Trivia: Many comics can be permanently tied to a trademark, from Rodney Dangerfield's "I don't get no respect" to Tim Allen's machismo-fueled grunting, but perhaps no stock phrase is more easily identifiable than that of schtickmeister Jeff Foxworthy. Foxworthy's slogan "You might be a redneck if..." endeared him to millions of American blue-collar types during the early to mid-'90s and served as a veritable staple of his approach to humor. Born in Atlanta, Foxworthy attended the Georgia Institute of Technology but dropped out prior to graduation and worked as an IBM technician during the early to mid-'80s, when he impetuously decided to enter an amateur standup contest. The then-nascent comedian won the competition -- an accomplishment that encouraged him to drop out of his IBM gig and step behind the microphone full-time. Foxworthy's debut book, presciently entitled, You Might Be a Redneck If... hit stores in 1989, followed by a CD, which racked up an astonishing 3.5 million copies -- making it the single most lucrative comedy record up through that time. Successive albums followed, in addition to a blizzard of Foxworthy (and "redneck") themed merchandise that grossed several million dollars per year in its prime. Unfortunately, the comedian's transition to filmed entertainment was a somewhat bumpy one; a domestically themed sitcom, The Jeff Foxworthy Show, premiered on ABC in 1995 but folded after only two seasons. Foxworthy encountered far greater success by pooling the resources of several similar comedians into a "Blue Collar" comedy troupe that toured throughout the country. Comprised of Foxworthy, Bill Engvall, and Larry the Cable Guy, the ensemble turned out a series of standup films and scored high ratings with their own sketch comedy series, Blue Collar TV (2004), presented as a kind of "redneck variation" on Saturday Night Live. Foxworthy also found considerable success by hosting the game show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (2007).

Trivia: Grammy award-winning country music singer Reba McEntire was raised on a ranch in Oklahoma, where her father competed in rodeos. Immersed in Southern country culture from birth, McEntire learned to ride as well as to sing from an early age, and she formed a singing group with her brother and sister when she was young called the Singing McEntires. She enrolled at Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant in the mid-'70s, where she majored in teaching, but in 1975, after singing a crowd-pleasing rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner" at a local rodeo, McEntire was inspired to travel to Nashville to pursue a music career. She scored a major-label record deal and released her first album the same year she got married.It took a few years for her career to truly take off, but by the mid-'80s, McEntire was one of the most successful country singers in the industry. Though she was divorced in 1987, she remarried Narvel Blackstock, her then-manager and steel guitar player in 1989. Soon, the singer decided to branch out in her creative pursuits, appearing in the horror comedy Tremors with Kevin Bacon in 1990, the same year she gave birth to her son. Her warmth and charisma shone through onscreen, and McEntire began to cultivate a second career in acting, appearing in projects like 1994's North and 1995's Buffalo Girls. In 2001, the singer decided to switch career focuses for a while and pursue acting full-time, playing a single mom on her own sitcom, Reba. The show was a huge hit, earned her a Golden Globe nomination, and would continue to run for six seasons. She attempted to return to television in 2012 on ABC's Malibu Country, but the show was cancelled after the first season.

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: While growing up in poverty, she earned money by singing in local bars. Raised her three younger siblings after her mother and stepfather died in a car accident in 1987. Her stepfather, Jerry, was an Ojibwa native; when she changed her name from Eileen, she chose "Shania," which is Ojibwa for "I'm on my way." Won the 1999 Entertainer of the Year Award at both the Academy of Country Music Awards and the Country Music Association Awards. A vegetarian; she was the first celebrity to be named Sexiest Vegetarian Alive by PETA, in 2001. Signed on with Stetson Fragrances in 2005 to develop and market a fragrance line. In 2010, she founded the charity Shania Kids Can, which aims to help underprivileged school-age children. Was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2011. Starred in the documentary series Why Not? With Shania Twain on OWN in the spring of 2011. Penned the memoir From This Moment On in 2011.

