Trivia: Born John Sanford, this scratchy-voiced, bulldog-faced black comedian and actor entered show business while still in his teens; over several decades, he worked as a "blue humor" comic in nightclubs and theaters around the country. From 1951-55 he teamed with comic Slappy White. He made 54 "party records" (comedy records with plenty of four-letter words and blue humor, popular mostly in the black community) and established himself as the dean of blue comedy. In the '60s his audience expanded, and he got guest shots on a number of TV shows. After debuting onscreen in Ossie Davis's unexpectedly successful film Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970) Foxx was signed to star in the TV series Sanford and Son the show was a hit and lasted from 1972-77, making him a household name. He went on to appear in the sitcoms Sanford, The Redd Foxx Show and in the variety show The Redd Foxx Comedy Hour and continued appearing regularly as a stand-up comic in Las Vegas.

Trivia: Began his acting career at the age of 4 with an appearance in the Broadway play Green Pastures. Was drafted by the Army and served a tour of duty in Vietnam. Guest-starred on an Emmy-winning episode of All in the Family, which helped him earn a lead role on the popular sitcom Sanford and Son. Scaled back his acting work after experiencing a spiritual awakening and becoming a minister in 1983. Is also a writer whose works include several children's books and the memoir Second Banana: The Bitter Sweet Memoirs of the Sanford & Son Years.

Trivia: Much-loved funnyman Slappy White spent the bulk of his long career performing in nightclubs, particularly those catering to black audiences in Atlantic City, NJ and Las Vegas. He only occasionally appeared in feature films. Born Melvin White in Baltimore, Maryland, he was raised in poverty and started out dancing on the streets for small change. At one time, he partnered with Redd Foxx. Many years later, after both had become famous comics, they would sometimes perform together. White often drew upon the hardships of his early life to create his comedy. The wearing of a white and a black glove on either hand to symbolize the need for racial harmony was one of White's special trademarks. In 1969, White teamed with Steve Ross and they became one of the first successful racially mixed comedy acts. White made his feature-film debut with Ross in the silly sexploitation film The Man from O.R.G.Y. (1970). White sometimes appeared on television. In 1972, White played "Melvin" on Red Foxx's sitcom Sanford and Son. He also had a regular role on the 1995 children's series Fudge. He made his last film appearance in the Billy Crystal vehicle Mr. Saturday Night (1991). White was an honor board member and inductee in the National Comedy Hall of Fame.

Trivia: Moved to LA from his native Ohio in 1968; worked for the California Youth Authority while trying to break into show business. First TV guest role was in a 1970 episode of That Girl. Had a recurring role on Sanford and Son as Officer "Smitty" Smith. Reprised his role of Sgt. L.C. Ross from Private Benjamin in the 1981-83 CBS sitcom version of the film. Costarred with Marla Gibbs in 227 on-stage in Los Angeles before it became an NBC series in 1985. Set up a scholarship fund for minority students studying TV communications in memory of his son Mark, who died in a camping accident in 1977. With 227 costar Gibbs, was honored at the Giving Back Corporation's spring 2010 Celebrity Roast & Toast.

Trivia: Born in Vicksburg, MS, in 1920, actress Beah Richards studied at Dillard University in New Orleans before pursuing an acting career on-stage in New York City. She appeared in Louis S. Peterson's off-Broadway play Take a Giant Step and in the film adaptation in 1959. In 1965, she received a Tony nomination for her role as Sister Margaret in James Baldwin's play The Amen Corner, and two years later she received an Academy Award nomination for her supporting role as Sidney Poitier's mother in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. She continued playing matriarch characters in the feature films Hurry Sundown, In the Heat of the Night, and The Great White Hope. During the '70s, she took over for Lillian Randolph as Bill Cosby's mother on The Bill Cosby Show, played Aunt Ethel on Sanford and Son, and played several grandmotherly characters in made-for-TV movies. More television appearances followed in the '80s, with recurring roles on Designing Women, Beauty and the Beast, Hill Street Blues, Roots: The Next Generations, and L.A. Law. In 1987, she received her first Emmy award for playing Olive Varden on Frank's Place. She has also directed plays at the Los Angeles Inner City Cultural Center, appeared in her own one-woman show, and published several plays and novels, including the poetry collection A Black Woman Speaks and Other Poems. After playing the substance abuse counselor in Gus Van Sant's Drugstore Cowboy, she made a bit of a comeback as Dr. Benton's (Eriq LaSalle) mother on the NBC medical drama ER and as Grandma Baby in Jonathan Demme's Beloved, based on the novel by Toni Morrison. She received an Emmy for her final television appearance as Gertrude Turner on the ABC drama The Practice. She died of emphysema in 2000.

Trivia: Angular Anglo-Latino actor Gregory Sierra began showing up on screen in 1971 in such films as The Wrath of God. Sierra quickly familiarized himself with TV viewers via his continuing role as Julio Fuentes in the weekly sitcom Sanford and Son. He left Sanford in January of 1975 to accept the part of detective sergeant Chano Amenguale on Barney Miller, a role he held down until the fall of 1976. Next up, Sierra starred as Dr. Tony Menzies on A.E.S. Hudson Street, a 1978 TV comedy that folded after six weeks despite positive critical comment. Two years later, he was cast as South American revolutionary "El Puerco" on the nighttime serial spoof Soap, figuring prominently in the series' up-in-the-air final episode in 1981. Gregory Sierra's more recent television roles have included Lt. Victor Maldonado on the NBC sci-fier Something is Out There (1988), and the ill-fated Lt. Lou Rodriguez on the trendy 1980's cop show Miami Vice.

