Stars Who've Triumphed Over Life's Obstacles

"Saturday Night Live" original member Garrett Morris says he is lucky to be alive. Six years ago he was shot and nearly paralyzed during a botched robbery in South Central Los Angeles. The bullet passed through his arm and into his belly, lodging just below the spine. He spent a night in critical condition, a month in the hospital and endured countless follow-up surgeries. Morris' tenacious spirit wouldn't allow him to give up. He returned to acting where he eventually landed a role on the comedy "The Jamie Foxx Show."

Veteran actors Diahann Carroll and Richard Roundtree both beat breast cancer.

Two years ago Carroll had a small cancerous growth removed from her breast and underwent six weeks of radiation treatment. The operation was a success and she attributed it to early detection. "Annual checkups can save your life," Carroll, who will star in the upcoming The Natalie Cole Story, once said.

Roundtree, who won fame in the 1970s as the cool detective John Shaft, also agrees that early detection can save your life. Like Carroll, he too is living proof of this. This year Roundtree announced that he's been cancer-free after he had surgery and six months of chemotherapy seven years ago. "It feels good that I can at last be honest about what's going on with me, take a physical for a film or a TV series and say, `Yeah, this is what I had and I'm here, and I'm a survivor and I'm blessed.'"