12 Classic TV Stars Before and After Fame

Twelve of the most famous faces on television — and the twelve lives they lived before anyone knew their names. A mailman who became Gilligan. A Marine staff sergeant who became Maude. An accountant who beat Frank Sinatra for a Grammy. A dishwasher who shared a Harlem kitchen with Malcolm X. And a chorus girl who was fired, written off as "Queen of the B's"... and then bought the studio. Counting down: John Ritter, Bob Denver, Bea Arthur, Barbara Eden, Andy Griffith, Bob Newhart, Jackie Gleason, Redd Foxx, Carol Burnett, Henry Winkler, Dick Van Dyke... and at number one, Lucille Ball. Every story is documented — the odd jobs, the rejections, the empires and the cages fame built. Two lives per star: the one before the cameras, and the one the cameras left behind. The Sitcom Files — classic TV, re-examined. Photo credits (via Wikimedia Commons): U.S. Marine Corps portrait of Beatrice Arthur (public domain); CBS/NBC/ABC publicity photographs (public domain); Dick Van Dyke photo by Gage Skidmore (CC BY-SA); Henry Winkler photo via Flickr (CC BY). Clip excerpts: archive.org (3-second muted excerpts, commentary use).