Trivia: Best known as the loose-limbed klutz Jack Tripper from the hit ABC sitcom Three's Company, John Ritter also had a long (if undistinguished) film career, dating back to the early '70s. Perhaps taking a cue from Robin Williams, Ritter fashioned a full beard when he put his slapstick days behind him, remaking himself as a serious dramatic actor both on television and in the movies in the 1990s. Ritter was born in Burbank, CA, on September 17, 1948, the second son of Western singing stars Tex Ritter and Dorothy Fay, whose talent for song he once admitted he did not inherit. Ritter was class body president at Hollywood High School before enrolling at the University of Southern California, where he majored in psychology and minored in architecture. In his third year, he decided to take a drama class taught by Nina Foch, and quickly changed his major, graduating in 1971. (He later studied with Stella Adler and the Harvey Lembeck Comedy Workshop.) His first film role was in the 1971 film The Barefoot Executive.Minor roles during the 1970s finally gave way to major success in 1977, when Ritter was cast as the pratfalling roommate of two beautiful Southern Californian women on Three's Company. The program became one of the most popular on the air, known for its farcical scenarios based on wild misunderstandings, some of which were fueled by Ritter's Jack Tripper pretending to be gay to throw off the landlord. Ritter was praised for his sharp timing and rubbery ability to bounce around the set through all variety of physical comedy. His work earned him an Emmy. Having become a major television star, Ritter enjoyed the program's success through 1985, when its spin-off (Three's a Crowd) went off the air. He worked on TV movies during the show's run, and found more TV work awaiting him upon its conclusion (the dramedy Hooperman in 1988, the comedy Hearts Afire in 1992). His familiar mug and goofball shtick earned him leads in a handful of lesser film comedies in the late '80s and early '90s, including Real Men (1987), Skin Deep (1988), Stay Tuned (1992), and two Problem Child films (1990 and 1991), on the set of which he met future wife Amy Yasbeck.Not satisfied with his comic pigeonholing, Ritter took well-received strides toward drama in the 1990s. He made a lasting impression on critics as a gay dollar-store owner in Billy Bob Thornton's Sling Blade (1996), as well as a psychiatrist treating a hitman in Henry Bromell's Panic (2000). Ritter has also made recurring guest appearances on the hit television programs Ally McBeal and Felicity, the latter of which cast him in the agonizing role of a frequently relapsing alcoholic father. In 2002 Ritter returned to television in his own new comedy series, 8 Simple Rules for Dating my Teenage Daughter. Though the show proved a modest success, Ritter's sudden death due to aortic dissection in early September of 2003 left castmates and fans alike shocked and deeply saddened.

Trivia: Remembered by countless fans as the adorable Janet Wood from the sitcom Three's Company, Joyce DeWitt was earning her master's at UCLA when she took an interest in acting. She began with a small appearance on the series Baretta, and soon found herself offered the choice of auditioning for one of two different comedy pilots. The one she picked was Three's Company, and as fate would have it, the sitcom was picked up. It premiered in 1976 and became a huge hit, running until 1984.Sadly, DeWitt largely disappeared from show business after Three's Company ended. Rumors circulated that DeWitt had suffered mistreatment by the show's producers and lost interest in Hollywood. After some years had passed, however, DeWitt came out of retirement, appearing in a number of movies in the new millennium like 2001's 18 and 2009's Call of the Wild.

