Trivia: A uniquely gifted and versatile actor possessing the distinct ability to immerse himself in a role so convincingly that he becomes almost unrecognizable -- from a quality obsessed restaurateur (Big Night, 1996) to a master criminal bent on world domination (Spy Kids, 2001) -- one can always count on Tony Shalhoub to deliver a memorable performance no matter how small his role may be.Well-known to television audiences for his extended stint as a self-deprecating cabbie on the long-running series Wings, Shalhoub made the often-painful transition from television to film with a grace seldom seen. Born on October 9th, 1953 in Green Bay, WI, Shalhoub developed his passion for theater at the youthful age of six when he volunteered via his sister to play an extra in a high-school production of The King and I. Shalhoub was hooked. After earning his master's degree from the Yale Drama School and spending four seasons at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, MA, Shalhoub packed his bags for New York where he began a luminous career on Broadway. Broadway brought Shalhoub success not only in his career, but in his personal life as well: he was nominated for a Tony for his role in Conversations With My Father and he met his future wife, actress Brooke Adams, while acting in The Heidi Chronicles. It was not long after his Broadway success that Shalhoub made his feature debut, as a doctor in the 1990 AIDS drama Longtime Companion.Shalhoub's film career has been a testament to his range and a compliment to his abilities. Though prone to comedy, his dramatic roles have gained him just as much, if not more, recognition than his comedic roles. Winning the Best Supporting Actor award from the National Society of Film Critics for his well-researched role in Big Night (1996), Shalhoub expanded his dramatic film repertoire with roles in A Civil Action and The Siege (both 1998), while always maintaining his knack for humor (1997's Men in Black). Shalhoub's role as the ultra-mellow "anti-Scottie" in the Star Trek send-up Galaxy Quest (1999) proved that his comic persona was indeed still as sharp as ever. Sticking in the sci-fi/fantasy mold for his roles in Imposter and Spy Kids (both 2001), Shalhoub once again proved that he could do 180-degree character turnarounds with ease.Though Shalhoub would stay in sci-fi mode for his role in Men in Black 2, he would return to solid ground with his role as an obsessive-compulsive detective in the well-received television pilot Monk (2002). Directed by Galaxy Quest helmer Dean Parisot, the pilot for Monk successfully paved the way for the curiously innovative USA series to follow and found the actor warmly re-embracing the medium that had propelled him to stardom. As Monk's popularity continued to grow, Shaloub found success on the big screen in the role of a gifted psychologist for The Great New Wonderful (2005), and voiced the lovable Luigi in Cars (2006) and Cars 2 (2011). In 2007, he worked alongside John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson for the supernatural horror film 1408.

Trivia: Supporting actress Bitty Schram had the small but memorable role of Evelyn, the baseball-playing single mother who makes the mistake of crying in front of manager Tom Hanks during a baseball game in Penny Marshall's A League of Their Own (1992). A native of New Jersey and a graduate of the University of Maryland, Schram would appear in numerous feature films over the years, but is perhaps best known for the role of handler Sharona Fleming on the TV series Monk.

Trivia: Striking terror deep in the hearts and subconsciousness of filmgoers worldwide with his chilling portrayal of aspiring transsexual serial killer James "Buffalo Bill" Gumb in director Jonathan Demme's acclaimed thriller The Silence of the Lambs, Steppenwolf Theater alumnus Ted Levine may not have received the star status some may have expected would follow the role, but he can consistently be counted on to turn in a lively performance, no matter how small his part may be.Born in Cleveland, OH, Levine received his M.F.A. in acting from the University of Chicago before making frequent appearances in such 1980s made-for-television efforts as Michael Mann's Crime Story (1986) and his feature debut in 1987's Ironweed. Taking small roles in such features as Betrayed (1988) and Next of Kin (1989) before his big break in Silence, Levine, curiously, stuck mostly to television following his portrayal of Buffalo Bill, not taking another featured role until his turn as a cop on the trail of a carnivorous industrial speed iron in The Mangler (1995). Appearing in Georgia and Michael Mann's acclaimed Heat the same year, Levine began to gain more prominent roles in the following years before taking to the seas with Patrick Stewart in Moby Dick (1998). Though he received critical acclaim for his role in the controversial television series Wonderland (2000), the show aired a meager two episodes (though four were produced) before being pulled due to outcry over its portrayal of the mental health system and its inhabitants. Bouncing back to the big screen, fans found that Levine could still be counted on to turn in absorbing performances in such features as Evolution and The Fast and the Furious (both 2001). Over the next several years, Levine would remain extremely active, appearing in films like The Manchuriuan Candidate, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Hills Have Eyes, and Shutter Island, as well as on TV series like Monk and Luck.

