Trivia: Born Carlos Ray Norris, Chuck Norris served in Korea in the Army. While there, he studied karate and later became the World Middleweight Karate Champion. He was encouraged by one of his karate students, actor Steve McQueen, to go into acting. He debuted onscreen in the enormously popular Bruce Lee vehicle Enter the Dragon (1973); since the death of Lee he has been the screen's premier martial arts star. He has appeared primarily in militaristic movies in which he single-handedly kills many enemies. His breakthrough film was Missing in Action (1984), in which he played an ex-POW in search of American prisoners still held in Vietnam.

Trivia: Formerly a schoolteacher, Texas-born Noble Willingham has been essaying crusty character roles since 1969. Willingham's resumé includes a brace of location-filmed Peter Bogdanovich films, The Last Picture Show (1971) and Paper Moon (1973), and the role of Clay Stone in both of Billy Crystal's City Slickers comedies. Among his TV-movie credits is the part of President James Knox Polk in 1985's Dream West. A regular on several TV series (The Ann Jillian Show, Texas Wheelers, Cutter to Houston, AfterMASH, When the Whistle Blows), Willingham is best known to 1990s viewers as Mr. Binford (of Binford Tools) in Home Improvement and C. D. Parker in Walker, Texas Ranger. Noble Willingham's most recent film assignments include Ace Ventura, Pet Detective (1994) Up Close and Personal (1996) and Space Jam (1996). In 2000, Willingham left Walker, Texas Ranger to run for Congress in Texas. After losing the election to his Democratic opponent, Max Sandlin, Willingham returned to acting with a supporting role in the Val Kilmer thriller Blind Horizon. Sadly, the part would be the actor's last. In early 2004, at the age of 72, Willingham passed away at home from natural causes.

Trivia: Supporting actor, onscreen from the late '80s.

Trivia: While she is associated with one particular role -- that of Winnie Cooper, Kevin Arnold's (Fred Savage) childhood sweetheart, on the seminal late-'80s seriocomedy The Wonder Years -- American actress Danica McKellar sported an impressive resumé that ultimately encompassed a variety of more challenging parts and extended far beyond the confines of acting in film and television.Born in La Jolla, McKellar was reportedly coaxed by neighbors and family friends to do commercials at an early age, but resisted until age 11, when she finally caved and secured representation. After two appearances on the '80s version of The Twilight Zone, the 12-year-old ingenue -- then a complete unknown -- auditioned for Wonder Years creators Neal Marlens and Carol Black (in 1988). She not only landed the role of Winnie, but so convinced series producers of her suitability as Cooper that they decided to change her part from that of a passing love interest to Kevin's main squeeze. McKellar would later recall that she and Savage flirted around off-camera, but that their relationship ultimately waxed far more fraternal than romantic.After that program wrapped in 1993, McKellar trekked off to UCLA and did revolutionary work in advanced math and physics; she and a research partner had a theorem named after them -- a principle referenced in a key book on statistical mechanics -- and her senior paper graced a highly respected physics journal. The actress graduated summa cum laude in 1998, then headed back to Hollywood, diploma under her arm, and resumed film work. She appeared as Elsie Snuffin in a few 2002 episodes of the blockbuster series The West Wing, voiced Sapphire Stagg on the animated program Justice League Unlimited, and -- on a higher-profile note -- headlined a fun series of telemovies and webisodes for the Lifetime network in the mid-2000s entitled Inspector Mom. As the title suggests, those features cast McKellar as a crime-solving soccer mom.Ever the Renaissance woman, McKellar then extended her cinematic activities into directing, by helming a number of experimental short subjects. In 2006 she made her screenwriting debut with the mystery Inspector Mom. She was also active in the theater, having appeared in such productions as The Vagina Monologues, Grease, and Proof, and authored the 2007 children's book Math Doesn't Suck: How to Survive Middle-School Math Without Losing Your Mind or Breaking a Nail.McKellar continued acting, appearing in guest spots on TV and in TV movies, and competed on Dancing with the Stars in 2014.

Trivia: Prolific and versatile, actor Michael Bowen joined the casts of some of the most critically respected and lucrative pictures of the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, nearly always enlisted as an unremarkable everyman. Bowen launched his career with bit parts in such pictures as Valley Girl (1983), Iron Eagle (1985), and Less Than Zero (1987), then graduated to supporting roles by the late '90s. He was particularly memorable as cop Mark Dargus, the partner of ATF agent Ray Nicolette (Michael Keaton) in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction follow-up, Jackie Brown (1997), then turned in a haunting portrayal of Rick, the dysfunctional father of game show contestant Stanley (Jeremy Blackman) in Paul Thomas Anderson's mosaic of contemporary L.A. life, Magnolia (1999). In the following decade, Bowen re-teamed with Tarantino for the neo-martial arts opus Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003) and delivered an intense performance as a cruel and vile counselor at a rehab center in first-time director Monty Lapica's psychodrama, Self-Medicated (2005). He also took on a recurring role on the hit TV drama Lost as Danny Pickett, a hotheaded, tough member of the Others, during the second and third seasons of the series (2006-2007).

