Trivia: With her memorably statuesque figure and alluring countenance, African-American model-turned-actress Tracee Ellis Ross (the daughter of chanteuse Diana Ross and Robert Ellis Silberstein) plunged headfirst into print and fashion work with such enthusiasm and vigor that she became a frequent presence on the covers of such magazines as Essence, Jet, and Vibe Vixen, posing for such legends as Herb Ritts and Francesco Scavullo. Within this arena, Ross commandeered attention to rival any of her runway contemporaries. Ross segued into acting in the mid- to late '90s, with contributions such efforts as the low-key, ensemble-oriented psychological drama Far Harbor (1996, her cinematic debut) and Jim Yukich's romantic comedy A Fare to Remember (1999), and hosted the Lifetime talk program The Dish, before making her biggest splash as thirtysomething attorney-turned-restaurant proprietor Joan Clayton on the blockbuster UPN sitcom Girlfriends -- which enjoyed a lengthy run, maintained exemplary ratings, and netted more than a few industry awards for Ross. In 2007, the actress teamed up with writer/director Tyler Perry and actress Gabrielle Union for the big-screen romantic comedy Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls. A recurring role on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation followed in 2011, and that same year Ross starred opposite Cosby Show alumni Malcolm-Jamal Warner in the BET sitcom Reed Between the Lines, which followed a psychiatrist and a professor as they struggled to balance their careers with their roles as parents to three multi-racial children.

Trivia: The lithe and alluring African-American actress Golden Brooks began life in San Francisco in late 1970, and grew up in both the Bay Area and the City of Angels. As a young woman, she attended the University of California at Berkeley as a sociology major, later earning her master's degree from Sarah Lawrence College. Brooks first broke into films in the mid-'90s, with a small role in Spike Lee's phone sex-themed comedy drama Girl 6 (1996); the 2000 series Girlfriends, however, brought Brooks her first recognition in the American press. This rabidly popular sitcom -- which reeled in critical kudos and maintained a broad fan base -- constituted the pet project of Frasier star Kelsey Grammer and producer Mara Brock Akil. It told of four African-American female friends in the Los Angeles -- all white-collar women -- struggling to balance personal and professional demands. Brooks played an assistant at a legal firm and the only woman in the ensemble with a happy marriage and a growing family. After scattered roles in acclaimed features through the first several years of the new millennium, Brooks made the pivotal decision to join the cast of the Queen Latifah-starrer Beauty Shop, about the colorful proprietors and denizens of an Atlanta-based hair salon. The following year, she also starred in Sanaa Hamri's acclaimed dramedy Something New.

Trivia: Texas-born African-American actress and print model Jill Marie Jones (not to be confused with the musician/singer/songwriter Jill Jones, of Prince fame) first landed in the national spotlight for her regular role on the prime-time comedy drama Girlfriends, as Toni Childs, a slightly narcissistic and vociferous mother. Jones also starred in the 2007 black comedy Redrum, as a young woman who learns that she can pep up her flaccid marriage by committing cold-blooded murder. In terms of modeling, Jones maintained her highest profile gracing billboards and print ads for the Bailey's Irish Cream "Serve Chilled" campaign.

Trivia: Widely regarded as one of the most extreme -- and yet triumphant -- casting coups on the seminal period comedy drama The Wonder Years (1988-1993), actress Alley Mills was reportedly regarded for years as a complete counterculture figure (a self-described "hippie") and yet secured a role on Years as Kevin Arnold's (Fred Savage) bleached-blonde, prim-and-proper mother, Norma. Mills not only managed to convince and persuade in the part, but did much to help recall the vicissitudes of an unforgettable time in American history -- a dowdy suburban matriarch amid the flower-power era.Born in Chicago in 1951, Mills launched her career in television, appearing in such long-form features as A Matter of Life and Death (1981) and The Atlanta Child Murders (1985). She took her feature bow in 1983 as the romantic lead of John Candy in David Steinberg's second-rate comedy Going Berserk. The Wonder Years represented Mills's breakthrough; after it wrapped, she landed occasional guest parts on such series as NYPD Blue and Roseanne, and appeared infrequently in telemovies, such as Joyce Chopra's 1995 Deadline for Murder: From the Files of Edna Buchanan.Off-camera, Mills made headlines when the never-before-married actress wed legendary Hollywood actor Orson Bean, 23 years her senior, not long after Years concluded.

Trivia: American actor Cliff DeYoung began a stop-and-start film career with Pilgrimage in 1972; most of his work for the next several years was on stage and in television. DeYoung starred in the very brief 1975 TV series Sunshine, playing a widowed musician raising a young stepdaughter; the series was a spin-off of the 1973 TV movie of the same name, which also starred DeYoung. The actor also played the lead role of a blinded Vietnam vet in the Joseph Papp-produced CBS drama special Sticks and Bones (1973) which was blacked out by many affiliates due to its vitriolic antiwar stance. Three years later, DeYoung played Charles Lindbergh (to whom he bore a daunting resemblance) in the 1976 made-for-TV Lindbergh Kidnapping Case. After his attention-grabbing appearance in the 1983 horror film The Hunger, Cliff DeYoung concentrated on movie roles, with occasional returns to TV in such productions as the 1985 miniseries Robert Kennedy and His Times.