Trivia: A comedienne turned actress who rose to fame as outspoken bible-thumper Aunt Ester in Redd Foxx's hit sitcom Sanford and Son, LaWanda Page performed with such other famous contemporaries as Richard Pryor and Rudy Ray Moore before finding success on the small screen. A native of Cleveland who grew up in St. Louis, Page first hit the stage as an exotic dancer and chorus girl billed "the Bronze Goddess of Fire" (due to her penchant for playing with fire on-stage) before fully realizing her talents as a standup comic. Subsequently approached by Foxx to star in Sanford and Son, Page tickled television viewers' funny bones with her memorable role as Foxx's aggressively religious sister-in-law in the original series' spin-off The Sanford Arms, and the 1980 revival Sanford. Throughout the 1980s and '90s, Page crafted a feature-film career with minor roles in such comedies as Zapped! (1982), My Blue Heaven (1990), Friday (1995), and Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996). Always retaining her fiery approach to comedy, Page also performed on-stage in productions of The Inquest of Sam Cooke and Take It to the Lord...Or Else. On September 14, 2002, LaWanda Page died from complications of diabetes in Los Angeles, CA. She was 81.

Trivia: For years, character actor Howard Platt qualified as one of the small screen's most familiar faces. Devoted viewers of 1970s television will easily remember Platt; he played Hoppy the Cop, the quintessentially weird, by-the-book white police officer who made frequent stops at Fred Sanford's junkyard on the hit NBC sitcom Sanford and Son (1972-1977). Additional recurring roles included Dr. Phil Newman on The Bob Newhart Show and Marvin the Jewelry Salesman on Alice. Platt briefly enjoyed a main starring role as airline pilot Captain Doug March on the CBS adventure drama Flying High (1978) opposite Pat Klous and Connie Sellecca; unfortunately, it was canceled in late January 1979, soon after it premiered. He remained active for the following several decades, however, and extended his work into occasional features such as The Cat from Outer Space (1978), Nixon (1995), and The Rock (1996) while establishing himself as a nearly constant presence in theater as an actor and director. In 2008, Platt starred opposite Tim Robbins and Rachel McAdams in the Iraq veteran-themed drama The Lucky Ones.

Trivia: Best known to audiences as Mr. Miyagi, Ralph Macchio's mentor in the "wax on, wax off" school of combat in the 1984 hit The Karate Kid, Noriyuki "Pat" Morita is the most prominent Japanese-American actor of his generation. Morita is also well known for having played Arnold, the amiable diner owner on the hit television series Happy Days, for two non-consecutive seasons (1975-1976 and 1982-1983). His status as one of the most familiar actors of Asian descent kept him working in a variety of projects throughout the 1980s and '90s.Having spent part of his youth in a Japanese internment camp during World War II, Morita nonetheless emerged with his sense of humor intact, giving up work as a computer programmer to concentrate on stand-up comedy in the early '60s. After a number of nightclub and TV variety show appearances, Morita found his first film role in 1967's Thoroughly Modern Millie as a stereotypical ethnic henchman. His natural affability soon began shining through, winning Morita his role on Happy Days for the 1975-1976 season. As Arnold, Morita interacted with Richie, Fonzie, and company with a memorable combination of good humor and exasperation. He returned to the gig in 1982-1983 after a failed attempt to front his own series (the critically lambasted Mr. T and Tina in 1976), a number of small film roles, and guest appearances on such shows as The Love Boat and Magnum P.I. His major pop culture breakthrough was the role of janitor and karate master Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid. An eccentric tutor who at first appears to be using his student for an endless variety of household chores, Miyagi soon reveals the method behind his training, turning the scrawny Daniel (Macchio) into a confident fighter, while also instilling an important message that violence should remain a last resort. The exceedingly popular film made Morita a household name, and audiences were left with the indelible image of a jolly and wise old soul trying desperately to catch a fly with a pair of chopsticks. Morita reprised the role for the two sequels starring Macchio in (1986 and 1989), as well as The Next Karate Kid, which starred future Oscar winner Hilary Swank, in 1994.In the late '80s, Morita found the success that had previously eluded him in television solo efforts with the two-season detective series Ohara (1987-1989). In 1987, he also wrote and starred in the World War II romance Captive Hearts, a film about a pilot shot down over Japan who falls in love with a village woman. Morita plays the village elder who saves the young pilot from execution.Morita spent the 1990s continuing to work regularly as a character actor in both television and movies. His film roles included Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993,) and vocal work as the Emperor in Disney's Mulan (1998). He guest starred on such shows as The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Diagnosis Murder, and The Hughleys, and had a recurring role as Mr. Tanaka on Baywatch.

Trivia: Marlene Clark, a black supporting actress and occasional lead, appeared on screen beginning in the '70s.