Trivia: Like Clark Gable, David Janssen lost quite a few film roles in the early stages of his career because his ears were "too big" and -- also like Gable-- he did pretty well for himself in the long run. The son of a former beauty queen-cum-stage mother, Janssen was virtually strong-armed into show business, appearing as a child actor on-stage and as a juvenile performer in such films as Swamp Fire (1946). Signed to a Universal contract in 1950, he showed up fleetingly in films both big-budget (To Hell and Back) and small (Francis Goes to West Point). Full stardom eluded Janssen until 1957, when he was personally selected by actor/producer Dick Powell to star in the TV version of Powell's radio series Richard Diamond, Private Detective. Though he didn't exactly become a millionaire (for several years he earned a beggarly 750 dollars per week), Janssen's saleability soared as a result of his three-year Diamond gig, and by 1960 he was earning top billing in such Allied Artists productions as King of the Roaring 20s (1960), in which he played gambler Arnold Rothstein, and Hell to Eternity (1960). In 1963, he landed his signature role of Dr. Richard Kimble on TV's The Fugitive. For the next four years, Janssen/Kimble perambulated throughout the country in search of the "one-armed man" who committed the murder for which Kimble was sentenced to death, all the while keeping one step ahead of his dogged pursuer, Lieutenant Gerard (Barry Morse). The final episode of The Fugitive, telecast in August of 1967, was for many years the highest-rated TV episode in history. There was little Janssen could do to top that, though he continued appearing in such films as Warning Shot (1967) and Green Berets (1969), and starring in such TV series as O'Hara, U.S. Treasury (1971) and Harry O (1974-1976). David Janssen died of a sudden heart attack at age 49, not long after completing his final TV movie, City in Fear (1980).

Trivia: Ex-Merchant Marine seaman Laurence Naismith made his London stage bow in the chorus of the 1927 musical production Oh, Boy. Naismith joined the Bristol Repertory at age 22, remaining with the troupe until joining the royal artillery at the outbreak of World War II; he spent nine years in military service, emerging with the rank of Acting Battery Commander. His officer's bearing served Naismith well in such authoritative film assignments as the ill-fated Captain Smith in A Night to Remember (1958). Other highlights in Naismith's lengthy movie career include the roles of the Prince of Wales in The Trial of Oscar Wilde (1960), Argus in Jason and the Argonauts (1963) and Merlin in Camelot (1967). A frequent visitor to Broadway, Naismith played Kris Kringle in Here's Love, Meredith Willson's 1963 musical adaptation of Miracle on 34th Street. Among Laurence Naismith's hundreds of television credits was the recurring role of Judge Fulton on the 1971 Tony Curtis-Roger Moore adventure series The Persuaders.

Trivia: Progressing from Miss San Francisco to Miss California, LA-born brunette beauty Lee Meriwether recited a monologue written by Irish playright John Millington Synge and won the 1955 Miss America contest. Lee's first television job was as Dave Garroway's "girl Friday" on NBC's The Today Show. She played small parts on such prime time TV series as Leave It to Beaver and Sergeant Bilko before securing her first recurring role on the 1960 daytime drama Clear Horizons. Subsequent series-TV assignments included Dr. Ann McGregor on Irwin Allen's 1966 sci-fier The Time Tunnel, the star's homespun housewife on 1971's The New Andy Griffith Show, and a regular panelist on the syndicated 1974 edition of Masquerade Party. Lee played The Catwoman in the 1966 theatrical feature Batman (she also appeared on the TV series of the same name, but not in the same part). While in the 1968 cinematic wallow Legend of Lylah Clare she essayed one of her favorite screen parts: a vituperative lesbian who beats the snot out of Kim Novak. Her best-known role was as Betty Jones, daughter-in-law and general factotum of folksy detective Buddy Ebsen, on the long running (1975-82) TV series Barnaby Jones. More recently, Meriwether exhibited a heretofore underexploited gift for broad comedy in the role of the ghoulish Lily Munster on the syndicated 1988 "retro" sitcom The New Munsters. For many years, Lee Meriwether was married to actor Frank Aletter.

Trivia: On stage since 1943, American actress Audrey Christie entered films with 1952's Deadline USA. She settled into a series of brittle roles as "other women," supercilious society dragons, or blowsy older ladies whom the younger hero had unwisely taken up with. Examples of Christie's screen personae include her performance in Carousel (1956) as Mrs. Mullins, the employer and erstwhile lover of ne'er-do-well carney barker Billy Bigelow (Gordon MacRae). In 1961's Splendor in the Grass, Christie was the frustrated, authoritarian mother of mixed-up teenager Natalie Wood, whose nastiness all but forced Wood into her tryst with Warren Beatty. A more glamorous but no less unpleasant Christie appeared in The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964), as a pretentious Denver society leader whose snooty attitude towards nouveau riche Molly Brown (Debbie Reynolds) earns her a pie in the face. Audrey Christie also did plenty of television, including a stint on the very early live comedy Young and Gay (1950), and an (uncharacteristic) nice role as Eddie Foy Jr.'s patient wife on the 1962 sitcom Fair Exchange.

Trivia: Character actor Jack Dodson was perhaps best known for playing Howard Sprague, the county clerk on The Andy Griffith Show and its spin-off, Mayberry RFD. Before coming to Hollywood and joining the homespun series in 1967, Dodson was an established player on Broadway, having appeared in productions such as Our Town and You Can't Take It With You. After Mayberry folded in 1971, he went on to guest star on a wide variety of television series. He made his screen debut with a bit part in Munster Go Home (1966). He followed that with a small role in the Andy Griffith vehicle Angel in My Pocket (1968). Dodson's other film credits include The Getaway (1972), Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974), and A Climate for Killing (1991).