Trivia: Played basketball at NYU and had a tryout for the New York Knicks (but never played in the NBA); made theatrical-movie debut in White Men Can't Jump (1992). Produced and starred in the 1998 Fox sitcom Getting Personal; was a regular on the 1992-93 NBC sitcom Out All Night. Was nominated for a 1998 Daytime Emmy for Different Worlds: A Story of Interracial Love. Wife Tisha Campbell-Martin played his sister in a recurring role in his 2003-06 UPN/CW sitcom All of Us. Cowrote, coproduced and starred in the 2003 crime drama Ride or Die and the 2004 comedy Seat Filler (he also distributed Seat Filler and cowrote it with Campbell-Martin). Founded Impact Sports, an agency that represents pro athletes, in 1987; other business interests have included real estate and a Beverly Hills beauty salon.

Trivia: Although she may not have achieved her youthful dream of becoming a Solid Gold dancer, some might argue that it was more a matter of overshooting that dream rather than failing to achieve it. Elise Neal still loves to dance, even appearing on Star Search before working professionally as a dancer, though she is more likely to be recognized for her frequent work in television and film.Born in Tenessee, Neal's ballerina beginnings were set into motion after spending long hours in front of the television admiring the cutesy song-and-dance antics of Shirley Temple. A popular teenager, Neal was voted Homecoming Queen, and after high school moved to New York to pursue a career as a dancer. Finding frequent work in musical theater that eventually led to small roles in commercials, Neal soon began to realize her affection for appearing on camera. After moving to L.A. to chase her newfound dreams of becoming a full-time actress, Neal made an appearance on Law & Order before her screen debut in Spike Lee's Malcolm X (1992). Appearing frequently in television for the next few years with recurring roles in such series as SeaQuest DSV and Tales of the City, Neal later appeared in John Singleton's Rosewood and Money Talks (both 1997) before making a memorable appearance in Scream 2. Moving seamlessly between roles in television and film, Neal moved into sitcom territory with The Hughleys before returning to the screen in 2000 with Mission to Mars.

Trivia: Appeared in Tupac Shakur's final music video, "Toss It Up," in 1996. Served as First Lady of Turks and Caicos during her marriage to Michael Misick. Founded the Turks and Caicos Film Festival with Jasmine Guy. Is a Global Ambassador for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure foundation. Made her directorial debut with the 2014 film Skinned.

Trivia: A dedicated actress who has transcended her meager beginnings to become a valuable onscreen commodity, Terri J. Vaughn did her best to keep off of the streets while growing up in San Francisco's Ridgeview Terrace Housing Project -- and one look at her impressive film credits shows that all of the hard work most definitely paid off. The daughter of a hardworking secretary and department-store employee, Vaughn divided her time between studying, singing in the church choir, modeling, and working at McDonald's early on. And while all of this served well to instill the ambitious young woman with a solid sense of self and purpose, her peers weren't always so impressed. It was during this period in her life that Vaughn became a frequent target for neighborhood bullies, which helped her to realize just how hopeless some of her peers truly felt. Later, Vaughn was determined to purchase her own car and go to college -- a goal she ultimately achieved by working as an operator and a post-office employee in order to pay both her car payments and her tuition at California State University. At a friend's request, Vaughn participated in the Miss Black California Pageant while a senior at CSU. Her reading of a passage from Ntozake Shange's For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf marked a turning point when she earned a spot in the Los Angeles finals and one of the judges asked her to appear in a play he was producing. Soon spirited away on a 20-city tour of Tellin' It Like It Tiz, Vaughn had finally found her calling in life. Numerous stage roles were quick to follow, with a brief appearance on the hit television series Living Single marking her arrival as a film and television actress. Throughout the 1990s, Vaughn's career gained momentum thanks to parts in such films as Friday, Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood, and 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag, with subsequent television roles in The Steve Harvey Show, Soul Food, and All of Us showing that the rising starlet was equally comfortable on screens both large and small. In 2006 and 2007, respectively, Vaughn could be seen in the independent comedy drama Dirty Laundry and the Tyler Perry drama Daddy's Little Girls. In addition to her acting work, Vaughn has shown her commitment to bettering the lives of young girls growing up in public housing and foster care by founding the Take Wings Foundation -- which aims to motivate, uplift, and inspire adolescents aged 13 to 18 by encouraging them to be positive, productive, and successful.