Trivia: Initially aspired to become a basketball player but opted to pursue acting instead. Did a great deal of voice work at the start of his career, including playing Donatello for the animated series Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation. Auditioned for a guest spot in the Monk pilot but was cast in the regular role of Lieutenant Randy Disher instead. Sang backup vocals on Russell Crowe's album Gaslight after costarring with him in 1999's Mystery, Alaska and 2001's A Beautiful Mind.

Trivia: The career of producer/director Garry Marshall was marked by many peaks, including such classic television sitcoms as The Odd Couple (1970-1975), Happy Days (1974-1984), and Mork and Mindy (1978-1982), and the phenomenally popular feature film Pretty Woman (1990). A Brooklyn native, Marshall (born Gary Marsciarelli) was the son of an industrial filmmaker and a dance instructor. His sister, Penny Marshall, is a comic actress and noted film director. Marshall majored in journalism at Northwestern University and subsequently served a stint in the army before becoming a reporter for the New York Daily News. He was also a jazz drummer in a band before becoming a television comedy scriptwriter for such artists as Joey Bishop and Phil Foster and the writer for Jack Parr on The Tonight Show.Marshall moved to Los Angeles in 1961, but he didn't make it big until he teamed up with writer Jerry Belson. Together, they penned numerous episodes for several sitcoms, notably The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Lucy Show. In 1970, Marshall produced The Odd Couple, which starred Jack Klugman and Tony Randall and was based on a popular Neil Simon play and movie. He reached his apex as a television producer during the '70s, with such hits as Laverne and Shirley (1976-1983), (a Happy Days spin-off starring sister Penny), and Mork and Mindy. In addition to his producing and television directorial efforts, Marshall occasionally appeared as a supporting actor. In features, Marshall co-produced and co-wrote (with Belson) his first film, How Sweet It Is!, in 1968. A year later, the two produced and penned The Grasshopper. Marshall made his directorial feature film debut in 1982 with Young Doctors in Love, a comic look at daytime serials. As a film director, Marshall's output received uneven critical reviews. Films such as the Goldie Hawn/Kurt Russell vehicle Overboard and the Bette Midler/Barbara Hershey melodrama Beaches (1988) had good box-office business, but were considered of average quality. 1990's Pretty Woman was Marshall's first big movie hit. Following its tremendous success, he tried his hand at a serious drama with Frankie and Johnny (1991) starring Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer. Later, Marshall's films tended more toward sentimental and straight dramas such as The Twilight of the Golds (1997) and The Other Sister (1999). Marshall returned to comedy -- and to his teaming of Julia Roberts and Richard Gere -- in 1999 with Runaway Bride. Remaining an active director well into his 70s, Marshall helped to launch Anne Hathaway's career by taking the helm for both 2001's The Princess Diaries and its 2004 sequel, though his subsequent, holiday-themed ensemble comedies Valentine's Day (2010), New Year's Eve (2011) and his final film Mother's Day (2016) largely flatlined with critics and moviegoers - with New Year's Eve earning him his first-ever Razzie Award. In addition to his work behind the camera, Marshall occasionally appeared as an actor in films and television shows alike. During the mid-'90s, many TV audiences came to recognize him for playing Candice Bergen's ratings-crazy boss, Stan Lansing, on Murphy Brown. Marshall died July 18, 2016, of complications of pneumonia.

Trivia: The daughter of actors, Brooke Adams was once praised by the press for her supremely flexible countenance -- with expressions and demeanors to accommodate virtually any emotion or situation. Adams attended New York's High School of Performing Arts and the Institute of American Ballet, and took private acting lessons from Lee Strasberg. At age six, she made her Broadway debut in the 1954 revival of Finian's Rainbow. Eleven years later, she was cast as Burl Ives' teenaged daughter in the extremely short-lived TV sitcom O.K. Crackerby (1965-1966) on ABC.Adams then kept a low professional profile until making her adult off-Broadway bow in 1974, appearing in yet another revival, The Petrified Forest. A great future was predicted for Brooke when she starred as Abby, the romantic bone of contention between Richard Gere and Sam Shepard in Terrence Malick's critically acclaimed 1978 film, Days of Heaven. That same year, she played Elizabeth Driscoll (the Dana Wynter role) in the remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, opposite Donald Sutherland, and in 1979 she was Sean Connery's ethereal leading lady in the Richard Lester-directed Cuba. Any one of those three roles could have spelled superstardom for Brooke -- had she really wanted to be a superstar. Instead, she deliberately avoided the trappings of celebritydom, preferring to measure her achievements by her own standards rather than Hollywood's. And, if that meant accepting "small" but artistically rewarding theatrical projects or teaching acting classics to emotionally disturbed children, rather than accepting a role in the latest Spielberg or Scorsese blockbuster, so be it. Brooke Adams' more notable credits during the mid- to late '80s and '90s included guest appearances on TV's Moonlighting (as single mother and David Addison Lamaze partner Terri Knowles), a role in the Broadway production The Heidi Chronicles, the narration duties for the 1994 miniseries The Fire This Time, and the role of Ione Skye's hardscrabble mother in the Allison Anders-directed Gas Food Lodging (1992). These represented high points, however, and more often than not, Adams found herself relegated to parts unworthy of her, such as the unevenly received 1985 adaptation of Kevin Wade's play Key Exchange (in which she reprised her stage role) and the histrionic TV movies Lace (1984) and Lace II (1985).In subsequent years, Adams made a greater splash on television, with guest appearances on such series programs as Wings, Monk (both opposite husband Tony Shalhoub), and Touched by an Angel. She also returned to the big screen for supporting roles in several projects, including the 1995 Baby-Sitters Club and the 2007 Griffin Dunne-directed romantic comedy The Accidental Husband.

