Trivia: One of the world's most popular singers, an award-winning, versatile actress of stage, feature film, and television, a distinguished filmmaker, and a major producer, Barbra Streisand reigns as the grande dame of American entertainment. Born on April 24th, 1942, Streisand was raised in a middle-class Brooklyn household, the daughter of a high school teacher father who died when Streisand was a baby, and a mother who dreamed of the stage, she graduated from high school two years ahead of her classmates. As a young woman, Streisand attended acting classes and worked various odd jobs and in nightclubs, until she won a Greenwich Village talent contest. She landed her first major acting job in the 1962 Broadway musical I Can Get It for Your Wholesale and stole the show with her portrayal of frowsy secretary Miss Marmelstein. The 21-year-old subsequently debuted on Judy Garland's television show, opposite Garland's daughter Liza Minnelli and Broadway institution Ethel Merman. Streisand's powerful, clear soprano, charisma, and unusual looks made her the perfect choice in Jule Styne's and Bob Merrill's musical Funny Girl in 1964. Essaying the life of another great performer, comedienne/singer/actress Fanny Brice, the young performer became the hottest actress on the Great White Way and a bona fide star, after a highly rated television special, My Name Is Barbra (1965), for which she received two Emmy awards. Streisand's Oscar-winning performance in the film version of Funny Girl assured her a prominent place in the Hollywood heavens. As previously mentioned, the plain-looking Streisand seemed an unlikely candidate for movie stardom, but as her character Fanny blossomed onscreen from an awkward girl from a poor Jewish neighborhood to a self-assured national star, so did Streisand successfully grow to possess a certain womanly loveliness, although hers has always been an interesting rather than a classical beauty. In 1969, she played the irrepressible Dolly Levi in the film version of Jerry Herman's smash hit musical Hello Dolly! (1969). Superficially, Streisand was too young to play the middle-aged matchmaker, but with her strong comedic abilities and powerful voice, she carried the role off with aplomb. Unfortunately, the film didn't click with audiences and neither did her third film, the romantic musical On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970). In film, she had greater success when she starred opposite George Segal in the romantic comedy The Owl and the Pussycat (1970) and Ryan O'Neal in Peter Bogdonavich's classic screwball comedy What's Up Doc? (1972). The latter was a huge success and led to a far less successful re-pairing with O'Neal in The Main Event (1979). In 1972, Streisand showed her dramatic side in the complex story of a troubled housewife, Up the Sandbox, following it with the smash hit romantic melodrama, The Way We Were (1973), in which Streisand starred opposite another 1970s icon, Robert Redford. The film was named one of the year's top ten by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures and the title song, written by Marvin Hamlisch, provided Streisand with a major hit and earned Hamlisch an Oscar for Best Song. In 1975, Streisand reprised the role of Fanny Brice in Funny Lady, an uneven chronicle of Brice's later years that had far fewer sparkling moments than the original, but still produced a memorable soundtrack, filled with classic Billy Rose songs. Streisand, who for years had been controlling almost every aspect of her recordings, decided to take the reigns as an executive producer for her 1976 remake and update of A Star Is Born. Co-starring Kris Kristofferson and sparing no expense, the musical drama received decidedly mixed reviews; the subsequent soundtrack album was a much bigger hit. In 1983, Streisand caused a controversy when she announced that she would direct, produce, write, and star in her own feature, Yentl. The brouhaha centered around the notoriously egotistical 40-year-old Streisand's plan to play a teenage girl who masquerades as a Yeshiva student and it would also be a musical. The actress struggled valiantly to pull off the difficult task, audiences were not impressed, and the film was widely panned. Once again, however, the soundtrack provided her with another hit. Still, she would not make another movie until 1987, when she produced and starred in the self-indulgent Nuts. As with her previous few films, she also penned the soundtrack. In 1991, she had her first hit movie in a decade, directing, producing, and starring in a tragic drama opposite Nick Nolte, Prince of Tides. She followed it up in 1996 with the touching comedy-drama The Mirror Has Two Faces. Streisand then took a break from appearing before the camera until 2004's sequel to Meet the Parents, Meet the Fockers. She and Dustin Hoffman shared the screen as a pair of touchy-feely retirees and the two were noted for their chemistry and seemingly genuine enjoyment of their screwball antics. She reprised her role in another sequel, Little Fockers, in 2010. Streisand later took a starring role opposite Seth Rogen in The Guilt Trip (2012).Even during her break from on-camera work, Streisand continued her involvement behind the scenes, spending the first years of the 21st century extensively exploring the medium of television. She served as executive producer for such TV projects as The Long Island Incident, Frankie & Hazel, What Makes A Family, and Varian's War.Streisand's successes as a singer include 38 albums, 30 charting singles, and seven Grammys, one of which is a special Legend award. Throughout her career, her romantic travails have provided fans with hours of entertainment. Early in her career, a marriage to actor Elliot Gould produced son Jason Gould, who has also become an actor. During the 1970s, Streisand had a tempestuous, long-term relationship with hairdresser turned producer Jon Peters. In the late '90s, she quietly married longtime beau, actor James Brolin.

