Careers

TLDR: Linda Evans has said plainly that she’d never have taken the role of Krystle Carrington on Dynasty if her marriage hadn’t fallen apart first. … Read more

TLDR: Pamela Sue Martin had a habit most actors don’t: walking away from hit shows the moment she stopped believing in them. She did it … Read more

TLDR: John Forsythe spent decades building relationships that eventually shaped Dynasty before the show even existed. He’d known Joan Collins since she was a teenager … Read more

TLDR: George Peppard was supposed to be Blake Carrington. Three weeks into filming Dynasty‘s pilot, he wasn’t anymore, fired after arguing with producers about a … Read more

TLDR: Diahann Carroll had already changed television once by the time Dynasty came calling. She joined the show almost on a lark, then spent decades … Read more

TLDR: Jayne Walton was singing with Lawrence Welk more than a decade before The Lawrence Welk Show ever aired on television, and she recorded a … Read more

TLDR: Roberta Linn was the actual first Champagne Lady on The Lawrence Welk Show, years before Alice Lon or Norma Zimmer ever held the title. … Read more

TLDR: Gail Farrell wasn’t looking for a spot on The Lawrence Welk Show when she flew to Los Angeles for a work trip. She talked … Read more

TLDR: Cissy King wasn’t looking for a spot on national television when she met Bobby Burgess. She just happened to be a lifting expert at … Read more

TLDR: The Semonski Sisters were a genuine sextet, six real sisters from New Jersey who ended up on The Lawrence Welk Show after a chance … Read more

TLDR: Jabari Banks had never acted on screen before landing the lead role of Will in Bel-Air, a part he learned he’d won directly from … Read more

TLDR: Tatyana Ali’s own real singing talent was noticed on set and written directly into her character’s storyline, launching a genuine music career that outlasted … Read more

TLDR: Joseph Marcell’s own family expected him to become an electrical engineer, not an actor, and he actually trained and worked in that field before … Read more

TLDR: DJ Jazzy Jeff didn’t need The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air to make him famous. He and Will Smith were already a genuine, Grammy-winning hip-hop … Read more

TLDR: Karyn Parsons turned a role written as a polished model type into one of television’s most memorable brats, entirely on her own instinct. Decades … Read more

TLDR: Ted Shackelford worked as a hotel night manager in New York City before acting ever paid his bills, then inherited one of television’s most … Read more