Trivia: Like many small-screen veterans who headline a hit network series for multiple seasons, the fresh-faced, genial American actor Richard Dean Anderson will forever be associated with one role -- that of Angus MacGyver, the multilingual, crack Special Forces agent and science expert capable of using common household substances and implements to perform feats of wonder, on the Henry Winkler-produced action-adventure series MacGyver. Although Anderson's resumé packs in a number of key telemovies and a recurrent starring role on the popular Stargate SG-1, the actor is best known for turning MacGyver into a veritable American icon for Gen-Xers during the mid- to late '80s and early '90s.Anderson was born on January 23, 1950, in Minneapolis, MN, to a schoolteacher father, Stuart Anderson, who taught English, humanities, and drama at an area high school, and an artist mother. During middle school and high school, Anderson's plans to embark on a career as a professional hockey player were curtailed by two unfortunate accidents in which he broke both arms, encouraging the young man to pursue drama as an alternate option. After high school, Anderson enrolled in both St. Cloud State University and Ohio University, where he studied acting, but -- feeling listless -- he dropped out before receiving his degree, and spent time in San Francisco and Manhattan, then moved permanently to L.A. In Southern California, Anderson held down gigs as a street mime, juggler, and aquatic performer at Marineland, then appeared in the stage production Superman in the Bones at the Pilgrimage Theatre.Aficionados of 1970s American television might recall that Anderson's "breakthrough" arrived not as MacGyver, but as Dr. Jeff Webber on the long-running ABC soap opera General Hospital, circa 1976 -- then in production for 13 years. Not long after two failed series attempts on CBS -- the adventure drama Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in 1982 and the Dennis Weaver-headlined military drama Emerald Point, N.A.S. in 1983 -- Anderson auditioned for Henry Winkler and others to portray MacGyver on that character's eponymous action series. The premise found MacGyver enlisting as a member of a "think tank" called "The Phoenix Foundation," devoted to traveling around the world and thwarting criminal activity. The program's gimmick revolved around scientist MacGyver's abhorrence of guns, and his ability to use seemingly innocent, harmless objects -- such a candy bar, a paperclip, a toothpick, and (of course) his ever-present Swiss Army knife -- to blow up buildings, escape from deathtraps, save lives, etc. Winkler and his co-producers purportedly gave Anderson the part because of his request to wear eyeglasses during the reading -- an act that suggested humility to them and thus meshed perfectly with the character. MacGyver debuted on ABC on September 29, 1985, and lasted seven seasons, retaining a faithful audience despite at least 11 shifts in its night and time slot. It finally wrapped on August 8, 1992. Two telemovies, MacGyver: Trail to Doomsday and MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis, aired in 1994, both produced by Anderson.Alongside the MacGyver series run and shortly thereafter, Anderson signed for key roles in several network telemovies, including Ordinary Heroes (1985), Through the Eyes of a Killer (1992, which uncharacteristically cast him as a psychotic stalker), Beyond Betrayal (1994), and the epic-length disaster miniseries Pandora's Clock (1996). These proved moderately successful, but Anderson's two additional attempts to produce a network series through his Gekko film production company during the early '90s (Firehouse and Legend) died quick deaths.Anderson nevertheless caught his second wind and returned to series television (garnering a loyal cult following among sci-fi buffs) as Col. Jack O'Neill in the 1997 series Stargate SG-1, which originated on Showtime. Adapted from the hit 1994 movie Stargate, the program found O'Neill emerging from semi-retirement and continually traveling to interstellar "stargate" portals to protect the universe from hostile alien invasions. Stargate SG-1 bowed to extraordinary reviews and ratings and became a permanent hit; Anderson stayed with the series through its eighth season, and appeared as a guest star occationally during the rest of its run. He would go on to appear on the spin off SGU Stargate Universe, as well as the dramedy series Fairly Legal.Though Anderson has never married, he has been romantically linked with such actresses as Marlee Matlin, Deidre Hall, Sela Ward, Teri Hatcher, and Lara Flynn Boyle, and the champion skater Katarina Witt. In 1996, Anderson entered an ongoing romantic relationship with Apryl Prose, and the two had a daughter, Wylie Quinn Annarose Anderson, born in August 1998. Anderson divides his time between residences in Vancouver, Los Angeles, and northern Minnesota.

