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: 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.

Trivia: The product of a tough, impoverished upbringing, African American actor Robert Guillaume fought his way out of the St. Louis slums by virtue of talent, persistence and an unwillingness to bow down to anyone. After military service and college, Guillaume held down short-term jobs ranging from cook to streetcar conductor, all the while training his voice for potential musical comedy work--training that paid off with his first Broadway show, 1961's Kwamina. Among his many stage credits were the musical versions of Golden Boy (with Sammy Davis Jr.) and Purlie Victorious, and the long-running review Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. When New York stage work was scarce, Guillaume created his own opportunities by giving one-man concerts. After guesting in several of the black-oriented TV sitcoms of the 1970s, Guillaume was cast in 1977 as the imperious, outspoken family retainer Benson in the daytime-drama parody Soap (the actor would be first to admit that many of Benson's more contentious traits sprang from Guillaume's own prickly personality). The role won Guillaume a 1978 Emmy as "Outstanding Supporting Actor." In 1979, Guillaume carried over his Soap role into his own starring series, the now classic sitcom Benson, which ran until 1986 and which won Guillaume another Emmy, this time as "Outstanding Lead Actor." Robert Guillaume also headlined the appropriately titled 1989 series The Robert Guillaume Show, wherein for approximately five months he starred as divorced marriage counselor Edward Sawyer. In the several years to follow, Guillaume would star in shows like Sports night, as well as a number of films like Big Fish and Satin.

Trivia: African-American actor Bill Henderson may not be the same Bill Henderson listed in the British Attack on the Iron Coast (1968), but he definitely did appear in Mother, Jugs and Speed (1976), Inside Moves (1980) and Smart Alec (1986). Those who have catalogued the many failed TV series of Tim Conway will recall Henderson as Mello, blind nightclub pianist in 1983's Ace Crawford Private Eye. At least Ace Crawford made it to the airwaves; 1987's Kingpins, a comedy set in a bowling alley which featured Henderson in a supporting role, never got past the pilot stage. Bill Henderson's most prominent recent screen performance was as one of several "dude" participants of a cattle drive (he's the father in the father-son team) in the 1991 Billy Crystal comedy City Slickers.

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: In the late '30s she worked in Chicago's WPA Theater. She moved to New York City in the early '40s, where she was a member of the Rose McClendon Players. She debuted on Broadway in 1941, portraying the sister of Bigger Thomas (Canada Lee) in Orson Welles's production of Native Son (1941). She established herself as a serious stage actress. She was one of the founders of the American Negro Theater. Over the years she landed a small handful of film roles, debuting onscreen in The Phenix City Story (1955). In the '70s she became recognizable to a large audience through her appearances on a number of sitcoms; she was a regular on Baby, I'm Back and 227, and she had guest appearances on many other shows.