Trivia: Started career in broadcast news as an intern at WKYT in Lexington while still attending Eastern Kentucky University. Spent 18 years as a weatherman for ABC's New York affiliate, WABC. Had cancer surgery, broadcast live on Good Morning America on May 12, 2010, to remove a basal-cell carcinoma from his shoulder. Volunteers with several charity organizations, including the Multiple Sclerosis Society and the March of Dimes Foundation. New York City-based indie rock band Sam Champion is named after him.

Trivia: 2003 brought Carson Kressley his watershed moment: such was the year that the once-obscure fashion designer -- employed as an independent stylist for the Gotham-based Polo Ralph Lauren -- auditioned to star as a regular on the Bravo series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. An Allentown, PA, native and a graduate of Pennsylvania's Gettysburg College (with degrees in finance and art), Kressley was soon tapped to work for Lauren as an assistant to many of the company's top-tiered executives, then auditioned among several dozen candidates to star on the reality series, which featured himself and a cadre of other witty homosexual men offering advice to straight men on how best to improve their homes, apparel, and various other areas of lifestyle to qualify as truly chic (or "metrosexual," as the program typically put it). Kressley remained with the series for numerous seasons, and he and his co-stars soon graduated to the level of national celebrities, dubbed "The Fab Five."Kressley expanded into other arenas by authoring the 2004 tome Off the Cuff: The Essential Style Guide for Men and the Women Who Love Them and the children's allegory You're Different and That's Super (2005). He next hosted the Lifetime reality series How to Look Good Naked, which involved putting women on the air who felt unhappy about their bodies, and then instilling them with confidence and a positive, enthusiastic outlook (sans the use of plastic surgery or other "artificial" enhancements). In 2008, Kressley hosted the CW reality series Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants, a televised competition that found several mother-daughter teams going head-to-head with one another in an elaborate beauty pageant. As the years progressed, Kressley would remain a fixture in reality television, appearing on shows like Dancing with the Stars.

Trivia: Although she never had received any formal vocal training, Glendale, AZ's Jordin Sparks managed to make her way into the final 24 on the sixth season of American Idol. Only 17 at the time of her audition, she was one of that year's youngest competitors; as the competition winded down in May 2007, Sparks found her fiercest competition eliminated, and was eventually crowned the next American Idol. She continued her music career and eventually moved to acting, making her film debut in Sparkle (2012), which was Whitney Houston's film final role. Her next major film role was in 2014's apocalyptic thriller Left Behind.

Trivia: David Archuleta began singing when he was just a child, but by the time he was in high school, he'd honed his voice into a professional-quality instrument. When season-seven American Idol auditions came through San Diego, Archuleta leapt at the chance to take the next step in his singing career. He wowed the judges and was sent on to Hollywood, where he beat out the competition to earn a spot in the top 24. Archuleta eventually went on to finish the competition as runner-up to David Cook.

Trivia: Radio and TV personality Ryan Seacrest wanted to be a DJ from the time he was a child, and he scored a gig at a local radio station at the age of just 15, becoming one of the youngest successful DJs in history. He went on to attend the University of Georgia after high school, but left during his first year to take a job at ESPN. The show didn't pan out, but Seacrest continued to find work as a DJ, taking over the "afternoon drive" at Los Angeles adult contemporary station Star 98.7. While working in radio, Seacrest kept looking for a break in TV, eventually scoring a hosting spot on a new reality show called American Idol in 2003. The show became a massive hit and Seacrest finally became a household name. He stayed with the series through subsequent seasons while he also began working at the E! network, doing red-carpet duties at award shows and events and hosting E! News Daily.In 2005, Seacrest fulfilled a lifelong dream when he hosted Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve alongside the ailing legend. And before long Seacrest became a celebrity in his own right, landing more and more high-profile hosting gigs, including the 59th and 60th Primetime Emmy Awards, and lucrative endorsement deals with brands like Proctor & Gamble and Coca-Cola. In addition to his television hosting duties, Seacrest heads Ryan Seacrest Productions, which produced the ABC series Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, which won an Emmy award for Outstanding Reality Program in 2010, and many reality TV shows for E!, including Keeping Up With the Kardashians and their various spin-offs, like Kourtney and Kim Take Miami.

