Trivia: Innovative rap music superstar LL Cool J made the successful transition to actor/musician in the 1990s, with several major films and a TV series to his credit. Born James Todd Smith in Queens, LL Cool J established himself as one of the major figures in rap music in the 1980s and '90s; he made his movie debut as himself in the 1985 rap movie Krush Groove. Although LL Cool J also appeared as himself in B.A.P.S. (1998), his 1990s movie career revealed that he had the acting chops to go with his musical talent. Following roles in the light-hearted cop movie The Hard Way (1991) and the ill-fated fantasy Toys (1992), LL Cool J spent four seasons as one of the stars of the primetime TV sitcom In the House (1995-1999). During his years on TV, LL Cool J also showed his dramatic versatility in the romantic comedy Woo (1998), crime dramas Caught Up (1998) and In Too Deep (1999), and horror sequel Halloween: H20 (1998). After starring as potential shark bait in the mutant mako actioner Deep Blue Sea (1999), he finished the decade by winning critical kudos as an immodest football player in Oliver Stone's sports drama Any Given Sunday (1999). Hit former career in music all but forgotten, LL Cool J would give action films a shot with Charlie's Angels (2000) and Rollerball (2002) before living up to his real life reputation as a ladies man in the comedy Deliver Us from Eva. Starring as the stud wrangled into taming Gabrielle Union's shrew Eva, LL Cool J notched his first romantic comedy lead and took another step away from his musical past by billing himself under his real name. Following the less than stellar Eva, LL Cool J added his voice to the animated Rugrats Go Wild (2003). Further bolstering his action movie credits (and returning to his street moniker), LL Cool J then joined the multicultural cast of Samuel L. Jackson's elite police squad in the summer popcorn movie S.W.A.T. (2003). Later, the rapper-turned-actor's role as Sam Hanna in a two-part 2009 episode of NCIS led to regular work on the spin-off series NCIS: Los Angeles, as well as a crossover appearance as the same character in the 2010 Hawaii Five-O revival.

Trivia: Standing merely five feet tall, Jada Pinkett Smith is known for her high-energy charm, receiving attention for the spunky role she played in her friend Keenan Ivory Wayans' Low Down Dirty Shame in 1994. She was born on September 18, 1971, in Baltimore, MD, where she grew up and went on to study dance at Baltimore School for the Arts. She then attended North Carolina School of Arts, but dropped out when Wayans found her an agent to launch her acting career.Real notice came when she worked on Bill Cosby's series A Different World starting in 1991. Thereafter she appeared in several films including her more serious roles as the single mother in Menace II Society and the girlfriend in Jason's Lyric (1994). Eddie Murphy's 1996 rendition of The Nutty Professor brought her back to comedy, and the extensive hype around the film allowed her fame to swell. In 1997, she married fellow actor (and former rap star) Will Smith; the following year, she appeared in Woo and Return to Paradise, and gave birth to son Jadan. Pinkett Smith made a cameo in Spike Lee's Bamboozled in 2000, and then returned to a serious lead role in Doug McHenry's Kingdom Come (2001) with Whoopi Goldberg, which was shot while she was pregnant with daughter Willow.Her film career later ramping up with roles in the two Matrix sequels, the Tom Cruise thriller Collateral, and with vocal work in the Madagascar series, Pinkett Smith made the leap to television as a compassion head of nursing on TNT's Hawthorne, which debuted in 2009 and ran for three seasons. An ardent supporter of Barack Obama, Pinkett Smith also fronts the heavy metal band Wicked Wisdom, which released their first CD in 2006, and performed on the Ozzfest tour in 2009.

