Trivia: American actor Arthur Kennedy was usually cast in western or contemporary roles in his films; on stage, it was another matter. A graduate of the Carnegie-Mellon drama department, Kennedy's first professional work was with the Globe Theatre Company touring the midwest in abbreviated versions of Shakespearian plays. From here he moved into the American company of British stage star Maurice Evans, who cast Kennedy in his Broadway production of Richard III. Kennedy continued doing Shakespeare for Evans and agit-prop social dramas for the Federal Theatre, but when time came for his first film, City for Conquest (1940), he found himself in the very ordinary role of James Cagney's musician brother. Throughout his first Warner Bros. contract, Kennedy showed promise as a young character lead, but films like Bad Men of Missouri (1941), They Died with Their Boots On (1942) and Air Force (1943) did little to tap the actor's classical training. After World War II service, Kennedy returned to Broadway, creating the role of Chris Keller in Arthur Miller's All My Sons (1947). This led to an even more prestigious Miller play, the Pulitzer Prize winning Death of a Salesman (1948), in which Kennedy played Biff. Sadly, Kennedy was not permitted to repeat these plum roles in the film versions of these plays, but the close association with Miller continued on stage; Kennedy would play John Proctor in The Crucible (1957) and the doctor brother in The Price (1965). While his film work during this era resulted in several Academy Award nominations, Kennedy never won; he was honored, however, with the New York Film Critics award for his on-target portrayal of a newly blinded war veteran battling not only his handicap but also his inbred racism in Bright Victory (1951). The biggest box office success with which Kennedy was associated was Lawrence of Arabia (1962), wherein he replaced the ailing Edmund O'Brien in the role of the Lowell Thomas character. Working continually in film and TV projects of wildly varying quality, Kennedy quit the business cold in the mid-1980s, retiring to live with family members in a small eastern town. Kennedy was so far out of the Hollywood mainstream in the years before his death that, when plans were made to restore the fading Lawrence of Arabia prints and Kennedy was needed to re-record his dialogue, the restorers were unable to locate the actor through Screen Actor's Guild channels -- and finally had to trace him through his hometown telephone directory.

Trivia: When Peggy Josephine Varnadow was signed by Universal Pictures in 1949, the public relations staff whittled down her name to the barest essentials, and thus Peggy Dow was born. The blonde actress was shown off to excellent advantage in her very first film, Undertow (1949), playing a witness to a gangland slaying. Peggy was also quite good in the thankless romantic-lead role in Harvey (1950), and even better as the steadfast girlfriend of blind war veteran Arthur Kennedy in Bright Victory (1951). Peggy Dow voluntarily ended her burgeoning film career when she married a wealthy Oklahoma oil man.

Trivia: African American leading man James Edwards came to acting by way of a near-tragedy. Seriously injured in an accident while serving in World War II, Edwards went through a painful convalescence as surgeons completely restructured his face. His vocal chords were also severely damaged, and it was suggested by his doctors that Edwards take elocution lessons to restore his voice. Upon recovering, Edwards decided to celebrate his "rebirth" by becoming an actor. After touring in the stage production Deep are the Roots, Edwards made his film debut as a boxer in RKO's The Set-Up (1949). He was starred in his next film, Home of the Brave (1949), appropriately cast as a wounded soldier. James Edwards' last film was the 1970 Best Picture winner Patton, starring George C. Scott; he died on January 4, 1970.

Trivia: A former secretary, Julie Adams inaugurated her film career in a series of slapped-together westerns starring James Ellison and Russell Hayden. She billed herself under her real name of Betty Adams until she was signed by Universal in 1949; she then became Julia Adams, which was modified to Julie by the early 1950s. Fans of the 1953 horror film Creature From the Black Lagoon tend to believe that Julie became a leading lady on the strength of her role in this film as the imperiled--and fetchingly underclad--heroine. In fact, she had been cast in good parts as early as 1950, notably the wealthy fiancee of newly blinded GI Arthur Kennedy in Bright Victory (1951). Curiously, some of her largest roles of the 1950s, in films like The Private War of Major Benson (1955) and Away All Boats (1956), were her least interesting. She cut down on her film appearances in the early 1960s to concentrate on television, a medium that permitted her to hold out for meatier acting assignments. Though she still tended to be cast in such negligible roles as the star's wife in The Jimmy Stewart Show (1971), Julie was proud of her many powerful guest-star appearances on dramatic programs: she was particularly fond of her performance as a middle-aged pregnant woman on a 1969 installment of Marcus Welby MD. Julie Adams was at one time married to actor/director Ray Danton.

