Trivia: Gerald McRaney was 14 when he was possessed with the notion to become an actor. Five years later, McRaney landed a job with a New Orleans rep company, laboring away as an oil-field worker during the off-season. In 1969, he made his film bow in the Southern-fried cheapie The Night of Bloody Horror. Moving to LA in 1971, he took acting lessons with Jeff Corey, struggling to lose his Mississippi accent, and drove a cab between TV jobs. For nearly a decade, McRaney paid the rent by playing murderers, psychos and rapists. The actor was finally "humanized" as down-home, college-educated private eye Rick Simon on the breezy detective series Simon and Simon, which ran from 1981 to 1988. After this, he was briefly considered for the starring role in Coach; instead, he was cast as Marine major J. D. "Mac" McGillis in the long-running (1989-93) family sitcom Major Dad. He made his directorial debut with the 1991 TV movie Love and Curses...And All That Jazz, in which he also starred. In 1995, he was brought in to hypo the flagging CBS drama series Central Park West; when this series tanked, he resurfaced as the star of the "family values" weekly drama Promised Land (1996), a spin-off of his guest appearance on TV's Touched by an Angel. McRaney's second wife was Designing Woman co-star Delta Burke.

Trivia: Born January 19th 1946, Dolly Parton has risen from relative poverty to become one of the most famous and wealthy country music stars in the world. Easily recognizable for her flamboyant platinum blonde wigs, vivid makeup, petite physique, and extra-large breasts -- which figure prominently in her humorous on-stage remarks -- Parton has shown a real knack for marketing herself in creative, lucrative ways that belie the downhome mannerisms and apple pie sweetness of her public persona. Parton's ventures range from a songwriting career,a semi-successful crossover to pop music, a sporadic acting career, a 100-million-dollar company, Dolly Parton Enterprises, and her ultimate self-promotion, the Dollywood musical theme park in Tennessee, which has become so popular since it's opening in 1986 that in 1997, it was largely responsible for the closing of its only rival, Opryland. Parton's singing career began with television appearances in Knoxville at age 12. The following year she had a recording contract and was appearing at the Grand Ole Opry and at age 21, she had her first hit song, "Dumb Blonde" (1967). It was, however, Porter Wagoner who made her a star when he hired her to duet with him. Together, they toured the country, made records, and appeared numerous times at the Opry. She went solo in 1974 and soon had a string of hits, including the semi-autobiographical "Coat of Many Colors." During the '70s, Parton was a favorite on talk shows and music specials. In 1980, she made her acting debut opposite Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dabney Coleman in the hit revenge comedy 9 to 5. As in most of her subsequent acting endeavors, Parton essentially played herself. She wrote and performed the film's title song and earned an Oscar nomination. She has since continued composing and singing in her films. Parton offered one of her best acting performances as a big-hearted beautician in Steel Magnolias (1989).Parton would continue to selectively revisit the realm of acting over the coming years, appearing in Frank McKlusky, C.I. and Joyful Noise, as well as on TV shows like Hannah Montana.

Trivia: Began singing at age 10 with a Georgia 4-H club called Clover and Company. In college, formed Soul Miner's Daughter with friend Cory Jones and released their debut album, The Sacred and Profane, in 1996. Later founded The Jennifer Nettles Band, which won a talent contest and was invited to perform on the 1999 Lilith Fair tour. Joined Kristen Hall and Kristian Bush to form Sugarland in 2003; after Hall left the group, Nettles and Bush became a duo. Sugarland has received numerous honors, from a 2008 Grammy to being named CMA Vocal Duo of the Year in 2007 and 2008; Nettles has individually won Grammys, CMA and ACM Awards for her songwriting and collaborations.

Trivia: A Staten Island native, Rick Schroder was billed as Ricky Schroder in the fledgling stage of his acting career, which began when he was just a baby (working on commercials) and has persevered ever since. By the time he made his film debut at nine-years-old as the emotionally tortured son of a washed-up boxer (Jon Voight) in The Champ (1979), Schroder had more than 60 television appearances to his name, many of which had been filmed before he had even learned to speak. Schroder played another traumatized boy in The Earthling (1980) and fared well in several subsequent made-for-TV features, but his breakout role wouldn't come until the 1982 premiere of Silver Spoons. The NBC sitcom starred Schroder as young Ricky Stratten, the wealthy son of a toy-store mogul, and employed the winning '80s formula of single parent + wealth + cute kid + wacky best friend = hit.After the 1986 cancellation of Silver Spoons, the child actor officially became Rick Schroder and starred in several unremarkable small-screen features until landing the coming-of-age role of Newt Dobbs in the award-winning 1989 miniseries Lonesome Dove. This would become a trend for Schroder; despite his attempts to make a transition into the film world (his most notable successes being a supporting role in Crimson Tide [1995] and a performance opposite a very young Brad Pitt in Across the Tracks [1991]), the actor would find a much warmer reception in the television community. From bad seeds (1990's The Stranger Within and 1991's My Son, Johnny) to survivalists (1992's Miles From Nowhere and 1993's Return to Lonesome Dove), Schroder's roles were continually met with praise, and he seemed to have escaped the curse suffered by so many child actors.As an adult, Schroder was fatefully cast as Detective Danny Sorenson in ABC's long-running cop drama NYPD Blue. Though he was decried by NYPD Blue loyalists as little more than a former child sitcom star, it wasn't long before his aptitude at the dramatic role convinced both critics and audiences of his acting capability. When Schroder left the series in 2001, it was a great disappointment to the fan following he had developed during his time on the series. However, fans of Schroder weren't left entirely in the lurch; in 2002, Schroder joined the cast of Poolhall Junkies along with Rod Steiger and Chazz Palminteri, and also starred in the German-helmed Consequence in 2003.