Trivia: Vivacious actress Vivica A. Fox has been attracting attention for performances that mix equal parts sass and class since making her 1989 screen debut in Born on the Fourth of July. A native of Indianapolis, where she was born July 30, 1964, Fox got her start on television with a stint on the daytime soap Days of Our Lives. After making her debut as a hooker in Oliver Stone's aforementioned Born on the Fourth of July, the actress continued to do much of her work on television while appearing in the occasional film. She first attracted notice as Will Smith's girlfriend in the blockbuster Independence Day (1996); her dynamic turn earned her -- together with Smith -- the MTV Award for Best Kiss that year. Fox subsequently appeared in a diverse array of films, ranging from the acclaimed black ensemble romantic drama Soul Food (1997), which cast her as one of three sisters (the other two were played by Vanessa L. Williams and Nia Long), to Batman & Robin (1997), in which she played femme fatale Ms. B. Haven, to Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1998), which featured her in a critically lauded portrayal of one of the three wives of singer Frankie Lymon.Fox's profile declined somewhat in the new millenium, although an appearance in the battle-of-the-sexes comedy Two Can Play That Game caught the attention of Quentin Tarantino, who was casting his long-gestating fourth feature, Kill Bill. As the first victim of hired killer Uma Thurman, Fox brought a little blaxploitation-era sass to the role, making for a memorable, suburban-kitchen battle scene.In addition to her flourishing film work, Fox continued to work on the small screen, most notably as Dr. Lillian Price on Steven Bochco's predominately African American hospital drama City of Angels. 2005's one-season-only reality show The Starlet offered Fox the opportunity to pass on her actorly wisdom -- alongside head judge Faye Dunaway -- to a group of young hopefuls. The following year, she could be seen hoofing it up as a contestant on the astronomically popular ABC competition Dancing With the Stars. Though she worked steadily throughout the 2000s and continues to be active in the film industry, Fox has yet so far been unable to achieve the success she enjoyed in earlier years.

Trivia: Though best known as an outspoken comedienne, Whoopi Goldberg is also a talented dramatic actress. By virtue of her distinctive appearance and a persona that is both no-nonsense and empathic, Goldberg has emerged as one of the most recognizable celebrities of the '80s and '90s.Born Caryn Johnson on November 13, 1955 in New York City, Goldberg began her long career when she was eight years old, performing with New York's Helena Rubenstein Children's Theater. She then went on to study with the Hudson Guild children's arts program and attended the prestigious High School for the Performing Arts. After graduating, Goldberg occasionally won small parts in Broadway productions such as Hair, Pippin and Jesus Christ Superstar, but also supported herself doing odd jobs like bricklaying and serving as a funeral parlor make-up artist. In 1975, Goldberg moved West and helped found the San Diego Repertory Theater, where she appeared in a number of plays, including Brecht's Mother Courage and Marsha Norman's Getting Out. After several stints with the Spontaneous Combustion improvisational troupe and work in avant-garde productions at Berkeley's Blake Street Hawkeyes theater, Goldberg devised The Spook Show, a one woman satirical production in which she played several characters. The show, which originated in San Francisco, eventually toured the U.S. and Europe, earning acclaim and the attention of director Mike Nichols. Nichols went on to direct a 1984 Broadway version of the show, which earned Goldberg Drama Desk and Theatre World awards, as well as a Grammy for the album recording.Goldberg made an auspicious Hollywood debut with her portrayal of Celie, the lead character in Steven Spielberg's controversial 1985 adaptation of Alice Walker's novel. Goldberg's moving performance was rewarded with an Oscar nomination and Best Actress Golden Globe, as well as instant stardom for the actress. Although Goldberg's film career looked promising, the actress unfortunately spent much of the decade's remainder appearing in terrible action comedies such as Fatal Beauty and Burglar (both 1987) that did not do her comic gifts justice. Her one partial success during this period was her first action comedy, Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986), which did relatively well at the box office and gave her a certain cult status. In 1988, Goldberg took a break from comedy with a memorable turn as a worldly Jamaican nanny in the otherwise unremarkable Clara's Heart. She also made numerous appearances in television specials, most notably as a co-host for the annual Comic Relief benefit for the homeless. Her attempt at sitcoms failed with the short-lived series Bagdad Cafe, but she did find greater television success with a small but crucial recurring role as the sagacious intergalactic bartender Guinan on the syndicated Star Trek: The Next Generation. Around the same time, Goldberg's film career underwent a sharp turn-around. She won acclaim playing a selfless housekeeper opposite Sissy Spacek in the provocative Civil Rights drama The Long Walk Home (1989), and then played an eccentric con artist possessing unexpected psychic powers in the 1990 smash hit Ghost. Goldberg's funny yet moving performance earned her her first Oscar and the widespread opinion that this marked her comeback performance. After a couple of missteps that had a few people rethinking this verdict, Goldberg scored again with the 1992 hit comedy Sister Act. Nominated for Golden Globes and two NAACP awards, the film spawned mass ticket sales and an unsuccessful 1993 sequel, Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit. Meanwhile, Goldberg also continued her television work with a 1992 late night talk show. A laid back affair that ran for 200 episodes, it was praised by critics but failed to secure high ratings and went on permanent hiatus after only six months. However, Goldberg continued to appear on TV with her recurring role as a Comic Relief co-host and as an MC for the Academy Awards ceremony, a role she reprised multiple times. At the same time, Goldberg continued to work in film, doing both comedy and drama and experiencing the obligatory highs and lows. Some of her more memorable roles included that of a single mother who discovers that Ted Danson, not a black genius, fathered her daughter in Made in America (1993), a lesbian lounge singer in Boys on the Side (1995), a white-middle-aged corporate executive in The Associate (1996), Angela Bassett's best friend in the 1998 hit How Stella Got Her Groove Back, and a private detective in the drama The Deep End of the Ocean (1999). In addition, Goldberg also appeared in two notable documentaries, The Celluloid Closet (1995), and Get Bruce! a piece about comedy writer Bruce Vilanch that also featured fellow comedians such as Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Nathan Lane and Bette Midler.As the new decade dawned, Goldberg could be seen in supporting roles in projects like Rocky and Bullwinkle and the ensemble comedy Rat Race. Then, in 2003, she tried her hand at a starring sitcom role for the first time with Whoopi. The show found Goldberg playing an irreverent hotel owner and was met with mixed reviews before being cancelled mid-season.In 2004, Goldberg focused her career on voice work with appearances in Doogal, The Lion King 1 1/2, and P3K: Pinocchio3000. She continued this trend in the following years with such films as Racing Stripes and Everyone's Hero. Then, in 2007, Goldberg returned to the small-screen, replacing Rosie O'Donnell on the ABC panel show The View. Goldberg lent her voice to Pixar's Toy Story 3 in 2010, and as the narrator for 2011's documentary Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey.