Trivia: Like so many others before him, Kris Kristofferson pursued Hollywood success after first finding fame in the pop music arena. Unlike the vast majority of his contemporaries, however, he could truly act as well as make music, delivering superb, natural performances in films for directors like Martin Scorsese, Sam Peckinpah, and John Sayles. Born June 22, 1936, in Brownsville, TX, Kristofferson was a Phi Beta Kappa at Pomona College, earning a degree in creative writing. At Oxford, he was a Rhodes Scholar, and while in Britain he first performed his music professionally (under the name Kris Carson). A five-year tour in the army followed, as did a stint teaching at West Point. Upon exiting the military, he drifted around the country before settling in Nashville, where he began earning a reputation as a gifted singer and songwriter. After a number of his compositions were covered by Roger Miller, Kristofferson eventually emerged as one of the most sought-after writers in music. In 1970, Johnny Cash scored a Number One hit with Kristofferson's "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down," and that same year he released his debut LP, Kristofferson. Upon composing two more hits, Janis Joplin's "Me and Bobby McGee" and Sammi Smith's "Help Me Make It Through the Night," Kristofferson was a star in both pop and country music. In 1971, his friend, Dennis Hopper, asked him to write the soundtrack for The Last Movie, and soon Kristofferson was even appearing onscreen as himself. He next starred -- as a pop singer, appropriately enough -- opposite Gene Hackman later that year in Cisco Pike, again composing the film's music as well. Another role as a musician in 1973's Blume in Love threatened to typecast him, but then Kristofferson starred as the titular outlaw in Sam Peckinpah's superb Western Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. For Peckinpah, Kristofferson also appeared in 1974's Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, followed by a breakthrough performance opposite Oscar-winner Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese's acclaimed Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. After a two-year hiatus to re-focus his attentions on music, he followed with a villainous turn in the little-seen Vigilante Force and the much-hyped The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea. Amid reports of a serious drinking problem, Kristofferson next starred as an aging, alcoholic rocker opposite Barbra Streisand in the 1976 remake of A Star Is Born, an experience so grueling, and which hit so close to home, that he later claimed the picture forced him to go on the wagon. In 1977, Kristofferson teamed with Burt Reynolds to star in the football comedy Semi-Tough, another hit. He next reunited with Peckinpah for 1978's Convoy. Hanover Street was scheduled to follow, but at the last minute Kristofferson dropped out to mount a concert tour. Instead, he next appeared with Muhammad Ali in the 1979 television miniseries Freedom Road. He then starred in Michael Cimino's legendary 1981 disaster Heaven's Gate, and when the follow-up -- Alan J. Pakula's Rollover -- also failed, Kristofferson's film career was seriously crippled; he received no more offers for three years, appearing only in a TV feature, 1983's The Lost Honor of Kathryn Beck, and performing his music. His comeback vehicle, the 1984 thriller Flashpoint, earned little attention, but Alan Rudolph's Songwriter -- also starring Willie Nelson -- was well received. In 1986, Kristofferson reunited with Rudolph for Trouble in Mind, and starred in three TV movies: The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James, Blood and Orchids, and a remake of John Ford's