Trivia: Though perhaps best remembered for portraying the wise and crusty Grandpa Zeb Walton on the long-running The Waltons (1972-1978), character actor Will Geer had been a staple in films and television for many years before that. He had also been a Broadway regular since his theatrical debut in The Merry Wives of Windsor (1928). Born William Auge Ghere in Frankfort, IN, his interest in acting began in high school. Geer studied botany at the University of Chicago and earned a master's in botany at Columbia. During his college days, Geer also appeared in student theater. Always a bit of a rebel with a genuine love of people and the land, Geer hooked up with folksingers Woody Guthrie and Burl Ives during the Depression to travel about and perform, mostly at government work camps. Even late in life, Geer described himself as a folklorist. Actress Helen Hayes wryly described him once as "the world's oldest hippie." He got his professional start with Eva Le Gallienne's National Repertory Company. During the '30s and '40s, Geer appeared often on Broadway. Beginning with The Misleading Lady in 1932, he began playing small occasional roles in films. By the late '40s, he had become a character actor in such films as Intruder in the Dust (1949). He often appeared in Westerns like Comanche Territory and Broken Arrow (1950). In 1951, after appearing in four films that year, Geer was blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee for refusing to answer their questions. Still, Geer managed to appear in at least one film, Salt of the Earth, a defiant, incendiary documentary look at a worker's strike led by the wives of abused salt miners in New Mexico that featured a production staff largely comprised of blackballed Hollywood artists. Other than that, Geer returned to Broadway until 1962 when Otto Preminger cast him as a Senate minority leader in Advise and Consent. During the '60s, the 6'2", 230-pound Geer was frequently cast in villainous roles. He often appeared on television throughout the decade in shows ranging from Gunsmoke to Hawaii 5-0 as well as playing a regular role on the short-lived series The Young Rebels (1970-1971). He was a key member of The Waltons from the pilot special through his death when the series was on summer hiatus in 1978. His was among the show's most popular characters and he is said to have patterned Zebulon Walton after producer/creator Earl Hamner's book character, himself, and his own grandfather, a successful sourdough during the California goldrush who sported a mustache and white hair similar to Geer's own. It was his grandfather who taught the actor to love nature and to study botany. In addition to his work on the popular family series, Geer also continued a busy feature-film and television-movie career. His last film appearance was in the highly regarded made-for-TV biography of Harriet Tubman, A Woman Called Moses (1978). His daughter, Ellen Geer, is also an actor.

Trivia: Courtly character actor Minor Watson made his stage debut in Brooklyn in 1911. After 11 years of stock experience, Watson made his Broadway bow in Why Men Leave Home. By the end of the 1920s he was a major stage star, appearing in vehicles specially written for him. Recalling his entree into films in 1931, Watson was fond of saying, "I'm a stage actor by heart and by profession. I was a movie star by necessity and a desire to eat." Though never a true "movie star" per se, he remained gainfully employed into the 1950s in choice character roles. Often called upon to play show-biz impresarios, he essayed such roles as E.F. Albee in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) and John Ringling North in Trapeze (1956). One of Minor Watson's largest and most well-rounded screen assignments was the part of cagey Brooklyn Dodgers manager Branch Rickey in 1950's The Jackie Robinson Story.

