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: Is of African-American and Guyanese descent.Co-starred in the sitcom A Different World from 1987 to 1992, playing Jaleesa Vinson.Composed A Different World's theme song with Bill Cosby and Stu Gardner.Played Deloris Van Cartier, the Whoopi Goldberg role, in Peter Schneider's Sister Act the Musical before its Broadway run.Has lent her voice to a number of animated television series such as The Simpsons, Futurama, The Cleveland Show and The Boondocks, as well as to Pixar films Monsters University and Inside Out.

Trivia: It might be stretching things to suggest that American comedienne Sandra Bernhard's off-kilter spin on life was caused by her family's moving from the cozy confines of Michigan to the rough-and-tumble expanses of Arizona. One gets the feeling that Bernhard would have been on the outside looking in wherever she went. Utilizing her outsized lips and jutting chin for comic effect, Bernhard became a standup comedian at age 19, and two years later got her first big break as a regular on the short-lived Richard Pryor Show (where the press release misspelled her name as Bernhart). Her act, which like all good comedy acts was better seen than described, consisted of cutting-edge commentary about sexual stereotyping and survival; one felt compelled to laugh lest Bernhard bolt from the stage and physically assault the audience. This dangerous quality carried over into her star-making film role in King of Comedy, as a psychotic fan of talk show host Jerry Lewis. While Bernhard's funkiness worked in this film's favor, it was detrimental to her villainous turn in the 1990 fiasco Hudson Hawk, though she was no worse than any other element of this notorious bomb. A tireless creator of comedy, Bernhard has scored with her 1985 best-selling record album I'm Your Woman, her 1988 solo off-Broadway show Without You I'm Nothing (made into a film in 1990), and her autobiography Confessions of a Pretty Lady. While she spent much of her early career skirting around the subject of her own sexual preferences, in recent years Bernhard has "outed" herself, which has added an extra layer of public fascination to her onetime close friendship with Madonna, as well as her recurring appearances on the TV sitcom Roseanne.