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: Best known for playing unapologetically mature, assertive, and intelligent adult women, African-American supporting actress Jenifer Lewis originally launched her career as a vocalist, singing in a church choir in Kinloch, MO. Lewis' passion (and gift) for singing carried her to the Great White Way, where she appeared in a number of sell-out Broadway musicals -- including Ain't Misbehavin' and Dreamgirls. She subsequently migrated to the West Coast for a string of appearances in TV programs such as Roc, A Different World, Murphy Brown, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, Touched by an Angel, and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and graduated to features in 1992. The films in which Lewis has appeared run the gamut of quality, from outstanding (What's Love Got to Do With It?, 1993) to satisfactory (Sister Act, 1992; The Preacher's Wife, 1996) to downright abominable (Frozen Assets, 1992); many, however, demonstrated her fine gifts. More recently, Lewis attained some much-deserved recognition (and ascended to higher than usual billing) with her multi-season portrayal of Lana Hawkins in the prime-time medical drama Strong Medicine (2000).

Trivia: A writer who evolved into a triumphant R&B performer and then a stage and film actress, Jill Scott grew up in Philadelphia and wrote lyrical, evocative poetry -- poetry that prompted her discovery by Amir, drummer of the R&B band the Roots. A studio collaboration between Scott and that band yielded the 1999 Top 40 pop hit "You Got Me"; afterward, in lieu of doing the expected by issuing her first solo recording, Scott first garnered legions of fans by touring across Canada in a powerhouse revival of the Jonathan Larson musical Rent; she then began issuing solo recordings in the summer of 2000. Scott's film career largely grew out of her music act, beginning as it did with solo performances in the 2005 Dave Chappelle's Block Party and the 2006 documentary Finally Sayin' What I Really Mean.... She segued into pure dramatic roles in 2007, with a pair of memorable performances -- one in the comedy drama Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married? and an outstanding turn as blues maven Big Mama Thornton in the coming-of-age period piece Hounddog. She returned for the sequel to Why Did I Get Married, and was cast in TV series The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. Scott continued to split her time between her singing and acting careers, releasing albums in 2011 and 2015 and appearing in films like Baggage Claim and the 2012 television movie remake of Steel Magnolias.

Trivia: Like many actresses who've been typecast as airheads, Julie Hagerty is infinitely more intelligent than most of the characters she's played. After six years' worth of training in her hometown of Cincinnati and at Julliar!d, Hagerty pursued a modelling career in New York, continuing to take acting lessons under the tutelage of William Hickey. She then spent a few seasons playing a variety of roles at the Production Company, a Greenwich Village theatre troupe which she co-founded with her brother Michael. In 1980, she appeared in her first film, playing ditzy stewardess Elaine Dickinson in the disaster-flick lampoon Airplane!. The following year, she delivered a marvelous performance as the limited-intellect mistress of professorial Jose Ferrer in Woody Allen's A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982). A couple of inconsequential projects followed (including the inevitable Airplane! sequel) before Hagerty once more appeared in a worthwhile role in a worthwhile film: in 1985's Lost in America, Hagerty and Albert Brooks (who also directed) sparkled as a pair of starry-eyed yuppies who try to go the "Easy Rider" route. She was cast against type (and also appeared sans screen credit) as the mistress of Claus von Buhlow in Reversal of Fortune (1990). There have been several career ups and downs since: the most recent "up", if only on an artistic level, was the 1995 film The Wife. On television, Julie Hagerty starred as Tracy Dillon in the short-duration series Princesses (1991). Hagerty continued to remain active in film and television throughout the 2000s, though she wouldn't recapture her Airplane! success. Among her credits include Freddy Got Fingered, comedian Tom Green's notorious flop from 2001, and the comedies Just Friends (2005), Adam & Steve (2005), and She's the Man (2006). In 2009 she played a small supporting role in Confessions of a Shopaholic, a romantic comedy based on Sophie Kinsella's novel of the same name.