Tim Allen was a sporting goods salesman, drug dealer, and stand-up comedian before Home Improvement made him a sitcom star (and the voice of Buzz Lightyear).
1953-
Desi Arnaz was a Cuban-born actor and musician who is remembered for his marriage to Lucille Ball and their TV show, I Love Lucy.
1917-1986
Tom Bosley was an award-winning American actor best known for playing Howard Cunningham in the 1970s hit TV sitcom Happy Days.
1927-2010
Bill Cosby is an American comedian, actor and producer, who has played a major role in the development of more positive portrayal of African-Americans on television.
1937-
1951-
1922-1991
James Gandolfini is an American actor best known for his role as a mobster in the hit 1999 HBO television series The Sopranos.
1961-
1952-
Andy Griffith is an actor and singer best known for his 1960s starring role in The Andy Griffith Show. He later returned to TV in the drama Matlock.
1926-2012
In 2007, actor Jon Hamm took on his most famous character to date, playing philandering ad executive Don Draper in the American Movie Classics show Mad Men.
1971-
Michael Landon was an American actor, writer, director and producer known for his roles in I Was a Teenage Werewolf, Bonanza and Little House on the Prairie.
1936-1991
1961-
1908-1991
Carroll O’Connor played Archie Bunker on the groundbreaking 1970s sitcom All in the Family. His comedic portrayal of a working-class bigot brought political and social issues into the popular dialogue of the time.
1924-2001
Actor Ed O'Neill is best known as the dad in TV sitcoms like Married... with Children and Modern Family.
1946-
Actor Bill Paxton has made a name for himself with such films as Apollo 13 and Twister and the television series Big Love.
1955-
1948-2003
American actor Robert Reed played the quintessential family man Mike Brady in the enduring sitcom The Brady Bunch.
1932-1992
American actor and comedian Ray Romano is best known for his CBS hit Everybody Loves Raymond in which Raymond plays a father and husband.
1957-
1956-
Jerry Stiller is an actor and comedian known for his roles on Seinfeld and The King of Queens. He is the father of actors, Amy Stiller and Ben Stiller.
1927-
During the mid-1980s to early 1990s, actor Alan Thicke played one of television’s most beloved sitcom dads, psychiatrist Jason Seaver on Growing Pains.
1947-
Dick Van Dyke is an American actor and comedian best known for hosting The Dick Van Dyke Show. He's also known for starring on Diagnosis Murder and for roles in films like Mary Poppins, Dick Tracy and Night at the Museum.
1925-
1928-