Trivia: Though best known for portraying rather ditzy blondes in television series such as Three's Company and Step by Step, there is much more to Suzanne Somers than meets the eye. In addition to acting, Somers has found success as an author, poet, entrepreneur, spokeswoman, nightclub performer and talkshow hostess. The daughter of a secretary and high school athletic coach, Somers briefly attended a private Catholic School until she was expelled for passing notes to her friends. Following graduation from public school, Somers attended Lone Mountain College in San Francisco. Marrying and divorcing early, Somers had a child to support, so she sought out modelling and acting work, with a few stints as a cocktail waitress. TV bit roles and fleeting appearances in such San Francisco-based films as Bullitt (1968) led to a decorative girl-friday job on a TV game show hosted by Alan Hamel, whom she eventually married. Always just on the brink of stardom, Somers took whatever job came along, gaining a measure of attention as the mysterious "blonde in the car" in the 1973 film American Graffiti (a role later expanded for the film's reissue after Somers became famous). One audition struck gold in 1977 when Somers was cast as the dumbest of dumb blondes Chrissy on the ABC sitcom Three's Company where Somers scored a hit with viewers. This being the Fonzie/Farrah Fawcett Majors era of TV idolatry, Somers was suddenly catapulted into sex-symbol status, with one of her "pin-up" photos selling 500,000 copies. This sudden fame led Somers to insist upon a salary raise - but the producers weren't prepared to pay $100,000 weekly for an actress previously receiving $30,000, nor did they want to give her a percentage of profits. Somers tried to break her contract, but was held to it by the producers, who forced her into what was virtually an extra role, limiting her weekly appearance to one minute, physically separated from her co-stars. Somers was off the show by 1980, and up until 1986 rarely appeared on television. Instead, Somers found success headlining a Las Vegas show where she pulled down $100,000 for each performance. The comeback began with a 1986 syndicated situation comedy, She's the Sheriff, which lasted two years. In the '90s, Somers began marketing exercise equipment products such as the Thighmaster and Buttmaster, via television infomercials. The products' success have made Somers a millionaire...again. She was the mom on the long-lived ABC sitcom Step By Step throughout the 1990s, also appearing in Serial Mom and No Laughing Matter. As the new century began she became a fitness guru by writing multiple books about aging, appearing in the 2009 documentary How to Live Forever in that capacity.

Trivia: A prolific character player whose lived-in face was his fortune, Norman Fell attended Temple University, served in World War II, then took acting lessons at the American Academy of Dramatic Art and the Actors' Studio. Fell entered films in 1959, playing such peripheral roles as the radio technician in Inherit the Wind (1960) until achieving a measure of fame as a detective named Meyer Meyer on TV's 87th Precinct (1961). His meatier film assignments included the role of Mr. McCleery in The Graduate (1967) and a pushy American tourist in If It's Tuesday, It Must Be Belgium (1969). In 1966, Fell was cast as the second lead in the pilot for the Girl From UNCLE series, but "skewed old" and was replaced by Noel Harrison. Fell finally achieved TV stardom as the sex-obsessed landlord Mr. Roper in the popular 1970s sitcom Three's Company, which resulted in a spin-off vehicle for Fell titled The Ropers (both series were based on British TV originals; the English equivalent of The Ropers was George and Mildred). A later video vehicle for Fell, 1982's Teachers Only, was less successful. Norman Fell made his final film appearance in the independent feature The Destiny of Marty Fine (1996).

Trivia: Audra Lindley made her film bow with a blink-and-you-miss-her bit in 1942's The Male Animal. An established Broadway actress by the 1950s, Lindley has appeared in such plays as Take Her She's Mine, Spofford and A Case of Libel. Her TV work has included regular stints on such soap operas as Search for Tomorrow, From These Roots and The Edge of Night; she spent several years as Liz Mathews on NBC's Another World. Equally busy in TV's nighttime hours, Lindley was a regular on the 1970s sitcoms Bridget Loves Bernie, Fay and Doc. Her most famous prime-time TV assignment was as long-suffering Helen Roper in Three's Company (1977-79) and its 1979 spin-off The Ropers. She also appeared as Elizabeth Montgomery's mother in a brace of "Edna Buchanan" TV movies, and as Phoebe's grandmother on a 1994 episode of Friends. She made her final film appearance in Peter Hyams's action thriller Sudden Death (1995). Lindley was for many years the wife of actor James Whitmore. She died at age 79 from complications of leukemia on Oct 16, 1997.

Trivia: Served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam after graduating college. Was a non-celebrity competitor on The $10,000 Pyramid in 1974 and, after he became a star, appeared on the show a number of times. In 1990, made his Broadway-musical debut in City of Angels. Played Jeeves in the 1996 American premiere of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical By Jeeves. Played the Wizard of Oz in a national tour of Wicked (2010). Runs the Richard Kline Acting Workshop. Has toured and made public appearances with his Three's Company costars Joyce DeWitt and Priscilla Barnes.