Trivia: Actress Betty White got her start in local Los Angeles television as the "telephone girl" for video emcee Al Jarvis. By early 1950 she was one of the stars of the daily, five-hour series Hollywood on Television. One of the highlights of this program was a husband and wife sketch titled "Life With Elizabeth," which when committed to film and syndicated nationally in 1953 became White's first starring TV sitcom. She went on to headline her own network variety series in 1954, then co-starred with Bill Williams in the weekly TV domestic comedy Date With the Angels (1957), which without Williams was retitled The Betty White Show in early 1958. For the next 15 years she made guest appearances on various variety and quiz show efforts, and toured the straw-hat theatrical circuit in such plays as Critics Choice and Who Was That Lady, often appearing opposite her husband, TV personality Allen Ludden. Two years after hosting the 1971 syndicated informational series The Pet Set, she guest-starred as libidinous "Happy Homemaker" Sue Ann Nivens on the fourth season opener of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. This Emmy-winning episode led to White being cast as an MTM regular; she remained with the series until its final episode in 1977. She then starred on her own short-lived sitcom (again titled The Betty White Show) before returning to the guest-star circuit. In 1985, she joined the cast of TV's The Golden Girls as middle-aged grief counselor Rose Nyland. This top-rated program lasted seven seasons before metamorphosing into the rather less successful Golden Palace (1992). White was a regular on the 1995 series Maybe This Time, and in 1997 she won an Emmy for her one-shot appearance on The John Laroquette Show. She was in the films Hard Rain and The Story of Us, as well as Lake Placid. In 2003 she was cast in Bringing Down the House, and in 2008 provided a voice for the American version of Ponyo. White developed a new generation in fans when she became the subject of a successful online campaign to get her to host Saturday Night Live - which she did in 2010, along with winning the SAG award for Life time Achievement. The year before, she had a part in the hit Sandra Bullock vehicle The Proposal. She also became the star of year another successful TV show when she was cast in the female-centric sitcom Hot in Cleveland. She lent her voice to the 2012 adaptation of The Lorax.

Trivia: During her nine-year (1975-1984) tenure as Barbara Cooper on TV's One Day at a Time, Valerie Bertinelli grew from a chubby, awkward 15-year-old with only a smattering of bit-part credits into a polished actress and bona fide sex symbol. When Bertinelli "married" her One Day co-star Boyd Gaines in a 1982 episode, the ratings went through the roof, while many a male viewer's heart sank. One year earlier, Bertinelli had been a bride for real; her marriage to rock star Eddie Van Halen was kept under wraps by the series' producers for fear of damaging the actress' "Little Miss Perfect" image. Bertinelli's son by Van Halen was named Wolfgang, as in Mozart. While still a One Day regular, Bertinelli made the first of many TV-movie starring appearances in 1979's Young Love, First Love; later small-screen projects -- most of them packaged by Bertinelli's own production company, Bertinelli Inc. -- included The Princess and the Cabbie (1981), I Was a Mail Order Bride (1982), Shattered Vows (1984), The Seduction of Gina (1984), Silent Witness (1985), and Pancho Barnes (1988). Conversely, her theatrical-feature credits are limited, but include C.H.O.M.P.S. (1979) and Ordinary Heroes (1985). In the years since One Day at a Time, Valerie Bertinelli has starred in the short-lived TV series, Sydney (1990) and Café Americain (1993).At the beginning of the 2000s, she landed a recurring role on Touched By an Angel. In 2005 she filed for divorce from Eddie Van Halen, and a few years later she would be the star of yet another series, the TV Land sitcom Hot In Cleveland opposite Wendy Malick, Jane Leeves, and Betty White.

Trivia: Began studying ballet at a very early age, but hurt her ankle when she was 18 and was forced to give it up. Appeared in David Lee Roth's video for "California Girls." Lived for a time with her best friend Faith Ford, whom she met in acting class. Cofounded the production company Bristol Cities with Frasier costar Peri Gilpin in 1998. Since her first pregnancy wasn't written into Frasier, her character, Daphne, was sent off to a fat camp and was said to have lost 9 pounds, 12 ounces---the weight of Jane's daughter when she was born. Made her Broadway debut in Cabaret as Sally Bowles in 2002. Reunited with Fraiser alum Wendy Malick to costar in the TV Land sitcom Hot in Cleveland.

