Trivia: With long, shapely legs, a svelte, curvaceous body to die for, and thick black hair cascading around her lovely face, Fran Drescher has all the looks of a sophisticated movie star. And then she opens her mouth. Out comes a crow-like cacophony of nasal sounds made more grating by a thick Queens accent and a tendency to pull no punches. The paradox between the book and its cover is what has made Drescher a rich and popular comedienne; her long-running sitcom The Nanny, with its combination of romantic and slapstick comedy, led many to hail her as Lucille Ball's successor. Though she capitalizes on playing a rather ditzy working-class gal from Flushing, Drescher is known for her creativity and shrewdness. In addition to acting, she is a talented writer and producer.Much of Drescher's comedy, especially that from her sitcom, is drawn from her life experiences. Like her character, Fran Fine, she was born and raised in Queens. She has had a lifelong interest in acting and studied drama in high school. She attended a year at Queens College and then attended cosmetology school to become a hairdresser. For a time, she had her own business. She made her film debut playing Connie in Saturday Night Fever (1977). Her next film, American Hot Wax (1978), provided Drescher with her first major role and though she would continue on to play supporting parts in numerous other films, it was not until she played a small but memorable part in Rob Reiner's hilarious mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap (1984) that she began making a name for herself. In addition to her film roles, she was also busy on television, guest starring in series and appearing in television films like Terror in the Towers. She played starring roles in three short-lived series, including Princesses. She and her husband Peter Marc Jacobson created The Nanny and it aired on CBS from 1993 to 1999. She not only starred in the show, but also wrote and produced it; Drescher received Emmy nominations for her work on the show. In 1996, she co-starred with Robin Williams in the Disney comedy Jack, while in 1997, she and Jacobson co-created the idea for the romantic comedy The Beautician and the Beast, in which she also starred. Drescher published her autobiography, Enter Whining, in 1996.Drescher once again drew from her life experiences in the 2002 memoir Cancer Schmancer, which chronicled the actress's battle with uterine cancer, and formed the Cancer Schmancer Movement in 2007. The nonprofit is dedicated to educating women about cancer prevention and the importance of early detection (Drescher's cancer was initially misdiagnosed). In 2011, Drescher appeared on Oprah Winfrey to discuss her relationship with her then ex-husband Peter Mark Jacobson after he came out as gay after the end of their 21-year marriage. The television series Happily Divorced (2011-2013) is based on her experience with Jacobson.

Trivia: While at Cambridge, appeared in a comedy troupe called Footlights Revue. Trained at London's Central School for Speech and Drama. When he played Shane Donovan on the soap Days of Our Lives from 1984 to 1992, pictures that were on the mantel in his TV home were actually old Shaughnessy family photos. (The actor reprised his role for a multiple-episode stint in May 2010.) Has been a contestant on Celebrity Jeopardy, as well as the game shows Super Password, The New Hollywood Squares, Win Lose or Draw, To Tell the Truth and Hollywood Squares. Became the fifth Baron Shaughnessy of Montreal and Ashford in 2007. Has been active in AIDS and antiwar organizations.

