Trivia: Like his older brother, Keenan Ivory Wayans, African-American performer Damon Wayans matriculated from standup comedy to series television to movies. He was a regular on TV's Saturday Night Live and -- along with virtually everyone else in the Wayans family -- In Living Color. Exhibiting a fondness for the outrageous, Wayans attracted both adulation and condemnation for his many In Living Color characterizations, notably the dour Homey the Clown and the excessively effeminate co-host of the "Men on Film" skits. Damon's first film was 1984's Beverly Hills Cop 2; he has since functioned as co-star (with brother Marlon Wayans), co-producer, co-writer, and director of Mo' Money (1992), and has been heard but not seen as the voice of a troublesome baby in Look Who's Talking 2 (1992). In 1995, Damon Wayans played a role once essayed by Charlton Heston, in Major Payne, a remake of Heston's The Private War of Major Benson (1955).

Trivia: Though most commonly associated with her multi-season portrayal of marketing executive Gina Waters-Payne, significant other of Martin Payne (Martin Lawrence) on the Fox sitcom Martin (1992-97), Tisha Campbell began her lengthy Hollywood career with a role that film buffs will have little difficulty remembering. Campbell made her feature debut as Chiffon, a member of the black female doo-wop group that acts as a Greek chorus, in the 1986 Frank Oz musical comedy Little Shop of Horrors (1986). An Oklahoma City native, born to a coat factory employee father and a gospel singer mother, Campbell moved with her family to Newark, New Jersey at the age of three, where the entire clan suffered from abject poverty. At age 6, Campbell won a talent contest, and the following year landed a turn in an ABC Afterschool Special entitled Unicorn Tales, as well as a supporting role in the off-Broadway musical Really Rosie. Campbell attended and graduated from Newark's Arts High School, then made the ambitious trek out to Los Angeles (with her family's encouragement) and spent several years surviving numerous television pilots that failed to take off. Shop, however, rocketed Campbell to national attention and jump-started her film career. She landed additional roles in Spike Lee's School Daze (1988), House Party (1988) (which she also choreographed), and Boomerang (1992). Campbell met future co-star Lawrence on the set of House Party; according to Campbell's later recollections, Lawrence immediately invited her to play his girlfriend should he ever land a sitcom. In 1992, that plan materialized. The program scored sensational ratings and immediately connected with a young, black, urban market; the arc of the series witnessed Gina and Martin transitioning from lovers to intendeds to husband-and-wife. Campbell originally planned to remain with the series through its final season, but actually left Martin several months prematurely, in November of 1996, asserting that Lawrence verbally, physically and sexually abused her on the set of the program - allegations that Lawrence and his representatives aggressively denied, claiming that Campbell was using the actor as a pawn in a contractual dispute with the network despite the fact that the actress left in mid-season.After her stint on Martin, Campbell signed for supporting roles in a number of low-profile features including Linc's (1998), The Sweetest Gift (1998) and Snitch (1999), then returned to network television briefly as one of the stars of the domestically-themed situation comedy My Wife and Kids (2001).Campbell is also occasionally credited by her married name of Tisha Campbell-Martin. She enjoyed a brief tenure as a recording artist with a 1993 r&b release entitled Tisha.

Trivia: A child piano prodigy who played with the New England Symphonic Ensemble and became the youngest soloist every to perform with an orchestra at the Sydney Opera House at the tender age of five, Heroes star Noah Gray-Cabey first found small-screen success on the series My Wife and Kids before appearing in episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Ghost Whisperer. Later, after winning a Young Artist Award for My Wife and Kids, Gray-Cabey appeared in the M. Night Shyamalan fantasy Lady in the Water. Cast as Micah Sanders, the gifted boy with a magic touch on Heroes, the young pianist-turned-actor got to live out every young boy's fantasy of possessing superpowers, and in the process made his small-screen breakthrough.

Trivia: Took up the saxophone when he received an alto sax for Christmas at age 9; he later switched to tenor sax because King Curtis, one of his idols, played it. Attended college on a football-and-music scholarship. Prevented from pursuing a career in pro football by a knee injury he suffered in a car accident. Worked as a counselor in a state-run youth home in New Jersey. Joined Bruce Springsteen's not-yet-named E Street Band in 1972; "10th Avenue Freeze-Out" explains how it happened (he's the "Big Man" to Springsteen's "Bad Scooter"). Was introduced last—and always to thunderous applause—at E Street concerts by Springsteen, who often egged on the crowd with "do I have to say his name?!" Owned a rock club, Big Man's West, in Red Bank, NJ, during the early 1980s. Fronted his own group, Clarence Clemons and the Red Bank Rockers, during the 1980s. Scored a Top 20 hit in 1985 with "You're a Friend of Mine," a duet with Jackson Browne. Jammed with President Clinton at the 1993 inaugural ball. Published a memoir, Big Man, in 2009. Played saxophone on records by Gary U.S. Bonds, Aretha Franklin, Lady Gaga, Twisted Sister and others; and performed on stage with the likes of Ringo Starr and the Grateful Dead. Little Kids Rock, an organization that helps schools provide music instruction, gave him a 2009 "Big Man of the Year Award" for his assistance. His death in 2011 from stroke complications set off widespread grief among rock fans and heartfelt tributes from the likes of Bono, Eddie Vedder and Springsteen (who recalled him as "my great friend, my partner.")

Trivia: Was named for her father's, songwriter Bruce Sudano, hometown of Brooklyn, N.Y. Was valedictorian at her high school graduation. Accepted to Brown, Duke and Georgetown Universities, but chose Vanderbilt to stay close to her hometown of Nashville. Was featured on her mother's, "Queen of Disco" Donna Summer, "Brooklyn." While studying film in New York, she was spotted by the Ford Modeling Agency and appeared in numerous ad campaigns for Clairol, Burger King, K-Mart and Clear & Clear.