Trivia: Although Bob Hoskins first became widely known to American audiences as a detective assigned to investigate a cartoon rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), the balding, burly actor had long been recognized in his native England as a performer of exceptional versatility, capable of playing characters from working-class toughs to Shakespearean villains.Born in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, on October 26, 1942, where his mother had been sent to get away from the then-raging London Blitz, Hoskins was sent back to London with his mother when he was only two weeks old. Growing up in a solidly working-class family in post-war London, Hoskins stayed in school until he was 15, and he then abandoned formal education in favor of a string of diverse jobs. Over the course of the next ten years, he worked as a Covent Garden porter, member of the Norwegian Merchant Marines, steeplejack, plumber's assistant, banana picker, circus fire-eater, trainee accountant, and even spent time working on a kibbutz in Israel. At the age of 25, having garnered a lifetime's worth of unusual experiences, Hoskins got into acting. Hanging out at a pub one night with a friend who was auditioning for a play, he was asked to read for a part in the production. He got the part, and in the course of performing, was approached by an agent who suggested that Hoskins take up acting professionally and began arranging auditions for him. From there, Hoskins began acting onstage, working throughout the '60s, '70s, and '80s with such theatres as London's Royal Court and National Theatre and as a member of such troupes as The Royal Shakespeare Company.Hoskins made his film debut in 1972 with a minor role in the comedy Up the Front. Three years later he got his first substantial film role in the forgettable Inserts, but in 1980, he made a significant breakthrough, turning in a brilliant portrayal of a successful gangster whose world suddenly begins to fall apart in The Long Good Friday. He found even greater success six years later portraying a gangster-turned-chauffeur assigned to a high-priced call girl in Mona Lisa. His performance earned him Best Actor awards from the British Academy, the Cannes Film Festival, and the New York Film Critics Circle, and a Best Actor Academy Award nomination. For all of the acclaim surrounding his work, it was not until he starred in the aforementioned Who Framed Roger Rabbit? in 1988 that Hoskins became known to a mainstream American audience. His American accent in the film was so convincing, that in addition to earning him a Golden Globe nomination, it led some viewers to assume that he was actually an American actor.Hoskins could subsequently be seen in a number of American films in addition to those he made in Britain, appearing in such features as Mermaids (1990), in which he played Cher's love interest; Heart Condition (1990), in which he played an unhinged racist detective; and Nixon (1995), which featured him as another crazed law enforcement official, J. Edgar Hoover. In 1997, he returned to his roots in Twentyfourseven, earning a European Film Academy Best Actor Award for his portrayal of a man trying to set up an amateur boxing league for working-class young men in economically depressed, Thatcher-era England. Two years later, Hoskins turned in a similarly gripping performance as a caterer with a dangerous secret in Felicia's Journey, a psychological thriller directed by Atom Egoyan.Hoskins continued to work steadily into the beginning of the next decade in a variety of projects including acting opposite Michael Caine in Last Orders and playing a supporting role in the Jennifer Lopez romantic comedy Maid in Manhattan. He continued to appear in an eclectic series of films including Kevin Spacey's Bobby Darin biopic Beyond the Seas, as a very bad guy in the martial-arts film Unleashed, the costume drama Vanity Fair, and earning strong reviews playing opposite an Oscar nominated Judi Dench in Mrs. Henderson Presents. He also lent his very distinctive voice to one of the animated characters in the sequel Gairfield: A Tale of Two Kitties. That same year he portrayed a movie studio chief who may have had something to do with the death of George Reeves in the drama Hollywoodland opposite Ben Affleck, Adrien Brody, and Diane Lane. He appeared in Disney's A Christmas Carol, Made in Dangenham, and 2012's Snow White and the Huntsman. In addition to acting, Hoskins has worked behind the camera in a number of capacities. In 1989, he made his directorial and screenwriting debut with The Raggedy Rawney, a drama about a band of gypsies set during World War II. He also served as an executive producer for The Secret Agent in 1996.In August of 2012 Hoskins announced his retirement from acting in part because he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. He passed away after a bout of pneumonia in 2014, at age 71.

Trivia: A reclusive character actor with an elongated, skull-like face, manic eyes and flexible facial expressions, Christopher Lloyd is best known for portraying neurotic, psychotic, or eccentric characters. He worked in summer stock as a teenager, then moved to New York. After studying with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse, he debuted on Broadway in Red, White and Maddox in 1969. Lloyd went on to much success on and off Broadway; for his work in the play Kaspar (1973) he won both the Obie Award and the Drama Desk Award. His screen debut came in the hugely successful One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), in which he played a mental patient. He went on to appear in a number of films, but first achieved national recognition for playing the eccentric, strung out, slightly crazy cab-driver "Reverend" Jim in the TV series Taxi from 1979-83; he won two Emmy Awards for his work. He extended his fame to international proportions by playing the well-meaning, wild-haired, mad scientist Doc Brown in Back to the Future (1985) and its two sequels; this very unusual character continued the trend in Lloyd's career of portraying off-the-wall nuts and misfits, a character type he took on in a number of other films in the '80s, including The Addams Family (1991), in which he played the crazed uncle Fester. His "straight" roles have been infrequent, but include Eight Men Out (1989).