Trivia: A native of Myrtle Beach, SC, longtime Wheel of Fortune hostess and letter-turner Vanna White attended the Atlanta School of Fashion Design and worked as a print model in the Atlanta area, then moved to Hollywood and landed bit roles in B-grade productions including Michael Crichton's Looker and the slasher outing Graduation Day (both 1981). In 1982, she was selected by Merv Griffin to co-host Wheel with Chuck Woolery successor Pat Sajak and remained with the program for decades, as did Sajak. Meanwhile, on the side, White became something of a national phenomenon and a pop-culture icon -- authoring and publishing a best-selling autobiography, emceeing her own exercise video in 1987, and landing cameo roles (often as herself) in outings including NBC's action adventure series The A-Team (in 1986) and the big-screen features Double Dragon and The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (both 1994).

Trivia: Kelly Ripa, the bubbly, blonde, and garrulous host of Live With Regis and Kelly (formerly Live With Regis and Kathie Lee), made the leap from semi-obscurity to American icon in early 2001, when the producers of that nationally syndicated daytime talk program selected her as the replacement for 15-year hostess Kathie Lee Gifford. Born October 2, 1970, to parents of mixed Irish and Italian heritage, the photogenic Ripa began her career as an actress -- first in high-school productions, then as a participant on the USA channel's Dance Party USA, and finally as a soap opera star on All My Children. Her portrayal of psychologically tortured teenager Hayley Vaughan on that program spanned 12 years, from 1990 through 2002. During her time with that series, she also met and married co-star Mark Consuelos, and eventually had several children with him. The actress' assignment on Live With Regis represented the denouement of a long, suspenseful, and nationally publicized search after Gifford withdrew in mid-2000. In the final analysis, many insiders felt that executive producer Michael Gelman and others had clearly made the right choice, for then-30-year-old Ripa's ascent to the co-host's chair helped the show reel in the highest ratings of its multi-decade run. Moreover, the program's fans asserted that the central banter between "Reege" and his hostess had never once been livelier, more entertaining or more fluid.In mid-2003, the peppy Ripa signed for another popular small-screen gig, albeit in a completely different venue: she and Faith Ford (Murphy Brown) played reunited sisters -- Ripa one of the glitterati, Ford a low-key suburban wife and mother -- on the situation comedy Hope & Faith. The program debuted that fall and lasted for three seasons. Ripa guest-hosted Saturday Night Live in November 2003; she and Regis are also frequent guests on Late Night with David Letterman. In addition to small-screen work, Ripa's resumé includes a bit part in the Muppet specials Sesame Street: Elmo's World -- Happy Holidays! and It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, as well as the Steve Martin comedy remake Cheaper by the Dozen (2003).

Trivia: A handsome and prolific television actor who first rose to fame as a regular fixture on the long-running soap opera All My Children -- for which he earned two ALMA Awards and a Daytime Emmy nomination -- Mark Consuelos made waves in the entertainment industry when he married All My Children co-star Kelly Ripa before going on to appear in such series as Missing and Hope & Faith. Born in Zaragoza, Spain, the worldly future actor spent much of his childhood in Lebanon, IL, and Tampa, FL. Upon graduating from Bloomingdale High School in Illinois, Consuelos attended Notre Dame University and subsequently studied marketing at the University of Florida. Early acting roles included performances in Hello Dolly at the Looking Glass Playhouse in Lebanon, IL, and an off-Broadway production of Howard Korder's Boy's Life. Consuelos found his first major screen role when he was cast on All My Children in 1995. In the following years, he became something of a small-screen fixture thanks to frequent television roles. With roles in such features as My Super Ex-Girlfriend and The Pleasure of Your Company (both 2006), it appeared that Consuelos was working hard to launch a feature-film career, though he did prove an amiable host for the 2007 May/December reality romance series Age of Love as well.In 2008 he produced and acted in For the Love of Grace, and in 2010 he had a part in Kevin Smith's action comedy Cop Out. He also presided over the wedding ceremony between Howard Stern and Beth Ostrosky.

