Trivia: An everyman comic who shot to stardom thanks to a series of guest appearances on friend and fellow funnyman Ray Romano's popular sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, Kevin James wasn't exactly the class clown fans might assume during his formative years. Though his healthy sense of humor did help the Mineola, Long Island native to make plenty of friends while growing up, it wasn't until he took a public speaking class in college that James truly discovered the power of laughter. The son of an insurance agent and a devoted housewife who only worked off-jobs when necessary to support the family, James majored in sports management at State University of New York at Cortland before dropping out to hone his talents as an entertainer in community theater and various improvisational groups. Subsequently following his older brother to the standup stage, James made his debut at Manhattan's East Side Comedy Club in 1989 to surprising, if not predictable, results. Though James made a killing his first night, a disheartening appearance the following night with the very same material and a whole new crowd would teach the aspiring comic an important lesson in failure. Undaunted by his death on-stage and determined to roll with the punches, James quickly learned that the unpredictable world of standup comedy was filled with as many ups as it was downs. His survival instinct ended up serving him well; a fateful set at the 1996 Montreal Comedy Festival became the defining performance of his early career. James was soon signed to appear on Romano's fledgling sitcom in addition to receiving his very own development deal. In 1998, The King of Queens debuted to healthy ratings. A blue-collar sitcom that countless viewers could relate to, The King of Queens detailed the life of a hapless postal carrier who shares his Queens, NY home his wife, Carrie (Leah Remini), and her eccentric father, Arthur (Jerry Stiller). With success on the small screen soon prompting James to try his talent in feature films, a supporting role in 50 First Dates and a co-starring role opposite Will Smith in Hitch found the television favorite's amiable humor translating well to the big screen. A team effort with longtime friend Romano would result in the straight-to-video comedy Grilled in 2006, with subsequent voice work in the animated family comedies Monster House and Barnyard arriving in theaters later that same year.James would maintain his position as a go-to guy for family friendly comedy over the coming years, appearing in films like I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Grown Ups, and Zookeeper and providing a voice in Hotel Transylvania. James then reprised his roles in Grown Ups 2, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 and Hotel Transylvania 2, while also appearing in Pixels, opposite his frequent co-star Adam Sandler.

Trivia: A veteran of several failed TV sitcoms, sassy Leah Remini finally scored a hit when she was cast as comedian Kevin James's wife on the CBS series The King of Queens (1998).Born June 15th, 1979 in Brooklyn, NY, Remini moved to Los Angeles as a teen. After leaving school at 14, Remini held a variety of jobs for a couple of years before deciding to try acting. Though she was advised to lose her Brooklyn accent, Remini quickly landed a guest role on ABC's gifted high schoolers sitcom Head of the Class. Working steadily from the late '80s on, Remini guest starred on a number of comedies, including Friends, Cheers (as Carla's daughter), and a year-long stint on Saved By the Bell, and began to amass a resumé of short-lived series. After starring in Living Dolls in 1989, Remini was cast in The Man in the Family (1991) and First Time Out (1995); though Fired Up (1997) looked promising, it too failed after leaving its post-Seinfeld time slot. Along with the sitcoms, Remini also appeared in the TV movie Getting Up and Going Home (1992) and Glory Daze (1996), a coming-of-age feature starring then unknown Ben Affleck. A seasoned TV actress by 1998, Remini got to put her New York roots (and accent) to successful use in The King of Queens, a family comedy in the Everybody Loves Raymond vein. As blue collar James' pretty, levelheaded wife Carrie, Remini proved an adept foil to James and a flamboyant Jerry Stiller; The King of Queens became Remini's first bona fide ratings hit.

