Trivia: Reed was elected beauty queen of her high school and Campus Queen of her college. The latter honor resulted in her photo making the L.A. papers, and as a result she was invited to take a screen test with MGM, which signed her in 1941. She played supporting roles in a number of minor films (at first being billed as "Donna Adams"), then in the mid '40s she began getting leads; with rare exceptions, she portrayed sincere, wholesome types and loving wives and girlfriends. She went against type playing a prostitute in From Here to Eternity (1953), for which she won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar. Rarely getting rewarding roles, she retired from the screen in 1958 to star in the TV series "The Donna Reed Show," which was a great success and remained on the air through 1966. After 1960 she appeared in only one more film. In the mid '80s she emerged from retirement to star in "Dallas;" Barbara Bel Geddes returned to the show in 1985, and Reed won a $1 million settlement for a breach of contract suit against the show's producers. She died of cancer several months later.

Trivia: American actor Paul Petersen was a child actor who appeared on television and in a couple of feature films during the '50s; he is best remembered for playing teenager Jeff Stone on The Donna Reed Show where he literally grew up. While there, Petersen had a brief side-career as a popular singer, making his recording debut in early 1962 with the novelty song "She Can't Find Her Keys," which originally aired as a dream sequence on the show. Other hits followed, including his Top Ten single "My Dad," which he also sang on the television show. Eventually Petersen left the show and began playing leads in a few '60s feature films. Since then, Petersen has become a writer of spy novels and has made only infrequent forays into film.

Trivia: As the creator of such beloved children's programs as Mr. I. Magination, On the Carousel, and The Birthday House, Emmy and Peabody award-winning writer/performer Paul Tripp endeared himself to a generation of children with his creative and inspired method of education through music. Born in New York City in February 1911, Tripp entered City College of the City University of New York at the remarkable age of 14 before dropping out to pursue law studies at Brooklyn Law School. Though he would prematurely abandon his tenure at Brooklyn Law School as well, Tripp made his Broadway debut at the age of 25 in a performance of Cyrano de Bergerac. After performing in the George Kleinsinger opera Victory Against Heaven a few short years later, he would form a collaboration with that effort's composer to develop his concept of "Tubby the Tuba." Though that effort was momentarily halted due to Tripp's being drafted into World War II in 1942, he would continue to perform while serving in the Army and, upon his return stateside, revive Tubby to great success. Recorded in 1945, Tubby was nominated for a Grammy while a later animated adaptation was nominated for an Oscar. Beginning production of the children's program Mr. I. Magination for CBS in 1949, the program had a successful three-year run during which it took home a Peabody award. Frequently collaborating with wife Ruth Enders, Tripp's children's programming also served as a springboard for such burgeoning actors as Walter Matthau and Richard Boone. Tripp would gain additional exposure on such popular programs as Kraft Television Theater, Studio One, and The Twilight Zone in addition to producing and starring in On the Carousel and The Birthday House. Outside of the realm of television, Tripp's recording and publishing of around 600 songs on 30 albums, in addition to his writing of four children's books, found his love for music and education expanding to numerous other avenues. The film adaptation of Tripp's book The Christmas That Almost Wasn't would go on to become a holiday tradition among numerous fans. Three years after the death of his wife in 1999, Paul Tripp died of natural causes in his native Manhattan. He was 91.