Trivia: Born in Ireland, Roma Downey studied at the London Drama Studio and earned numerous Broadway and off-Broadway stage credits, including a U.S. tour with Dublin's Abbey Players. Though she is most well-known for playing Monica on the CBS dramatic series Touched By an Angel, Downey also played Jackie Kennedy in the 1991 TV miniseries A Woman Named Jackie. She also appeared in several highly sentimental made-for-TV movies like Borrowed Hearts and A Child Is Missing. In 1998, she played Annie Sullivan to Moira Kelly's Helen Keller in Monday After the Miracle. Staying with emotive dramas, she next played Cassie Whitman in the U.K. television movies A Test of Love and A Secret Life. For her next few romantic comedies, she played opposite Tim Matheson in Second Honeymoon and opposite George Newbern in Sons of Mistletoe. Downey finally broke through to a leading role in a feature film with the family comedy Hairy Tale. Downey continued to work throughout the mid-2000s, and took on supporting roles in Funky Monkey (2004) and Come Dance at My Wedding (2009).

Trivia: Della Reese is one of the few performers to move easily between the religious community and the mainstream entertainment industry. Born in Detroit, MI, Reese started singing in gospel choirs at a very young age. In 1945, she joined a touring choir with legendary gospel singer Mahalia Jackson. As a student at Wayne State University, Reese former her own singing group called the Meditation Singers. After a regular gig at Detroit's Flame Showbar, she went on to sing with Erskine Hawkins & His Orchestra. During the '50s and '60s, she recorded pop vocal albums for Jubilee and RCA Victor, leading to several pop singles on the Billboard charts. She was also nominated for a Grammy award and is remembered as one of the first gospel singers to have a popular stage show in Las Vegas.Her television career started in 1969 as the guest host of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. She then made television history as the first black woman with her own prime-time variety show, Della. After singing on the nightclub circuit and making television guest appearances as herself, she joined the cast of Chico and the Man from 1976 to 1978. Despite her battle with illness in the early '80s, she continued acting steadily throughout the next few decades. Her other TV series appearances include Sanford and Son, It Takes Two, Charlie & Co., and The Royal Family. On the big screen, she played madam Vera in Eddie Murphy's Harlem Nights and Martin Lawrence's mother in A Thin Line Between Love and Hate. Her biggest television achievement is the CBS drama Touched By an Angel, which ran from 1994-2003. For her role of Tess, the wise guiding angel to Monica (Roma Downey), Reese won several Image Awards and Emmy nominations. Her other television work includes leading roles on the TV tearjerkers Miracle in the Woods, The Moving of Sylvia Myles, and Anya's Bell. She would appear in a number of projects in the years to come, like Expecting Mary and Me Again. An ordained minister, Reese helps to run the Los Angeles church association Understanding Foundation for Better Living.

Trivia: First stage role was in his high school's production of The Sound of Music. Directed a production of Grease while in high school. Was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity at Mississippi State. Made his big-screen debut in the 1984 comedy Making the Grade. Appeared in the 1985 video for ZZ Top's "Sleeping Bag." First major TV role was on long-running soap the Young and the Restless. His Touched by an Angel role as Andrew the Angel of Death was originally a recurring one, but he was made a regular in the third season, and remained with the show until its conclusion in 2003.

Trivia: Perky, red-haired actress Bonnie Franklin is best remembered for playing plucky single mom Ann Romano on the long-running sitcom One Day at a Time (1975-1984). Franklin began her acting career at age 12 when she appeared in the Alfred Hitchcock made-for-television movie The Wrong Man in 1956; that year she also appeared in a feature-film episode of the Kettle family saga, The Kettles in the Ozarks. Through the '60s, Franklin only appeared a couple of times as a guest star on television series such as The Man from U.N.C.L.E. While working on her sitcom, Franklin occasionally appeared in television movies. After the series' demise, her television work became sporadic, and by the early '90s, she had left the medium altogether, though Franklin continued acting in regional theater and in cross-country tours of plays, occasionally returning to the screen for small appearances. Franklin reuinted with her One Day at a Time daughter Valerie Bertinelli in an episode of Hot in Cleveland in 2011, but her return to acting was short-lived. After announcing she had pancreatic cancer in 2012, Franklin passed away due to complications from the disease in 2013 at the age of 69.

