Trivia: Kim Basinger was hardly the first successful model to head to Hollywood in hopes of a career on the big screen, but few have managed to achieve the same degree of public acclaim and professional recognition that she has earned. Born in Athens, GA, on December 8, 1953, Kim Basinger was raised in a family of entertainers; her father had been a jazz musician and her mother a dancer who was part of the "water ballet" chorus in a handful of Esther Williams musicals. Basinger's parents enrolled her in dance classes at an early age to help her overcome a strong case of shyness; in time, she discovered she enjoyed both dancing and singing, and began contemplating a career in show business. She began competing in beauty contests as a teenager, and won the Junior Miss Georgia pageant, which took her to the national competition in New York City. By this time a striking and statuesque blonde beauty, Basinger was spotted by a representative of the prestigious Ford Modeling Agency and offered a contract; while she had hoped to make her mark as a cabaret singer, she wisely decided moving to the Big Apple was a step in the right direction. Before long, Basinger was earning 1,000 dollars per day through modeling jobs, and had signed on as the Breck Shampoo girl; in her spare time, she studied acting and picked up occasional singing gigs.In 1976, Basinger decided to take a more serious stab at acting, and moved to Los Angeles. Within a year, she made her television debut as a female police detective in the pilot for a short-lived crime drama entitled Dog and Cat; in 1978, she landed the starring role in the made-for-TV movie Katie: Portrait of a Centerfold, appropriately playing a beautiful Southern girl who comes to Los Angeles in search of stardom. After being cast as Lorene Rogers in a TV remake of From Here to Eternity (a role she reprised in a subsequent series based upon the film), Basinger finally made her way to the big screen in the low-budget drama Hard Country. But while it (and Basinger) received good reviews, her screen career didn't take off in a big way until 1983, when she was cast opposite Sean Connery in the James Bond adventure Never Say Never Again. She also posed for a well-publicized layout in Playboy which, coinciding with the film's release, certainly didn't hurt her growing popularity.While Basinger's career took off after Never Say Never Again, and she appeared in several major hits (including The Natural, 9 1/2 Weeks, and Batman, the latter of which led to a brief romance with pop star Prince), quality roles tended to elude her. But she generally fared well with the material given to her, and shined in several smaller films, including Fool for Love and Nadine. In 1991, Basinger was cast opposite Alec Baldwin in the comedy The Marrying Man, and the two hit it off -- so much so that some accused their romance of interfering with the production. The couple rode out the negative publicity, however, and married in 1993. (It was Basinger's second marriage after divorcing Ron Britton in 1989.)The next several years were difficult for Basinger. Her decision to not appear in the film Boxing Helena after verbally committing to the project led to her being sued by the film's producers, who won an eight-million-dollar judgment against her. Although the ruling was eventually overturned on appeal, legal bills forced Basinger to declare bankruptcy. And after several undistinguished projects, the actress went three years without working, during which she and Baldwin had a child. However, Basinger's 1997 comeback in L.A. Confidential suggested her time away had been well spent; playing a high-priced call girl with a close resemblance to Veronica Lake, Basinger's assured performance won her an Oscar as best supporting actress. This triumph was followed by another three-year sabbatical, which was followed by her divorce from Baldwin and a pair of box-office flops, I Dreamed of Africa and Bless the Child. In 2002, Basinger re-teamed with L.A. Confidential director Curtis Hanson, and won rave reviews for her gritty performance as a troubled single mother in the acclaimed urban drama 8 Mile. A committed vegetarian, Basinger also became an outspoken animal-rights activist In her offscreen life during the '90s.In 2001 she had a very public and ugly divorce from Alec Baldwin, but her career continued with appearances in the well-reviewed drama The Door in the Floor the thriller Cellular in 2004, and the horror film While She Was Out as well as the Bret Easton Ellis adaptation The Informers in 2008.

