Trivia: With long, shapely legs, a svelte, curvaceous body to die for, and thick black hair cascading around her lovely face, Fran Drescher has all the looks of a sophisticated movie star. And then she opens her mouth. Out comes a crow-like cacophony of nasal sounds made more grating by a thick Queens accent and a tendency to pull no punches. The paradox between the book and its cover is what has made Drescher a rich and popular comedienne; her long-running sitcom The Nanny, with its combination of romantic and slapstick comedy, led many to hail her as Lucille Ball's successor. Though she capitalizes on playing a rather ditzy working-class gal from Flushing, Drescher is known for her creativity and shrewdness. In addition to acting, she is a talented writer and producer.Much of Drescher's comedy, especially that from her sitcom, is drawn from her life experiences. Like her character, Fran Fine, she was born and raised in Queens. She has had a lifelong interest in acting and studied drama in high school. She attended a year at Queens College and then attended cosmetology school to become a hairdresser. For a time, she had her own business. She made her film debut playing Connie in Saturday Night Fever (1977). Her next film, American Hot Wax (1978), provided Drescher with her first major role and though she would continue on to play supporting parts in numerous other films, it was not until she played a small but memorable part in Rob Reiner's hilarious mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap (1984) that she began making a name for herself. In addition to her film roles, she was also busy on television, guest starring in series and appearing in television films like Terror in the Towers. She played starring roles in three short-lived series, including Princesses. She and her husband Peter Marc Jacobson created The Nanny and it aired on CBS from 1993 to 1999. She not only starred in the show, but also wrote and produced it; Drescher received Emmy nominations for her work on the show. In 1996, she co-starred with Robin Williams in the Disney comedy Jack, while in 1997, she and Jacobson co-created the idea for the romantic comedy The Beautician and the Beast, in which she also starred. Drescher published her autobiography, Enter Whining, in 1996.Drescher once again drew from her life experiences in the 2002 memoir Cancer Schmancer, which chronicled the actress's battle with uterine cancer, and formed the Cancer Schmancer Movement in 2007. The nonprofit is dedicated to educating women about cancer prevention and the importance of early detection (Drescher's cancer was initially misdiagnosed). In 2011, Drescher appeared on Oprah Winfrey to discuss her relationship with her then ex-husband Peter Mark Jacobson after he came out as gay after the end of their 21-year marriage. The television series Happily Divorced (2011-2013) is based on her experience with Jacobson.

Trivia: While at Cambridge, appeared in a comedy troupe called Footlights Revue. Trained at London's Central School for Speech and Drama. When he played Shane Donovan on the soap Days of Our Lives from 1984 to 1992, pictures that were on the mantel in his TV home were actually old Shaughnessy family photos. (The actor reprised his role for a multiple-episode stint in May 2010.) Has been a contestant on Celebrity Jeopardy, as well as the game shows Super Password, The New Hollywood Squares, Win Lose or Draw, To Tell the Truth and Hollywood Squares. Became the fifth Baron Shaughnessy of Montreal and Ashford in 2007. Has been active in AIDS and antiwar organizations.

Trivia: It was only a matter of time before burgeoning teen star Nicholle Tom joined the family business. Her older sister, Heather Tom, won a Daytime Emmy for her portrayal of Victoria Newman on the soap The Young and the Restless and her twin brother, David Tom, has had roles in Pleasantville and Swing Kids.Tom grew up in Seattle and Los Angeles, but was born in Hinsdale, IL, on March 23, 1978. She and her brother did print ads and commercials in Chicago before the family headed out west. Soon after they moved to L.A., Tom began winning high-profile parts in films (Beethoven) and television shows (Beverly Hills 90210, The Nanny). She basically grew up on The Nanny and has embarked on a somewhat successful film and TV-movie career since the show ended in 1999. She starred with Olympic champ Tara Lipinski in the made-for-TV movie Ice Angel and has turned in supporting roles in Panic and The Princess Diaries.

Trivia: Fans of 1990s prime-time sitcoms will invariably remember actress Madeline Zima as the sugar-sweet, angelic Grace, six-year-old daughter of British theatrical producer Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy), on the Fran Drescher series comedy The Nanny. In fact, when Zima landed that part, she had already tackled child roles in features as diverse as The Hand that Rocks the Cradle (1992) and Mr. Nanny (1993). The Drescher series, of course, represented Zima's breakthrough, and by the late '90s, the young actress (who remained with the sitcom cast for all six seasons, until it wrapped in 1999) had blossomed into a starkly beautiful teenager. She branched out into more adult-oriented material with an uncanny portrayal of the young Lucille Ball in the telemovie Lucy (2003), then returned to series programs with a regular role on the quirky David Duchovny-headlined Showtime comedy drama Californication (2007). She went on to appear in The Collector, The Family Tree, Crazy Eyes, and Lake Effects.