Trivia: While Anthony Anderson got his start in stand-up, his wide range of genre-spanning credits as a producer and actor in light comedy, pointed satires, food-based reality shows and gritty episodic dramas display his versatility and cross-audience appeal. But even though it's not immediately apparent how the points on his resume connect in one straight line, all of his work harkens back to core values of family, togetherness, responsibility, fairness, justice, and doing right in a sometimes complicated world.Born August 15, 1970, Anderson was one of four kids raised by his mother and stepfather (the man he considered his "only father I knew or cared about") in Compton, Los Angeles, California. While their neighborhood could be rough, his no-nonsense stepfather, who owned three clothing stores, instilled a respect for paternal responsibility and entrepreneurship in Anderson. While Anderson remembers seeing a teenage Dr. Dre perform at Compton's most important hip-hop venue Skateland, U.S.A., his most formative memory of a performer was watching his mother rehearse for an amateur production of A Raisin in the Sun at Compton Community College. Even though both he and his mother agree that she was a terrible actress, the impression of her becoming someone else on stage solidified his ambitions.His ambitions stoked, young Anderson seized every opportunity to perform, whether it was singing at church, competing in spelling bees, or appearing in a commercial at the age of five. After successfully auditioning for Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, he won the top prize in the NAACP's Act-So awards and gained entrance to Howard University's drama program with an audition tape that included monologues from Shakespeare and "The Great White Hope". (Anderson's stepfather, always the pragmatist, took extraordinary measures to push Anderson out of the nest after college by not only insisting he pay rent if he wanted to live at home, but also by padlocking the TV cabinet and freezer, installing a pay phone in the house, and razzing Anderson with Lassie reruns: "That dog's an actor. Where are you acting?")Too-strange-to-be-fiction family lore like that formed the basis of Anderson's stand-up comedy routines that he performed briefly under the name "Tasty Tony" while picking up small roles in TV and movies until 1999, when he landed roles both in the Martin Lawrence and Eddie Murphy comedy Life, and Barry Levinson's cinematic memoir Liberty Heights. A slew of roles in a wide range of genres followed for the next few years, culminating in recurring roles on Treme as actor-waiter Derek Watson, on The Shield as Antwon Mitchell, the drug boss turned community leader who still keeps one foot in the thug life, and on Law & Order as conservative lawman Detective Kevin Bernard, a role for which he earned four consecutive NAACP Image Award nominations for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series. Anderson's other great passion, for food and cooking, has led to many hosting gigs on shows like Carnival Cravings with Anthony Anderson, Eating America with Anthony Anderson, the web series Anthony Eats America, and his recurring seat at the judge's table on Iron Chef America. While his everyday diet is "vegan-ish" as a way of regulating his type 2 diabetes, he's so devoted to the kitchen arts that he takes weekend classes at famed culinary academy Le Cordon Bleu's Los Angeles outpost. While his first forays into producing the sitcoms All About the Andersons and Matumbo Goldberg (both about domestic life from an African-American perspective) ended after one season, conversations with his screenwriter friend Kenya Barris about their experiences raising their children in affluent, majority-white communities that are so unlike the neighborhoods they grew up in inspired the duo to create and produce black-ish. Taking a page from unflinching sitcoms of the '70s like All In The Family and Good Times that mixed light humor with frank confrontation of social ills, Barris and Anderson folded incidents from their own lives into the show's scripts - such as the time Anderson's teenage son wanted a bar mitzvah party like all his Jewish friends, prompting Anderson to instead offer his son a hip-hop themed "bro mitzvah." Anderson received an Emmy nomination for his role as beleaguered patriarch Andre Johnson in 2015.