Trivia: While savvy television viewers will no doubt recognize prolific small-screen actress Wendie Malick from such popular series as Baywatch, Just Shoot Me, and HBO's smart and sexy comedy Dream On, the late '90s found her feature career warming up in such independent efforts as Manna From Heaven (2001) and Bathroom Boy (2003). A native of Buffalo, NY, who first found work in front of the cameras as a Wilhelmina model in the 1970s, the Ohio Wesleyan University alum would later work for New York congressman Jack Kemp following her graduation. Subsequently gracing the catwalks of New York, Paris, and Madrid, it was a small role in the 1978 comedy How to Pick up Girls that provided the aspiring actress with her first screen break. Though she would appear in a few theatrical releases such as Scrooged (1988) during the 1980s, most of her work came with made-for-television features and such series as Kate and Allie and Anything But Love. Increasingly visible on the small screen during the 1990s, Malick's role as series protagonist Martin Tupper's (Brian Benben) ex-wife on Dream On utilized her comic abilities to maximum effect and netted the actress four Cable ACE awards. Following the final episode of Dream On in 1996, it was only one short year before Malick began a stint on another popular series that would gain her accolades among sitcom junkies, Just Shoot Me. Her background in the modeling industry provided the ideal foundation for her role as former model Nina Van Horn, and Malick (Emmy-nominated for the role) remained with the show until its final episode in 2003, simultaneously taking occasional parts in both made-for-TV and theatrical features. In 1997 Malick took the lead in the little-seen romantic comedy Just Add Love, and following voice work as the egotistical principal in the Disney series Fillmore!, she appeared alongside Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, and Betty White the Emmy-winning comedy series Hot in Cleveland. In addition to her screen work, Wendie Malick met husband Richard Erickson while building homes for poor families in Mexico, and she also helps the homeless with her work for the Adopt-A-Family organization.

Trivia: Carl Reiner knew he wanted to be an actor -- preferably a Shakespearean actor -- from the time he was wearing knee pants. Trained in New York's Works Progress Administration Dramatic Workshop, he spent the war years touring with Maurice Evans' G.I. Hamlet, appearing with another young hopeful, Howard Morris. After the war he accumulated scores of stock company and Broadway credits, then in 1948 made his television debut in the short-lived series Fashion Story. While starring in NBC's 54th Street Revue, he was hired as one of the regulars on Your Show of Shows, appearing on a weekly basis with Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, and old pal Howie Morris. During the scripting sessions for Show of Shows, Reiner became friends with a bombastic staff writer named Mel Brooks, with whom he improvised a number of wild stream-of-consciousness comedy bits which would eventually crystallize as the classic "2000 Year Old Man" routines. An Emmy winner for his work on the various Sid Caesar programs, he entered films as a character actor in 1959. That same year, he wrote, produced, and starred in the pilot episode for a proposed series about a comedy writer named Rob Petrie, titled Head of the Family. The network executives liked the concept, but vetoed Reiner as the star; swallowing his pride, he retooled the property with another leading man, and that's how the Emmy-winning Dick Van Dyke Show was born. During the series' five-year run, Reiner made innumerable cameo appearances on the program, most memorably as Rob Petrie's mercurial TV-comedian boss Alan Brady. In 1967 he made his film directorial debut with Enter Laughing, an adaptation of his own semi-autobiographical 1958 novel (the book had already been transformed into a Broadway play with Alan Arkin as star). Reiner's later directing assignments included The Comic (1967), a bittersweet farce based on the lives of Stan Laurel, Harry Langdon, and Buster Keaton; the black comedy cult favorite Where's Poppa? (1970); the whimsical fantasy Oh, God (1977); and a popular series of Steve Martin vehicles, among them The Jerk (1978) and Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982). His film output decreased in number and quality in the l980s and 1990s, though critics enjoyed his offbeat 1989 working-class comedy Bert Rigby, You're a Fool and his 1997 Bette Midler starrer That Old Feeling. In 1995, he earned yet another Emmy award for his revival of the Alan Brady character on a memorable episode of TV's Mad About You. And though Reiner appeared to retire from directing following That Old Feeling, he still maintained a notable presence in film and television with roles in Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven and it's two sequels, House M.D., Hot in Cleveland, and Parks and Rec.Carl Reiner is the father of directors Rob Reiner and Lucas Reiner; his wife Estelle has enjoyed a latter-day career as a night club singer and as a cameo performer in her son Rob's films (she's the lady who says, "I'll have what she's having!" in When Harry Met Sally).