Trivia: Actress/singer/comedienne Misty Rowe's career peaked in the 1970s and 1980s and placed its strongest emphasis on television and stage. Born in 1952, Rowe studied under preeminent acting coach Stella Adler, and achieved her most enduring fame as one of the longest-reigning contributors (outstripped only by a handful of regulars including Roy Clark and Minnie Pearl) to the country music-themed comedy variety program Hee Haw; Rowe signed on with the program in 1972 and remained with the cast until 1991, or two years before its first-run syndication ended. In the interim, she joined the cast of Happy Days for the first season only, won the part of Maid Marian in Mel Brooks' short-lived sitcom farce When Things Were Rotten (1975), and -- very briefly -- starred opposite Kathie Lee Johnson (soon to become Kathie Lee Gifford), Lulu Roman, and others in the comedy variety spinoff of Hee Haw, Hee Haw Honeys (1978). Meanwhile, Rowe also eked out a presence on-stage in such productions as the musical comedy Lil' Abner opposite Joe Namath. Following Rowe's stint on Hee Haw, she endured a bout of personal tragedy, but overcame the related emotional difficulties and scored a triumph by headlining the touring stage production Always...Patsy Cline as the famous, tragic country crooner. Rowe then embarked on a stand-up act, headlining clubs including Caroline's, Stand-Up New York, and Don't Tell Mama. Rowe's feature film career witnessed her landing supporting roles in projects including Loose Shoes (1980), National Lampoon's Class Reunion (1982), and Meatballs Part II (1984).

Trivia: Actor Eric Close found his breakthrough role on the prime-time serial drama Sisters (1991), opposite Julianne Phillips, Sela Ward, and Swoosie Kurtz. Close's performance as a policeman in the sixth season of the program established his onscreen reputation as a solid and reliable performer. Alongside that program, Close landed roles in low-rent films such as Hercules and the Lost Kingdom (1994) and the made-for-television soaper The Stranger Beside Me (1995). The actor then received second billing after small-screen mainstay Michael Biehn in the Western series The Magnificent Seven (1998), joined the regular cast of the short-lived sci-fi drama The Sky Is Falling (1999), and scored a lead in Glenn Gordon Caron's eccentric, short-lived superhero series Now and Again. Close drew his largest audience, however, with his contributions to the outstanding crime-investigation drama Without a Trace, as Martin Fitzgerald, the missing-persons agent amorously, and perhaps unwisely, involved with colleague Samantha Spade (Poppy Montgomery).

Trivia: Athlete-turned-actress Jenette Goldstein was well suited for her movie debut: James Cameron's pumped-up action sequel Aliens (1986). Born and raised in Los Angeles, Goldstein trained to be a gymnast before deciding she'd rather pursue an acting career. She went to New York and London to study the craft, and was living in Britain when she heard about the Aliens audition. Though she mistakenly thought it was a movie about immigrants, her athletic background as well as acting skills helped her get the role of super-tough Pvt. Vasquez, one of the small band of soldiers pitted against the formidable mother Alien. Buoyed by Aliens' blockbuster success and a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress, Goldstein returned to Hollywood. Following a substantial role as one of the vampire gang in Kathryn Bigelow's cult classic Near Dark (1987), Goldstein appeared in several action movies, including The Presidio (1988) and Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), and also revisited science fiction in Star Trek: Generations (1994). Becoming a James Cameron blockbuster regular, Goldstein also played the small yet pointed role of Edward Furlong's foster mother in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and showed her softer side as a doomed Irish immigrant mom in Titanic (1997). Moving away from big budget genre pictures after Titanic, Goldstein joined the eclectic casts of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) and Living Out Loud (1998).

Trivia: Was president of his high-school class. Sang backup for The Young Rascals pop group in the 1960s. Became a New York City fireman in 1977 to support his pursuit of an acting career. Made his feature-film debut in 1985's Turk 182, playing a firefighter. Is a colon-cancer survivor and supports several cancer-research organizations.

Trivia: Brusque character actor Dana Elcar was usually assigned roles calling for blunt imperiousness. He became especially handy in films and TV shows of the 1970s, portraying curt, dour, meticulously groomed authority figures at odds with dishevelled "hippie" and "gonzo" types. Elcar's first film after many years' stage work was 1968's Pendulum; other film credits include Soldier Blue (1969), W.C.Fields and Me (1976), and The Nude Bomb (1980). In 1985, Dana Elcar was cast as Peter Thornton, boss of troubleshooting Richard Dean Anderson, on the TV series MacGiver; Elcar continued playing the role into the 1990s, at which time the actor's real-life blindness required him to incorporate dark glasses and a cane into his characterization.