Trivia: Cathy Lee Crosby is the daughter of Hollywood actress Linda Hayes and Lawrence Welk Show announcer Lou Crosby. Crosby began her own showbiz career at five, appearing on her dad's local L.A. TV series, Crosbys' Calling. Like her sisters, Linda Lou and Lucinda Sue, Cathy Lee proved to be a superb athlete at an early age; before reaching the age of 21, she was a professional tennis player and recreational skydiver, windsurfer, and swimmer. Thus, she was uniquely qualified for the title role in the 1974 made-for-TV film The New, Original Wonder Woman. Intended as the pilot for a weekly series, Wonder Woman scored in the ratings, but was shot down by the critics; when a series did finally surface in 1976, Lynda Carter played the lead. Crosby cut her losses, made a few films in Europe (she is fluent in several languages), and returned to athletics. In 1980, she became one of the co-hosts of the popular "reality" TVer That's Incredible, a job she held down until 1984. Still hoping to be taken seriously as an actress, Cathy Lee Crosby made her off-Broadway bow in the 1988 production Almost Perfect; she has also remained active in a variety of charitable and prosocial organizations. Cathy Lee Crosby should not be confused with Live With Regis and Kathie Lee co-star Kathie Lee (Crosby) Gifford and she is not the daughter of Bing Crosby.

Trivia: During his first few decades as an actor, Bill Macy took whatever was readily available: poetry-reading jobs, movie bits, comedy-record gigs (he's the operatic cabdriver in the classical music lampoon The Wurst of PDQ Bach) and off-Broadway stage assignments. While appearing in the 1969 "nudie" musical Oh! Calcutta, the 45-year-old Macy gained attention, critical and otherwise, for appearing au naturel in one of the comedy sketches. Evidently he enjoyed the sensation; even in his days of TV prominence, Macy was known to disrobe at parties and public functions whenever he'd been too generous in his participation at the bar. In the early 1970s, Macy was cast in several small roles in the TV properties of producer Norman Lear; this led to a lengthy (72-78) engagement as Walter Findlay, husband of fiery feminist Maude Findlay (Bea Arthur) on the popular sitcom Maude. Since that time, Bill Macy has thrived in film and stage character parts, and has co-starred in two TV weeklies, Hanging In (79) and Nothing in Common (87).

Trivia: His mother was a dance instructor at the Circus Circus Casino. Grew up in Park City, UT, home of the Sundance Film Festival, which stoked his interest in show business; acted in stage productions at Park City's Egyptian Theatre. A member of the boy band the Fource. Made TV and movie debuts (in Touched by an Angel and the slasher film Carnage Road, respectively) in 2000. Played a medical student on Days of Our Lives in 2005. Was a regular on ABC Family's Beautiful People. Appeared on Broadway in American Idiot, the 2010 musical based on Green Day's 2004 concept album.

Trivia: Starred as eccentric alien Dr. Phlox in Star Trek: Enterprise. Runs an online book club through his official Web site; has thousands of books in his home collection. Founded Book-It Repertory Theatre, a Seattle-based company devoted to adapting fiction to the stage, in 1989. Appeared on the HBO drama True Blood in 2008, 2009 and 2010 as coroner Mike Spencer. In 2011, appeared in a Hollywood production of the play The Violet Hour. A participant in Life After Trek podcasts.

Trivia: With bit roles in such small-screen hits as Law & Order, Diagnosis Murder, JAG, Oz, and Touched By an Angel preceding his turn as a police sergeant who unknowingly works alongside a secretive serial killer in the Showtime series Dexter, actor Erik King was already well on his way to stardom when he landed his most prominent television role to date. Of course, it hadn't all been small-screen victories for King during his decade-long rise through the ranks; he had also appeared in such high-profile features as Cadillac Man, Desperate Measures, National Treasure, and The Ice Princess.

