Trivia: An actor with slicked-back hair, a jutting jaw and a hooked nose, Morris was the son of well-known Broadway performers. As a child he appeared in silents and as a teenager he began a stage acting career; he made his Broadway debut in 1918. He debuted onscreen in Alibi (1929), for which he received a Best Actor Oscar nomination. He went on to a busy screen career, usually in gun-toting roles. He is best remembered as Boston Blackie, the character he played in a series of 13 films. He retired from the screen in 1956, returning in 1970 to play the fight manager in The Great White Hope (1970). Shortly thereafter he died of an overdose of barbiturates.

Trivia: According to her Rockford, Illinois, high-school yearbook, Barbara Hale hoped to make a career for herself as a commercial artist. Instead, she found herself posing for artists as a professional model. This led to a movie contract at RKO Radio, where she worked her way up from "B"s like The Falcon in Hollywood (1945) to such top-of-the-bill attractions as A Likely Story (1947) and The Boy With Green Hair (1949). She continued to enjoy star billing at Columbia, where among other films she essayed the title role in Lorna Doone (1952). Her popularity dipped a bit in the mid-1950s, but she regained her following in the Emmy-winning role of super-efficient legal secretary Della Street on the Perry Mason TV series. She played Della on a weekly basis from 1957 through 1966, and later appeared in the irregularly scheduled Perry Mason two-hour TV movies of the 1980s and 1990s. The widow of movie leading man Bill Williams, Barbara Hale was the mother of actor/director William Katt. Hale died in 2017, at age 94.

Trivia: American actor and singer Johnny Johnston played leading roles in a few frothy Hollywood musicals during the 1940s. Before that, the St. Louis native found popularity as a singer with Art Kassel's band Kassels in the Air. During the late 1930s, Johnston became a popular guitar-playing radio crooner. Following his brief film career, Johnston became a popular nightclub performer and theater star, returning briefly to films in the mid -'50s. He signed to Capitol Records in 1942 and recorded the standard "That Old Black Magic." His other best-known song is the million-selling "Laura."

Trivia: A tough-looking, blond Warner Bros. starlet of the mid-'40s, Minnesota-born Peggy Knudsen made an auspicious screen debut as Mona Mars in the noir classic The Big Sleep (1946). Although a mere bit -- one scene, a couple of lines of dialogue -- the character was much discussed prior to actually appearing in the film and demanded an actress who could match the buildup. The pivotal scene, in which protagonist Humphrey Bogart finds himself at a disadvantage in gangster Eddie Mars' coastal hideaway, had originally been filmed in 1944 with Pat Clarke in the role of Mrs. Mars. But when negative previews necessitated scenes to be added or re-shot, director Howard Hawks replaced Miss Clarke with Knudsen, a much more vibrant presence who made her few moments count. It should have been a major breakthrough for the actress but Warner Bros. missed the opportunity and instead assigned her standard "other woman" roles opposite Erroll Flynn in the marital comedy Never Say Goodbye (1946) and Ronald Reagan in the horse breeding drama Stallion Road (1947). 20th Century Fox borrowed her for a couple of B-movies, in one of which, Trouble Preferred (1948), she was top-billed as a policewoman in training, but they were too inexpensive to have much impact. Missing out on stardom, she went on to appear in supporting roles through the 1950s, both in feature films and on television, retiring after a guest spot on Texas John Slaughter (1961). The victim of a crippling arthritic condition that eventually necessitated five operations, Knudsen was reportedly cared for by lifelong friend Jennifer Jones. Her death in 1980 was attributed to cancer.

