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Bonnie Bartlett grew up in Moline, Illinois. Her father E.E. was a failed Shakespearean actor who became an insurance salesman. Her mother Carrie was a homemaker. At an early age, Bonnie became determined to fulfill her father's failed acting career. She went to Northwestern University to study acting. In her freshman year, she met fellow thespian William Daniels. Soon after graduation, the two were married and moved to New York to seek acting opportunities. She studied under Lee Strasberg and initially supported them.

In the 1950s she spent four years on the CBS soap Love of Life (1951) as Vanessa Raven. In 1961, their first child was born, but died within 24 hours due to complications in birth. This prompted the two to adopt two children later. Son Michael (b. 1964) is now an assistant director and stage manager in Los Angeles. Son Robert (b. 1966) is an artist and computer graphics designer in New York City. Bonnie was a stay-at-home mom through most of the 1970s, acting only occasionally in recurring roles, but rejuvenated her career in the early 1980s, most notably in the hit TV series St. Elsewhere (1982) and later in a recurring role in Boy Meets World (1993)

Distinguished character player James Firman Daly first appeared on stage in his home town of Wisconsin Rapids in 1928. He was set on acting from an early age, and was strongly encouraged by his parents. His father was in the fuel business and his mother at one time a CIA employee. Upon leaving school, Daly studied dramatic arts at various Midwestern colleges, eventually graduating from Grinnell in Iowa. His acting career was then put on hold as a result of the war and he served in all three of the service branches, the last four years spent in the navy as an ensign.

Daly's acting career got off to a good start once he arrived in New York in 1946, landing a part as understudy to Gary Merrill in the long-running hit play "Born Yesterday" on Broadway. By the time he appeared in his third play, "Man and Superman" (1949), he was billed third in the cast and won a Daniel Blum Award for his performance. Subsequently, Daly had a busy time on stage, both on and off-Broadway. He co-starred three times with the legendary Helen Hayes, most famously in "The Glass Menagerie" in 1950. That same year he also collected the Theater Guild Award as the star of "Major Barbara". His other theatrical roles of note included "Billy Budd", "Saint Joan", "The Merchant of Venice" and (on tour with Colleen Dewhurst) "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?".

A hard-working actor and intent on diversifying into different media, Daly clearly understood the potential of live television drama. He made his small screen debut in the late 1940s and soon starred in early Playhouse productions. Within a few years he featured in his own weekly syndicated series, Foreign Intrigue (1951), about a family of foreign correspondents in Europe. This was one of the first TV shows to be shot on location and it necessitated his and his family's temporary relocation to Paris and Stockholm. Throughout the next twenty years, Daly remained much in demand as a reliable leading television actor with 'gravitas', often playing tragic or despairing figures. He was commanding as the titular star of Give Us Barabbas! (1961). Four years later, he picked up an Emmy for his role in the Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951) episode "The Eagle and the Cage".

Another memorably poignant portrayal was in The Twilight Zone (1959) episode "A Stop at Willoughby", with Daly as a salesperson driven to the brink of a nervous breakdown, desperately escaping his world to a fantasy town in his own mind where life is perpetually simple and peaceful. He was also David Vincent's ill-fated business partner and friend in the pilot episode "Beach-Head", one of the first victims of The Invaders (1967). Many viewers will remember Daly as 'Flint', the solitary near-immortal from the Star Trek (1966) episode "Requiem for Methuselah". There were countless other guest starring roles and even a few choice movie parts, such as Planet of the Apes (1968). Daly enjoyed another recurring role in the long-running (170 episodes) Medical Center (1969) as resident 'elder statesman' to young surgeon Chad Everett. He had just completed filming on an episode of "Roots: The Next Generations" and was scheduled to appear in the play "Equus" at the historic Westchester Theatre, Tarrytown Music Hall, when he died of a heart attack at the age of 59.

Ken Anderson was born on 6 March 1976 in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, USA. He is an actor, known for WWE Smackdown! (1999), TNA iMPACT! Wrestling (2004) and Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia (2009). He has been married to Shawn Trebnick since 9 January 2008.

Myron "Grim" Natwick was born in 1890 in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, where he is still considered a favorite son and, throughout his lifetime, displayed exhibitions of his work there. He is best known as the creator of the animated character, "Betty Boop", which often in the past was credited to Max Fleischer as she debuted in his "Out of the Inkwell" series. Natwick also worked for Disney Studios and worked on the film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), as the lead animator of the character. Mr. Natwick was given a huge tribute party for his 100th birthday. He died not long after and received tributes from many of the famous in the animation field. He was considered one of the masters of his craft.

Dick Trickle was born on 27 October 1941 in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, USA. He was married to Darlene McMahon. He died on 16 May 2013 in Boger City, North Carolina, USA.

Bill Granger was a Chicago-based newspaper reporter and columnist for almost 40 years, and an award-winning novelist who began his literary career in 1979 with "The November Man" (now published as "Code Name November"), the first of thirteen novels featuring an American CIA agent American spy, Peter Devereaux. His second novel, Public Murders, a Chicago police procedural, won the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America in 1981.

Joel Goodness was born on 22 January 1962 in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, USA. He is an actor, known for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) and Anything for Her (2024).

John Offerdahl was born on 17 August 1964 in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, USA. He has been married to Lynn Offerdahl since July 1989. They have three children.

Philleo Nash was born on 25 October 1909 in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, USA. He was married to Edith Rosenfels. He died on 12 October 1987 in Marshfield, Wisconsin, USA.

Patrick Gear was born on 27 January 1983 in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, USA. He is an actor, known for Doc (2001).

Matt Sweeney was born on 2 May 1984 in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, USA. He is an art director, known for Don't Go to the Reunion (2013).

Tim Irwin Morgan was born on 10 October 1965 in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, USA. Tim Irwin is known for The Ride (1997) and A Vow to Cherish (1999).