Trivia: Though he regularly worked on screen, stage, and television, veteran British actor Jon Pertwee may best be remembered for playing the third Dr. Who in the long-running British sci-fi television series of the same name from 1970 to 1974. The son of actor Roland Pertwee, he started out on-stage and then made his feature film debut in A Yank at Oxford (1937). A string of popular films followed, but Pertwee temporarily abandoned movies to serve with the British Navy during WWII. Upon his return, he reestablished his film career and subsequently proved himself a gifted and multi-talented artist; while appearing in a series of Carry On films, he was compared to Danny Kaye. After leaving the Dr. Who series, Pertwee appeared in several London West End musicals and also returned to feature films such as One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing and The House That Dripped Blood (1971). In 1978, Pertwee became the homeless but lovable bum Worzel Gummedge on the children's show Worzel Gummedge. Up until the time of his death on May 20, 1996, Pertwee enjoyed making guest appearances at Dr. Who conventions.

Trivia: Nicholas Courtney was a longtime working actor in England, portraying dozens of leading and supporting roles in theater, television, and movies -- but he was most well known around the world, as well as in England, for playing Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart on the long-running BBC series Doctor Who. The son of a British diplomat, he was born in Cairo, Egypt. His father had been a career military man before entering the diplomatic service, and one of his uncles was an Air Chief Marshall in the Royal Air Force -- and although Courtney never aspired to a military career, he did observe their respective behavior, which served him well later in life. Courtney turned to acting after 18 months in the British army. With extensive stage experience behind him, he made his television debut in 1957, and quickly moved into motion pictures as well. He was busy in film and, especially, television over the next decade, including a role in a 1965 episode of Doctor Who as Space Security Agent Bret Vyon, working alongside original series star William Hartnell. That performance impressed the producers sufficiently so that, when planning the series' 1968 run, as a result of a last-minute shift in another actor's availability, Courtney inherited the part of Colonel (later Brigadier) Lethbridge-Stewart. This proved to be the role of a lifetime, as the co-star of one of the BBC's most popular series. Courtney brought his acting experience, as well as his recollections of his father's and uncle's approaches to their respective careers to his portrayal. The brigadier is the head of a top-secret military division known as UNIT (United Nations Intelligence Taskforce), organized to investigate and deal with threats that fall outside of the range and experience of the conventional military and intelligence services. Courtney symbolized cool British professionalism and efficiency, bringing a good deal of humanity to the portrayal and never letting the character of the brigadier turn into caricature. He proved extremely popular with both the viewers and the producers, and went on to portray the UNIT leader in dozens upon dozens of episodes of the series across the next decade or more. Courtney ultimately played hundreds of roles in a career of nearly 50 years on the stage, in films, and on television -- including regular work in such popular series as The Two Ronnies, and appearances during the 1960s on The Champions and The Avengers -- but it would be Lethbridge-Stewart by which he would be best known around the world. And his fame was sufficient to justify his writing an autobiography, Five Rounds Rapid (1998), which he updated in 2005 as Still Getting Away With It. He passed away in 2011 after a long illness.

Trivia: From his appearance as Humphrey Bogart's son in the Casablanca follow-up A Passage to Marseille to his career as the writer of films including They Saved Hitler's Brain (1968), actor-turned-screenwriter Gerald Perreau-Saissine's (aka Peter Miles) tenure in film and television provided audiences with both memorable characters and intriguing stories. Born in Tokyo and raised in Los Angeles, Saissine made his feature debut as a baby in Murder Will Out (1939). Saissine would appear in such features as Heaven Only Knows (1947), Special Agent (1949), and Quo Vadis? (1951) throughout the 1950s before making his screenwriting debut with the sci-fi-thriller Madmen of Mandoras (aka They Saved Hitler's Brain) in 1963. Frequently appearing onscreen with sister Gigi Perreau, the siblings remained in close contact with producer Samuel Goldwyn, who would later present Saissine with two Samuel Goldwyn writing awards. In addition to his film work, Saissine published novels and poetry; he also created numerous catalogues of Japanese woodblock print artists and curated their shows at such locations as the Pacific-Asia Museum in Pasadena and the Honolulu Academy of Arts. On August 3, 2002, Gerald Perreau-Saissine died of cancer in his Los Angeles home. He was 64.

Trivia: Geoffrey Palmer is a master of deadpan drollery. His hangdog countenance and understated comedic style are two of the main reasons that his TV situation comedies are popular not only in Britain but also in America. Among the best-loved of his sitcoms -- which enjoy a long afterlife in the rerun market -- are The Rise and Fall of Reginald Perrin and As Time Goes By. In the latter sitcom, Palmer co-stars with one of the U.K.'s most esteemed actresses, Judi Dench. They play old flames reunited after 40 years. Palmer has also performed in other popular TV comedies, including Fawlty Towers, Executive Stress, Fairly Secret Army, Hot Metal, Butterflies, and Whoops Apocalypse. In addition, his finespun wit and waggery has enlivened many a film production, such as Rat, A Fish Called Wanda, and The Madness of King George.Palmer was born in London on June 4, 1927. After a brief career in business, he discovered his acting talent in amateur theater, then became a stage manager and eventually a full-time performer. Like so many other outstanding British actors, he studied and acted in plays written by the greatest popularizer of situation comedies, William Shakespeare. His role as Quince in A Midsummer Night's Dream is well known to fans of BBC Shakespeare productions. However, Palmer has not limited himself to comedies; he has also performed in productions in other genres, such as Mrs. Brown (a drama about Queen Victoria as a widow), Tomorrow Never Dies (a James Bond adventure), and Anna and the King (a historical/costume epic about an Englishwoman's relationship with the King of Siam). Thanks to his resonant voice, Palmer has also obtained work doing TV commercials, selling everything from veal to varooming cars. In his leisure time, he enjoys foraying into nature with his wife, Sally, who introduced him to trout and salmon fishing. They have two children.