Trivia: British director Guy Ritchie frequently attributes the success of his unorthodox crime films -- 1998's Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, 2000's Snatch -- to the fact that his offbeat miscreants are more than believable, they are real. Preferring to cast for authenticity rather than resumé, Ritchie handpicks many of his actors from the true-life cult figures and rascals of London's underbelly. Actor Jason Statham is among the best of them.A one-time Olympic diver, fashion model, and black-market salesman, Statham came to acting by way of commercials and "street theater" -- a euphemism for hustling tourists on London's Oxford Street. Raised in Syndenham, London, he was the second son of a lounge singer and a dressmaker turned dancer. Although Statham had the familial background to go immediately into entertainment, he excelled first on the high dive. He was a member of the 1988 British Olympic Team in Seoul, Korea, and remained on the National Diving Squad for ten years. In the late '90s, a talent agent specializing in athletes landed Statham a gig in an ad campaign for the European clothing retailer French Connection. This led to an appearance in a Levi's Jeans commercial and a fledgling modeling career. Meanwhile, Statham had also earned local fame as a street corner con man, selling stolen jewelry and counterfeit perfume out of a briefcase. Thus, when French Connection's owner became one of the biggest investors in Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, he naturally introduced the diver/model/hustler to knave-hunting Ritchie.Intrigued by Statham's past and impressed by his modeling work, Ritchie invited him to audition for a part in the film. The director challenged Statham to impersonate an illegal street vendor and convince him to purchase a piece of imitation gold jewelry. Statham was evidently so persuasive that Ritchie bought four sets. When the director attempted to return his worthless acquisition -- pretending that the gold had turned to stainless steel -- Statham was so graciously inflexible that Ritchie hired him.This unorthodox audition resulted in Statham's big screen debut as Bacon, one of Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels' four primary characters engaged in a risky get-rich-quick scheme to repay a massive gambling debt. Bacon supplies a streetwise discipline and restraint that the other characters lack and a sense of humility crucial to Ritchie's film. In the director's follow-up crime comedy, Snatch, Ritchie rehired Statham to play Turkish, a smalltime hood vainly trying to break into the world of underground boxing. As this amateur but respectable hoodlum, Statham is attractive, urbane, immaculate, and smart enough to be bewildered by even his own laughable criminal ineptitude. The role began as a small supporting part in Snatch's star-filled ensemble cast but expanded throughout shooting. By the time of the film's theatrical release, Statham received top billing as its narrator and chief anti-hero.The Guy Ritchie oeuvre that supplied his breakthrough performances is not Statham's only acting arena. In 2000, he made his American film debut as a British drug dealer in Robert Adetuyi's Turn It Up starring Pras Michel. By 2001, he had finished shooting John Carpenter's sci-fi thriller Ghosts of Mars and joined Delroy Lindo in the cast of the Jet Li vehicle The One. A chance to reteam with former Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrel co-star Vinnie Jones proved too fun an opportunity to resist, and Stratham would round out a particularly busy 2001 with his role in the prison-bound sports remake Mean Machine. Just as audiences were finally standing up to take notice of the amiable tough-guy, Stratham stepped into his own as the action lead of the explosive 2002 adrenaline ride The Transporter. A sizable hit that would earn Statham increasingly prominent roles in such high profile pics as The Italian Job, and Cellular, The Transporter established Stratham as a bankable international action star and was eventually followed by a 2005 sequel that miraculously managed the improbable feat of upping the ante of the previous installment's over-the-top cartoon violence. A starring role in Ritchie's 2005 crime thriller Revolver found Stratham re-teaming with the director who launched his career with decidedly mixed results, and the following year it was off to race the clock and rescue the girl as a reformed assassin looking to make good in the hyper-intense action entry Crank. The positively outrageous Crank: High Voltage upped the ante (and the ampage) in every possible way in 2009, but not before Statham got behind the wheel for Resident Evil director Paul W.A. Anderson for the 2008 remake Death Race, discovered just how far a foolproof heist could go awry in The Bank Job, and once again put the pedal to the metal in The Transporter 3. All of this left little doubt that Statham had quickly become one of the most bankable action stars of his generation, and in 2010 he teamed with none other than Sylvester Stallone for the all-star action flick The Expendables. The action just kept coming in The Mechanic, Blitz, Killer Elite (which paired him with screen legend Robert DeNiro), Safe, and the super-sized The Expendables 2 in 2012. Statham next joined another franchise, making a cameo appearance in Fast & Furious 6. He also reprised his role in The Expendables 3. In 2015, Statham appeared in Furious 7 and flexed his comedy chops in Spy, opposite Melissa McCarthy, earning favorable reviews and opening him to another genre.