Trivia: A descendent of a long line of talented actors including father James and sister Tyne, boyishly handsome screen regular Tim Daly has endured to overcome a post Wings career slump with a successful series of film and television roles. The New York City native first took to the stage in summer stock while studying at Bennington College; he followed graduation with a few seasons at Providence's Trinity Square Repertory and then made his off-Broadway debut in 1984 with Fables for Friends. Daly's film career got off to a healthy start with his role as a young expectant father in Diner (1982), though in the years that followed, the fresh-faced star was relegated mostly to small-screen roles. A Broadway bow opposite Annette Bening in Coastal Disturbances proved that Daly did indeed have the talent to make it as an actor if casting directors could see past his youthful exterior, and with his upcoming role in Wings, the rising star would prove his worth not only at comedy but drama as well. Cast opposite Steven Weber as one of two brothers who own a small Nantucket airline, Daly stayed with Wings through the series' seven-year run (1990-1997). During that time, he also utilized the predictable production schedule as a means to experiment with dramatic roles in a series of memorable made-for-television features. If audiences had pigeonholed Daly as a small-screen lightweight, a role as cult leader David Koresh in In the Line of Duty: Ambush in Waco showed that the versatile actor was capable of much more. Some of Daly's other roles from the mid-'90s may have proved less than memorable, but his vocal contributions to the animated television series Superman (for which he voiced the Man of Steel himself) kept him busy before he landed the role of astronaut James Lovell in the acclaimed HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon (1998). As audiences began to realize Daly's talent thanks to memorable parts in Storm of the Century (1999) and an updated version of the television classic The Fugitive, it seemed as if the veteran actor might have finally overcome his youthful outward appearance to command some respect. Though Daly would indeed impress with his role as Dr. Richard Kimble in The Fugitive, the series lasted only one season and it would be two years before he would return to the screen in the made-for-television drama The Outsider. In the years that followed, Daly's film career experienced something of a revival when he was cast in such high-profile releases as Basic (2003) and Against the Ropes (2004). The longtime actor also made his directorial debut in 2004 with the mournful drama Bereft. Daly became well-known for his portrayal of a naturopathic doctor Pete Wilder on NBC's drama series Private Practice. After leaving the show at the end of the 5th season, Daly voiced the character of Superman in Justice League: Doom (2012). This wasn't the first time the actor voiced the legendary superhero; he also worked on the 2010 animated feature Superman/Batman: Apocalypse. Daly maintained his TV roots, with guest arcs on The Mindy Project and Hot in Cleveland, before taking a regular role on Madam Secretary in 2014.

Trivia: One of Scotland's most acclaimed comedians, Craig Ferguson first became known to American audiences as Nigel Wick, Drew Carey's evil boss on The Drew Carey Show. A fixture of the series from 1995, Ferguson won over film audiences four years later with his portrayal of Crawford Mackenzie, an indefatigable but naïve hairdresser intent on competing in the World Freestyle Hairstyling Competition in the mock-documentary The Big Tease.Originally hailing from Glasgow, Ferguson started out as a musician, but gradually segued into comedy via the stage and television. He earned great popularity as the star of a series of self-titled specials on the BBC, and also received positive notices as the lead of the West End revival of The Rocky Horror Pictures Show and Neil Simon's The Odd Couple, which was staged at the Edinburgh Festival. By the mid-'90s, Ferguson decided it was time to move on, to set his sights on grander schemes, and duly moved to L.A. Upon his arrival, he found himself being forced to masticate a particularly large slab of humble pie, as the charm and wit that had earned him so many fans back home did little but translate to open casting calls and endless auditions in Hollywood. Ferguson's luck began to change when he landed the role of Mr. Wick on The Drew Carey Show and he was able to use his initial hard-luck experiences in L.A. as the basis for The Big Tease, which, in addition to starring in, he wrote and executive produced with Sacha Gervasi. The film, which also starred Frances Fisher and contained a pivotal cameo by Carey, was relatively well-received by critics and enjoyed a fairly successful commercial release.Ferguson followed The Big Tease in 2000 with Saving Grace, which Ferguson also co-wrote and co-produced. He would go on to appear in movies like Trust Me, and lend his voice to animated films like How to Train Your Dragon and Winnie the Pooh, but Ferguson would become best known for his late night talk show, The Late Show with Craig Ferguson, beginning in 2005.

