Abraham Joseph "A. J." (also known as Abe) Balaban (April 20, 1889 – November 1, 1962) was a Chicago-based showman whose particular influence on popular entertainment in the early 20th century led to enormous innovations in the American movie-going experience.

Following the leasing and operation of a modest nickelodeon house in 1909, Balaban oversaw the commission and design of Chicago's great movie palaces for the Balaban & Katz (B&K) exhibition chain; integrated live performers into themed stage extravaganzas with full orchestras, forever changing vaudeville; and inspired numerous and novel ideas for theatre management.

A. J. Balaban's most productive period of achievement was from 1909 to 1929. It was a measure of his success and respect that in 1929, the February 27 issue of Variety was dedicated to him, and the following August a massive Citizens' Dinner in Chicago was organized to bid him farewell upon his move to New York to assume a creative position with Paramount/Publix, with which B&K had merged in 1926.

Anthony Joseph Foyt, Jr., or as he is universally known as in motorsports circles, A. J. Foyt (born January 16, 1935), is a retired American automobile racing driver. He raced in numerous genres of motorsports. His open wheel racing includes USAC Champ cars and midget cars. He raced stock cars in NASCAR and USAC. He won several major sports car racing events. He holds the all-time USAC career wins record with 159 victories, and the all-time American championship racing career wins record with 67.

He is the only driver to win the Indianapolis 500 (which he won four times), the Daytona 500, the 24 Hours of Daytona, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Foyt won the International Race of Champions all-star racing series in 1976 and 1977. Foyt's success has led to induction in numerous motorsports halls of fame.

Since his retirement from active racing, he has owned A. J. Foyt Enterprises, which has fielded teams in the CART, IRL, and NASCAR.

Foyt was born in Houston, Texas. He attended Pershing and Hamilton middle schools and Lamar and San Jacinto high schools, but he dropped out to become a mechanic.

Curtis James Martin, Jr. (born May 1, 1973) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the New England Patriots and New York Jets over the course of ten years. Martin began his professional career with the Patriots, who selected him in the third round of the 1995 NFL Draft. He joined the Jets in 1998 where he finished his career in 2005 after he was forced into retirement due to injury. He retired having amassed the fourth highest total of rushing yards in NFL history. He was selected as a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2012.

Curtis Jr. was born to Rochella Dixon and Curtis Sr. on May 1, 1973. Curtis Sr. left the family in 1978 after turning to drugs and alcohol leaving Curtis' mother to support the family by working two jobs. Curtis often moved around the different neighborhoods in Pittsburgh during his youth and was consistently surrounded by violence. He and his mother settled in Point Breeze prior to his sophomore year of high school. He began to attend Taylor Allderdice High School which, was known for its highly regarded academic reputation in the Pittsburgh area. He played basketball as a sophomore but did not participate in any sports during his junior year. At the pleas of his mother, who wanted him to participate in a sport to keep him away from the violence, Curtis began to play football during his senior year despite having never cared much for the sport.

Robert Elmer "Bob" Balaban (born August 16, 1945) is an American actor, author and director.

Balaban was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Eleanor (née Pottasch) and Elmer Balaban, who owned several movie theatres and later was a pioneer in cable television. His family was a dominant force in the theatre business; his uncles founded the Balaban and Katz Theatre circuit in Chicago, a chain which included the Chicago and Uptown Theatres. Balaban and Katz operated some of the most beautiful movie palaces in the United States beginning in the 1920s. Bob Balaban's father and his uncle Harry founded the H & E Balaban Corporation in Chicago. H & E Balaban Corporation operated their own movie palaces including the Esquire Theatre in Chicago. They later owned a powerful group of television stations and cable television franchises. His uncle Barney Balaban was president of Paramount Pictures for nearly 30 years from 1936 to 1964. His grandmother's second husband, Sam Katz, was a vice president at MGM beginning in 1936. Sam had early partnered with Bob's uncles Abe, Barney, John and Max to form Balaban and Katz. Sam also served as President of the Publix theatre division of Paramount Pictures.

Christopher David Gorham (born August 14, 1974) is an American actor. He was known by the series, ABC hit Ugly Betty, Popular, Odyssey 5, Jake 2.0, Medical Investigation, Out of Practice, Harper's Island and Covert Affairs.

Gorham was born in Fresno, California to David Gorham, a certified public accountant and Cathryn Gorham, a school nurse. He attended high school at Roosevelt School of the Arts and graduated from UCLA with a BA in Film & Theater Arts. While in college, he participated in many sports including martial arts, stage combat, fencing, rollerblading, and ballroom dancing.

His first job in the business was as an intern on Baywatch (1989). Gorham has appeared in a number of science fiction TV series, ranging from a starring role in Odyssey 5 to the title character in Jake 2.0. He also had roles on Party of Five, Felicity and Without a Trace. Gorham has also acted in films, including 2001's The Other Side of Heaven co-starring Anne Hathaway.

Gorham played Harrison John in the WB series Popular, Dr. Miles McCabe in the NBC drama Medical Investigation, and played the lead role in the short lived CBS series Out of Practice. He was also the lead of ABC Family's original movie Relative Chaos.