Trivia: William H. Macy came to acting by way of Bethany and Goddard Colleges. At the latter school, Macy studied under playwright David Mamet, with whom he would be frequently associated throughout his career. After college, Macy was a member of Mamet's theater troupe, the St. Nicholas Company. The actor performed in a number of productions, many of them written by Mamet, until 1978 when he left the company and headed to New York. Some of his earliest work there included commercial voice-overs, such as the now infamous "Secret: Strong enough for a man, but PH balanced for a woman." Macy also continued his theater work, forming the Atlantic Theatre Company with Mamet in 1985 and acting in Broadway and off-Broadway shows. In addition, he worked in television and began doing feature films, debuting in '80s Foolin' Around. He continued to act in supporting roles throughout the decade, appearing in such films as Mamet's directorial debut, House of Games (1987) and Woody Allen's Radio Days (1987). In 1991, he won a more substantial role, in Mamet's Homicide, and subsequently began to find work in more well-known films, including Benny and Joon and The Client.Macy finally got a shot at a leading role with his turn in Mamet's Oleanna. He won positive notices and an Independent Spirit Award nomination for his portrayal of a professor accused of sexual harassment. More acclaim followed with his starring role as a hapless car salesman in Joel Coen and Ethan Coen's Fargo (1996), for which he garnered a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination. The next year, Macy's star rose a little higher, thanks to his work in three high-profile films, Wag the Dog, Air Force One, and Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights. He was similarly lauded for his versatility through work in such films as Psycho and Pleasantville, and in 1999 he continued his winning streak as an unconventional superhero in Mystery Men, a gay sheriff in Happy, Texas, and a member of the ensemble cast of Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia. Despite the fact that Macy drew praise for his turn as a reluctant hit man in the 2000 drama Panic, the film went largely unseen, and his next substantial role found him running from dinosaurs in Jurassic Park III. As always Macy continued to intercut his more commercial efforts with such decidedly non-mainstream fare as Focus and Stealing Sinatra. Surprisingly, it was just such work that netted Macy some of his most glowing reviews. Case in point was a memorable performance as a disabled traveling salesman in the 2003 drama Door to Door; a role that earned its convincing lead an Emmy. After sticking to the small screen with the Showtime miniseries Out of Order, Macy went wide with the theatrical hit Seabiscuit and the breathless Larry Cohen-scripted thriller Cellular. That same year, the actor would continue to nurture a succesful ongoing collaboration with famed writer/director David Mamet in the widely-praised but little-seen crime drama Spartan. Macy has also continued to do television work, appearing on such series as Spencer, Law & Order, and ER. For his role in the 2004 made for television drama The Wool Cap (which also found him teaming with writer Steven Schachter to adapt a story originally written by Jackie Gleason), Macy was nominated for multiple awards including a Best Actor at the Golden Globe and an Emmys. In 2005, Macy returned to home turf with the Mamet-scripted thriller Edmond, directed by Stuart "Reanimator" Gordon. The picture reunited the actor and director, who originally collaborated in the early eighties on the stage version of the playwright's Sexual Perversity in Chicago. Adapted from Mamet's 1982 one-acter, Edmond dramatizes the descent of a seemingly normal man (Macy) from sanity to unbridled psychosis. While Edmond didn't exactly bomb critically or commercially after its July 14, 2006 premiere, it fell below the bar of previous Mamet efforts on two levels: first, the studio opened it to decidedly more limited release than Mamet's directorial projects over the previous several years (such as Spartan and Heist), thus ensuring that fewer would see it, and it also suffered from somewhat lackluster reviews. Surprisingly, those who did complain of the work attacked Mamet's script in lieu Gordon's direction. Variety's Scott Foundas observed, "The problem is that, too often, we don't fully understand what motivates Edmond, and many of Mamet's efforts toward explanation -- that life is one big shell game, that we're all latent racists at heart -- feel like specious armchair philosophizing." Macy produced that same year's Transamerica, and graced the cast of Jason Reitman's hearty satire Thank You For Smoking, with a funny turn as senator and anti-tobacco promulgator Ortolan Finistirre. At around the same time, he also voiced a crooked, baseball bat-swiping security guard in that year's family friendly animated feature Everyone's Hero. Meanwhile, audiences geared up for Macy's contribution to the ensemble of actor-cum-director Emilio Estevez's semi-fictional, Altmanesque docudrama Bobby, which recounts the events that preceded RFK's assassination by Sirhan Sirhan at the Ambassador Hotel. As the hotel manager, Macy joins a line-up of formidable heavyweights: Helen Hunt, Elijah Wood, Harry Belafonte, Martin Sheen, Estevez himself, Anthony Hopkins, Sharon Stone, and many others. The picture had journalists and moviegoers across America whispering 'Oscar contender' long before its initial release on November 22, 2006. Shortly after production wrapped, Macy made headlines in mid-late 2006 for a comment that involved his allegedly berating Bobby co-star Lindsay Lohan's on-set behavior, in reference to her constant tardiness. Meanwhile, the trades reported the everpresent Macy's involvement in two 2007 features: the animated Bee Movie (with a lead voice by Jerry Seinfeld), about a honeybee who decides to sue mankind for its use of honey, and Wild Hogs, a farce with Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence and John Travolta as a trio of Hell's Angels. Over the coming years, Macy would appear in movies like Shorts, Dirty Girl, and The Lincoln Lawyer, as well as the critically acclaimed series Shameless.In 1997, William H. Macy married Felicity Huffman, with whom he appeared in Magnolia.

