Trivia: His role as the cherubic, bespectacled Dilbert-esque everyman on the long-running sitcom The Drew Carey Show has endeared comedian Drew Carey to the downtrodden cubicle-dwelling masses everywhere, making him one of the most beloved and popular characters in '90s and '00s television. However, Carey's massive success didn't come without some harrowing struggles with depression and numerous suicide attempts during his dark and directionless early years. Born and raised in Cleveland, OH, Carey suffered a devastating early blow when his father died of a brain tumor when Carey was only eight years old. Working long overtime hours to provide Drew and his brothers with the best childhood possible, his mother's frequent absence found the depressed youngster spending many nights home alone seeking solitude in cartoons and comedy albums.Upon entering Cleveland's Rhodes High School, Carey spent much of his free time playing coronet and trumpet in the school's marching band. Enrolling in Kent State and joining the Delta Tau Delta fraternity upon graduation, Carey found great difficulty balancing his studies and personal life, with his lack of direction compounding his depression and resulting in another suicide attempt before being expelled twice and dropping out of school with no degree. Subsequent years found the aimless youth drifting across the country with dreams of stability slowly fading from his horizon, but a return to Cleveland resulted in newfound hope when Carey decided to make a last-ditch effort and immerse himself in self-help books. Signing up with the Marine Corps Reserves in 1980 provided Carey with just the discipline that he needed, and following a six-year service and some newly instilled confidence, a close friend working in radio asked Carey to write some jokes to use on-air. Honing his skills and becoming increasingly focused on channeling his energy into humor, Carey took his act to local comedy clubs and, after winning an open-mic contest, began working as emcee at the Cleveland Comedy Club in 1986.The following years found Carey moving frequently between Cleveland and Los Angeles and gaining increasing recognition on the comedy circuits. Offered the rare privilege of joining Johnny Carson on the couch following a 1991 appearance on The Tonight Show proved a career-defining moment, and after a series of HBO specials and television appearances, Carey joined forces with writer/producer Bruce Helford (who had worked on such successful sitcoms as Family Ties and Roseanne), and in 1995 The Drew Carey Show was born. Endearing himself to television audiences with his small-town persona and everyman attitude, The Drew Carey Show quickly became one of the most popular sitcoms on television. Though his success may have been beyond any of his wildest dreams during his clouded formative years, Carey remained loyal to his hometown, always maintaining a level head. Serving as host of the American version of the massively popular British improvisational comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway? (frequently featuring his Drew Carey Show cohort Ryan Stiles), Carey's small-screen presence increased, and appearances on such television comedy specials as Drew Carey's Improv All Stars and The New York Friar's Club Roast of Hugh M. Hefner (both 2001) ensured audiences that Carey's humor was as sharp and in tune as ever. Aside from his small-screen work, Carey has appeared in such comic features as Coneheads (1993). The September 1997 release of his autobiography, entitled Dirty Jokes and Beer: Stories of the Unrefined, provided fans with detailed and humorous insight into Carey's sometimes dark past, and emergency angioplasty in mid-2001 found the well-loved comedian going under the knife but making a quick recovery. In the summer of 2007, Carey's emcee experience paid off, as he was named the host of the venerable game show The Price Is Right, replacing much-loved Bob Barker. He also hosted the game show Power of 10, and in 2011 he appeared in the Adam Sandler comedy Jack and Jill.

Trivia: American actress Nan Martin's first burst of activity was in the late '50s, when TV anthology work abounded. Her film appearances commenced with The Buster Keaton Story in 1957. She remained a busy character actress into the mid '70s, playing such roles as the mother of paralyzed skiier Jill Kinmont (Marilyn Hassett) in The Other Side of the Mountain (1975) and its 1978 sequel. In 1986, Nan Martin had a recurring TV role as typist Grace D'Angelo on the Jeffrey Tambor sitcom Mr. Sunshine.