Trivia: Born Ermes Effron Borgnino in Hamden, CT, to Italian immigrants, Ernest Borgnine spent five years of his early childhood in Milan before returning to the States for his education. Following a long stint in the Navy that ended after WWII, Borgnine enrolled in the Randall School of Dramatic Art in Hartford. Between 1946 and 1950, he worked with a theater troupe in Virginia and afterward appeared a few times on television before his 1951 film debut in China Corsair. Borgnine's stout build and tough face led him to spend the next few years playing villains. In 1953, he won considerable acclaim for his memorable portrayal of a ruthless, cruel sergeant in From Here to Eternity. He was also praised for his performance in the Western Bad Day at Black Rock. Borgnine could easily have been forever typecast as the heavy, but in 1955, he proved his versatility and showed a sensitive side in the film version of Paddy Chayefsky's acclaimed television play Marty. Borgnine's moving portrayal of a weak-willed, lonely, middle-aged butcher attempting to find love in the face of a crushingly dull life earned him an Oscar, a British Academy award, a Cannes Festival award, and an award from both the New York Film Critics and the National Board of Review. After that, he seldom played bad guys and instead was primarily cast in "regular Joe" roles, with the notable exception of The Vikings in which he played the leader of the Viking warriors. In 1962, he was cast in the role that most baby boomers best remember him for, the anarchic, entrepreneurial Quentin McHale in the sitcom McHale's Navy. During the '60s and '70s, Borgnine's popularity was at its peak and he appeared in many films, including a theatrical version of his show in 1964, The Dirty Dozen (1966), Ice Station Zebra (1968) and The Wild Bunch (1969). Following the demise of McHale's Navy in 1965, Borgnine did not regularly appear in series television for several years. However, he did continue his busy film career and also performed in television miniseries and movies. Notable features include The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and Law and Disorder (1974). Some of his best television performances can be seen in Jesus of Nazareth (1977), Ghost on Flight 401 (1978), and a remake of Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front (1979). In 1984, Borgnine returned to series television starring opposite Jan Michael Vincent in the action-adventure series Airwolf. That series ended in 1986; Borgnine's career continued to steam along albeit in much smaller roles. Between 1995 and 1997, he was a regular on the television sitcom The Single Guy. In 1997, he also made a cameo appearance in Tom Arnold's remake of Borgnine's hit series McHale's Navy.At age 80 he continued to work steadily in a variety of projects such as the comedy BASEketball, the sci-fi film Gattaca, and as the subject of the 1997 documentary Ernest Borgnine on the Bus. He kept on acting right up to the end of his life, tackling one of his final roles in the 2010 action comedy RED. Borgnine died in 2012 at age 95.

Trivia: In 1999, Doris Roberts achieved "overnight" stardom in the role of Marie Barone in the series Everybody Loves Raymond, going from working actress -- which she'd been for more than 40 years -- to being an instantly recognized performer. It was an improbable climb to the top rank of popular culture stardom. Roberts was born in St. Louis, MO, in 1925, to a family that was soon shattered when the father abandoned them. She had a difficult but loving childhood as her mother sought to provide for both of them by herself, and eventually Roberts gravitated toward the idea of an acting career. To do this, she had to work at any jobs that she could find, including clerk typist, to afford the lessons that she needed from teachers that included Lee Strasberg and Sanford Meisner. She made her first television appearance in the early '50s, in a Studio One production of Jane Eyre, and made the usual rounds between theater and television. Her theatrical debut came on the a stage at New York's City Center in 1955, and she was Shirley Booth's understudy in the theatrical version of the comedy Desk Set. She distinguished herself in the role of Mommy in the original production of Edward Albee's The American Dream, and since the early '60s, had carved a niche for herself in maternal and neighborly roles, on both stage and screen. Following her screen debut in Jack Garfein's New York-filmed drama Something Wild (1961), she tended more toward comedy (albeit often black comedy), with performances in Jack Smight's No Way to Treat a Lady, where she played the skeptical onlooker whose questions and low-key intervention save the life of a would-be victim; Leonard Kastle's The Honeymoon Killers (1970), in which she played the roommate of the nurse-turned-murderer played by Shirley Stoler; and Alan Arkin's Little Murders (1971), where she played Elliott Gould's mother. Female comics seemed to perceive Roberts' gifts as an actress especially well, as she got two of her better roles, in A New Leaf (1971) and Rabbit Test (1978), from Elaine May and Joan Rivers, respectively. Although she began appearing in television in the 1950s, with appearances on Ben Casey, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Baretta, All in the Family, The Streets of San Francisco, Rhoda, Soap, and Barney Miller, Roberts didn't start to make a lasting impression in the medium -- which would become her vehicle for stardom -- until the 1970s. She was supposed to have a role in a proposed new series starring Mary Tyler Moore, but when that series failed to sell, she was cast in the role of Donna Pescow's mother in the series Angie (1979), which got Roberts her first real notice by the public or the press. After that, the television appearances grew more frequent, and finally in 1983, she joined the cast of Remington Steele midway through the series' run, as Mildred Krebs, an IRS investigator-turned-secretary-turned-detective, working alongside Pierce Brosnan and Stephanie Zimbalist, and often stealing the show with her low-key comedic work. Roberts' first marriage ended in divorce, and her second, to novelist William Goyen, ended when he died in 1983 -- her son from her first marriage, Michael Cannata, has been her manager since the 1970s. It was a dozen years after Remington Steele, and some notable guest star appearances on shows like St. Elsewhere, that she landed the role of Marie on Everybody Loves Raymond. Since then, she has been a guest on talk shows and an acting celebrity, with a brace of Emmy nominations to her credit.In 2003 Roberts published the book Are You Hungry, Dear?: Life, Laughs and Lasagna, and the following year she was appointed a cultural ambassador by the U.S. Department of State. But back on the small screen Roberts was more recognizable than ever before, with appearances in Grey's Anatomy, Hot in Cleveland, and Desperate Housewives keeping her as active as ever. Roberts continued to work steadily until her death in 2016, at age 90.

