Trivia: Dramatic actor Laurence Fishburne gained widespread acclaim and an Oscar nomination for his gripping performance as the Svengali-like Ike Turner in the Tina Turner biopic What's Love Got to Do With It (1993) and went on to rack up an impressive string of credits playing leads and supporting roles on stage, screen, and television.Born in Augusta, GA, the sole child of a corrections officer and an educator, Fishburne was raised in Brooklyn following his parents' divorce. An unusually sensitive child with a natural gift for acting, he was taken to various New York stage auditions before landing his first professional role at the age of ten. Two years later, he made his feature film debut with a major role in Cornbread, Earl and Me (1975). A turning point in the young actor's career came when he lied about his age and won the role of a young Navy gunner in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now. On location in the Philippines, the teenage actor effectively bade farewell to childhood as he endured the many legendary problems that befell Coppola's production over the next two years. In between shooting days, Fishburne hung out with the adult actors, often exposing himself to their offscreen drinking and drugging antics.Back in Hollywood by the late '70s, he continued playing small supporting roles in features and on television. Like many black actors, he was frequently relegated to playing thugs and young hoodlums. He would continue to appear in Coppola productions like Rumble Fish (1983) and The Cotton Club (1984) throughout the 1980s. Wanting a change from playing heavies, he accepted a recurring role as friendly Cowboy Curtis opposite Paul Reubens on the loopy CBS children's series Pee-Wee's Playhouse. By the early '90s, Fishburne had begun to escape the stereotypical roles of his early career. In 1990, he played a psychotic hit man opposite Christopher Walken in Abel Ferrara's King of New York and a chess-playing hustler in Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993). Following his great success in the Tina Turner biopic, he became one of Hollywood's most prolific actors, appearing in films such as John Singleton's Higher Learning (1995). Fishburne, who had known Singleton when the latter was a security guard on the Pee-Wee's Playhouse set, had previously appeared in the director's debut film Boyz 'N the Hood (1991). After Higher Learning came Othello (1995) and Always Outnumbered, which he also produced. Fishburne had previously produced Hoodlum (1997), in which he also starred. In 1999, he stepped into blockbuster territory with his starring role in the stylish sci-fi action film The Matrix. Increasingly geared towards action films, Fishburne could be seen in the fast and furious motorcycle flick Biker Boyz as fans prepared for the release of the upcoming Matrix sequels. Indeed, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions (2003) earned Fishburne further praise from both fans and critics. The same year, Fishburne co-starred with Tim Robbins and Sean Penn in the role of a homicide detective for the Academy Award-winning thriller Mystic River. The actor went on to star as a cop-killing mobster for the crime drama Assault on Precinct 13 (2005), and as a somber professor of English in the critically acclaimed urban drama Akeelah and the Bee (2006). He would co-star in the ensemble political docudrama chronicling the life and death of Robert F. Kennedy (also in 2006), and join the cast of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer in 2007. Fishburne found success again in director Steven Soderbergh's Contagion (2011), and co-stars in the Superman reboot Man of Steel (2013) as the editor-and-chief of "The Daily Planet". In addition to his work in cinema, Fishburne has established a distinguished stage career, winning a Tony Award in 1992, for his role in August Wilson's Two Trains Running.