Trivia: Beloved by television audiences for his endearingly snippy portrayal of upstairs restaurant owner John Allen Hill on Cheers, Tony-winning stage actor Keene Curtis endeared himself to Broadway audiences as Annie's Daddy Warbucks before embarking on a successful career in television and film. Born in Salt Lake City, UT, and raised in nearby Bountiful, Curtis first realized his love for the stage while a student at the University of Utah. Though a three-year stint in the Navy put a brief halt to his education, Curtis returned to the University to study for his bachelor's and master's degrees and was subsequently discovered by Orson Welles when Welles directed a 1947 college production of Macbeth. So impressed with Curtis' performance was Welles that the popular filmmaker cast the burgeoning actor in a professional production of Macbeth the following year. With his stage career kicking into full gear, Curtis would pursue acting while simultaneously working as a stage manager at the Martha Graham Dance Company for the next 12 years. Equally adept in film, television, and the Broadway stage, Curtis also appeared in Welles' film version of Macbeth in addition to roles in such features as Heaven Can Wait (1978), The Buddy System (1984), and I.Q. (1994). Following his memorable performance in Annie, Curtis appeared in such Broadway productions as Twelfth Night, Saint Joan, and Comedians. 1971 found Curtis the recipient of a Tony for his multiple roles in the musical The Rothschilds. Though he was prolific in film and on-stage, it was on television that Curtis made a lasting impression with roles on such popular series as M*A*S*H, Benson, and The Pretender. Curtis also did voice-over work for Scooby and Scrappy-Doo and The Smurfs. Always concerned with helping aspiring actors realize their dreams, Curtis would later endow an acting scholarship, in addition to donating his Tony and other theater memorabilia, to his alma mater. On October 13, 2002, Keene Curtis died of Alzheimer's disease in Bountiful, UT. He was 79.

Trivia: Met wife Nia Vardalos when both were in Chicago performing with the Second City comedy group. Says the day he was hired for Second City (which also featured Chris Farley at the same time) was one of the happiest of his life. Made film debut in 1993's Rookie of the Year. His endearing performance as Javier, the flamboyant coffee-shop manager on The WB's Felicity, was originally supposed to be temporary. His character became so popular that he was rescued from deportation and made a permanent fixture. During the same period when he was appearing on Felicity, he held roles as a goofy sidekick on ABC's Norm and as a conniving ladder-climber on The Drew Carey Show. Appeared in wife Nia Vardalos' hit comedy My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002), a film she wrote and based on their relationship. In 2008, he and his wife adopted a daughter.

Trivia: American actor Tim Conway was born in Willoughby, Ohio, but grew up in the curiously named community Chagrin Falls, a fact that he'd later incorporate for a quick laugh in many of his comedy routines, TV films and movies. After majoring in speech and radio at Bowling Green State University, Conway went into the Eighth Army Assignment Team, where, much in the manner of his later bumbling screen characters, he managed to "misplace" a boatload of 7500 replacement troops. Once the army was through with him (and vice versa), Conway secured a job answering mail for a Cleveland radio deejay; his letters were so amusing that he was given a position as a writer in the promotional department, then went on to direct a TV program called Ernie's Place. Whenever Ernie was short a guest, Conway showed up as "Dag Hereford," a so-called authority on several subjects who'd reveal himself to be a blithering simpleton. Comedienne Rose Marie happened to be in Cleveland in 1961, and upon catching Conway's routine recommended the young erstwhile comic to Steve Allen; Conway redid the Hereford bit for Allen's ABC variety series in the fall of '61, fracturing the audiences (and Allen) in three memorable appearances. Now that he was a full-fledged comic, he knew he couldn't continue performing under his real name, Tom Conway, since that was also the name of a well-known British actor; Allen advised Tom to "dot the O," and thereafter he was known as Tim Conway. In 1962, Conway was engaged to play the Doug Hereford-like role of Ensign Doug Parker on the wartime sitcom McHale's Navy, which lasted six seasons and made Conway a star. The actor made several attempts over the following decades to succeed as a solo TV star (witness his 1967 western comedy Rango on ABC), but none of his post-McHale's Navy series have been anything resembling hits. Still, Conway was always welcome as a supporting comic, and he scored major success with hysterically funny appearances opposite Harvey Korman on The Carol Burnett Show in the 1970s; Conway also enjoyed a measure of success as star or co-star of a number of Disney films and low-budget "regional" comedy pictures like The Prize Fighter (1978) and The Private Eyes (1980). In the late 1980s and '90s Conway starred in a popular series of satirical "how-to" home videos, playing a diminutive, dim-bulbed Scandinavian named Dorf; he also lent an acclaimed comedic cameo as a driving instructor to the action film Speed 2 (1997), and voiced a series of Christian-themed animated videos entitled Hermie & Friends, with such friends and colleagues as the late Don Knotts and Burnett co-star Vicki Lawrence. Conway would continue to appear on screen over the coming years, making memorable appearances on TV shows like 30 Rock and providing the voice of Barnacle Bob on the animated series Spongebob Squarepants.