Trivia: Actor/producer/director Noah Emmerich made a name for himself onscreen with memorable supporting roles in such features as Cop Land (1997), The Truman Show (1998), and the uplifting Disney hockey drama Miracle (2004). With a chameleon-like ability to disappear into his characters and a solid drama background, Emmerich threw himself into every role no matter how small or seemingly inconsequential. A New York native who attended Yale University and the N.Y.U. Film School, he sang a cappella with the former's Yale Spizzwinks before making the award-winning short The Painter at N.Y.U. Following graduation, he appeared in such small-screen efforts as If Someone Had Known (1995) and Smoke Jumpers (1996), and had higher-profile roles in wide theatrical releases like Beautiful Girls (1996) and Crazy in Alabama (1999). Emmerich was generally relegated to playing rather one-dimensional authority figures in his early movies, though later got more prominent roles in The Truman Show and Love & Sex (2000). In subsequent years, Emmerich appeared almost exclusively in such high-profile releases as Windtalkers (2002), Beyond Borders (2003), and Miracle (2004). The brother of producer Toby Emmerich, Noah also established a production company, Sandbox Entertainment.

Trivia: Is of Cuban descent. Played cello as a child. Caught the acting bug at 13 after seeing a touring-company production of Cats in Des Moines, IA. Auditioned for a role in Nip/Tuck and was deemed too young, but show execs liked her and had a part written for her. Earned a 2008 ALMA Award nomination for her work in The Dresden Files.

Trivia: First full-time role was playing Chad Rollo on Another World. Best known for portraying Teri Hatcher's ex-husband Karl on Desperate Housewives. Supports a number of environmental charities, including the Orange County Bird of Prey Center, the Surfrider Foundation and the Pacific Marine Mammal Center. Enjoys surfing in his spare time.

Trivia: Whether burning-up the ice as an all-star high school hockey player, studying pre-med at Pepperdine, singing in the all-state chorus or essaying one of many roles on stage, screen, or television, multi-faceted actor Eric Christian Olsen has worn many hats on his way to celebrity stardom. Born in Eugene, OR, and raised in Bettendorf, IA, Olsen spent most of his early years playing hockey and writing for his high school newspaper, not discovering his love for acting until after graduation, when he landed a commercial role in a television spot for Whitey's Ice Cream Parlor. Olsen was soon actively seeking out both stage and screen roles, and, following his television series debut in Millennium, he had a memorable performance as a burn victim on ER and made his feature debut in Arthur's Quest (1999). Soon drawn in to the millennial teen movie boom, Olsen's career continued to flourish in such films as Pearl Harbor and Not Another Teen Movie (both 2001). Following a starring turn in the 2002 drama Local Boys, the burgeoning actor appeared the same year in the Rob Schneider comedy The Hot Chick. In addition to his film work, Olsen was also the youngest improvisation comedian in the nation for Comedy Sportz, a live comedy show suitable for the entire family. He played the role of the younger Lloyd Christmas in the Dumb and Dumber prequel, and in 2004 he starred in the horror film Cellular. He continued to work in a variety of projects including Beerfest, License to Wed, Fired Up, The Back-Up Plan, and Celeste and Jesse Forever.