Trivia: To the public at large, Jerry Stiller is best known as the husband and comedy partner of actress/director Anne Meara, and as the father of comedian Ben Stiller. For those addicted to the NBC sitcom Seinfeld, Stiller will never be anyone else than Frank Costanza, the eternally kvetching father of born-loser George Costanza (Jason Alexander). While Stiller would be the first to welcome recognition on these terms, to acknowledge him for the above-mentioned reasons alone would be grossly unfair. A stage performer from the age of 10, Stiller majored in drama at the University of Syracuse, then took to the road in a touring company of Peter Pan. Honing his comic timing to perfection under the tutelage of revue director Billy Barnes, Stiller chose to concentrate his laughmaking skills in the Classics, specifically Shakespeare. He made his off-Broadway debut in a 1953 production of Coriolanus, and subsequently paid homage to the Bard of Avon as a member of such prestigious troupes as the Stratford (Connecticut) Shakespeare Festival and Joseph Papp's Shakespeare in the Park. Stiller made his Broadway bow in 1975 as ill-tempered gangster Carmine Vespucci in Terence McNally's The Ritz, a part he recreated in the 1976 film version. Among his many other film credits are Lovers and Other Strangers (1970), Hairspray (1988) and the made-for-television Seize the Day (1987). The actor's series-TV resumé includes the roles of Barney Dickerson in The Paul Lynde Show (1972), Gus Duzik in Joe and Sons (1975) and Sid Wilbur in Tattinger's (1988). He also co-starred with wife Anne Meara in the syndicated Take Five with Stiller and Meara (1977), and provided voiceovers for the animated Linus the Lionhearted (1964) and the multipart Ken Burns TV special Baseball (1994). Jerry Stiller has been honored with the Radio Advertising Bureau's Voice of Imagery Award for his persuasive radio and TV spots on behalf of the Public Broadcasting System.Notable later roles included an extended run on the hit TV series The King of Queens starting in 1998, as well as appearances in son Ben's 2001 male model comedy Zoolander, and the 2007 musical Hairspray. In 2000 Stiller received a Grammy nomination for Best Spoken Word Album for the audio version of his autobiographical book "Married to Laughter: A Love Story Featuring Anne Meara." Stiller and Meara received a joint star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007, and three years later, Stiller and his wife launched the YahooWeb series Stiller & Meara, in which the pair discuss current events from their living room, which ran until Meara's death in 2015. Their son, Ben, produced the segments.

Trivia: The gifted young comedian Patton Oswalt first carved a name for himself as a bit player in television programs, where he seemingly made the perfect everyman. Even those who fail to recognize the comic's agnomen doubtless encountered him as early as the mid- to late '90s, on such hit programs as NewsRadio, Dr. Katz, Mr. Show, and Seinfeld. (He was particularly memorable in the latter, as the video-store clerk who refuses to proffer a customer's address to a conniving George Costanza.) Oswalt also penned sketches for the long-running series MADtv and frequently lent his voice to Comedy Central's Crank Yankers, as one of the program's below-the-belt prank callers. Beginning in 1996 (and for at least four years thereafter), Oswalt began touring the country with his standup act and hitting comedy clubs; in 1997, he hosted his first standup special on HBO and received a positive response. Unabashedly iconoclastic and atheistic, with many routines devoted to excoriating Christianity and what he perceives as the hypocrisies of middle-American values, Oswalt buries his anti-establishment cynicism beneath a deceptively soft exterior (setting himself apart from, say, the more openly caustic and rave-happy George Carlin). Whatever the subject at hand, Oswalt displays a quick wit, a fearlessness to speak his mind, and an ability to unveil ironies behind practically everything. Regardless of one's personal convictions, Oswalt is also frequently hilarious, with his well-known impersonations of such personalities as Robert Evans and Nick Nolte absolutely unparalleled and definite high points in his routines, as are his riffs on pornography and bizarre sexual proclivities. In 1998, Oswalt landed his second recurring role on a television series, and his highest billing up through that time: that of Spence Olchin, one of the three buddies of Kevin James' Doug Heffernan, on the sitcom The King of Queens; he remained with the series for several seasons. Scattered movie roles followed -- typically bit parts at first, such as that of the scuba diver who experiences a bizarre death in the prologue of Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia (1999) and Hedges in Blade: Trinity (2004). Around 2004, Oswalt took a temporary siesta from acting, and re-launched himself into the arena of standup comedy. He and several friends (Brian Posehn, Zach Galifianakis, and Maria Bamford) formed the "Comedians of Comedy" troupe and mounted a coast-to-coast tour; that ensemble headlined an eponymous 2005 concert film. Oswalt issued his first standup album, Feelin' Kinda Patton, in 2004; it drew critical raves and impressive sales. He followed it up with a joint effort alongside Galifianakis, the 2005 recording Patton vs. Alcohol vs. Zach vs. Patton, and the 2006 concert film Patton Oswalt: No Reason to Complain. A sophomore solo recording, Lollipops and Werewolves, appeared in the summer of 2007.That same year, Oswalt voiced the character of Remy -- a French rat with a refined culinary instinct who single-handedly overturns Parisian haute cuisine -- in the Pixar animated film Ratatouille. It marked Oswalt's first reception of premier billing in an A-list feature and his debut work for Pixar.In 2009 he had the lead in the underrated indie drama Big Fan, as a man assaulted by the best player on his favorite football team, appeared in The Informant, and recorded the stand-up special My Weakness Is Strong. In 2011 he had a memorable turn in A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas, released the stand-up concert Finest Hour, and earned the best reviews of his career playing opposite Charlize Theron in Young Adult.Oswalt's most consistent work, though, was in television. He amassed a slew of memorable TV roles, with one-offs, recurring gigs and voice-over roles. A seasons-long arc on United States of Tara coincided with other gigs on Bored to Death and Caprica. In 2013, he had a highly-regarded and publicized guest stint on Parks and Recreation, playing a character giving a filibuster on Star Wars. That same year, he started a recurring role on Justified and began doing narration work on The Goldbergs (playing an older version of the main character, Adam Goldberg). The following year, he played identical brothers on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., allowing Oswalt to return even if his character had been killed. In 2015, he played the VP's Chief of Staff on Veep. Oswalt also voices several characters on shows like BoJack Horseman and We Bare Bears.