Trivia: During her nine-year (1975-1984) tenure as Barbara Cooper on TV's One Day at a Time, Valerie Bertinelli grew from a chubby, awkward 15-year-old with only a smattering of bit-part credits into a polished actress and bona fide sex symbol. When Bertinelli "married" her One Day co-star Boyd Gaines in a 1982 episode, the ratings went through the roof, while many a male viewer's heart sank. One year earlier, Bertinelli had been a bride for real; her marriage to rock star Eddie Van Halen was kept under wraps by the series' producers for fear of damaging the actress' "Little Miss Perfect" image. Bertinelli's son by Van Halen was named Wolfgang, as in Mozart. While still a One Day regular, Bertinelli made the first of many TV-movie starring appearances in 1979's Young Love, First Love; later small-screen projects -- most of them packaged by Bertinelli's own production company, Bertinelli Inc. -- included The Princess and the Cabbie (1981), I Was a Mail Order Bride (1982), Shattered Vows (1984), The Seduction of Gina (1984), Silent Witness (1985), and Pancho Barnes (1988). Conversely, her theatrical-feature credits are limited, but include C.H.O.M.P.S. (1979) and Ordinary Heroes (1985). In the years since One Day at a Time, Valerie Bertinelli has starred in the short-lived TV series, Sydney (1990) and Café Americain (1993).At the beginning of the 2000s, she landed a recurring role on Touched By an Angel. In 2005 she filed for divorce from Eddie Van Halen, and a few years later she would be the star of yet another series, the TV Land sitcom Hot In Cleveland opposite Wendy Malick, Jane Leeves, and Betty White.

Trivia: The handsome and sturdy Hispanic-American actor Alexis Cruz chalked up an impressive array of bit and supporting roles from the 1980s onward -- mainly in A-list Hollywood features, and usually of an ethnic nature. He appeared very briefly as Charlie in James Toback's woefully underrated freewheeling comedy The Pick-Up Artist (1987), with Robert Downey Jr. and Molly Ringwald, and -- that same year -- played an equally small role in Arthur Hiller's female "buddy comedy" Outrageous Fortune, starring Shelley Long and Bette Midler. Cruz survived enlistment in a couple of ugly and unmemorable productions, including the 1988 family-oriented telemovie Gryphon and the 1989 Robert Wise musical Rooftops, then shifted gears somewhat and made a fast track for the small screen. On television, Cruz is probably best known as Skaara and Klorel on Stargate SG-1; his resumé also includes guest spots on such blockbuster series as NYPD Blue and ER and more prominent roles on Touched by an Angel and American Family. In 2006, Cruz received one of his highest billings to date as the impossibly hip and street-smart Martin Allende, a member of attorney Sebastian Shark's (James Woods) legal team.

Trivia: Before he inaugurated his professional career, African-American actor Paul Winfield received a well-rounded education: He trained at the University of Portland, Los Angeles City College, Stanford, U.C.L.A., the University of Hawaii, and the University of Santa Barbara. After stage work, Winfield received his first major Hollywood break as Paul Cameron on the TV sitcom Julia (1968-1971). In films from 1969, he received an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of a fiercely proud sharecropper in Sounder (1972). Back on the small screen, he earned Emmy nominations for his interpretation of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1978 miniseries King and his work as Dr. Huguley in 1979's Roots: The Next Generation. An indispensable purveyor of authoritative roles, he has played several judges, winning a 1994 Emmy for his performance in this capacity on TV's Picket Fences. Paul Winfield has also been seen on a regular basis in three television series, playing Julian C. Barlow in the 1989-1990 episodes of 227, Isaac Tuhle in Wiseguy (1987-1991), and a no-nonsense Magic Mirror (voice only) in the 1987 Cinderella spoof The Charmings. In 2004, not long after playing a small role in a remake of Sounder, Winfield suffered a heart attack and passed away at the age of 62.

