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: 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.

Trivia: Worked as a gardner before turning to acting. Made his television debut in a 1972 episode of police drama, Homicide. Rose in prominence playing John in The Sullivans from 1976 to '77. Has been a presenter on the long-running children's program, Play School, since 2000. Has had an extensive career in theatre, including, playing George in The Queensland Theatre Company's 2007 production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and playing Mr Myers in the Capitol Theatre's 2010 production of Fame - The Musical.

Trivia: The youngest of four siblings. Was raised in Maryland. Studied in the same acting class with actor Casper Van Dien. In 1993, starred in the first Got Milk? commercial, directed by Michael Bay. Was head of the comedy department at the now-closed James Franco's film and acting school, Studio 4. Founder and teacher of NOTS Comedy School's comedy department.

Trivia: During his first few decades as an actor, Bill Macy took whatever was readily available: poetry-reading jobs, movie bits, comedy-record gigs (he's the operatic cabdriver in the classical music lampoon The Wurst of PDQ Bach) and off-Broadway stage assignments. While appearing in the 1969 "nudie" musical Oh! Calcutta, the 45-year-old Macy gained attention, critical and otherwise, for appearing au naturel in one of the comedy sketches. Evidently he enjoyed the sensation; even in his days of TV prominence, Macy was known to disrobe at parties and public functions whenever he'd been too generous in his participation at the bar. In the early 1970s, Macy was cast in several small roles in the TV properties of producer Norman Lear; this led to a lengthy (72-78) engagement as Walter Findlay, husband of fiery feminist Maude Findlay (Bea Arthur) on the popular sitcom Maude. Since that time, Bill Macy has thrived in film and stage character parts, and has co-starred in two TV weeklies, Hanging In (79) and Nothing in Common (87).

Trivia: One of the most celebrated professional tennis players of the early 21st century, Serena Williams entered the ranks of that sport alongside her older sister Venus. The two did so thanks to the prompting of their dad, onetime security company owner Richard Williams, who had apparently witnessed the astronomical salaries given tennis players and promptly ushered two of his daughters onto the courts after learning the sport himself via instructional videos. The gambit paid off, as each Williams girl battled her way to the very pinnacle of the tennis leagues and earned the number one spot. Serena's records included winning eight Grand Slam singles titles and the Australian Open, and netting an Olympic gold medal in women's doubles, and she also made international headlines by signing a 40-million-dollar endorsement contract with Reebok -- one of the highest such contracts in all of women's sports at the time of its finalization. Serena later began an acting career, with television appearances on such series as The Simpsons (2001), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2004), and ER (2005). She also was a stockcar-driving participant in the competitive reality series Fast Cars & Superstars (2007), in which she squared off against John Elway and Laird Hamilton.