Trivia: Thin, jug-eared, and rubber-faced black comedian Jimmie Walker is best remembered for playing J.J. on the sitcom Good Times (1974-1979). His exuberant "Dyno-mite!!" was briefly a popular catch phrase back then. Walker made his feature film debut in Sing Thanksgiving (1974). Following the demise of his show, Walker embarked upon a modest film career and carried on with his standup career. He occasionally showed up on television talk shows and in 70's retrospectives, not afraid to poke fun at his '70s persona.

Trivia: Black supporting actress Ja'net DuBois first appeared onscreen in 1970.

Trivia: In 1970, made his Broadway musical debut at the age of 9 in The Me Nobody Knows. Originated the role of Travis Younger in Raisin, a Broadway musical based on the Lorraine Hansberry drama A Raisin in the Sun. Released his first album, When You're Young and in Love, in 1975.

Trivia: Began professional stage career in 1952 at a nightclub in Greenwich Village. Originated the role of Ronnie in the 1964 Broadway musical Golden Boy. Made film debut in the 1966 drama A Man Called Adam. Was a cast member on the 1969 CBS variety program The Leslie Uggams Show. Starting in 1970, appeared on the NBC comedy series Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In for two seasons. Appeared alongside mentor Sammy Davis Jr. in the 1975 variety program Sammy and Company. Played Nathan Bookman on the CBS comedy Good Times; appeared on the show from 1977 to the end of the series.

Trivia: Of the many siblings of mega-star Michael Jackson, Michael's youngest sister Janet is one of the few with enough genuine talent to succeed without her family ties. Jackson's fame rests largely on her successful, elaborately produced music videos, wherein the talented singer and dancer projects a more accessible, realistic image than her otherworldly brother. She is also a skilled and agreeable actress, as witness her series-TV stints on Good Times (1977-78), Diff'rent Strokes (1981-82) and Fame (1984). In 1993, Janet Jackson made her movie debut as a South Central L.A. beautician in director John Singleton's Poetic Justice (1993); the film was no classic, but Janet dominated every scene she was in, even those shared with notorious rap artist Tupac Shakur.

Trivia: A descendant of Harriet Powers, an African-American slave who created a series of quilts that are on display in museums like the Smithsonian. Became an actor after an injury ended an aspiring football career. Worked with the Trinity Repertory Theatre in Providence, R.I. First TV role was in 1975, appearing in Robert Penn Warren's "Brother to Dragons" on the PBS series Great Performances. Was cast in the short-lived 1977 revival of NBC's variety show Laugh-In. Appeared in the last season (1978-79) of the iconic CBS comedy Good Times as Keith Anderson. Made film debut in the 1980 comedy Cheech and Chong's Next Movie.

Trivia: Not to be confused with jazz musician Teddy Wilson, African-American actor Theodore Wilson was busy in all aspects of acting. While he toted up significant stage and movie credits (The River Niger and Carny were among the stage performances, while his movies included A Fine Mess [1986] for Blake Edwards and Life Stinks [1991] for Mel Brooks), Wilson rose to prominence as a result of his television efforts. His earliest recurring TV role was as High Strung on Roll Out! (1973), a World War II sitcom about an all-black Army supply outfit. The following year, Wilson played mail carrier Earl Chambers on another black-oriented comedy weekly, That's My Mama, which lasted two seasons. Wilson then headed the cast of Sanford Arms (1977), NBC's feeble attempt to keep Sanford and Son going without its stars, Redd Foxx and Demond Wilson; the actor played Phil Wheeler, who tried to convert the Sanford junkyard into an office and the adjacent property into a hotel. Having failed to replace Redd Foxx, Wilson subsequently found himself working for the ex-Fred Sanford; he succeeded Nathaniel Taylor in the role of Jim-Jam on the short-lived The Redd Foxx Show (1986). Theodore Wilson's final regular sitcom stint was on the syndicated You Can't Take It With You (1987), a comedy series based on the play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart; Wilson essayed the role of Mr. Pinner, an amalgam of two of the original play's characters, Mr. DePinna and Donald the handyman.

Trivia: With his unusual gaunt features and intense expression, William Lanteau made a career out of playing eccentrics and character roles. His role as town leader Chester Wanamaker on the Newhart show was the most visible part in a career of more than 30 years on stage, screen, and television. Lanteau's theatrical credits included productions of The Matchmaker, What Every Woman Knows, Mrs. McThing, The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker, Detective Story, and Catch My Soul -- he was also in the original stage production of On Golden Pond, playing Charlie Martin, a part he re-created in the film version with Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, and Jane Fonda. His film credits date from 1959 and his portrayal of Available Jones in the screen version of the musical Li'l Abner. He began working in television around the same time, and one of his most memorable and poignant early appearances was in the Andy Griffith Show episode "Stranger in Town," portraying a mysterious new arrival in Mayberry who seems to know all there is to know about everyone in the town, gradually eliciting suspicion and panic on the part of all concerned -- in the end, the explanation for his character's behavior is not only harmless but very touching, and Lanteau pulled it off perfectly, moving from quirkily mysterious to vulnerable in the course of less than 20 minutes of screen time without any seams showing. Lanteau also played small parts in The Honeymoon Machine and That Touch of Mink, and slightly larger roles in Sex and the Single Girl and Hotel, but it was mostly on television that Lanteau kept busy when he wasn't working on the stage. On television, his work included one-shot roles on Naked City, Dr. Kildare, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Green Acres, The Mothers-In-Law, All in the Family, Here's Lucy, Perry Mason, Sanford and Son, Diff'rent Strokes, Coach, and Murder She Wrote during the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, before the role on Newhart opened up. He became part of one of the most successful "double acts" on television, working alongside rotund actor Thomas Hill, who portrayed Chester, the other political leader of the town. Lanteau passed away in 1993, three years after the cancellation of the series, from complications arising out of heart surgery.