Trivia: Best known for her television work, Marg Helgenberger started acting in college theatrical productions while studying speech at Northwestern University. A native of Omaha, NE, where she was born on November 16, 1958, Helgenberger moved to New York after graduating from college and landed a role as a tough young policewoman on the soap opera Ryan's Hope. During her four-year tenure on the show, she also maintained her ties with the theater through her involvement with TADA, the Children's Theater Company.Following a move to Southern California, Helgenberger began guest starring on such television series as Matlock, thirtysomething, and HBO's Tales From the Crypt. She co-starred on the short-lived series Shell Game (1987) before getting her big break with the role of K.C., a tough prostitute, on the distinguished drama China Beach in 1988. Helgenberger's role won her two Emmy nominations and one win in 1990. Following the series' demise in 1991, Helgenberger returned to television guest-star status on ER, where she had a four-episode-long recurring role, and in the miniseries The Tommyknockers.A presence on the big screen since 1989, when she made her feature-film debut in Steven Spielberg's romantic fantasy Always, Helgenberger has played a wide variety of roles in films ranging from Species (1995) to the moody The Last Time I Committed Suicide (1997) to Steven Soderbergh's widely acclaimed Erin Brockovich (2000). Helgenberger would continue to appear in films like In Good Company and Mr. Brooks, and found particular success with the starring role of Catherine Willows on the long running proceedural CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Trivia: Whether scanning a homicide scene for evidence or blasting up a motorcycle ramp at 120 miles per hour as one of the world's greatest daredevils, it seems there's little that square-jawed CSI star George Eads can't accomplish on the small screen. However, the future wasn't always so sunny for the decidedly down-to-earth star; Eads has most certainly earned his rank among television's best, thanks to a solid work ethic and the kind of steadfast determination that's been known to move mountains. Born in Fort Worth, TX, and raised in nearby Belton, it didn't take the Texas Tech graduate long to realize his calling -- and despite the fact that chiseled Texans with big-time aspirations are a dime a dozen in Hollywood, Eads was determined to stand apart from the crowd. Of course, nothing comes easy in Hollywood, and after making the rounds to various auditions during the daytime, the eager up-and-comer would earn his keep as a weight adjuster at the local Gold's Gym in the off hours. Persistence eventually paid off in the form of a supporting role on the little-seen nighttime soap opera Savannah, and though the show barely lasted one season, it did provide an ideal training ground for the relatively inexperienced Eads. In the years that followed, Eads continued to hone his craft with a recurring role on the hit series ER as well as numerous supporting performances in such blink-and-you-miss-them made-for-television pictures as The Ultimate Lie and Crowned and Dangerous. Eads' persistence eventually paid off, and he was hired for the key role of forensic analyst Nick Stokes in the breakout television hit CSI. Cast as a former college baseball star with a hero complex, Eads charmed audiences by creating a character that was as believable as he was personable. The show proved an enormous success, but the young star nearly lost the role forever by making the simple mistake of oversleeping on the day of his salary negotiations (CBS at first thought Eads was attempting to strong-arm them for more money, but the situation soon blew over when Eads apologized for his actions). Now seated comfortably at the top of the television food chain, Eads continued to make a name for himself with roles in numerous made-for-television features including Just a Walk in the Park and Monte Walsh, though it was a role as his childhood hero Evel Knievel in a small-screen biography that truly brought Eads' career full circle. When he's not investigating some of the most grisly crimes ever witnessed on the small screen in CSI, Eads fulfills his duties as part owner of Hollywood's popular Cinespace restaurant -- a perfect place to take in dinner and a movie.

Trivia: The son of an actor of the same name, Paul Guilfoyle has appeared in several major film productions, portraying a wide variety of supporting characters. He is a member of the prestigious Actor's Studio, as well as being a longtime resident of New York. He also has numerous stage credits to his name. However, the actor is best known for his role in the crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. He joined the show in its first season in 2000 as L.V.P.D Captain James "Jim" Brass, and continued to work on the show throughout the 2000s and early 2010s.

Trivia: Although bit parts in A-list features such as The Rules of Attraction (2002) and Little Athens (2005) highlight his resumé, the sandy-blonde-haired actor Eric Szmanda may find it difficult to supersede his own ties with the characterization of Greg Sanders on the top-tiered CBS series drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. As Sanders -- a DNA and trace expert analysis with a "nonconformist exterior" and an enduring taste for heavy metal (not to mention a deep-seated infatuation for Sarah Sidle [Jorja Fox]), Szmanda made an enduring impression among series fans, starting as a recurring character and working his way up to series regular; he stayed with the show for several years.

Trivia: After a scant few supporting roles in both Tinseltown duds (Here Come the Littles, 1985) and respected Hollywood A-listers (Michael Apted's Class Action, 1991), American actor Robert David Hall connected with his broadest fan base via his multi-season portrayal of Dr. Albert Robbins, the middle-aged coroner on the television phenomenon CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. With his portly figure, balding pate, and ever-present white beard, Hall lent a distinguished aura to his evocation of Robbins, a character with the most unusual of personal and professional histories. Off-camera, Hall is a double-leg amputee who has served for long periods as the national chairperson of the Performers With Disabilities committees of SAG and AFTRA. His career includes a long tenure as the daytime music and voice director of KNX-FM, Los Angeles. In addition to his acting role on CSI and occasional movie work, Hall made occasional guest appearances on such series as L.A. Law and The Practice.