Trivia: Performed his first big stand-up routine at the Montreal Comedy Festival. Chose Valentine as a stage surname as a tribute to his father's middle name. Is the older brother of comedian Kevin James and has appeared alongside him in The King of Queens, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, Paul Blart: Mall Cop and Zookeeper. Has headlined numerous stand-up comedy shows for more than 15 years. Regularly competes in high-profile golf-charity tournaments, including BMW Charity Pro-Am, Monday After the Masters and the Drive. Avidly supports the JVK Foundation, a non-profit organization benefiting many charities that's named after his late father.

Trivia: Upbeat, high-octane actress and comedienne Nicole Sullivan gravitated to dramatic performance at age seven and reportedly caught the comedy bug from her New York state assemblyman father and antiques dealer mother. After high school, Sullivan enrolled in the prestigious Northwestern University, then studied at London's British American Dramatic Academy for one year before settling in Hollywood in the early '90s. The actress reportedly endured a long string of failed auditions and failed television pilots upon arrival, though she eventually broke through to public recognition as one of the resident performers on the Fox network's revue comedy program MADtv. That only marked the beginning, and within a few years of her MAD debut, Sullivan branched out in innumerable directions, such as voicing Mira Nova in the direct-to-video animated sequel Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins (2000) and making guest appearances on series programs including Crank Yankers, Monk, and Family Guy. Sullivan connected with much steadier work by signing on to play Holly Shumpert on seasons 4-6 of the popular Kevin James sitcom The King of Queens from 2001-2004, then moved into features, including the animated outings The Ant Bully (2006) and Meet the Robinsons (2007), and mirrored these accomplishments on the small screen with voiceover work on the animated series Slacker Cats. In 2008, Sullivan returned to the sitcom format with Rita Rocks; she played Rita Clements, a working wife and mother who moonlights as a rock star. She went on to appear in Black Dynamite and Let It Shine

Trivia: Grew up wanting to be an entertainer; would often sing and act out scenes for friends and family from Grease, Newsies and Les Misérables. Often went on tour with her father, who was a drummer for Billy Joel. Began playing the violin as a child and was a member of the Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra. Played a violin solo at the wedding of Christie Brinkley and Peter Cook. First professional acting job was at age 16 on the WB's Safe Harbor. Worked as a model in Japan after graduating from high school. Big break came in 2005 when she was cast on ABC Family's Beautiful People; was later cast on One Tree Hill, Pretty Little Liars and The Vampire Diaries. Played violin on Raphael Saadiq's 2004 album Ray Ray and on Stevie Nicks' 2011 CD In Your Dreams. Is a hospice volunteer and is the first-ever Hospice Ambassador for the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO).

Trivia: Broke into TV playing Brazilian exchange student Renata Vargas on Sweet Valley High. Was a member of The Groundlings improv group. Best known on the small screen for her role on the partially improvised sitcom Significant Others (2004), and for her role as Tillie Sullivan on the Comedy Central mockumentary comedy series Dog Bites Man (2006). Wrote, starred in and produced sketches for HBO's Funny or Die Presents (2010-11). Appeared in a stage production of Girls Talk, a play about status-obsessed mothers, in 2011. Has written for the Huffington Post.

Trivia: A popular television actress who has also found success on the silver screen, Merrin Dungey has been entertaining audiences since strapping on her ballet shoes at the age of four. Always quick on her feet, the talented dancer moved from ballet to ice skating before discovering her talent as an actress while hosting a local teen talk show at 18. Commercial work was quick to follow, and shortly thereafter, Dungey enrolled as a theater major at U.C.L.A. During her sophomore year at college, Dungey became the youngest person ever to win the U.C.L.A. School of Theater's top acting prize at the Annual Acting Awards Ceremony. Following her graduation, the up-and-coming actress developed a one-woman show entitled Black Like Who? for the HBO Comedy Workspace. It didn't take long for Dungey's reputation as a talent to watch spread through Hollywood, and on the heels of Black Like Who?, she signed with the William Morris Agency. Television roles were quick to follow, and after guest appearances on Martin and Living Single, Dungey landed a recurring role on the television series Party Girl (an adaptation of the 1995 Parker Posey indie). After making her film debut with a small role in the 1998 disaster flick Deep Impact, Dungey returned to the small screen in supporting capacity with The King of Queens in 1998. With roles in EDtv (1999) and The Sky Is Falling (2000), Dungey seemed to be balancing films and television nicely, and following a memorable turn on Malcolm in the Middle, she was cast on the small-screen spy drama-thriller series Alias in 2001. In addition to continuing roles on television on such popular shows as Curb Your Enthusiasm, Dungey still appearred in such features as Scream at the Sound of the Beep (2002). In 2004, Dungey took on a role in the made-for-television drama Summerland. In 2007 she was cast in the Grey's Anatomy spinoff Private Practice as Dr. Naomi Bennett.

