Trivia: Like his older brother, Keenan Ivory Wayans, African-American performer Damon Wayans matriculated from standup comedy to series television to movies. He was a regular on TV's Saturday Night Live and -- along with virtually everyone else in the Wayans family -- In Living Color. Exhibiting a fondness for the outrageous, Wayans attracted both adulation and condemnation for his many In Living Color characterizations, notably the dour Homey the Clown and the excessively effeminate co-host of the "Men on Film" skits. Damon's first film was 1984's Beverly Hills Cop 2; he has since functioned as co-star (with brother Marlon Wayans), co-producer, co-writer, and director of Mo' Money (1992), and has been heard but not seen as the voice of a troublesome baby in Look Who's Talking 2 (1992). In 1995, Damon Wayans played a role once essayed by Charlton Heston, in Major Payne, a remake of Heston's The Private War of Major Benson (1955).

Trivia: Though most commonly associated with her multi-season portrayal of marketing executive Gina Waters-Payne, significant other of Martin Payne (Martin Lawrence) on the Fox sitcom Martin (1992-97), Tisha Campbell began her lengthy Hollywood career with a role that film buffs will have little difficulty remembering. Campbell made her feature debut as Chiffon, a member of the black female doo-wop group that acts as a Greek chorus, in the 1986 Frank Oz musical comedy Little Shop of Horrors (1986). An Oklahoma City native, born to a coat factory employee father and a gospel singer mother, Campbell moved with her family to Newark, New Jersey at the age of three, where the entire clan suffered from abject poverty. At age 6, Campbell won a talent contest, and the following year landed a turn in an ABC Afterschool Special entitled Unicorn Tales, as well as a supporting role in the off-Broadway musical Really Rosie. Campbell attended and graduated from Newark's Arts High School, then made the ambitious trek out to Los Angeles (with her family's encouragement) and spent several years surviving numerous television pilots that failed to take off. Shop, however, rocketed Campbell to national attention and jump-started her film career. She landed additional roles in Spike Lee's School Daze (1988), House Party (1988) (which she also choreographed), and Boomerang (1992). Campbell met future co-star Lawrence on the set of House Party; according to Campbell's later recollections, Lawrence immediately invited her to play his girlfriend should he ever land a sitcom. In 1992, that plan materialized. The program scored sensational ratings and immediately connected with a young, black, urban market; the arc of the series witnessed Gina and Martin transitioning from lovers to intendeds to husband-and-wife. Campbell originally planned to remain with the series through its final season, but actually left Martin several months prematurely, in November of 1996, asserting that Lawrence verbally, physically and sexually abused her on the set of the program - allegations that Lawrence and his representatives aggressively denied, claiming that Campbell was using the actor as a pawn in a contractual dispute with the network despite the fact that the actress left in mid-season.After her stint on Martin, Campbell signed for supporting roles in a number of low-profile features including Linc's (1998), The Sweetest Gift (1998) and Snitch (1999), then returned to network television briefly as one of the stars of the domestically-themed situation comedy My Wife and Kids (2001).Campbell is also occasionally credited by her married name of Tisha Campbell-Martin. She enjoyed a brief tenure as a recording artist with a 1993 r&b release entitled Tisha.

Trivia: An outrageous comedian who clearly pulls from such influences as Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor -- but somehow ups the irreverence quotient many times over -- standup comic-turned-actor Katt Williams built a career vulgarly riffing on such subjects as Michael Jackson, middle-American evangelism, the incarceration of Martha Stewart, and the ironies of race in America (a favorite topic that found him making fervent use of incendiary epithets), to name only a few touchstones -- all of which gave him a widespread and loyal following, particularly among young African-American males. Born in Cincinnati, OH, but raised in nearby Dayton, Williams grew up as the child of politically and socially active parents and received outstanding grades and a slew of academic honors in school. In his late teens, he moved to San Francisco and temporarily joined the Nation of Islam, meanwhile honing a standup act at local nightclubs. Favorite venues that hosted Williams in the late '90s included the Hollywood Park Casino, The Icehouse and The Improv; he also became a staple on BET's standup programs. In 2002, Williams accepted one of his first screen assignments with a small role (as Money Mike) in Marcus Raboy's Friday After Next. Five years later, Williams finally had the opportunity to team up onscreen with longtime idol Eddie Murphy, who cast him as Lord Have Mercy in the farce Norbit (2007). That same year, Williams appeared in a minor capacity in the gag-laden Epic Movie and displayed a more sober side in the family-oriented Christmas drama The Perfect Holiday. Meanwhile, the comic continually headlined standup performance films via such cable outlets as Comedy Central and HBO.

Trivia: Went to Fresno State University on a track scholarship and was an All-American shot-putter. Won 15 professional arm-wrestling titles; also competed in weightlifting and bodybuilding tournaments. After college, worked four and a half years as a counselor at a Fresno correctional facility for juvenile offenders; later played corrections officers on iCarly (2008) and Desperate Housewives ('09). Broke into TV in Knights and Warriors, an American Gladiators clone, in 1992 (Jones' nom de guerre: Lady Battleaxe). Was cast as Coach Shannon Beiste in Glee after running into executive producer Brad Falchuk in an L.A. supermarket and asking to be on the show. Jones had previously worked with Falchuk and Glee creator Ryan Murphy on Nip/Tuck and their failed pilot Pretty/Handsome.