Trivia: Jessica Biel rose to fame as the wholesome preacher's daughter on the WB television show 7th Heaven, then gained greater notoriety for trying to get herself kicked off the show via a risqué photo spread in the men's magazine Gear. Making such statements as, "Mary Camden is dead," the 17-year-old Biel indeed got out of her contract to pursue a movie career; when that floundered, she - amusingly - found herself reconsidering her haste and returned for guest spots on the program.Biel was born on March 3, 1982, in Ely, MN, then raised in Boulder, CO. She was first discovered at the 1994 IMTA Los Angeles Convention, which earned her a scholarship to Diane Hardin's Young Actors Space in Los Angeles. Teen print modeling followed, and in 1996, Biel began her run as Mary Camden on the Aaron Spelling-produced 7th Heaven. Shortly thereafter, she was cast as Peter Fonda's granddaughter in Victor Nunez's rich character study, Ulee's Gold (1997), and as Jonathan Taylor Thomas' love interest in I'll Be Home for Christmas (1998).But Biel grew tired of playing a good girl on television and tried to force the producers to fire her from 7th Heaven, claiming her pristine image was a factor that kept her from landing the role that went to Thora Birch in American Beauty (1999). When the producers would not release her from her contract, she posed on the cover of the March 2000 Gear under the headline "Fallen Angel." The images inside featured her sprawled topless on a bed and against a bathroom mirror, her hands providing insufficient cover in a manner that pushed even Gear's lax standards for showing skin. The issue become one of Gear's most popular ever, with terrific resale value on Ebay, and got Biel canned from the show.However, the controversy and exposure did not immediately improve her film career. Biel's first post-Gear role was as a bikini-wearing babe in the Freddie Prinze Jr. baseball movie Summer Catch (2001), but the film barely made a flicker at the box office after being bumped from its initial release date. Biel has since been making guest appearances in her initial Mary Camden role and has been cast in director Roger Avary's The Rules of Attraction (2002). An ill-advised shortcut down the backroads of Texas found Biel and friends pursued by one of the silver screen's most notorious maniacs in the 2003 remake The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, with supporting roles in David R. Ellis's intense pot-boiler Cellular and the vampire-slaying Wesley Snipes action fantasy Blade: Trinity serving well to keep viewers on the edge of their seats. While a blast into the clouds with Stealth provided innoffensive thrills for more forgiving movie-goers, few would stand up to defend Almost Famous director Cameron Crowe's saccharine Elizabethtown as even throwaway fun. In 2006, Biel traveled back in time to become the source of a decidedly supernatural mystery as the ill-fated love of a turn-of-the-centry Vienna magician portrayed by Edward Norton in director Neil Burger's The Illusionist. Biel began 2007 at a low ebb, as the romantic lead in the apocalyptic sci-fi thriller NEXT. As directed by journeyman Hollywood action stalwart Lee Tamahori (XXX: State of the Union), and adapted (loosely) from the Philip K. Dick story "The Golden Man," the picture stars Nicolas Cage as Cris, an issue-ridden psychic who foresees the nuclear destruction of Los Angeles. Biel plays the seer's tender-hearted lover, who spends her free time every week at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, teaching the children of the Havasupai Indian reservation. The film bombed unequivocally at the box office, reeling in only around $14 million worldwide in its first week.The actress next switched genres, unveiling her comic flair to audiences in the hotly-anticipated buddy comedy I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (2007). The Universal farce (released in the States in July 2007) stars Adam Sandler and Hitch's Kevin James as, respectively, Chuck Levine and Larry Valentine, the bachelors of the title - two straight macho firefighters who pose as gay marrieds to qualify for domestic partner benefits. No points for guessing that Biel plays the film's romantic lead; she's the attorney who represents the two men against the insurance company, with whom Sandler falls in love.Biel appeared in Gary Marshall's ensemble romcom Valentine's Day (2010) and the unrelated follow up, New Year's Eve (2011). She played Captain Charissa Sosa in the big-screen remake of The A-Team (2010) and continued on her action movie remake streak, playing Melina in Total Recall (2012). In 2012, she also appeared in Playing for Keeps with Gerard Butler and the bio drama Hitchcock, playing actress Vera Miles.

Trivia: Waited tables at an L.A. deli before his big break. Was named one of the 10 Actors to Watch by Variety in 2000. Shared screen time on the TV series Suits with his mother and father, Gail and Charlie Hoffman, when they made their acting debut as the parents of their son's character.

Trivia: Is the daughter of musician David Foster and has numerous famous family members as the result of her father's marriages, having ex-step siblings that include Brody and Brandon Jenner and Gigi and Bella Hadid. Went to boarding school in Switzerland while growing up. Began acting on TV series in the early-2000s, playing guest roles on Roswell, Judging Amy, CSI, House and Gilmore Girls. Worked as a writer for the short-lived NBC series The New Normal. Decided to create a satirical reality show titled Barely Famous with her sister Sara after her family rejected a proposal to be the subject of an actual reality series.