Trivia: Performed with his older brother Ricky when they were both younger. Worked as a cook and dishwasher (when he wasn't singing on stage) at the Nashville Palace in the early 1980s. Storms of Life, his 1986 debut album, sold more than 4 million copies. Inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 1986. Has an uncredited cameo in Young Guns (1988). Appeared in seven episodes of Touched By An Angel and also lent the song "When Mama Prayed" to the series finale. Released Anniversary Celebration in 2011, a collection of duets and collaborations in honor of the 25 years since the release of his debut album. Suffered a stroke in 2013.

Trivia: A performer widely regarded as one of the most distinguished and eloquent actors of his or any generation, Ossie Davis combined an overwhelming amount of dramatic talent and instinct (evident via both stage and film work) with an indomitable fervor for social crusade. A native of Cogdell, GA, and a graduate of Howard University, Davis moved to Harlem at an early stage and trained with the Rose McClendon players. The actor then drew a considerable amount of attention -- alongside wife since 1948 Ruby Dee -- for helping to spearhead the American civil rights movement in the 1940s, over 20 years before it caught fire with the general public and mass media. Their combined efforts culminated in involvement with the triumphant March on Washington of August 1963, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech. In subsequent years, Davis also helped Dr. King raise money for the Freedom Riders and delivered a poignant eulogy at the funeral of Malcolm X. Meanwhile, Davis and Dee both established themselves as forces in theater and on film. Davis himself debuted on Broadway in 1946, and took his film bow with the 1950 No Way Out, but 13 years passed before his sophomore cinematic effort, the 1963 Gone Are the Days -- an adaptation of his own play Purlie Victorious. Unfortunately, the actor spent much of the '60s appearing in programmers that were either underappreciated (Shock Treatment, 1964) or unworthy of his talents (Sam Whiskey, 1969), and didn't fully realize his potential until he scripted and directed the 1970 Cotton Comes to Harlem, a gritty crime comedy (with a predominantly African-American cast including Godfrey Cambridge and Redd Foxx) that almost singlehandedly jump-started the blaxploitation movement and predated Sweet Sweetback and Shaft by a year. Several additional directorial projects followed throughout the 1970s and '80s and found Davis growing deeper and more profound, and setting his sights higher; these included the ambitious -- if not quite successful -- Kongi's Harvest (1971) and the finely-wrought, socially charged coming-of-age drama Black Girl (1972), arguably Davis' best film. Unfortunately, Davis' third and fourth efforts behind the camera, Gordon's War (1973) and Countdown at Kusini (1976), disappointed on many counts, relegating him (for better or worse) back to acting. He appeared in the racially themed, made-for-television dramas Roots (1977), King: The Martin Luther King Story (1978, in which he played Dr. King Sr.), and Roots: The Next Generations (1979), then -- around a decade later -- achieved a career resurgence thanks to the intelligence and bravura of wunderkind Spike Lee, who cast Davis in six major films: School Daze (1988), Do the Right Thing (1989), Jungle Fever (1991), Malcolm X (1992, as an off-camera narrator), Get on the Bus (1996), and She Hate Me (2004). Two of those films also included Dee in the cast. Davis also enjoyed a renewed profile on television during the early '90s when he was tapped to play a regular character on the charming and laid-back Burt Reynolds sitcom Evening Shade (1990-1994); he portrayed Ponder Blue, the series' narrator and the owner of a barbecue restaurant. Davis remained not only active but astonishingly prolific over the following ten years. Subsequent projects included small supporting roles in Grumpy Old Men (1993), The Client (1994), and Doctor Dolittle (1998), and participation in a series of documentaries, among them Christianity: The First Thousand Years (1998) and We Shall Not Be Moved (2001). Davis died in February 2005, in Miami, while shooting the movie Retirement. He was 87. Davis and Dee co-authored a dual autobiography, In This Life Together, in 1998.