Trivia: Born in Houston in 1949, actress Loretta Devine rose to fame on-stage in the original Broadway production of Dreamgirls before parlaying her acclaim into a career in film and television. Her first major onscreen role came in 1987, when she was cast as a resident advisor on the Cosby Show-spin-off A Different World. Though she left the series after the first season, it was far from her final gig as a TV series regular.Throughout the early '90s, Devine appeared in small supporting roles in features films such as Class Act and Amos & Andrew as well as a number of TV guest spots on shows ranging from Roc to Picket Fences. In 1995, Devine's career was given a shot in the arm when she was cast as one of the leads in Waiting to Exhale, an ensemble film that proved to be a success with both critics and audiences. More supporting work followed, and in 2000 she was cast as a lead on David E. Kelley's Fox drama Boston Public, a show that would go on to be nominated for multiple Emmys over the course of its four seasons on the air.Devine's career came full-circle in 2006 when she was cast in a small role in the film adaptation of Dreamgirls, the stage musical that launched her career. The following year, she was cast as a regular on ABC's supernatural legal drama Eli Stone.In 2010 she appeared in the American remake of Death at a Funeral, the comedy Lottery Ticket, and Tyler Perry's ambitious For Colored Girls. In 2011 she appeared in Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family, and the next year she had a role on the TV series The Client List.