Trivia: A graduate of the Curry School of Oratory and Dramatic Art, James Vincent had spent 15 years in the legitimate theater prior to entering films in the early 1910s. A specialist in old-fashioned melodrama, Vincent directed Charles Ray in In the Tennessee Hills (1914), Theda Bara in Gold and the Woman, and Stuart Holmes in Sin of Man (1916) but is perhaps best remembered for helming the still-extant A Woman in Grey (1919). Featuring Arline Pretty and filmed on location at Wilkes-Barre, PA, this 15-chapter serial remains a perfect example of the kind of fare usually associated with the likes of Pearl White and Ruth Roland and is still vastly entertaining today. Vincent retired from the screen in 1922.

Trivia: Practices martial arts, including kung fu and the Bruce Lee-founded jeet kune do. Worked with Jimmy Smits on the film Mother and Child and the NBC series Outlaw. Took guitar lessons for his role on Dexter. Is a motorcycle enthusiast.

Trivia: Though he enjoyed a long and lucrative screen career as a multi-hyphenate on various projects, Damon Dash made biggest headlines for his stellar record as a business mogul. The co-founder of multi-platinum generating urban music label Roc-A-Fella Records with rap star Jay-Z, Dash helped guide that outfit into the fiscal stratosphere on the strength of Jay-Z's records plus high-end distribution deals with Def Jam and Priority. Publicly, Dash possessed a rare ability to shift his media image from that of a street-smart urban maestro to that of a sharp-suited, high-rolling entrepreneur in the blink of an eye, depending on the situation and audience at hand. In 2005, Dash turned heads by severing ties with Roc-a-Fella, then promptly diversified his interests by expanding into such areas as watches, apparel, vodka, footwear, and -- significantly -- motion pictures. Cinematically, Dash concentrated predominantly on low-medium budgeted urban-oriented efforts including the crime thrillers State Property (2002) and State Property 2 (2005), and the crime comedy Paper Soldiers (2002) -- projects that frequently witnessed him holding court as a screenwriter, director, producer, and story author. Dash moved into arthouse material of commendable depth, maturity, and insight by teaming up with producer Lee Daniels (Monster's Ball) and producer/actor Kevin Bacon to create the finely felt, compassionate psychological drama The Woodsman (2004). Dash also produced the documentary Backstage: Hard Knock Life (2000), an up-close and personal view of rap life as filtered through the eyes of Jay-Z and friends. Dash is the cousin of actress and model Stacey Dash (Clueless, Renaissance Man).

Trivia: A native of Flint, MI, who played in the NFL for seven years before segueing into film, athlete-turned-actor Terry Crews made his television debut on the small-screen sports entertainment show Battle Dome and has since moved on to appear in films by such disparate directors as David Lynch, Mike Judge, and David Ayer.During high school, Crews studied at Interlochen Art Academy, and he continued on to Western Michigan University for college; it was during his freshman year that he first took to the gridiron, and after making an impression as a Mid-American Conference defensive end, he solidified his reputation as a star player by leading his team to the Mid-American Conference championship in 1988. Crews married longtime wife Rebecca the day before his 21st birthday, and later went on to have an impressive professional football career while playing for the L.A. Rams, the San Diego Chargers, and the Washington Redskins. Though he had originally intended to become a special-effects artist, Crews gradually became aware of the power of his onscreen charisma when he accepted a role in the short-lived television series Battle Dome in 1999. Despite the fact that only a few episodes of the seires ever made it to the airwaves, the experience left Crews convinced that he had found his calling.Few lifelong actors could even dream of landing roles in such major motion pictures as The 6th Day, Training Day, and Friday After Next so early in their careers, but that's precisely what Crews did, and he has never looked back since. The actor's hulking frame made him an ideal candidate for intimidating onscreen figures, and his disarming sense of humor has found him developing a distinct comic persona in such films as Starsky & Hutch, Soul Plane, White Chicks, and The Longest Yard while also winning over viewers on the small screen with his role as Chris Rock's father on Everybody Hates Chris. As a supporting player, Crews consistently impresses, with his little-seen role as former professional wrestler-turned-President of the United States in Beavis and Butt-Head creator Judge's Idiocracy (2006) offering a telling example of how far he is willing to go to get a laugh. That same year, Crews showed his impressive range by making a brief appearance in surrealist specialist Lynch's Inland Empire, with comic roles in Norbit, Who's Your Caddy?, and Balls of Fury following in short order.2008 proved a busy year for Crews. In addition to his continued work on Everybody Hates Chris, he co-starred in the police drama Street Kings, as well as director Peter Segal's revamp of the classic comedy series Get Smart. Crews played a member of a motley gang of mercenaries in 2010's action blockbuster The Expendables (he reprised this role for the film's sequel in 2012).

Trivia: A frequent presence on American television in the mid- to late 2000s, Jack Yang made guest appearances on hit series programs including Grey's Anatomy, CSI: Miami, and Law & Order. He is not to be confused with a film producer with the same name, active at the same time.