Stagecoach.Remaining on television, Kristofferson co-starred in the epic 1987 miniseries Amerika. The year following, he appeared in a pair of Westerns, The Tracker and Dead or Alive, and unexpectedly co-starred in the comedy Big-Top Pee-Wee. The 1989 sci-fi disappointment Millennium was his last major theatrical appearance for some years. In the early '90s, the majority of his work was either in television (the Pair of Aces films, Christmas in Connecticut) or direct-to-video fare (Night of the Cyclone, Original Intent). In many quarters, Kristofferson was largely a memory by the middle of the decade, but in 1995 he enjoyed a major renaissance; first, he released A Moment of Forever, his first album of new material in many years, then co-starred in Pharoah's Army, an acclaimed art-house offering set during the Civil War. The following year, Kristofferson delivered his most impressive performance as a murderous Texas sheriff in John Sayles' Lone Star. He turned in another stellar performance two years later in James Ivory's A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries. After a turn in the Mel Gibson vehicle Payback and Father Damien, Kristofferson again collaborated with Sayles, playing a pilot of dubious reputation in 1999's Limbo. In the decades to come, Kristofferson would remain active on screen, appearing in movies like He's Just Not That Into You, Fastfood Nation, and Dolphin Tale.

Trivia: Although American leading man Gary Busey has made distinguished appearances in many films, he has yet to attain the consistent popularity that would make him a major star. Born in Texas, Busey first few years were spent on an Oklahoma ranch where he learned to be a bull rider. He attended three different colleges before finally graduating in 1963, the year he became a professional drummer with the rock group The Rubber Band. Later, he billed himself as Teddy Jack Eddy and played percussion for Leon Russell, Kris Kristofferson, and Willie Nelson. In 1970, Busey made his acting debut in an episode of the TV western High Chaparel. This led to his feature film debut as a biker in Angels Hard as They Come the following year. After that Busey went on to play supporting roles (typically cast as renegades, daredevils, or good ol' boys with dubious morals) until 1978 when he made a major splash playing the lanky lead in The Buddy Holly Story, for which he did all the guitar and vocal work. His impersonation of Holly was remarkable and won him considerable acclaim and an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Busey then went on to play leads in many films of varying quality during the early to mid-1980s. In the late '80s he returned to supporting roles and co-leads. In 1988, Busey almost died in a motorcycle accident and his near death resulted in enactment of tougher helmet laws in California.

Trivia: Short, stocky, bespectacled American actor Oliver Clark was usually described by critics and fans as "owlish." Specializing in nervous, nerdy types, Clark was seen in such films as They Might Be Giants (1971), The Landlord (1973), Barbra Streisand's version of A Star is Born (1977) and Ernest Saves Christmas (1989). Though active in films, Clark was most familiar for his TV assignments. In addition to his many guest appearances, Clark had regular stints on Karen (1975) as star Karen Valentine's "wacky neighbor" Jerry Siegel; on The Bob Newhart Show (1976) as the overly defensive Mr. Herd; and on The Two of Us (1981) as the ulcerated agent of talk-show host Mimi Kennedy. In 1977, Oliver Clark co-starred with Beverly Archer in We've Got Each Other, an easygoing TV sitcom about a commuter wife and a stay-at-home husband (way back when this sort of set-up was unusual).