Trivia: Ohio-born actor Jim Backus's stage career began in summer stock, where, according to his then-roommate Keenan Wynn, he was as well known for his prowess with the ladies as he was for his on-stage versatility. Backus continued acting in New York, vaudeville, and especially radio in the 1930s and 1940s. He was a regular on radio's The Alan Young Show, portraying Eastern Seaboard snob Hubert Updike III, the prototype for his "Thurston Howell III" characterization on the 1960s TV sitcom Gilligan's Island. In 1949, Backus provided the voice of the nearsighted Mr. Magoo for the first time in the UPA cartoon Ragtime Bear; the actor later claimed that he based this character on his own businessman father. Also in 1949, Backus made his first film appearance in Easy Living, which starred his childhood friend Victor Mature. Backus' most famous screen role was as James Dean's weak-willed, vacillating father in Rebel without a Cause. On television, Backus co-starred with Joan Davis on the I Love Lucy-like 1950s sitcom I Married Joan, and played the leading role of fast-talking news service editor Mike O'Toole on the 1960 syndicated series Hot Off the Wire (aka The Jim Backus Show). In the 1960s, Backus continued to provide the voice of Mr. Magoo in several TV projects, and was seen on-camera in the aforementioned Gilligan's Island, as well as the 1968 TV version of Blondie, wherein Backus played Mr. Dithers. Co-starring as Mrs. Dithers was Backus' wife Henny, who also collaborated with her husband on several amusing volumes of memoirs. Jim and Henny Backus' last two books, Backus Strikes Back and Forgive Us Our Digressions, commented humorously on a deadly serious subject: Parkinson's Disease, the ailment which would eventually cost Backus his life at the age of 76.

Trivia: Cutting her theatrical teeth in regional stock, American actress Nana Bryant appeared steadily on Broadway from 1925 thrugh 1935. Her forte during this period was musical-comedy character work, a field she still cultivated in the 1940s with Song of Norway. Bryant's first film was 1935's Guard That Girl; for the next twenty years she appeared mainly in benign, understanding roles, as typified by her last movie assignment as a kindly Mother Superior in The Private War of Major Benson (1955). That same year, Bryant had a six-month run as Mrs. Nestor, owner of a private school, on the popular TV sitcom Our Miss Brooks. So firmly associated was Bryant in motherly roles that she quite took the audience's breath away when playing a nasty character. Even Nana Bryant's daughter-in-law, who knew the real woman as well as anyone, could not bear watching Bryant portray a steely-eyed murderer in the Roy Rogers western Eyes of Texas (1949).

Trivia: A holder of a BA degree from the University of San Francisco, Richard Egan was an Army judo instructor during WorldWar II. While working towards his MA in theatre at Stanford University, the rugged Egan was discovered by a Warner Bros. talent scout. After his apprenticeship in supporting roles, Egan was signed as a leading man by 20th Century-Fox, where he was touted as "another Gable." Most comfortable in brawling adventure films, Egan proved a capable dramatic actor in such films as A View from Pompey's Head (1955). Many of his starring appearances in the 1960s were in such esoterica as Esther and the King (1960) and The 300 Spartans (1962) and in foreign-filmed westerns. In 1962, Egan starred as Jim Redigo, foreman of a sprawling New Mexico ranch, in the contemporary western TV series Empire; for its second season, the series was shortened from one hour to thirty minutes per week, and retitled Redigo. During his last decade, Richard Egan was a prolific dinner-theatre star throughout the U.S., and also appeared as Samuel Clegg II on the TV daytime drama Capitol.