Trivia: A man with a gift for wringing laughter from commonplace situations, Cedric the Entertainer has parlayed a career as one of the top standup comics in America into a steadily growing resumé as an actor in film and television. Born Cedric Kyles in 1964, Cedric the Entertainer adopted his stage name early on in his career; having also worked as a singer and dancer, Cedric wanted audiences to know he was more than just another comedian, though after being named "most humorous" in his high school graduating class, he seemed destined early on to be best known for his wit. Cedric's career as a standup comic got its first major boost when he won the "Johnny Walker National Comedy Contest" in Chicago. This led to regular gigs at nightclubs in his hometown of St. Louis, and a victory in another Chicago comedy competition. With plenty of experience in the Midwest under his belt, Cedric began touring comedy clubs around the United States, and in 1993, he scored his first regular spot on television, as the host of the BET series Comicview. While touring the Southwest, Cedric dropped by a club in Dallas, TX, where the headlining act was not going over with the audience. Cedric persuaded the management to let him do a set, and his five-minute routine brought down the house. Cedric soon discovered fellow comic Steve Harvey was in the audience. The two rising stars struck up a friendship, and when Harvey scored his own sitcom, The Steve Harvey Show, in 1996, he brought Cedric along to play his friend, Cedric Jackie Robinson. Cedric was a hit on the show, and his work on the series earned him the NAACP Image Award as Best Supporting Actor on a Comedy Series three years in a row. In 1997, Cedric and Harvey joined forces with funnymen Bernie Mac and D.L. Hughley for a concert tour. Billed as The Kings of Comedy, the tour was a major success, selling out large venues across the country and grossing 37 million dollars over a two-year run. After his success on The Steve Harvey Show and with the Kings of Comedy tour, it was inevitable that Hollywood would come calling, and Cedric scored his first screen role in 1998 in the comedy Ride. The Original Kings of Comedy, a concert film shot by Spike Lee during a tour stop in North Carolina, hit theaters in 2000, and Cedric was also seen that year in the Martin Lawrence vehicle Big Momma's House. In 2001, Cedric scored a supporting role in the comedy-drama Kingdom Come, and did voice work for Dr. Dolittle 2 as well as the animated television series The Proud Family.As one of the stars of 2002's Barbershop, Cedric showed Hollywood that he could deliver a major box-office hit, and larger film roles soon followed. After a scene-stealing turn in the Coen Brothers' 2003 Intolerable Cruelty, Cedric geared up for what looked to be his biggest year to date. 2004 saw the comedian with starring roles in the sequel to Barbershop, Johnson Family Vacation, and the big-screen adaptation of the classic sitcom The Honeymooners, as well as prominent supporting parts in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, with Jim Carrey and Meryl Streep, and Be Cool, the long-awaited sequel to Get Shorty.He lent his distinctive voice to a number of animated projects including the Madagascar films and the live-action Charlotte's Web. He also acted in projects as diverse as Talk to Me, Code Name: The Cleaner, Cadillac Records, and Tom Hanks' sophomore directorial effort Larry Crowne.When not making people laugh in person or onscreen, Cedric has an interest in charitable work, and in St. Louis he's established the Cedric the Entertainer Charitable Foundation, which helps to fund youth scholarships and family outreach programs in his hometown.

Trivia: Salt-and-pepper-haired, frequently mustachioed African-American character player Richard Gant tackled supporting roles in a plethora of Hollywood A-list features during the 1980s and '90s. Among other efforts, his resumé from that period includes Suspect (1987), Rocky V (1990), Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993), and CB4: The Movie (1993). Gant continued his big-screen roles through the tail end of that decade and well into the 2000s, but also achieved substantial recognition and audience identification on the small screen, with a regular role as Sgt. Bill Dornan on Steven Bochco's hit cop drama NYPD Blue. Gant later appeared memorably as the livery stable owner Hostetler on the HBO Western drama Deadwood, and joined the cast of long-running soap opera General Hospital as Dr. Russell Ford in 2007.

Trivia: R&B/soul singer Toni Braxton arguably projected greater versatility in her said musical genres -- when she emerged as a superstar during the early '90s -- than any of her contemporaries. That versatility both gave Braxton tremendous breadth of appeal among diverse audience demographics and pushed her to multiplatinum status. The child of a deeply, religious (Apostolic) home, Braxton was born in Severn, MD, and reportedly forbidden from partaking in secular music from infancy, though she and her sisters began singing in church as youngsters and would habitually watch Soul Train when their parents were out. In time, Braxton's folks switched faiths and husky-voiced Toni discovered the musical influences of such artists as Michael McDonald and Luther Vandross. During late adolescence, Braxton briefly attended college, but dropped out after being discovered by songwriter Bill Pettaway, and soon after she formed a vocal ensemble with her sisters christened, simply, The Braxtons, who found it remarkably easy -- almost effortless -- to land a contract with the prestigious Arista Records.Following the release of one of Toni's solo recordings on the soundtrack to the Eddie Murphy comedy Boomerang and the issue of a popular duet that she recorded with red-hot music mogul Babyface, she achieved her breakthrough in 1993; that was the year of Braxton's eponymous solo recording, which spawned numerous hit singles, including the iconic "Breathe Again." The record sold in excess of eight million copies through the end of 1995 -- astonishing sales for a debut effort -- and virtually guaranteed continued success for Braxton, who began touring extensively and issued numerous follow-up albums to remarkable acclaim. These included: Secrets (1996), The Heat (2000), and More than a Woman (2002).Braxton debuted as a film actress in 2001 with a role opposite LL Cool J and Jada Pinkett Smith in the urban ensemble comedy Kingdom Come. In 2008 she appeared on the seventh season of the reality competition series Dancing With the Stars. The majority of her other on-camera appearances were directly tied to her music career, including music video releases and concert films.