Trivia: Jenny O'Hara is part of a performing family whose influence encompasses regional and New York theater from Warren, PA, to Greenwich Village and Broadway, and rock music from England to New York. Born in Sonora, CA, her father, John B. O'Hara, was a salesman and her mother, Edith, a journalist and drama teacher. Jenny, her singer/actress younger sister Jill O'Hara, and her singer/guitarist brother Jack O'Hara, grew up amid their mother's pursuit of a theatrical career, leading a gypsy-like existence in half-built houses and other accouterments of a struggling existence. Edith O'Hara directed a children's theater in Warren, where the two daughters occasionally participated as actresses during their teens, though neither took it seriously. Jenny spent a year at Carnegie Tech and a summer playing in stock theater, and then came to New York to study with Lee Strasberg and Sanford Meisner. She was in touring companies of Cactus Flower and Brecht on Brecht, with Lotte Lenya; off-Broadway productions of Arms and the Man, Play With the Tiger, and Hang Down Your Head and Die; and stock productions of Paint Your Wagon and Take Me Along, among many other musicals and straight plays. She also appeared on ABC's Time for Us. O'Hara's biggest stage credit of the '60s was in Dylan (opposite Alec Guinness) as Annabelle Graham-Pike. In 1970, O'Hara succeeded her younger sister Jill in the musical Promises, Promises. By the mid-'70s, Edith O'Hara was running the 13th Street Theatre in Greenwich Village (a major venue for off-off-Broadway and children's theater), and her brother Jack was in London, playing guitar and bass and singing with the band Eggs Over Easy, pioneering the pub rock scene in England. Meanwhile, Jenny had graduated to television, both in series and made-for-TV features, including a starring role in Brink's: The Great Robbery, The Return of the World's Greatest Detective (in which she took over a role originated by Joanne Woodward in the movie They Might Be Giants), Blind Ambition, and Blinded by the Light. She later worked in movies such as Career Opportunities, Mystic River, and Matchstick Men, and television series such as Law & Order, NYPD Blue, and ER.

Trivia: To a legion of television viewers who grew up in the '70s and early '80s, musclebound bodybuilder-turned-actor Lou Ferrigno was The Incredible Hulk. It was as an infant that the future muscle man developed a debilitating ear infection that resulted in some notable hearing loss, though instead of viewing it as a disability, the driven youngster used the loss as a means to maximize his potential in other arenas. At the age of 21, Ferrigno became the youngest contender ever to win the Mr. Universe title, and with a second consecutive win the following year, he became the only man ever to win the Mr. Universe competition two years in a row. The later part of Ferrigno's remarkable career in bodybuilding can be witnessed firsthand as he unsuccessfully faced off against then up-and-comer Arnold Schwarzenegger in the absorbing cult documentary Pumping Iron. It was around the mid-'70s that Ferrigno decided to expand his horizons into the realm of acting with starring roles in Arsenic and Old Lace and Requiem for a Heavyweight, earning him particularly positive critical notice. A leap to the small-screen in The Incredible Hulk found Ferrigno ideally cast as the raging alter ego of mild-mannered scientist Bruce Banner, a role that he would continue to play until the show drew to a close in 1982. A mere year later, Ferrigno made the leap to the big-screen with Hercules, though the remainder of the decade he would reprise both roles in such efforts as The Adventures of Hercules and The Incredible Hulk Returns. As his career dried up a bit in the '90s, the old green meanie would continue to land work in such efforts as the 1996 animated series The Incredible Hulk. After appearing opposite former Batman stars Adam West and Burt Ward in the 2002 feature From Heaven to Hell, Ferrigno's involvement in the 2003 feature Hulk was relegated to a cameo appearance. Reunited with former competitor Schwarzenegger for the 2002 follow-up documentary Raw Iron: The Making of Pumping Iron, Ferrigno got the last laugh by appearing noticeably larger than the man who had previously dethroned him at the 1975 Mr. Olympia competition.Though not an actor by trade,Ferrigno continued to appear frequently in film and television in such efforts as the 2009 comedy I Love You, Man.