Trivia: Long before Roseanne Barr's "domestic goddess," Phyllis Diller parlayed her life as a housewife into a profitable stand-up comedy career. The daughter of an insurance man, Phyllis Driver had hopes of becoming a concert pianist, and to that end attended Chicago's Sherwood Music Conservatory. Her zany behavior while attending Northwestern University and her 1939 elopement with her first husband Sherwood Diller put a temporary end to her musical career. Several years and many children later, a bored Diller went to work for the advertising department of a California department store, then got a writing job at an Oakland radio station. A knack for making people laugh at church and club functions prompted Diller (with her husband's encouragement) to set her sights on a comedy career. She studied acting and scrutinized the techniques of her favorite male comedians, finally making her nightclub debut in 1955 at San Francisco's Purple Onion, a progressive nightclub which presaged the "comedy workshops" of today. Eighty-nine additional weeks at the Purple Onion enabled Diller to hone her skills to perfection; her first comedy record album appeared in 1959, with numerous TV and stage appearances quickly following suit. Diller developed an outrageous comedy persona, complete with grotesque wigs, garish costumes and her trademarked cackling laugh. Though always a favorite with live audiences, Diller was never quite able to sustain her appeal on film: her 1966 TV series The Pruitts of Southhampton was unsuccessful, as was her only starring feature film, Did You Hear the One About the Travelling Saleslady? (1968). She fared somewhat better as a supporting actress in several Bob Hope comedy films of the late 1960s (Hope was a longtime Diller fan). In later years, Diller periodically altered her public personality, "improving" her plain but distinctive facial features with plastic surgery, concentrating more time on piano concerts and less on stand-up comedy and confining her TV appearances to Home Shopping programs and "psychic hotline" infotainment half-hours. Perhaps Phyllis Diller's "funny hausfrau" throne was eventually usurped by younger talents, but one must not forget that Diller was the one who stuck her neck out first, blazing the trail for the many Roseannes and Brett Butlers who followed.Her film work was sporadic but highlights include The Adding Machine and Did You Hear The One About the Traveling Salesman? as well as the documentaries Wisecracks and The Aristocrats, and the animated film A Bug's Life. Diller died in 2012 at the age of 95.

Trivia: From Howdy Doody to Beanie & Cecil to H.R. Pufnstuff to Kermit the Frog, the history of children's television has been peppered with beloved puppets and their masters. Though lacking in the sophistication and elaborate flash of many of her peers, ventriloquist Shari Lewis and her feisty sock puppet Lamb Chop reigned supreme as the queen and princess of modern puppetry. Though adults loved the playful, peppery exchanges between Lewis and her wooly alter ego, her primary appeal was to children and it was as a teacher that Lewis made her greatest impact. Her awards included 12 Emmys, a Peabody, and seven Parents' Choice Awards. The New York City native was raised amidst culture and Lewis herself had many more talents than belly talking. Lewis' mother began teaching her piano when she was two, while her father taught her ventriloquism and a few magic tricks. As a teen, she attended the city's prestigious High School of Music and Art, where she studied piano, violin, music theory, and orchestration. She learned to dance at the School of American Ballet and honed her acting skills at the Neighborhood Playhouse. She made her first television appearance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scout and won.Lewis and Lamb Chop, as a team, made their television debut on a 1957 episode of Captain Kangaroo. The diminutive redhead and her simple puppet were instant hits with both children and their parents, and within a few months Lewis was hosting her first children's program, simply titled The Shari Lewis Show. Though it featured other Lewis-created creatures, Lamb Chop was the undisputed star. As an entertainer, Lewis was also a talented dancer, musician, singer, and the author of 30 books. Her first show ran between 1960 and 1963, but due to the increasing popularity of televised cartoons, it was cancelled. In many episodes, the mischievous Lamb Chop would get herself into a fix that would culminate with a lesson reinforced by Lewis with a gentle discussion or a song. Lewis believed that children achieved self-esteem through positive actions. Whereas cartoons by their nature promoted passive viewing, Lewis tried to encourage a form of interaction between herself and young viewers. Shows always offered some kind of activity. Years later, she took the next step and made several interactive CD-Roms. After her show folded, Lewis made a few appearances in Las Vegas and also appeared on many game shows. She also made a name for herself as a symphony conductor and played with orchestras the world over. In 1968, Lewis again hosted her own show, this time for the British Broadcasting Corporation and stayed on the air through 1976. She would not return to American television until 1992, when she created and starred in Lamb Chop's Play-Along for the PBS network. Five of her Emmy awards were given to Lewis for her work on this program. In addition to performing, she was passionately involved as a member on the National Board of the Girl Scouts and the International Board of the Boy Scouts. She was on the Board of the International Reading Association. Other awards received by Lewis include the John F. Kennedy Center Award for Excellence and Creativity and the Action for Children's Television Award. In the spring of 1993, she accepted an honorary doctorate in education from New York state's Hofstra University. In 1998, Lewis was working on her latest children's series for PBS, The Charlie Horse Music Pizza when she was diagnosed with uterine cancer and had to stop production to undergo chemotherapy. Unfortunately, six weeks into treatment, Lewis contracted pneumonia and passed away. She was 65. She is survived by her husband of 40 years, publisher Jerry Tarcher.

Trivia: Country-western star, onscreen from 1966.

Trivia: Country music superstar Garth Brooks maintained music as his primary artistic calling throughout the 1990s, becoming one of the top-selling recording artists of all time. Along with a smattering of guest shots as himself on TV, Brooks also appeared in several country music documentaries, including Hunks With Hats (1993) with Clint Black and Alan Jackson. In 2000, Brooks prepared to make a move into the realm of fiction films with The Lamb, a feature starring him as the titular kohl-eyed rocker alter ego introduced by Brooks' 1999 album ...In the Life of Chris Gaines. In 2001 he was the executive producer on the family-friendly holiday made-for-TV holiday film Call Me Claus.