Trivia: Clifton Davis, a black lead actor and singer/songwriter, first appeared onscreen in 1973.

Trivia: Actress Kellita Smith primarily established herself on television, with an effective portrayal of über-professional, no-nonsense wife Wanda -- straight man to the popular eponymous comedian on the rollicking sitcom The Bernie Mac Show (2001-2006). Previously, Smith had tackled guest roles on series programs including Nash Bridges, Martin, Sister, Sister, and NYPD Blue. Her activity extended to cinematic work from the beginning, with a 1995 portrayal on the harrowing Sean Penn-directed drama The Crossing Guard. Smith placed a heightened emphasis on features after The Bernie Mac Show wrapped at the end of its fifth season, with work in theatrical outings including Fair Game (2005), Roll Bounce (2005), and Feel the Noise (2007).

Trivia: After graduating high school, worked as a nurse; has since played a nurse in several TV shows and films. Started her acting career with stage shows, appearing in the play First Breeze of Summer in 1994. Her character on Scrubs was written out of the show when they expected it to be canceled; when it was instead renewed, she was written back on with a new character. Appeared in over 260 episodes of Days of Our Lives between 2008 and 2015. Marched in the 83rd Annual Hollywood Christmas Parade, which honored the cast of Days of Our Lives.

Trivia: Actress Tamala Jones launched her career as a model, appearing in magazine ads and television commercials, before landing her first acting job on an episode of the preteen sitcom California Dreams, but her interest in the craft goes back to early childhood, when Jones and her cousin would stage backyard shows. Los Angeles-born and raised, Jones first studied drama in the sixth grade. As a young woman, she guest starred on series ranging from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air to E.R. to The Wayans Brothers. She had her first regular television role playing a student in the ABC network's short-lived drama Dangerous Minds. Jones entered feature films with a small role in How to Make an American Quilt (1995) and had her first starring film role in Booty Call (1997). In 1998, Jones starred in the short-lived NBC summer replacement sitcom For Your Love. After appearing in Blue Streak and The Wood the following year, Jones began to gain even more momentum in 2000 with roles in Ice Cube's Next Friday and the Tim Meadows SNL vehicle The Ladies Man. Jones would later share the limelight with a talented cast in Kingdom Come in 2001. She continued to work steadily in a variety of projects including Head of State, Daddy Day Camp, Who's Your Caddy?, and What Love Is before being cast on the television show Castle as Lanie Paris. In 2010 she starred in and co-produced the romantic comedy 35 & Ticking.

Trivia: Multifaceted performer Tamela Mann began life as the youngest of 14 children in a Fort Worth, TX, family. Significantly, she grew up in a household firmly rooted in the Christian faith, which paved the way for Mann's own devotion to the gospel as an adult. In time, this dovetailed with the young woman's preternatural gifts as a vocalist (which first revealed themselves during stints in her local church choir). She teamed up with the powerhouse worship ensemble Kirk Franklin and the Family during the early '90s, and attained fame alongside them, ultimately evolving into one of the most sought-after gospel recording artists of the early 21st century. Mann's later efforts as a soloist only heightened her popularity and visibility and included collaborations with artists such as Al Green, Mary J. Blige, Bono, and Celine Dion.During the mid-2000s Mann smoothly expanded her repertoire to include film roles via a series of collaborations with her husband, theater actor David Mann. The two frequently worked in tandem and made the majority of their appearances under the aegis of writer/director/star Tyler Perry, in whose stage plays they had starred. Efforts that featured the Manns included Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns (2008) and Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail (2009).