Trivia: Marian Ross dreamed of stardom from childhood, going so far as to change the spelling of her first name to Marion because she thought it would look nicer on a marquee. When her family moved from Minnesota to California, the 16-year-old aspiring actress plunged into the busy world of amateur theatricals in the San Diego area. She was voted Outstanding Actress at San Diego State University in 1950, then went on to work at the prestigious La Jolla Playhouse. Mel Ferrer, La Jolla's resident director, recommended that Ross try her luck in Hollywood. She worked steadily in TV and films from 1953 onward, but stardom was still outside her reach. Ross played a succession of maids, nuns, nurses, and that nebulous classification, the Heroine's Best Friend. She showed up in small roles in such films as Forever Female (1953), Lust for Life (1955), and Operation Petticoat (1959), earning the respect of her fellow workers but very little in the way of public recognition. "I've always had a way of not attracting attention," she would note with resignation later in life. On television, Marion played unstressed recurring roles on such series as Life with Father, Mrs. G Goes to College and Mr. Novak. She finally achieved stardom as Marion Cunningham, mother of 1950s high-schooler Richie Cunningham, on the weekly sitcom Happy Days. What started out as a shaky midseason replacement in January of 1974 ended up ABC's number-one hit; Ross hitched her wagon to the ever-rising Happy Days star until its final episode in 1983. During this period, she reactivated her stage career, with considerably more success than she'd enjoyed in the 1950s. Ross' post-Happy Days TV gigs included a 1986 guest shot as the new bride of Captain Stubing (Gavin MacLeod) on The Love Boat and the brief 1989 series Living Dolls. In 1991, Marion Ross earned an Emmy nomination for her portrayal of archetypal Jewish mother Sophie Berger on the TV "dramedy" Brooklyn Bridge. In the decades to come, Ross would find ongoing success with recurring roles on TV series like The Drew Carey Show and Gilmore Girls, as well as providing voice acting for animated series such as SpongeBob SquarePants and Handy Manny.

Trivia: Though best known for his work as radio station bigwig Jimmy James on the television series NewsRadio, Stephen Root is one of the busier character actors at work today, and a familiar face to television and movie audiences. Born in Sarasota, FL, on November 17, 1951, Root received a degree in acting and broadcasting from the University of Florida, and after graduating passed an audition to join the touring company of the National Shakespeare Company. After three years with the NSC, Root settled in New York City, where he began working in off-Broadway theater, making his debut in a revival of Journey's End. His first Broadway role, in So Long on Lonely Street, was a bust at the box office, but the 1987 revival of All My Sons was a big hit which generated plenty of enthusiastic press for Root. 1988 saw Root making his motion-picture debut in the George Romero horror opus Monkey Shines, and over the next several years Root worked steadily in feature films, episodic television, and made-for-TV movies, scoring recurring roles on L.A. Law, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Blossom; guest spots on Northern Exposure, Murphy Brown, and Quantum Leap; supporting parts in Ghost, Dave, and Robocop 3; and an acclaimed turn in A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story, as well as its sequel, Her Final Fury: Betty Broderick, The Last Chapter. In 1993, Root was cast as R.O. on the television series Harts of the West; the show only lasted a season, but his next role on a series would last a bit longer; cast as Jimmy on the sitcom NewsRadio in 1995, Root would last with the show for five seasons, until the show was canceled after a disappointing final season following the death of co-star Phil Hartman. During hiatus from NewsRadio and after the series ended, Root continued his busy schedule, making memorable appearances in feature films (including Office Space and O Brother, Where Art Thou?) and guesting on other shows. Root also began doing voice work, speaking for Buck Strickland and Bill Dauterive on the animated series King of the Hill and the Sheriff on Buzz Lightyear of Star Command.Root's small-screen voice-work would soon lead to his involvement in two popular big-screen animated features. In 2002's Ice Age, audiences could hear him along with Cedric the Entertainer as a pair of Rhinos. And the next year, Root lent his pipes to the blockbuster underwater adventure Finding Nemo. While his voice became more familiar to moviegoers, Root continued to become more of a presence in live-action films as well. Turning in no less than four supporting performances in high-profile films, Root spent 2004 reteaming with the Coen brothers for The Ladykillers, showing up in a prominent role in Kevin Smith's Jersey Girl, and costarring in the broad comedies Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Mad Money, and Leatherheads.He remained one of the most respected and in-demand character actors of his generation appearing in a variety of projects including Mad Money, The Soloist, Everything Must Go, Red State, Cedar Rapids, and J. Edgar. He also provided numerous voices for the Oscar-winning animated feature Rango.