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: The son of a Norwegian pastor, John Qualen was born in British Columbia. After his family moved to Illinois, Qualen won a high school forensic contest, which led to a scholarship at Northwestern University. A veteran of the tent-show and vaudeville circuits by the late '20s, Qualen won the important role of the Swedish janitor in the Broadway play Street Scene by marching into the producer's office and demonstrating his letter-perfect Scandinavian accent. His first film assignment was the 1931 movie version of Street Scene. Slight of stature, and possessed of woebegone, near-tragic facial features, Qualen was most often cast in "victim" roles, notably the union-activist miner who is beaten to death by hired hooligans in Black Fury (1935) and the pathetic, half-mad Muley in The Grapes of Wrath (1940). Qualen was able to harness his trodden-upon demeanor for comedy as well, as witness his performance as the bewildered father of the Dionne quintuplets in The Country Doctor (1936). He was also effectively cast as small men with large reserves of courage, vide his portrayal of Norwegian underground operative Berger in Casablanca (1942). From Grapes of Wrath onward, Qualen was a member in good standing of the John Ford "stock company," appearing in such Ford-directed classics as The Long Voyage Home (1940), The Searchers (1955), Two Rode Together (1961), and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). John Qualen was acting into the 1970s, often appearing in TV dramatic series as pugnacious senior citizens.

Trivia: A former truck driver, stock broker, and radio announcer, handsome Bill Kennedy (born Willard A. Kennedy) played supporting roles in World War II melodramas before embarking on a career in B-Westerns. It began well, with Kennedy and George Dolenz sharing top billing in the 1945 Universal serial The Royal Mounted Rides Again, but Kennedy was always a bit too glib for comfort and would soon become one of Hollywood's younger Boss Villains, as well as a thorn in the side of Johnny Mack Brown in four of that veteran star's better vehicles. In the 1950s, Kennedy was busy on television becoming a guest star on such popular programs as The Lone Ranger, The Cisco Kid, The Gene Autry Show, and Death Valley Days. In addition to acting assignments, he was the announcer for the entire 1953-1957 run of Adventures of Superman.

Trivia: A former student nurse, Kathryn Grant came to films by way of one of the many beauty contests she'd been entering since her teen years. Most of her film roles were decorative (notably her miniaturized princess in Seventh Voyage of Sinbad [1957]), but on occasion Grant was given an opportunity at a meatier role; she was very effective as the pivotal trial witness in Otto Preminger's Anatomy of a Murder (1959). In 1957, Kathryn became the second wife of Bing Crosby, and subsequently the mother of his "second family" (including future actress Mary Crosby). In addition to her many Christmas-special appearances, Kathryn Grant hosted the syndicated TV series Fight for Life (1967), and during the 1970s moderated a local LA talk show.

Trivia: Also billed as Saul Gorse and Sol Gorss, this busy character actor/stunt man entered films in 1933. Gorss spent the better part of his career at Warner Bros., playing muscular utility roles and doubling for the studio's male stars. He forsook Hollywood for war service in 1943, then returned to films, once more cast in minor roles in westerns and crime pictures. One of Saul Gorss' most distinguished credits of the 1950s was The Thing, in which he was one of the stunt performers and coordinators.

Trivia: Actor Tim Considine is the son of British-born film producer John W. Considine and theater-chain heiress Carmen Pantages. Tim's brother John was likewise an actor, and his uncle was newspaper columnist Bob Considine. He launched his film career at age 12, playing Red Skelton's son in The Clown (1953). Briefly signed with Disney in the mid-'50s, he co-starred in the "Spin and Marty" and "Hardy Boys" components of The Mickey Mouse Club. The young actor had a particularly good year in 1960, playing James Roosevelt in Sunrise at Campobello and launching a five-year run as Mike Douglas on the TV sitcom My Three Sons, co-starring fellow Disney alumni Fred MacMurray (with whom Tim had appeared in 1959's The Shaggy Dog) and Don Grady. Five years after leaving My Three Sons, Tim played his most famous -- and briefest -- screen role: the bedridden soldier slapped by George C. Scott in Patton (1970). At last report, Tim Considine was a high-priced Beverly Hills photographer.

Trivia: One of the great jazz tenor sax players, Dexter Gordon is best remembered by filmgoers for playing fictional sax player Dale Turner in Bertrand Tavernier's 'Round Midnight (1986). His realistic portrayal of a burned-out American jazz man who finds refuge in the cellar clubs of Paris earned Gordon an Oscar nomination -- making him the first instrumental musician to be so honored. Gordon made his film debut in the 1955 prison drama Unchained. His final film appearance was as a mental patient in the drama Awakenings (1990). The film was released after Gordon's death.