Trivia: A native of Sydney, Australia, with a Greek heritage unmistakable from his "exotic" look, actor Thaao Penghlis claims one of the most familiar countenances in all of daytime drama, thanks largely to his ongoing portrayals of Antony DiMera and his twin brother, Andre DiMera, on NBC's seminal Days of Our Lives. Penghlis originally had no intention of entering show business, and in fact planned to establish himself as an archaeologist, but instead embarked on a career in diplomacy, which carried him to the United Nations in New York. A chance meeting with the acting instructor-cum-director Milton Katselas changed that, as Katselas saw in Penghlis tremendous dramatic potential and encouraged the young man to formally study theater. For a time, Penghlis worked as an antique dealer by day and attended acting classes at night, then accepted a position as assistant to Katselas and followed the professor to Los Angeles, where he began to direct theater and accept roles in films and on television. Following appearances in the films Slow Dancing in the Big City (1978), The Bell Jar (1979), and Altered States (1980), Penghlis landed the role of Victor Cassadine on ABC's General Hospital -- a portrayal so popular that the station reportedly received thousands of letters of complaint following the character's departure. In response, the network attempted to bring Penghlis back, but by that point he had already signed with NBC for Days. Penghlis' resumé also includes a long-running portrayal of Nicholas Black on the late-'80s revival of Mission: Impossible, and roles in the features Memories of Midnight and The Mirror.

Trivia: The younger brother of Gunsmoke star James Arness, American actor Peter Graves worked as a musician and radio actor before entering films with 1950's Rogue River. At first, it appeared that Graves would be the star of the family, since he was cast in leads while brother Jim languished in secondary roles. Then came Stalag 17 (1953), in which Graves was first-rate as a supposedly all-American POW who turned out to be a vicious Nazi spy. Trouble was, Graves played the part too well, and couldn't shake the Nazi stereotype in the eyes of most Hollywood producers. Suddenly the actor found himself in such secondary roles as Shelley Winters' doomed husband in Night of the Hunter (1955) (he was in and out of the picture after the first ten minutes), while sibling James Arness was riding high with Gunsmoke. Dissatisfied with his film career, Graves signed on in 1955 for a network kid's series about "a horse and the boy who loved him." Fury wasn't exactly Citizen Kane, but it ran five years and made Graves a wealthy man through rerun residuals--so much so that he claimed to be making more money from Fury than his brother did from Gunsmoke. In 1966, Peter Graves replaced Steven Hill as head honcho of the force on the weekly TV adventure series Mission: Impossible, a stint that lasted until 1973. Though a better than average actor, Graves gained something of a camp reputation for his stiff, straight-arrow film characters and was often cast in films that parodied his TV image. One of the best of these lampoonish appearances was in the Zucker-Abrahams comedy Airplane (1980), as a nutty airline pilot who asks outrageous questions to a young boy on the plane (a part the actor very nearly turned down, until he discovered that Leslie Nielsen was co-starring in the film). Peter Graves effortlessly maintained his reliable, authoritative movie persona into the '90s and 2000s, and hosted the Biography series on A&E, for which he won an Emmy; he also guest-starred on programs including Cold Case, House and American Dad. Graves died of natural causes in March 2010, at age 83.

Trivia: Massive, heavily bearded American actor Paul L. Smith had been a professional athlete before gravitating to films in the late '70s. His first important role was as the brutal, depraved Turkish prison guard Hamidou in Midnight Express (1978). Consigned by his size and weight to play villains (or at the very least, bullies), Smith was cast as Bluto, eternal nemesis to Popeye the Sailor and Olive Oyl, in the 1980 film/musical misfire Popeye. After several years of giving his all in abnormal roles in such films as Dune (1984) (as Beast Rabban), Red Sonya (1985) (as Falkon) and Caged Fury (1986) -- with a few side trips to Europe to make spaghetti westerns -- Smith gradually began to get parts that allowed him to play a recognizable human being. Paul L. Smith's appeared in 1994's Maverick as a Russian prince who travels to America for the express purpose of shooting Indians. The performance might have been broad and overstated, but at least Smith was believable -- and, despite the gross political incorrectness inherent in the role, he was even likable.

Trivia: Was a fashion model in the 1970s and '80s. Has appeared in 57 ads in Australia alone. Big-screen debut was playing a warrior woman in Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981). Was a Bond Girl in The Living Daylights (1987). After playing Pa'u Zotah Zhaan on the TV series Farscape for three years, she had to leave the show in 2002 as the makeup was affecting her health. Began designing and selling perfume in 2001. Is certified in natural therapy and teaches meditation.