Trivia: Musician Lisa Loeb has the unique distinction of being the first person to score a number one single without having a record contract, and she has the movies to thank for it. In 1994, Loeb was a singer and songwriter who had a small but loyal following and had yet to attract the attention of a major record label. However, one of Loeb's fans was actor Ethan Hawke, who had purchased a self-released cassette-only album Loeb sold at her live shows. Hawke was quite fond of Loeb's songs, and while working on the film Reality Bites, he suggested to director and co-star Ben Stiller that one of Loeb's new tunes, "Stay," might be a good fit for the film's soundtrack. "Stay" appeared in the movie and made the cut for the soundtrack album; released as a single, the tune became a sensation on radio, and stayed at the top of the Billboard Top 40 Singles chart for three weeks, landing Loeb in the record books. Lisa Loeb was born in Maryland on March 11, 1968, and raised in a suburb of Dallas, TX, where her father was a doctor. Loeb developed a passionate interest in pop music early on, cutting her teeth on the records of Elton John, Olivia Newton-John, and Kiss, and as a student at the prestigious Hockaday School, she studied music theory, piano, and dance, as well as spinned records at the school's radio station and appeared in school musicals. While in high school, Loeb picked up the guitar, in part because her older sibling, an accomplished classical pianist, was dominating the family piano, and the guitar was something she could practice in her own room. Loeb went on to attend Brown University, where she formed a pop group called Liz and Lisa (another member of the group was Duncan Shiek, who later enjoyed success of his own as a singer/songwriter). After graduating from Brown, Loeb moved to New York City, and formed a group called Nine Stories, named for the short story collection by J.D. Sallinger. Loeb and Nine Stories began gigging steadily around the East Coast and Midwest, and with the help of her friend Juan Patino (a recording producer and engineer), she recorded her so-called "Purple Tape," which attracted the attention of Ethan Hawke and led to her appearance on the soundtrack of Reality Bites. After the success of "Stay," a number of major labels were bidding for Loeb's services, and she eventually signed with Geffen Records, who released her first full-length album, Tails, in 1995. Firecracker followed in 1997, then Cake and Pie's American release in 2002. In addition to Reality Bites, Loeb's songs have been used in the films Twister and Anywhere but Here; her song "Truthfully" was written for One Fine Day, though the producers opted not to use it (it appeared instead on the Firecracker album). Loeb also played small roles in the films Black Circle Boys and House on Haunted Hill, and she's done guest shots on the television series The Nanny and The Drew Carey Show.

Trivia: It was only a matter of time before burgeoning teen star Nicholle Tom joined the family business. Her older sister, Heather Tom, won a Daytime Emmy for her portrayal of Victoria Newman on the soap The Young and the Restless and her twin brother, David Tom, has had roles in Pleasantville and Swing Kids.Tom grew up in Seattle and Los Angeles, but was born in Hinsdale, IL, on March 23, 1978. She and her brother did print ads and commercials in Chicago before the family headed out west. Soon after they moved to L.A., Tom began winning high-profile parts in films (Beethoven) and television shows (Beverly Hills 90210, The Nanny). She basically grew up on The Nanny and has embarked on a somewhat successful film and TV-movie career since the show ended in 1999. She starred with Olympic champ Tara Lipinski in the made-for-TV movie Ice Angel and has turned in supporting roles in Panic and The Princess Diaries.

Trivia: Fans of 1990s prime-time sitcoms will invariably remember actress Madeline Zima as the sugar-sweet, angelic Grace, six-year-old daughter of British theatrical producer Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy), on the Fran Drescher series comedy The Nanny. In fact, when Zima landed that part, she had already tackled child roles in features as diverse as The Hand that Rocks the Cradle (1992) and Mr. Nanny (1993). The Drescher series, of course, represented Zima's breakthrough, and by the late '90s, the young actress (who remained with the sitcom cast for all six seasons, until it wrapped in 1999) had blossomed into a starkly beautiful teenager. She branched out into more adult-oriented material with an uncanny portrayal of the young Lucille Ball in the telemovie Lucy (2003), then returned to series programs with a regular role on the quirky David Duchovny-headlined Showtime comedy drama Californication (2007). She went on to appear in The Collector, The Family Tree, Crazy Eyes, and Lake Effects.

Trivia: Outgoing, athletic American actress Bess Armstrong attended Brown University, then headed off to New York to inaugurate a stage career. Bess and Lynnie Greene were starred in the 1977 sitcom On Our Own, one of the last comedy programs to be taped in Manhattan. Movie offers began sprouting up afterwards: The Four Seasons (1981), in which Bess was costarred with Alan Alda, Carol Burnett, Jack Weston and Sandy Dennis, represents Ms. Armstrong's best screen work to date. The 1983 adventure High Road to China was intended to transform Bess and costar Tom Selleck into action-movie stars, but failed. Since that time, Bess Armstrong has made films for both theatrical and direct-to-TV release, and has costarred in a brace of television series: All is Forgiven (1986) and Married People (1990).