Trivia: One of Hollywood's most steadily employed character actresses, Caroline Aaron has appeared in an impressive array of films for some of the industry's most esteemed directors. A native of Richmond, VA, where she was born August 7, 1952, Aaron made her film debut as a waitress in John Sayles' Baby, It's You (1982). Her subsequent film credits include Sayles' Brother From Another Planet (1984), Mike Nichols' Heartburn (1986), Working Girl (1988), and Primary Colors (1998); Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), Alice (1990), Husbands and Wives (1992), and Deconstructing Harry (1997); Nora Ephron's Sleepless in Seattle (1993), and Wayne Wang's Anywhere but Here (1999). In 2000, she popped up in Nichols' alien comedy What Planet Are You From? and Don Roos' romantic drama Bounce, co-starring Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow.Aaron has also acted extensively on television and the stage. Within the former medium, she has guest starred on such popular series as Mad About You and Law & Order, while she has appeared on-stage in such acclaimed works as the Broadway production of The Iceman Cometh and the national tour of Wendy Wasserstein's The Sisters Rosensweig.

Trivia: Detroit native Lin Shaye studied art history at the University of Michigan before moving to New York to focus on acting. She started landing film and TV roles in the late '70s and early '80s with appearances in movies like The Long Riders, Alone in the Dark, and Brewster's Millions, and began earning a reputation as a memorable character actress. She would become a familiar face for her memorable roles as Mrs. Nuegeboren in 1994's Dumb and Dumber and Magda in 1998's There's Something About Mary, and would continue to take on quirky projects in the years that followed, like in 2006's Snakes on a Plane and 2010's Insidious.

Trivia: Best known as the founder, co-chairman, and co-CEO of New Line Cinema, warhorse Robert K. Shaye is responsible for turning that enterprise from a fledgling, independently owned distributor of "arthouse" features and documentaries (circa the late '60s), into one of the most significant film production companies and distributors of motion-picture entertainment in the international marketplace. Fiscally, it currently stands as the fifth-ranked studio in Hollywood thanks to Shaye's efforts. Born March 3, 1939, in Detroit, MI, Shaye initially pursued a career as a film director, authoring a training film for workers at his father's supermarket, and later helming the shorts Image (1963) and On Fighting Witches (1965). He received an MBA from the University of Michigan and a JD from Columbia University School of Law, then accepted a position, in the mid- to late '60s, with New York's Museum of Modern Art (infamous for its extensive archival film holdings) and used the knowledge he obtained from that post to explore the option of establishing a startup film distributorship out of his Greenwich Village apartment. Shaye founded "New Line Cinema" (as he named the business) in 1967, initially as an outlet for rereleases of "cult" films (such as the 1936 Reefer Madness, which became a sensation among potheads) and first-run domestic issues of international films, much as Barney Rosset's Grove Press was doing right at around the same time. But whereas Grove experienced financial difficulty in the early to mid-'70s and watched its film distribution wing fold, New Line enjoyed enormous success on all fronts through the end of the decade. The corporation branched out into far more lucrative and commercial territory (the "mainstream") in the '80s and '90s, largely thanks to the release of Wes Craven's Nightmare on Elm Street series, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, and -- later on -- the Austin Powers series. In 1993, it inherited the Friday the 13th franchise as well (then dormant for four years, a longer lapse than at any point in the prior history of the series) and successfully revived it with Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, raking in millions of dollars. Meanwhile, Shaye branched out into more independent, arthouse fare (in competition with such entities as Miramax), and established the Fine Line Features distribution wing of New Line in 1990 to help accomplish this goal. With teenage slasher fans and a more discerning, educated viewership under its belt, concurrently, New Line thus managed to reach multiple audiences on opposite sides of the industry spectrum -- an unprecedented move in the American film industry. New Line's successful arthouse projects during the '90s and 2000s include The Player (1992), Short Cuts (1993), Pleasantville (1998), Magnolia (1999), About Schmidt (2002), and Punch-Drunk Love (2002), to name only a few among dozens. Over the years, New Line -- under Shaye's aegis -- has become industry godfather to such maverick filmmakers as Craven, John Waters, Alexander Payne, Albert and Allen Hughes, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Robert Altman (in his early '90s Hollywood resurgence). Shaye is a Fulbright Scholar, a trustee of Columbia College, and a member of the New York State Bar Association. He serves on several committees, including the Legal Aid Society of New York, the AFI, and the Board of Trustees of Motion Picture Pioneers.