Trivia: American actor Rock Hudson was born Roy Scherer, adopting the last name Fitzgerald when his mother remarried in the mid-'30s. A popular but academically unspectacular student at New Trier High School in Winnetka, IL, he decided at some point during his high school years to become an actor, although a wartime stint in the Navy put these plans on hold. Uninspiring postwar jobs as a moving man, postman, telephone company worker, and truck driver in his new home of California only fueled his desire to break into movies, which was accomplished after he had professional photos of himself taken and sent out to the various studios. A few dead-end interviews later, he took drama lessons; his teacher advised him to find a shorter name if he hoped to become a star, and, after rejecting Lance and Derek, he chose Rock ("Hudson" was inspired by the automobile of that name). Signed by Universal-International, Hudson was immediately loaned to Warner Bros. for his first film, Fighter Squadron (1948); despite director Raoul Walsh's predictions of stardom for the young actor, Hudson did the usual contract player bits, supporting roles, and villain parts when he returned to Universal. A good part in Winchester '73 (1950) led to better assignments, and the studio chose to concentrate its publicity on Hudson's physical attributes rather than his acting ability, which may explain why the actor spent an inordinate amount of screen time with his shirt off. A favorite of teen-oriented fan magazines, Hudson ascended to stardom, his films gradually reaching the A-list category with such important releases as Magnificent Obsession (1954) and Battle Hymn (1957). Director George Stevens cast Hudson in one of his best roles, Bick Benedict, in the epic film Giant (1956), and critics finally decided that, since Hudson not only worked well with such dramatic league leaders as Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean -- but frequently outacted them in Giant -- he deserved better, less condescending reviews. Hudson's career took a giant leap forward in 1959 when he was cast in Pillow Talk, the first of several profitable co-starring gigs with Doris Day. Once again taken for granted by the mid-'60s, Hudson turned in another first-rate performance as a middle-aged man given a newer, younger body in the mordant fantasy film Seconds (1966). A longtime television holdout, Hudson finally entered the weekly video race in 1971 with the popular detective series McMillan and Wife, co-starring Susan Saint James, and appeared on the prime time soap opera Dynasty in the early '80s. Regarded by his co-workers as a good sport, hard worker, and all-around nice guy, Hudson endured a troubled private life; though the studio flacks liked to emphasize his womanizing, Hudson was, in reality, a homosexual. This had been hinted at for years by the Hollywood underground, but it was only in the early '80s that Hudson confirmed the rumors by announcing that he had contracted the deadly AIDS virus. Staunchly defended by friends, fans, and co-workers, Rock Hudson lived out the remainder of his life with dignity, withstanding the ravages of his illness, the intrusions of the tabloid press, and the less than tasteful snickerings of the judgmental and misinformed. It was a testament to his courage -- and a tragedy in light of his better film work -- that Hudson will be principally remembered as the first star of his magnitude to go public with details of his battle with AIDS. He died in 1985.

Trivia: Murray Hamilton first stepped on a Broadway stage in 1945; among his subsequent theatrical credits was the original production of Mister Roberts and his Tony-winning stint in 1964's Absence of a Cello. Hamilton's film career began with a minor role in Bright Victory (1951). He often played abrasive, cynical characters, such as the "feller sufferin' from R.O.T.C" in 1958's No Time for Sergeants, but he occasionally essayed good-guy roles, notably as James Stewart's foredoomed partner in The FBI Story (1959). Murray Hamilton is best known to many moviegoers for his role as the bombastic mayor in 1975's Jaws, a role which he won, according to the film's scenarist Carl Gottlieb, thanks to his acute ability "to portray weakness disguised as strength."

Trivia: A master purveyor of smug, condescending character roles, Minnesota-born Larry Keating was the nephew of heavyweight boxing champ Tommy Burns. Keating built his acting reputation in radio, as master of ceremonies for such variety series as The Fitch Bandwagon and as narrator of the long-running This is Your FBI. He began his film career in 1949, generally playing curt doctors or no-nonsense business executives; one of his more warmhearted characterizations was as a blind attorney in 1951's Bright Victory. In 1953, Keating replaced Fred Clark as acerbic next door neighbor Harry Morton on the popular TV sitcom The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show. He continued in this vein in 1961 as Wilbur Post's pompous neighbor Roger Addison in the George Burns-produced Mister Ed. Larry Keating remained with this last-named series until his death from leukemia at the age of 64.

