Trivia: New York City native Rachel True longed to be an actress from her youngest years, watching the performances of her stepmother, renowned stage actress Verona Barnes. True's own first break came when she was cast for several episodes of The Cosby Show in 1991, as a friend of Theo's. She would later score recurring television roles on Beverly Hills 90210, The Drew Carey Show, Once and Again, and HBO's Dream On.In 1993, True moved to Los Angeles, which kick-started her film career. Her first notable appearance was opposite Chris Rock in the rap parody CB4 (1993). She next starred alongside Alyssa Milano in Embrace of the Vampire (1994), then stayed with the occult theme for the more widely seen witch flick The Craft (1996). True plays the most underwritten of four young Wiccan worshipers (opposite Fairuza Balk, Robin Tunney, and Neve Campbell), one of several roles she has taken that was originally written for a white actress. She and Campbell became best friends as a result of working together on the project.True ventured into indie filmmaking with Gregg Araki's Nowhere, the third installment in his "teen apocalypse trilogy," in which she won some acclaim for her portrayal of Mel, a sexually confused central cog of Araki's dystopian soap opera. She returned briefly to more commercial fare with Half Baked (1998), in which she plays Dave Chappelle's love interest and one of the few non-stoned characters. Since then it's been back to lesser-seen films -- most notably as a veteran rave girl in Greg Harrison's Groove (2000) -- as well as her television work.

Trivia: Actress Essence Atkins began appearing onscreen in the late '80s, with small appearances on shows like Saved By the Bell and The Cosby Show. She would go on to land a series of starring roles on short-lived series throughout the '90s like Under One Roof and Smart Guy before finding lasting success with a starring role on the comedy series Half and Half, which she stayed with from 2002 to 2006. After the show ended its run, Atkins made a number of appearances in movies like Love for Sale and Dance Flick.

Trivia: A Broadway actress by training, Valarie Pettiford earned a Tony nomination for her role in the principal cast of the musical Fosse. She would also earn critical acclaim for roles in shows like Chicago, but most viewers would become acquainted with Pettiford for her film at TV work. Beginning with appearances on shows like Another World and Walker, Texas Ranger, Pettiford spent the '90s building up her résumé. In 2002, she was cast in the recurring role of Gayle Noland on the crime drama The District. Around the same time, she took on the role of Big Dee Thorn on the comedy series Half and Half, which she'd stay with for the next four years. In 2008, she began a professional relationship with Tyler Perry, playing Sandra on the sitcom House of Payne, and playing weary wife Harriet in Perry's 2010 dramedy Why Did I Get Married Too?

Trivia: An Image and ALMA award nominee who rose to fame on The Steve Harvey Show before co-starring with Eddie Murphy in the action comedy Showtime, actor Merlin Santana's career was cut tragically short by a seemingly random act of violence. Born to Dominican Republic immigrants in New York City, Santana was encouraged by his mother to pursue a career in show business as a means to keep the talented youngster off the streets. Following early work as a fast food chain advertising model, Santana landed a recurring role on the enduring sitcom The Cosby Show. Although he co-starred in the sitcom Getting By in the early '90s, it was The Steve Harvey Show that found the actor nominated by the Image awards and ALMA and truly coming into his own as an actor. Sadly, his blossoming career was ended with a bullet as he sat in a parked car in South Los Angeles in November 2002. A woman was arrested in connection to the crime shortly thereafter. Santana was 26.

Trivia: UCLA graduate Lamont Johnson entered show business as an actor. He was busiest on radio, playing the role of Tarzan in a popular syndicated series of the late 1940s. During the first decade of the TV era, Johnson launched a second career as a director, contributing first-rate work to such series as Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Although he directed several theatrical features (which wildly varied in quality - everything form the reprehensible Lipstick to the fine, overlooked western Cattle Annie and Little Britches), Johnson was best known for his TV efforts, notably the Richard Levinson/William Link-produced TV movies My Sweet Charlie (1969) and The Execution of Private Slovik (1974) and his Emmy-winning projects Wallenberg: A Hero's Story (1984) and Gore Vidal's Lincoln (1988).