Trivia: His late-night dog-and-pony show has featured stupid tricks from various species, introduced non-New Yorkers to Rupert Jee's Hello Deli and infamous correspondents Mujibur and Sirajul, and earned numerous awards and laughs. David Michael Letterman was born April 12, 1947, in Indianapolis, IN, to Harry, a florist, and Dorothy, a church secretary. He has two sisters, Janice and Gretchen. While attending Broad Ripple High School, he was a stock boy at Atlas Supermarket. Heading off to college, he studied radio and television at Ball State University in Muncie, IN, and graduated with a B.A. in 1969. Letterman stayed in Indiana and worked as a radio talk show host, the host of a children's program called Clover Power, a late-night movie host, news anchor, and a television weather man. In 1975, he moved to L.A. and wrote for the TV show Good Times and developed a comedy routine that debuted at Mitzi Shore's Comedy Store. Soon after, he began appearing on Mary Tyler Moore's variety show and then on NBC's Tonight Show With Johnny Carson. By 1978, he was Carson's regular guest host, which led to his hosting a daytime show, The David Letterman Show. While it only lasted three months, it did garner some critical accolades (and brought out the first Stupid Pet Tricks segment) and resulted in Letterman winning a spot for his own show following Carson's. Late Night With David Letterman first aired on February 1, 1982, and featured the first renditions of TV history fixtures like the Top Ten List and Viewer Mail. Skits called for various parts to be filled and even spawned would-be comedians out of Letterman's sidekick/musical director of 19 years, Paul Shaffer, stage manager Biff Henderson, and Larry "Bud" Melman (or Calvert DeForest, as he is now called thanks to network politics). As Carson wound down his late-night reign, Letterman was hopeful he would be asked to take over the coveted spot. However, in 1993, comedian Jay Leno was chosen to succeed Carson instead. Feeling slighted, Letterman put aside his disappointment at not fulfilling a life-long dream of carrying on in his mentor's timeslot and moved to CBS to head up his own show. In turn, his move to CBS, which opened the 12:30 slot for another late-late-night hopeful, Conan O'Brien. In preparing for his new home, NBC told Letterman he couldn't use certain bits from his show on CBS as they were "intellectual property" of NBC. Luckily, most of the rights belonged to the writers/creators of those skits, so the tradition of Stupid Pet Tricks and so on could continue. The first episode of the newly named Late Show With David Letterman aired on August 30, 1993, and ran opposite Leno, causing a ratings battle ever since. In what was named the late-night wars beginning with Leno's selection over Letterman, the situation created much discussion, speculation, and even a 1996 movie from HBO. The Late Shift, based on a non-fiction book by Bill Carter, depicted the drama behind who was to be chosen to take over for Carson. Although Letterman's audience is familiar with his driving record as it is the butt of many jokes, not much else is known about his personal life. He was married to Michele Cook from 1969 to 1977 and reportedly has a long-time girlfriend. Letterman introduced viewers to his mom via the 1994 Olympic Winter Games when she served as a correspondent and she has periodically appeared on the show ever since. For all his dry sarcasm, Letterman has occasionally shown a warmer, sensitive side. On January 14, 2000, he had quintuple bypass surgery. Along with his usual humor, upon his return to the show on February 21, he brought out the medical team that performed the surgery and gave them a teary, heartfelt thank you. This side came out again when new episodes of his show went back on the air a week after the events of September 11, 2001. Instead of starting with the typical monologue, Letterman sat at his desk and simply stated: "If you didn't believe it before, you can believe it now: New York City is absolutely the greatest city on earth." Other than television appearances, he has played himself in a few movies, including the Andy Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon and Howard Stern's Private Parts, and some of his standup comedy can be found on The Comedy Store 20th Birthday. One character performance went uncredited, but is well known to Letterman fans nonetheless. In Chris Elliot's Cabin Boy, he plays a sarcastic villager Elliot's character encounters during a port stop. Along with hosting his own show, he also hosted the 1994 Academy Awards, where he came up with his famous introduction skit "Uma, Oprah. Oprah, Uma." Most celebrities pay the price for their fame by giving up their private lives. While Letterman does well to guard his, he couldn't keep one over-adulate fan at bay. Stalker Margaret Ray claimed on several occasions to be Letterman's wife and the mother of his (fictional) son. She had broken into his Connecticut home on a few occasions and had served ten months in prison and 14 months in a mental institution in relation to these violations. In October of 1996, she committed suicide by kneeling in front of an ongoing train in Colorado. Oddly enough, Letterman went back to work for NBC in 2000 by serving as an executive producer of the network's comedy-drama Ed. He is also the co-owner and founder of the Worldwide Pants production company, which also produces CBS's hit comedy Everybody Loves Raymond. In March 2002, ABC was looking to get rid of its news program Nightline, hosted by Ted Koppel and replace it with Letterman's show. After much speculation, Letterman decided to stay at CBS, but not without voicing his own support of veteran newsman Koppel.In November 2003 Letterman became a father at the age of 56 when his girlfriend Regina Lasko gave birth to a son, Harry Joseph Letterman, named in honor of Letterman's late father. On March 21, 2009, Letterman and Lasko married in Montana.