Trivia: Baby-faced and Canadian, writer/actor Dave Foley dropped out of school in favor of joining the Second City Comedy Troupe in Toronto. He made his film debut in the 1986 comedy High Stakes, followed by several TV movies. He and old friend Kevin McDonald helped to form the sketch comedy group and TV series The Kids in the Hall, so named after a Jack Benny joke. Running from 1989 to 1994, the show earned a devoted following and several Emmy nominations. A contributing writer to the show, Foley also appeared in the cast. Some of his best characters include Manservant Hecubus, Bruno Puntz Jones, and the insane Jerry Sizzler. After the show's cancellation, the group stayed in contact for the 1996 feature Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy and the 2001 live tour Kids in the Hall: Same Guys New Dresses. Relocating to Los Angeles, Foley appeared in the unfortunate movie It's Pat and went to work on a new television show, starring as station manager Dave Nelson in the aptly named sitcom NewsRadio from 1995 to 1999. During this time, he also wrote, produced, and starred in the comedy The Wrong Guy, which won Best Screenplay at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival. Working in Hollywood, he had supporting parts in the comedies Hacks, Blast From the Past, and Dick. Meanwhile, he provided the voice of Flik the Ant in A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, and It's Tough to Be a Bug, as well as various voices in the South Park movie, the IMAX movie CyberWorld, and the miniseries From the Earth to the Moon. Mixing animation with his sketch comedy background, he then starred in Monkeybone, based in part on the graphic novel Dark Town. On-stage, he appeared in the musical comedy White Trash Wins Lotto, which ran at The Roxy in Hollywood. He also had supporting parts in the comedy features On the Line, Run Ronnie Run!, and Stark Raving Mad. In 2003, Foley returned to his native Canada to appear in the comedy Whitecoats, directed by Dave Thomas. In 2004 Foley took the gig of host for Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown, and two years later he returned to the Pixar fold to voice a brief cameo in Cars. In 2007 he played a major part in the infamous Uwe Boll film Postal. Fans were overjoyed when The Kids in the Hall reunited in 2010 for the six-episode series Death Comes to Town.

Trivia: Born October 10th, 1965, Ohioan Luke Perry did well enough on the high school baseball team, but he was a somewhat lackadaisical student, with no real aim in life except for a vague desire to become an actor someday. That desire solidified into reality when Perry headed for Los Angeles in 1984, took acting lessons, and sought out auditions while supporting himself with construction and asphalting jobs. Eventually he landed the role of Ned Bates on the TV daytime drama Loving. In 1990, Perry was cast in the Fox Network's Beverly Hills 90210 in the supporting role of Dylan McKay. Audience response to Perry was so overwhelming that, by the time 90210 swung into its second season, he was not only one of the series' leading characters, but a full-fledged teen idol. From all accounts, Perry handled his "hunk heartthrob" status with class and diplomacy; this latter quality served him well during the well-publicized brouhaha over co-star Shannen Doherty. Perry finally left Beverly Hills 90210 for the greener pastures of theatrical films.Perry won cult notoriety for his portrayal of a hapless teenage vampire hunter in 1992's Buffy the Vampire Slayer (which inspired Joss Whedon's phenomenally popular series of the same name). After working in a series of critical and commerical failures, Perry co-starred with Chris Tucker and Gary Oldman in 1997's iconic sci-fi thriller The Fifth Element. The actor worked for a short time on HBO's prison drama Oz, in which he played a well meanng, yet ill-fated priest, and went the opposite direction when he guest-starred on Law & Order: SVU in the role of rapist Noah Sibert. In 2009, Perry starred in a music video for The Killers' fourth annual Christmas single.