Trivia: Was the first pick of the 1989 NFL draft. Was the winningest starting quarterback of any decade in NFL history, with 90 wins in the '90s. In 1993, he was the MVP of Super Bowl XXVII. Authored the 1995 children's book Things Change. Recorded the 1993 country-music single "Oklahoma Nights" for an album called Everybody Wants to Be a Cowboy. Played himself on a 1994 episode of Coach and in the 1996 big-screen hit Jerry Maguire. In 2004, he was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Sports Personality, Sports Event Analyst. Was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006.

Trivia: Son of legendary St. Louis Cardinals announcer Jack Buck; did the play-by-play for one inning of a Cardinals-Mets game on his 18th birthday when his dad left the booth and told him to take over. Began broadcasting career by calling play-by-play for Louisville Redbirds, a Cardinals minor-league team; began calling Cardinals games on KMOX TV and radio in 1991. Hired by Fox Sports in 1994 at age 25 to announce NFL games and became the youngest person to call pro games. At 27, became the youngest play-by-play announcer to call a World Series. Won his first Sports Emmy Award in 1999 for Outstanding Sports Personality. When he stopped broadcasting Cardinals baseball in 2008, he ended a 54-year run of Bucks (either Joe or his father) handling coverage of the team's games. Hosted an HBO series, Joe Buck Live, which was canceled after three episodes; the 2009 premiere was infamously hijacked by comic Artie Lange. Because of the Lange episode, as well as the general strain of booking guests, Buck was relieved when the show was dropped. His Joe Buck Golf Classic raises money for St. Louis Children's Hospital.

Trivia: Grew up in South Korea and Singapore due to his father's work as a lawyer.Served as a volunteer missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Madrid, Spain.Worked as a software engineer.In 2004, won 74 games in a row and $2.52 million on Jeopardy!In 2006, released the bestselling book Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs.First guest host of Jeopardy! following Alex Trebek's death.

Trivia: While some youngsters may have been intimidated at the prospect of playing one of the most successful comedic figures in the entertainment industry, emerging actor Tyler James Williams seemed perfectly comfortable playing a teenage Chris Rock in the hit CW series Everybody Hates Chris. A Sesame Street veteran who became a regular on the popular children's series at the age of four, New York native Williams continued his small-screen adventure with roles on the animated Bill Cosby series Little Bill and Law & Order: Special Victim's Unit. Subsequent voice roles in the feature films Everyone's Hero and The Ant Bully helped to prepare Williams for a movie career, with his role as a stranded adolescent traveler in Unaccompanied Minors serving to become his first proper feature appearance. Of course, it's his television work that has drawn Williams the most praise, with his role as Chris Rock perfectly capturing the comic essence of the character's real-life counterpart.

Trivia: Edgy female comic Lisa Ann Walter may look like your wholesome, All-American former high-school prom queen, but don't be fooled by appearances -- she can work blue with the best of them. As a featured performer on the all-female standup special The Naughty Show, Walter brought down the house with her raucous stage presence. Of course, standup is only one of her many talents, and Walter has also appeared on television in episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Nip/Tuck, and Watch Over Me, and in such high-profile feature-film releases as Bruce Almighty, Shall We Dance?, and War of the Worlds. Walter's real-life role as a mother provided much of the fodder for her live comedy act, and the Pennsylvania native rose through the ranks of the New York City standup circuit to become one of the hottest female comics in the country. While Walter would have to tone town her outspoken ways for the small screen, she became an instant hit with audiences as one of the judges on the competitive ABC reality show The Next Best Thing: Who Is the Greatest Celebrity Impersonator? in 2007.

Trivia: Attended New York State Summer School of the Arts.Graduated from the Conservatory of Theater at State University of New York at Purchase in the same class as actors Micah Stock and Andre Maybin Jr.Started his acting career in theater.In 2012, won a Theatre World Award for his performance as Charlie in Stephen Karam's play Sons of the Prophet.In 2020, his work in the Off-Broadway play Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow earned him an Outer Critics Circle Award, and Drama League Award and Drama Desk Award nominations.