Trivia: HBO enthusiasts will invariably remember character actor Wallace Langham for his winning multi-season portrayal of Phil, the conceited head writer of Larry Sanders' late-night talk show, on the Garry Shandling-headlined sitcom The Larry Sanders Show. Langham (who first received billing in projects as Wally Ward) grew up in Los Angeles; his parents divorced at an early age and his mother, Sunni, designed costumes for the musical variety series Donny and Marie. Langham was, by all accounts, drawn magnetically to showbusiness; he enrolled in acting classes, signed with an agent, and landed a string of television commercials beginning at age 16 (in 1981). After high school, Langham enrolled briefly in Cal State Northridge, but dropped out after snagging a bit part in John Hughes' teenage sci-fi comedy Weird Science (1985). Scattered appearances on such series as Murder, She Wrote and Star Trek: Voyager followed -- as well as the recurring role of Josh, smart-alecky assistant to lingerie proprietor Veronica on the Kirstie Alley sitcom Veronica's Closet. It was the Shandling turn, however, that put Langham on top of his game. He made occasional feature appearances in such pictures as the Nora Ephron comedy-fantasy Michael (1996) opposite John Travolta, the Eddie Murphy vehicle Daddy Day Care (2003), the ensemble comedy drama Little Miss Sunshine (2006), the award-winning The Social Network and 2012's Ruby Sparks but -- outside of Larry Sanders -- he is probably best known for his fine work on the series drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. On that program, Langham sustained a multi-season portrayal as lab technician David Hodges.

Trivia: North Carolina native Liz Vassey began acting on-stage when she was just nine years old, studying acting at a number of universities over the coming years before beginning her onscreen acting career. She appeared on the soap opera All My Children beginning in 1988 and would make guest appearances on numerous TV series, including Murphy Brown, Quantum Leap, and others. Soon, Vassey would be snagging staring roles on TV shows, playing roles like Captain Liberty on the cult favorite The Tick and Wendy Simms on the procedural drama CSI. Among her other credits are the supernatural series Tru Calling and the Elmore Leonard adaptation Maximum Bob.

Trivia: Initially known for her multi-telefilm portrayal of Christy Huddleston, the young woman who accepts a teaching position in rural Cutter Gap, NC, and begins educating the ignorant locals -- a role she inherited from Kellie Martin, the star of the mid-'90s TV series -- actress Lauren Lee Smith simultaneously defied any related attempts to pigeonhole her as a family-friendly actress by branching out into much grittier and edgier material. Role choices included that of a psychic mutant in the sci-fi series Mutant X (2001-2004), a nymphomaniac in the racy Lie With Me (2005), a lesbian cook on the Showtime drama series The L Word (2004-2006), a "beat" girl in Terry Zwigoff's misanthropic comedy drama Art School Confidential (2006), and a homicidal med student in the thriller Pathology (2008). In the years to come, Smith would remain active on screen, appearing on shows like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Good Dog, and The Listener.

Trivia: Known to many as Coroner "Super Dave" Phillips on the popular series CSI, actor David Berman has also appeared on the show Heroes. He's also played a recurring role on Vanished and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Trivia: Grew up in Alexandria, Virginia.Grew up with two younger sisters in a bilingual household, speaks English and Mandarin Chinese.Before becoming an actor, wanted to attend Law School and work in politics.Was homecoming king and student body president.Was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity in college.Married wife Xun Zhou on stage after a charity event in China.On October 2014, became the first male to appear on the cover of Vogue China.

Trivia: Known to millions of early-'80s filmgoers as Elliot, the young boy who befriends a leathery, long-necked alien, Henry Thomas rocketed to fame with his starring role in Steven Spielberg's 1982 blockbuster E.T. the Extra-terrestial and then, just as quickly, plummeted out of sight. Unlike countless other child actors who seem to fall off the face of the earth with the onset of their first pimple, however, Thomas remained somewhat active in low-profile projects while maturing in the relative obscurity of his native Texas. When he eventually re-emerged on the big screen in the mid-'90s, he did so in a variety of projects that emphasized his versatility, until he was granted a sort of second coming, with his acclaimed supporting turn as a wandering cowboy in Billy Bob Thornton's 2000 epic All the Pretty Horses.By the time he was cast in E.T. the Extra-terrestial, Thomas had already made an impressive screen debut as Sissy Spacek's son in the 1981 drama Raggedy Man, which also starred Sam Shepard. A native of San Antonio, where he was born the son of a hydraulics mechanic on September 9, 1971, he returned to Texas after all of the hype surrounding E.T. the Extra-terrestial, acting in film and on TV from time to time while attending school and generally leading the life of a regular kid. In 1989, he appeared in his most high-profile project since E.T., playing the chivalrous young man who dispatches Colin Firth's titular ne'er-do-well in Valmont, Milos Forman's adaptation of Choderlos DeLaclos' Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Although the film was nowhere near as successful as Stephen Frears' adaptation of the same work the previous year, it did give Thomas exposure in one of his first adult roles. Substantially greater exposure followed for the actor in 1994, when he was cast as one of Anthony Hopkins' three sons in Edward Zwick's Legends of the Fall. Co-starring with Hopkins, Brad Pitt, and Aidan Quinn, Thomas was on the screen for a relatively brief length of time, but the popularity of the lavish, big-budget film did allow the young actor to make an impression on audiences who hadn't seen him since E.T. He subsequently switched gears to portray a troubled drifter in the independent production Niagara Niagara (1997), in which he co-starred with Robin Tunney, and then returned to large budgets and lavish production values when he won a major role in the most hotly anticipated project to date of his adult career, Thornton's adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses. Featuring stunning Southwestern cinematography and equally photogenic turns by co-stars Matt Damon and Penelope Cruz, the film cast Thomas as Lacey Rawlins, Damon's best friend. Although the film came in for very mixed reviews, most critics were in agreement about Thomas' wry, low-key performance, with some even asserting it was the best thing about the picture. Despite the adulation surrounding his work, Thomas kept a low profile, playing in his band the Blueheelers and spending time in Italy to shoot Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York (2001) alongside the likes of Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz, Liam Neeson, and Leonardo DiCaprio.Thomas continued to work throughout the 2000's on a wide variety of projects, completing at least a few films a year, including the horror film Dead Birds and the comedy Tennis, Anyone?.... In 2007, he signed up to star alongside Anne Heche, Carrie Fisher, and David Boreanaz in the Alan Cumming-directed black comedy Suffering Man's Charity.

