For years, the popular story was simple: Hervé Villechaize wanted to be paid the same as Ricardo Montalbán, the star of Fantasy Island, and the studio showed him the door. It’s a neat, dramatic explanation—but it skips over a much uglier reality that people were uncomfortable talking about at the time.

He never asked for your sympathy. As cameras flashed and crowds cheered, Chadwick Boseman quietly carried a terminal illness and chose not to tell the world.

Chazz Palminteri recovered from a personal setback by writing the film that defined his career.