Trivia: A former member of Andy Warhol's Factory and an active member in 1960s New York avant-garde theater, actress Sally Kirkland is best remembered in film for playing a famous Czech actress who is forced to lead a degrading life of anonymity in New York in Anna (1987). The daughter of a fashion editor of Life magazine and a wealthy scrap iron vendor, the tall, slender Kirkland started out as a Vogue model and then studied at the Actor's Studio with Lee Strassberg and Uta Hagen. She launched her acting career off-Broadway, but didn't make much impact until she appeared nude and tied to a chair for 45 minutes in the drama Sweet Eros. By 1964, Kirkland was deeply involved in the Big Apple's avant-garde movement and was also an active drug user until an attempted suicide frightened her into cleaning up her life through yoga and painting. As an actress, she next involved herself with Warhol's clique, appearing in several underground films, notably The Thirteen Most Beautiful Women. Though much of her subsequent film appearances have been in low-budget and exploitation films, Kirkland has had a few shining moments as a supporting actress in such movies as The Sting (1973) and Private Benjamin (1980). For her work in Anna, Kirkland received an Academy Award nomination. In addition to her acting career, Kirkland is a minister of the New Age Church of the Movement of Inner Spiritual Awareness.

Trivia: Although actor/director Paul Mazursky enjoyed a lengthy and successful career spanning several decades, he rose to his greatest prominence during the 1970s, an era during which his films probed with uncommon insight and depth. Born Irwin Mazursky on April 25, 1930, in Brooklyn, NY, he studied literature at the nearby Brooklyn College. There he began acting, winning acclaim for a leading role in a 1950 campus revival of Leonid Andreyev's He Who Gets Slapped. His performance caught the eye of scenarist Howard Sackler, who introduced the young actor to an aspiring filmmaker named Stanley Kubrick. Mazursky then took a leave of absence from his studies to travel to California to appear in Kubrick's little-seen debut feature, Fear and Desire, for which he changed his first name to Paul. Upon graduating in 1951, he migrated to Greenwich Village, where he studied method acting under Lee Strasberg. He also appeared in a number of stock productions, ranging from Death of a Salesman to The Seagull. In 1955, Mazursky returned to the screen, appearing as a juvenile delinquent in Richard Brooks' The Blackboard Jungle. Major success continued to elude him, however, and he spent the next several years regularly appearing in small roles on television and both on and off-Broadway. He also appeared as a standup comic, first performing with fellow comedian Herb Hartig in an act billed as "Igor and H" and later touring the nation as a solo act. In 1959, Mazursky relocated to Los Angeles, forging a collaboration with fellow struggling performer Larry Tucker while working with the U.C.L.A. repertory company. In 1963, he and Tucker were both signed as writers for television's Danny Kaye Show, and two years later they penned the pilot for The Monkees. In 1966, Mazursky also appeared in Vic Morrow's low-budget Deathwatch, making his first return to film in over a decade. With the short subject Last Year at Malibu -- a parody of the Alain Resnais masterpiece Last Year at Marienbad -- Mazursky made his directorial debut, and in 1968 he and Tucker wrote the screenplay for the feature I Love You, Alice B. Toklas. Strong reviews allowed Mazursky the leverage to direct the duo's next script, 1969's Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice; a frank comedy about the "new morality" of the sexual revolution, the film was a massive hit, earning close to 20 million dollars. Its success offered Mazursky the freedom to make movies according to the wishes and demands of no one but himself, and he responded with 1970's Alex in Wonderland, the clearly autobiographical tale of a young filmmaker pondering his future. The picture was an unmitigated critical and financial disaster, however, and injured by its reception, he traveled to Europe to take stock of his career. Upon returning to Los Angeles, Mazursky ended his partnership with Larry Tucker and began work on his first solo screenplay, Harry and Tonto. Finding no takers for the project, he instead turned to 1973's Blume in Love, a return to reviewers' good graces. After securing the backing of 20th Century Fox, he finally made Harry and Tonto in 1974, directing star Art Carney to an Academy