Trivia: Lead actress Jennifer Dale has appeared on screen since the '80s.

Trivia: Best known for Connor Undercover and Repo Men (2010).

Trivia: An offbeat character actor whose stark features lent him to effective portrayals of villains and seedy figures, Stanley Kamel grew up in New Jersey and attended Boston University, where he received formalized dramatic training under the aegis of noted instructor Sanford Meisner. Kamel began his acting career with roles in off-Broadway productions during the early '70s, and quickly landed his first major on-camera role, as Eric Peters, on the daytime soap Days of Our Lives. His subsequent work over the following three decades consisted largely of recurring roles and guest parts in prime-time series including Cagney & Lacey, Hunter, Melrose Place, and -- most visibly -- the Tony Shalhoub sitcom Monk, as the lead character's shrink, Dr. Charles Kroger.

Trivia: A descendent of a long line of talented actors including father James and sister Tyne, boyishly handsome screen regular Tim Daly has endured to overcome a post Wings career slump with a successful series of film and television roles. The New York City native first took to the stage in summer stock while studying at Bennington College; he followed graduation with a few seasons at Providence's Trinity Square Repertory and then made his off-Broadway debut in 1984 with Fables for Friends. Daly's film career got off to a healthy start with his role as a young expectant father in Diner (1982), though in the years that followed, the fresh-faced star was relegated mostly to small-screen roles. A Broadway bow opposite Annette Bening in Coastal Disturbances proved that Daly did indeed have the talent to make it as an actor if casting directors could see past his youthful exterior, and with his upcoming role in Wings, the rising star would prove his worth not only at comedy but drama as well. Cast opposite Steven Weber as one of two brothers who own a small Nantucket airline, Daly stayed with Wings through the series' seven-year run (1990-1997). During that time, he also utilized the predictable production schedule as a means to experiment with dramatic roles in a series of memorable made-for-television features. If audiences had pigeonholed Daly as a small-screen lightweight, a role as cult leader David Koresh in In the Line of Duty: Ambush in Waco showed that the versatile actor was capable of much more. Some of Daly's other roles from the mid-'90s may have proved less than memorable, but his vocal contributions to the animated television series Superman (for which he voiced the Man of Steel himself) kept him busy before he landed the role of astronaut James Lovell in the acclaimed HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon (1998). As audiences began to realize Daly's talent thanks to memorable parts in Storm of the Century (1999) and an updated version of the television classic The Fugitive, it seemed as if the veteran actor might have finally overcome his youthful outward appearance to command some respect. Though Daly would indeed impress with his role as Dr. Richard Kimble in The Fugitive, the series lasted only one season and it would be two years before he would return to the screen in the made-for-television drama The Outsider. In the years that followed, Daly's film career experienced something of a revival when he was cast in such high-profile releases as Basic (2003) and Against the Ropes (2004). The longtime actor also made his directorial debut in 2004 with the mournful drama Bereft. Daly became well-known for his portrayal of a naturopathic doctor Pete Wilder on NBC's drama series Private Practice. After leaving the show at the end of the 5th season, Daly voiced the character of Superman in Justice League: Doom (2012). This wasn't the first time the actor voiced the legendary superhero; he also worked on the 2010 animated feature Superman/Batman: Apocalypse. Daly maintained his TV roots, with guest arcs on The Mindy Project and Hot in Cleveland, before taking a regular role on Madam Secretary in 2014.

Trivia: Appeared in TV commercials while still in high school. Traylor is her mother's maiden name. Worked at a greeting-card company after graduating from college. Made her sitcom debut in 1996 on Boston Common. Replaced Bitty Schram on Monk in 2005, playing the detective's peppy sidekick, Natalie.

Trivia: Spent her early childhood in Houston and England (where she attended the American School in England). Won a 2004 Young Artist Award (Supporting Actress) for her first professional role, a girl orphaned by a terrorist attack in Italy, in the HBO film My House in Umbria. Has studied ballet and enjoys sailing on Long Island Sound.