Trivia: Born in San Francisco, Jerry Paris was a graduate of New York University and UCLA, and joined the Actors Studio after serving in the navy during World War II. His earliest stage performances were in productions of Medea, Anna Christie, and The Front Page. He entered films in 1950, and his early screen credits include Outrage, Cyrano de Bergerac, The Wild One, The Caine Mutiny, Marty, and The Naked and the Dead. Paris was also a regular on the series The Untouchables from 1959 thru 1961 in the role of G-man Martin Flaherty. In 1961, he joined the cast of The Dick Van Dyke Show as Jerry Helper, the next door neighbor to Rob and Laura Petrie. During the early run of the show, Paris began pestering producer Carl Reiner for a chance to direct, and was given his opportunity in 1962 with the classic episode "It May Look Like a Walnut," a comic take on science fiction chillers that was highlighted by the spectacle of costar Mary Tyler Moore sliding out of a closet filled with 1100 pounds of walnuts. Paris became a regular director on the show and won and Emmy in 1964 for his work. He subsequently went into feature filmmaking, including Viva Max and The Star-Spangled Girl, before returning to television, directing the pilot episode of Love American Style. He directed 35 episodes of The Odd Couple, and later spent a decade as producer and director of Happy Days, as well as directing the pilot episode of Laverne and Shirley. Paris created the character of Mork, played by Robin Williams, who was later spun off into the series Mork and Mindy. Paris returned to feature filmmaking in the late '80s with Police Academy 2 and Police Academy 3. He died in 1993 after a long struggle with cancer.

Trivia: One of the postwar "new breed" of African-American actors, Bernie Hamilton wasn't about to settle for subservient roles when he entered films. He started off well in the role of Ernie, one of several black ballplayers in The Jackie Robinson Story (1950), and managed to maintain his integrity thereafter in a motion-picture world that was not politely inclined to nonwhites. In 1964 Hamilton had his best film role, as the black husband of white Barbara Barrie in the groundbreaking One Potato, Two Potato (1964). As more opportunities availed themselves to African-American performers, Hamilton was able to take parts that didn't call attention to the race issue, though he still made his share of appearances in such black-oriented pictures as The Organization (1971) and Bucktown (1975). Fans of the '70s cop series Starsky and Hutch will remember Bernie Hamilton in the role of Captain Dobey, S. and H.'s superior officer.

Trivia: In films from 1935 to 1964, American character actor William "Billy" Newell was nearly always seen with his hat tilted backward and with a spent cigarette or wad of gum in his mouth. This is because Newell was usually cast as a wise-lipped reporter or news photographer. One of his largest assignments in this vein was as news-hound Speed Martin in the 1940 Republic serial Mysterious Dr. Satan. William Newell also essayed countless functional bit roles, such as the liquor-store proprietor in the 1945 Oscar-winner The Lost Weekend. Hal Erickson, Rovi

Trivia: American actor John Hudson put in time as a stage performer before heading for Hollywood in the late '40s. Leading roles were few and far between, but Hudson was prominent among the supporting ranks in such films as Bright Victory (1951) (as corporal John Flagg) and Gunfight at the OK Corral (1956) (as Virgil Earp). When he did enjoy a role of significant size, it was usually in a film along the lines of The Screaming Skull (1958), which one could see on "Double Shock Theatre" or purchase on 8-millimeter film in the '60s. Because he worked efficiently and inexpensively, John Hudson was frequently employed by Jack Webb on the various Webb-produced TV series of the '60s and '70s.

Trivia: Inaugurating his career at the Cleveland Playhouse, American character actor Robert F. Simon made his first Broadway appearance in Clifford Odets' Clash By Night. In 1949, Simon succeeded Lee J. Cobb in the role of Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. He made his film debut in 1954, spending the next two decades playing a steady stream of generals, doctors, executives and journalists. One of Simon's most prominent film roles was the father of the title character in 1956's The Benny Goodman Story. On television, Simon played bombastic newspaper editor J. Jonah Jameson in the weekly adventure series The Amazing Spider-Man (1977-78), and could also be seen in recurring roles on Saints and Sinners (1961), Bewitched (1964), Custer (1967), Nancy (1970) and MASH (1972-73 season, as General Mitchell).