Award. Next, he again turned reflective, going back to his youth for the inspiration behind 1976's Next Stop, Greenwich Village, followed by an appearance in the 1976 Barbra Steisand remake of A Star Is Born. Mazursky's next directorial effort, 1978's An Unmarried Woman, remains the most highly regarded of his pictures, scoring an Oscar nomination for Best Picture as well as a Best Actress nod for star Jill Clayburgh. The 1980 Willie and Phil -- an homage to Francois Truffaut's masterpiece Jules et Jim -- met with a mixed reception, as did its follow-up, 1982's Tempest, an update of the Shakespeare drama. He then helmed the 1984 culture-clash comedy Moscow on the Hudson, a vehicle for Robin Williams which restored some of his critical and box-office lustre, and in 1986 Mazursky scored his biggest success in years with the satire Down and Out in Beverly Hills, a remake of the 1932 Jean Renoir classic Boudu Saved From Drowning. After serving as the art director on 1987's Intervista, a film from one of his idols, Federico Fellini, Mazursky helmed 1988's Moon Over Parador, followed by a pair of onscreen performances in Punchline and Scenes From the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills. With 1989's adaptation of Isaac Bashevis Singer's Enemies, a Love Story, Mazursky achieved new levels of acclaim, scoring Best Director honors from the New York Critics' Circle and leading stars Anjelica Huston and Lena Olin to Academy Award nominations. However, his next picture, the strained 1990 comedy Scenes From a Mall -- a satiric update of Ingmar Bergman's far superior Scenes From a Marriage -- was a disaster. Mazursky then spent several years away from filmmaking, only producing 1990's Taking Care of Business as well as appearing in Bob Rafelson's 1992 flop Man Trouble. When The Pickle, his 1993 comeback effort, fared poorly, Mazursky again retreated, appearing in films ranging from the 1993 Brian DePalma crime drama Carlito's Way to the 1995 romantic comedy Miami Rhapsody. Faithful, his 1996 return to directing, was also a disappointment, the victim of legal hassles and distribution problems. In Mazursky's later career, he mostly focused on acting and writing- he had recurring roles in Once and Again and Curb Your Enthusiasm and regularly wrote as a film critic for Vanity Fair. In 2014, he received a lifetime achievement award from the Writers Guild of America. He passed away later that year, at age 84.

Trivia: Robert Englund began his acting training at age 12, taking drama courses at the University of Oakland, U.C.L.A., California State-Northridge, the Michigan Academy of Dramatic Arts, and the Rochester, NY, branch of R.A.D.A. Englund made his first professional appearance in a Cleveland production of Godspell. His first film role was the bumptious backwoodsman Whitey in Buster and Billie (1974), after which he paid his dues in a series of villainous bit parts: shooting down Burt Reynolds at the end of Hustle (1975); beating up Kris Kristofferson in A Star is Born (1976); and so on. In 1984, he was cast as Willie, one of the few sympathetic Earth-invading extraterrestrials in the sci-fi TV miniseries V.Impressed by this performance, director Wes Craven buried Englund under several layers of latex and collodion and cast him as malevolent, mass-murdering wraith Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). The actor became an instant star, appearing in five Nightmare sequels, hosting a 1988 television spin-off, and basking in the glow of a plenitude of fan clubs. Although Freddy's only redeeming quality was his morbid sense of humor, Englund became an idol to the young, who emulated the actor each Halloween donning Freddy masks and plastic claws. Far from concerned that this idolatry might lead to delinquency, Englund allowed that he enjoyed playing Freddy, and felt pride at having created so memorable a screen persona. (In all fairness, he also emphasized to his most impressionable fans that it was all play-acting, and that his homicidal tendencies were strictly confined to the screen.) Unlike such horror icons of the past as Boris Karloff and Vincent Price, however, Englund was not able to shed his famous character's image when he wanted to move on to other roles. Outside of his Nightmare appearances, Englund's most significant credits were his one-shot directorial stint on the theatrical feature 976-EVIL (1988); his characterization of the title role in a medium-budget film adaptation of Phantom of the Opera (1989); and his hosting chores on the Craven-produced TV anthology Nightmare Café (1992).