Trivia: A child piano prodigy who played with the New England Symphonic Ensemble and became the youngest soloist every to perform with an orchestra at the Sydney Opera House at the tender age of five, Heroes star Noah Gray-Cabey first found small-screen success on the series My Wife and Kids before appearing in episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Ghost Whisperer. Later, after winning a Young Artist Award for My Wife and Kids, Gray-Cabey appeared in the M. Night Shyamalan fantasy Lady in the Water. Cast as Micah Sanders, the gifted boy with a magic touch on Heroes, the young pianist-turned-actor got to live out every young boy's fantasy of possessing superpowers, and in the process made his small-screen breakthrough.

Trivia: One of the most prominent members of the hardcore rap/hip-hop ensemble Public Enemy (and arguably its most colorful contributor), Flavor Flav (born William Drayton in 1959) joined his bandmates in breaking new ground within the said musical genres. Public Enemy's ability to rewrite the rules of rap as a vehicle for the expression of urban social concerns (and angst), coupled with innovative soundscapes unlike anything heard up through that time, arguably turned it into the most influential rap or hip-hop group to emerge during the mid- to late '80s. Throughout it all, Flav provided the comic edge to offset the sobriety and gravity of band member Chuck D's lyrics. Flav's outrageous appearance did much to impart this -- he typically sported a massive number of rings on each hand, wore a giant clock on a chain around his neck, and had all of his front teeth encased in solid gold, into which were engraved the letters of his stage name. For the majority of his career, Flav remained with Enemy, only issuing a debut solo record in 2006 (an early 1999 effort, It's About Time, went unreleased). He began to branch out into film roles as early as 1990, with a small role in Spike Lee's jazz-flavored musical drama Mo' Better Blues, then followed it up with a similar role in New Jack City and cameos as his inimitable self in CB4: The Movie (1993) and Who's the Man? (1993). In an unforgettable stint, Flav participated alongside Charo, Dave Coulier, and others in season three of VH1's The Surreal Life (2004). During that season, Flav and statuesque Scandinavian model-turned-actress Brigitte Nielsen struck up a now-famous on-camera love affair, which prompted the network to initiate a spin-off reality series for the mordantly unhappy couple, entitled Strange Love; episodes typically featured the lovers screaming at each other incessantly and the program ended after only one season. Flav, however, signed for a follow-up MTV reality series, devoted exclusively to himself and his pursuit of lifelong love. Entitled The Flavor of Love, it debuted in 2006. Meanwhile, the performer heightened his emphasis on non-musical comedy via participation in the Comedy Central Roast of Flavor Flav (2007). In 2008, Flav took on a regular role as Calvester Hill on the My Network TV sitcom Under One Roof.

Trivia: Was named for her father's, songwriter Bruce Sudano, hometown of Brooklyn, N.Y. Was valedictorian at her high school graduation. Accepted to Brown, Duke and Georgetown Universities, but chose Vanderbilt to stay close to her hometown of Nashville. Was featured on her mother's, "Queen of Disco" Donna Summer, "Brooklyn." While studying film in New York, she was spotted by the Ford Modeling Agency and appeared in numerous ad campaigns for Clairol, Burger King, K-Mart and Clear & Clear.

Trivia: Worked as a gardner before turning to acting. Made his television debut in a 1972 episode of police drama, Homicide. Rose in prominence playing John in The Sullivans from 1976 to '77. Has been a presenter on the long-running children's program, Play School, since 2000. Has had an extensive career in theatre, including, playing George in The Queensland Theatre Company's 2007 production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and playing Mr Myers in the Capitol Theatre's 2010 production of Fame - The Musical.

Trivia: Son of comedic legend Damon Wayans, Damon Wayans Jr. began following in his dad's footsteps in 1994 when, at the age of 12, he played the younger version of David Alan Grier's character Kevin in the movie Blankman. He would spend the next several years honing his stand-up comedy skills, eventually joining the cast of the sitcom My Wife and Kids in 2001. He would also become a writer on the show, penning several episodes before departing in 2004. In 2006, Wayans became a writer and actor on the outrageous sketch comedy series The Underground, joining forces with his father, who also helped create the show. Then in 2009, the comedian kept it in the family once again, playing Thomas in the parody Dance Flick, which was directed by Wayans' cousin Damien Wayans. He then appeared in the Will Farrell action comedy The Other Guys.

Trivia: Born and raised on the south side of Chicago, comedian-turned-actor DeRay Davis developed and honed a hip, sardonic, streetwise mentality at an early age and parlayed it smoothly and efficiently into the comedy-club circuit. Davis achieved his career breakthrough at the Laffapalooza Festival in Atlanta, GA, then scored a triple whammy by winning the Comedy Central Laugh Riots Competition and landing covetable spots in the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival and the Cedric the Entertainer Festival. Throughout, the comic wove vulgar and droll, yet also telling and deeply personal, routines around the subjects of race, poverty, and his challenging experiences growing up in the Windy City projects with a dysfunctional African-American family. The transition from behind-the-mike spots to movie roles represented a relatively short jump, for most of Davis' early film assignments emphasized the same subject matter as his routines; for example, he played the "Hustle Guy" in Barbershop (2002) and its sequel, Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004), rapper Mario "Fa Real" Greene in the Martin Short comedy Jiminy Glick in La La Wood (2004), and a Jamaican stoner in Johnson Family Vacation (2004). Davis expanded his genre focus with roles in Rupert Wainwright's supernatural horror outing The Fog (2005), and Todd Phillips' comedy remake School for Scoundrels (2006). Subsequent feature assignments include License to Wed (2007), Semi-Pro (2008, as basketball player Bee Bee Ellis), and Nowhereland (2009). Meanwhile, Davis also appeared on television series including Entourage and Reno 911!, and televised comedy revues such as Comedy Central's Premium Blend.