Trivia: After one year in college as an art major Cassidy dropped out and got married, but the marriage didn't last. She moved to San Francisco and worked successfully as a model; she also appeared briefly in two films shot there, Bullitt (1968) and Fools (1970), then went four years without another screen role, meanwhile finding some work in TV commercials. Her first significant screen appearance was in a small role in the San Francisco police drama The Laughing Policeman (1974), which led to work in two more films that year; in the second of these, Bank Shot (1974), she got her first prominent billing. Cassidy had many unmemorable roles over the next few years, finally making an impression in a successful film with Blade Runner (1982); after that she got better roles in better films, but has yet to become a widely known screen actress.

Trivia: Rotund musical comedy actor Stubby Kaye was a 1939 winner on Major Bowes' Amateur Hour radio program. He spent much of World War II touring USO bases, developing an ingratiating comic style that has dimmed but little with the passage of time. Earlier efforts by movie historians to determine Mr. Kaye's real name have been fruitless, but it should be noted that someone named "Stubby Kruger" appeared as comedy relief in several PRC films of the early 1940s. Kayes' popularity soared when he created the role of Nicely-Nicely Johnson in the 1950 Broadway hit Guys and Dolls, a part that he re-created with equal success in the 1955 film version. Another Broadway-to-Hollywood triumph for Kaye was the part of Marryin' Sam in the musical version of Li'l Abner. In 1965, Kaye hosted a Saturday morning TV kiddie series titled Shenanigans, commuting on a weekly basis between the U.S. and London, where he was simultaneously hosting a similar children's TV program. Stubby Kaye's last screen appearance was as the ill-fated funster Marvin Acme in 1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit? He made his final television appearance that same year in the telepic The Big Knife.

Trivia: British character actor Alan Tilvern began his long career in small film roles with the appropriately titled The Small Voice (1948) (it's a hostage drama, but you wouldn't know it from the title). In placid anonymity, Tilvern appeared in such internationally financed films as The Black Rose (1950), Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951) and Bhowani Junction (1956). Sometimes he received screen credit (as "A Sergeant" in Woody Allen's Love and Death [1975]); often he did not (as goodness knows what role in Superman: The Movie [1978]). Alan Tilvern's contribution to 1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit was far from obscure; as cartoon producer R. K. Maroon, it was Tilvern who put the entire plot into motion--and wound up murdered as a result.

Trivia: Lead actress Brantley has been onscreen from the early '80s.

Trivia: A movie buff practically since infancy, American producer Joel Silver attended the film school at New York University. After graduation Silver quickly worked his way up to an assistant producer post under Universal's Lawrence Gordon; after considerable success with a series of popular pictures, including a handful of Burt Reynolds vehicles, Silver was appointed president of Lawrence Gordon Productions. As head of his own Silver Pictures in 1980, Silver began inauspiciously with the mishmosh Olivia Newton-John vehicle Xanadu before finding his niche with the stylized violent action of 1984's Streets of Fire. Intense and demanding, Silver drove his staff, cast and crews mercilessly, but such prize properties as the Lethal Weapon and Die Hard series made the effort worthwhile. Silver was able to maintain his industry standing on the basis of these successes, permitting him to ride out his many failures, including Jumpin' Jack Flash (1985), Ford Fairlane (1990), and the potentially career-busting Hudson Hawk (1991). Silver more or less played himself (loud clothes and all) in the on-camera role of an explosive cartoon director in 1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988).Silver's trademark franchises would continue to pad his resume as the years went by, as he produced sequels to movies like Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, and Predator. He would also produce new, but less successful action movies of a similar style, like 1993's Demolition Man and 1995's Fair Game. He would also executive produce countless episodes of the HBO series Tales from the Crypt between 1989 and 1996. Then, in 1999, Silver struck gold -- once again -- when he produced the monumentally successful sci-fi thriller The Matrix. The movie was a huge hit, even if its sequels, released in 2003 and 2004, were dramatically less so. Silver wouldn't be able to duplicate the Matrix's success with productions like 2001's Swordfish and 2002's Ghost Ship, but he gained some niche popularity with 2006's V for Vendetta, and as an executive producer for the series Veronica Mars. Middling projects like the 2009 horror flick Orphan and Arctic thriller Whiteout kept Silver hard at work, and he would find serious box office success again with the Robert Downy, Jr. hit Sherlock Holmes in 2009, and 2010's apocalyptic Denzel Washington picture, The Book of Eli.

Trivia: Made his television debut in a 1983 episode of Reilly, Ace of Spies. Between 1994 and 1997, starred as Bernard Green in BBC sitcom Common As Muck. Between 2000 and 2004, starred as Alan Ashburn in ITV drama Fat Friends. As of 2019, has voiced the character of Daddy Pig in Peppa Pig since 2004. In 2016, was nominated for the BTVA Video Game Voice Acting Award for Best Male Vocal Performance in a Video Game in a Supporting Role, for his work on Tearaway Unfolded.