Clarence Darnell Gilyard, Jr. (born December 24, 1955) is a former American actor and a current college professor who has been featured in movies and television since 1980. He is sometimes credited as Clarence A. Gilyard.

Gilyard is known for his roles as Ben Matlock's (played by Andy Griffith) second private investigator (and right-hand man) Conrad McMasters, on the 1980s legal drama series, Matlock: (a role he played from 1989 to 1993), as Pastor Bruce Barnes in the Left Behind movie trilogy, and as Cordell Walker's (played by Chuck Norris) partner and best friend, Texas Ranger James "Jimmy" Trivette, on the 1990s crime drama, Walker, Texas Ranger and in Top Gun.

In 1980, Gilyard moved to Los Angeles to become an actor. He became the first black actor to undertake the role of the cheerleader in the play Bleacher Bums before he segued into television roles. As a character actor, Gilyard has made guest appearances on TV shows such as Diff'rent Strokes, The Facts of Life, 227, Simon & Simon and Riptide. Gilyard was cast on the final season of the NBC TV series CHiPs as Officer Benjamin Webster from 1982-1983. He co-starred with Jim Carrey in the 1984 NBC sitcom The Duck Factory.

Virenia Gwendolyn "Nia" Peeples (born December 10, 1961) is an American R&B and dance music singer and actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Nicole Chapman on Fame. She is also known for her role as Karen Taylor Winters on The Young and the Restless and as Sydney Cooke on Walker, Texas Ranger.

Peeples was born in Hollywood, California, the daughter of Elizabeth Joan (née Rubic), a flamenco dancer, and Robert Eugene Peeples. She was raised in West Covina. Her maternal grandparents were immigrants from the Philippines, and were of Filipino, Spanish, French, and German descent. Her father, who was originally from Mississippi, was of Scottish, Irish, English, Native American, and Italian ancestry.

She attended UCLA on a music scholarship, during which time she performed as Liberace's opening act in Las Vegas on weekends.

Peeples started her career as part of the performance group The Young Americans.

In 1988 she hit #1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart with "Trouble," which climbed to #35 on the Hot 100. Her most successful pop single is "Street Of Dreams," which hit #12 on the Hot 100 in 1991.

Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris (born March 10, 1940) is an American martial artist and actor. After serving in the United States Air Force, he began his rise to fame as a martial artist and has since founded his own school, Chun Kuk Do. As a result of his "tough guy" image, an Internet phenomenon began in 2005 known as Chuck Norris facts, ascribing various implausible or even impossible feats to Norris.

Norris appeared in a number of action films, such as Way of the Dragon in which he starred alongside Bruce Lee, and was The Cannon Group's leading star in the 1980s. He next played the starring role in the television series Walker, Texas Ranger from 1993 to 2001.

Norris is a devout Christian and politically conservative. He has written several books on Christianity and donated to a number of Republican candidates and causes. In 2007 and 2008, he campaigned for former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who was running for the Republican nomination for President in 2008. In the 2012 election he endorsed former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. Norris also writes a column for the conservative website WorldNetDaily.

Sheree Julienne Wilson (born in Rochester, Minnesota on December 12, 1958) is an American actress, primarily known for her roles in soap operas and television. She is best known for her role as April Stevens on the American prime-time television series Dallas (a role she played from 1986 to 1990), and as Alexandra "Alex" Cahill-Walker, on television series Walker, Texas Ranger from 1993-2001.

The daughter of two IBM executives, Wilson moved to Colorado at the age of nine. In 1981, Wilson received a degree in fashion merchandising and business from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

While working in Denver on a fashion shoot, one of the photographers mistook Wilson for the model; he introduced her to a New York modeling agent, who signed her on the spot. She moved to Manhattan and within eighteen months, had appeared in over thirty commercial campaigns for Clairol, Sea Breeze, Keri-Lotion and Maybelline. Her print work ran in such popular magazines as Mademoiselle, Glamour and Redbook.

Judson Mills (born May 10, 1969 in Washington, DC) is an American actor. His nickname is J The Kid. He is perhaps best known for the role as Francis Gage on Walker, Texas Ranger from 1999 to 2001. On the show, he had a partner named Sydney Cooke (Nia Peeples); each had a crush on the other, but they never showed their love on the show. From 1991 to 1993, he played Alexander "Hutch" Hutchinson on As the World Turns. He also appeared on the X-files and had a small role in Disney's Mighty Joe Young as an Impatient Driver.

Mills was born in D.C., but he grew up in northern Virginia. The house that he lived in was built by George Washington. Judson's house is considered as a national landmark.^{[citation needed]}

Mills's hobbies include hunting, fishing, and football. Judson didn't originally plan on acting, but when he got older he started involving himself in the theater. During his high school years he went to a private school called High Mowing School, which is where he first got the acting bug. Judson also appeared on episodes on Saving Grace as Hams brother as a Marine.