. Mobley passed away in 2014, at age 75.

Trivia: Best known to television viewers for his role as the bullying older brother of Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage) on The Wonder Years, actor Jason Hervey has worn many hats in the world of show business since the cancellation of that Emmy Award-winning series. While a recurring role on Diff'rent Strokes and bit parts in such films as Meatballs Part II, Back to the Future, Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Back to School, and The Monster Squad helped to increase Hervey's profile early in his acting career, it was undoubtedly his participation in The Wonder Years that left the biggest impression on viewers. Hervey's portrayal of older Arnold sibling Wayne as a bratty and terminally obnoxious teen offered the perfect contrast to co-star Savage's wide-eyed innocence, and for the large part that was precisely the kind of role for which he was known for much of his career. While post-Wonder Years acting credits were few and far between for Hervey, he did maintain his ties to the entertainment industry as the producer of various sports-themed videos and specials (a substantial number of which where related to the World Championship Wrestling organization), a handful of made-for-television movies, and a few television series. As the wave of '80s nostalgia washed over the media in the early 2000s, Hervey became a noted contributor to VH1's I Love the 80s and I Love the 80s Strikes Back and appeared as himself on such popular reality shows as Hogan Knows Best and Scott Baio Is 45... and Single.