Trivia: Longtime character actor Ray Wise is beloved by genre fans for his over-the-top roles in Swamp Thing, RoboCop, Twin Peaks (both the series and the feature), and Jeepers Creepers 2, yet one look at the actor's diverse filmography reveals that it's Wise's diverse body of small-screen work that has been his bread and butter throughout the years.As an adolescent, Wise became keenly aware of his love for acting, and displayed his ambition by appearing in as many plays as possible throughout high school. A college theater major who spent most of his summer breaks in summer stock, Wise was well and ready to enter the professional world after receiving his degree in 1970. As with many other aspiring actors, Wise was drawn to the bright lights of Broadway and New York City, landing a job on the soap opera Love of Life after being in town for only two weeks. During the six years that he was acting on Love of Life, Wise would moonlight with stage roles both on and off-Broadway in addition to dabbling in repertory theater. When Love of Life was canceled in 1976, it was time to expand into features with supporting roles in Swamp Thing and Cat People (both 1982). Throughout the 1980s, Wise appeared on some of the most popular series on television, including Dallas, Trapper John, M.D., Knots Landing, and Moonlighting -- occasionally returning for a recurring role. While his part in Paul Verhoeven's over-the-top sci-fi action flick RoboCop offered the busy actor a chance to truly explore his inner villain, it was another menacing role that would propel Wise's career in the 1990s.Cast as grieving father Leland Palmer in the surreal David Lynch series Twin Peaks, Wise captivated television viewers with his emotionally charged performance -- Palmer was a challenging character, and few actors could have brought him to life quite as effectively as Wise. In 1992, Wise reprised the role of Leland Palmer for the polarizing feature Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, with subsequent performances in Bob Roberts and Powder, as well as on television in Star Trek: Voyager and Beverly Hills 90210, proving his highest-profile works of the decade. While by the year 2000 it appeared as if Wise had settled into a comfortable small-screen groove thanks to his numerous television credits, roles as a frightened father in the underappreciated, Twilight Zone-flavored frightener Dead End and a monster-fighting farmer in Jeepers Creepers 2 (which re-teamed him with Powder director Victor Salva) both gave genre fans cause to celebrate. In 2005, Wise took an affecting turn as communist witch-hunt victim Don Hollenbeck in director George Clooney's Oscar-nominated drama Good Night, and Good Luck, and the following year he had a recurring role as Vice President Hal Gardner in the hit Fox series 24. With additional small-screen roles in The Closer, CSI, Law & Order: SVU, and the supernatural series Reaper (on which he played the Devil himself) serving well to balance out feature work in Peaceful Warrior, Pandemic, and One Missed Call, it appeared that Wise remained as comfortable as ever fluctuating between work in film and television. He continued to work steadily on small and big-screen projects like Pandemic, One Missed Call, Crazy Eyes, Mad Men, and Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie.

Trivia: A character actor with a reputation for playing heavies and high rollers, Gregg Henry got his start on screen in the late '70s. He landed small roles in projects like the TV movies Hot Rod and Dummy, before adding some big-screen parts to his résumé. Perhaps Henry's most memorable movie role of his early career was the sly Sam Bouchard in the de Palma thriller Body Double. He would continue to find a home with TV, however, making notable appearances on shows like Magnum, P.I., and Jake and the Fatman, and playing recurring roles over the coming years on Matlock, L.A. Law, Murder, She Wrote, Gilmore Girls, The Riches, and 24. Henry would also continue to take on occasional movie roles, including in 2006's The Black Dahlia and 2011's Super.

Trivia: Like many African-American actors of the '60s, Ji-Tu Cumbuka unfortunately found the demand for his services limited until black performers became "fashionable." Active in films since 1967, Cumbuka appeared in such productions as Uptight (1968), Mandingo (1975), Bound for Glory (1976), Fun with Dick and Jane (1977) and Brewster's Millions (1985). The actor also did plenty of TV, including the 1977 miniseries Roots (as "The Wrestler") and the unsold 1979 pilot for Mandrake the Magician, wherein he played Mandrake's muscular assistant Lothar. Among the "sold" TV series featuring Ji-Tu Cumbuka were Young Dan'l Boone (1977) and Robert Conrad's A Man Called Sloane (1979). Cumbuka died in 2017, at age 77.

Trivia: An actor-turned-producer who worked with some of the biggest names in the business in both respects, Skip Ward would step behind the camera for such successful television endeavors as The Dukes of Hazzard, though the lure of the lens drew him back in front of the camera when he later formed a close working relationship with filmmaker Andy Sidaris. A Cleveland native who served a stint as an air force pilot before making the move to Hollywood, Ward's film debut came in Robert Wise's 1958 war film Run Silent, Run Deep. Subsequent efforts such as The Nutty Professor (1963) and Night of the Iguana (1964) found the fledgling actor working with a series of A-list stars, and though Ward himself would never ascend to that status, he would continue in front of the camera until 1970's Myra Breckinridge. Though he would lose the lead role in The Wild Wild West series to actor Robert Conrad, Ward's numerous television appearances included such series as The F.B.I. and The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries. The late '70s found Ward gaining notice as a producer, and with efforts such as The Dukes of Hazzard and V, his status continued to rise. An association with Sidaris was established when Ward served as production coordinator for a series of Sidaris-produced ABC sports programs. Despite the fact that it had been quite some time since Ward had appeared onscreen, his relationship with Sidaris resulted in somewhat of a comeback with roles in Do or Die, Fit to Kill, and Hard Hunted. In late June of 2002, Skip Ward died of natural causes in Calabasas, CA. He was 69.