Trivia: During his stay at Michigan State University in the mid-1960s, Charles "Bubba" Smith achieved legendary status for his gridiron activities. The All-American defensive lineman joined the Baltimore Colts as a first-round draft choice in 1967. After playing in two Super Bowls, Smith was sidelined with a knee injury in 1972; he made a comeback the following year with the Oakland Raiders, then played with the Houston Oilers, but by 1975 his football days were over. After a few seasons as a sportscaster, Smith started a whole new career as an actor, beginning with the role of Puddin in the 1980 TV-series version of the 1977 film Semi-Tough. He went on to play regular roles in weekly TVers Open All Night (1982, as Robin) Blue Thunder (1984, as Bubba Kelsey) and Half Nelson (1985, as Beau). In films from 1983, Bubba Smith's best screen showings were as the misleadingly mild-mannered Moses Hightower in the six low-budget, high-grossing Police Academy flicks.

Trivia: Though her first role as a sassy prostitute who gives George C. Scott a piece of her mind in The New Centurions may not have been the most flattering role to launch a career with, stage, screen, and television actress Beverly Hope Atkinson would later get the chance to shine in expanding on her sometimes sympathetically desperate characterizations with a recurring role as a troubled drug addict in Steven Bochco's Hill Street Blues.A New York native who studied under Lee Strasberg in the 1960s and later became a member of the Actors Studio, Atkinson attended New York's City College before joining the Café LaMama Theater troupe on the East Coast, and Theater West in Los Angeles. Frequently touring on-stage, Atkinson relocated to Hollywood in the 1970s and essayed the majority of her roles while residing in California. Following up Centurions with film roles in Cornbread, Earl and Me (1975) and on the small screen in Law and Order (1976) and Skag (1980), Atkinson continued to work on-stage as she essayed roles in television and film. In December of 2001, Atkinson died of cancer in Los Angeles. She was 66.

Trivia: The ninth in a family of 18 children, Esther Rolle left her family's Florida home for New York once she came of age. She worked her way through Hunter College, Spellman College and the New School for Social Research. Even after her 1962 New York stage debut in The Blacks, Esther was compelled to hold down a day job in the city's garment district. She appeared in such Broadway productions as The Crucible and Blues for Mr. Charlie, and toured extensively with Robert Hooks' Negro Ensemble Company. Her breakthrough role was Florida the maid in the 1972 Norman Lear sitcom Maude. Though she balked at playing a domestic, Rolle was impressed by Florida's independence and pugnaciousness. In February of 1973, the Florida character was spun off into her own series, Good Times, the saga of a tightly-knit black family surviving in the Chicago projects. Rolle welcomed the series as an opportunity to depict a poor but proud African-American family with a strong father figure (played by John Amos) at the center. But when Amos, upset that co-star Jimmie "J.J." Walker was dominating the series, left Good Times in 1974, Rolle echoed the words of such groups as the National Black Media Coalition in chastising the renovated series, wherein an irresponsible, wisecracking teenaged cut-up was now "head" of the household. When her contract ran out in 1977, Esther joined John Amos in bolting Good Times. After a year of pursuing other projects -- one of which, the made-for-TV film Summer of My German Soldier, won Rolle an Emmy -- she was back on Good Times, having been assured that she would be given full script approval and that the J.J. character had matured. But by this time, audiences had wearied of Good Times, and the series was cancelled in 1979. Since that time, Rolle has hardly wanted for work: her most recent credits include the strong role of Idella in the 1989 Oscar-winner Driving Miss Daisy, the starring part of the black owner of a Jewish deli in the 1990 sitcom Singer and Son, and a guest appearance as the dying Mammy in the 1994 Gone with the Wind sequel Scarlet. In addition, Esther Rolle has been nominated honorary chairperson of the President's Committee on the Employment of the Handicapped, and has been honored with several Image Awards from the NAACP.

Trivia: Entered Miss Black America pageants as a teen, and as Miss Brooklyn eventually won first runner-up in the Miss New York State contest. Auditioned for role of Thelma Evans on the CBS comedy series Good Times while still in college. Won the part and made her TV-series debut when it premiered in 1974. In the late 1990s, appeared in a hip-hop music video for Camp Lo with former Good Times costar Jimmie Walker. Produced several plays, including Whatever Happened to Black Love. In 2006 released first book, Situations 101: Relationships The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.