Trivia: A fair-haired actress who ultimately parlayed her photogenic looks into a healthy and substantial career in both film and television venues, Charlotte Ross grew up in affluent Winnetka, IL, as the daughter of a saleswoman mother in a single-parent household. Ross graduated almost immediately to acting work, initially stepping before the cameras in late adolescence with small supporting roles in such features as Touch and Go (1986), Foreign Student (1994), and Love and a .45 (1994), but found far greater exposure on the small screen. She essayed the lead role of Lori Volpone on the Showtime pay-cable series Beggars and Choosers (1999-2001), then embarked on a multi-season portrayal of Detective Connie McDowell on Steven Bochco's gritty cop drama NYPD Blue. After that high-profile role, Ross returned to big-screen features in a lead capacity, this time, with roles in Donny Most's comedy Moola (2006) and Mike Robe's family drama Montana Sky (2007).

Trivia: Ever since his film debut in director Michael Mann's 1981 crime drama Thief, actor William L. Petersen (born February 21st, 1953) has carved a successful niche for himself in the realm of crime-oriented television and film. Audiences were quick to warm to the actor thanks to his everyman appearance and ability to elicit sympathy by portraying authority figures whose rank rarely surpassed their humanity, and in the following decades, Petersen would hone this persona to a fine point in such efforts as Mann's 1986 thriller Manhunter and, much later, the popular CBS crime series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. It was while studying on a football scholarship at Idaho State University that the Evanston, IL, native first discovered his love for the stage, and though the popular jock initially signed up for drama classes as a means of boosting his grade point average, his love for the stage soon surpassed his grip on the gridiron. A post-graduate move to Spain found Petersen studying Shakespearean acting, with a subsequent return to the States leading the burgeoning actor to Chicago. In addition to an association with the famed Steppenwolf Theater, Petersen and several of his peers co-founded Chicago's Remains Theater Ensemble in 1980. The next year, a small supporting role in Mann's Thief marked Petersen's first foray into the celluloid universe, and it was also around this time that Petersen made his Broadway debut with a starring role in The Night of the Iguana. The actor remained a fixture on CSI until 2008, and went on to co-star in the films Detatchment (2011) and Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2010).As the 1980s progressed, Petersen became an increasingly recognizable figure in the world of film, in particular thanks to solid performances in such efforts as To Live and Die in L.A., Manhunter, and Amazing Grace and Chuck, with his stature on the screen virtually cemented by the time he kicked off the 1990s with a turn as Pat Garrett in Young Guns II. Though roles in such films as Return to Lonesome Dove, Fear, and The Beast did indeed increase Petersen's recognition factor among the moviegoing and television-viewing masses, he more often than not seemed to be lost without Mann's direction and criminals to chase. Of course, all of this would be solved when the veteran actor stepped into the role of crime scene investigator for the 2000 television series CSI, and though feature work had certainly taken precedence over television thus far in his career, the transition seemed to benefit Petersen when the Emmy-nominated series soon shot to the top of the ratings.

Trivia: The son of a prominent archaeologist/museum director, American actor Ted Danson grew up near the Navajo reservation in Arizona. He played basketball while at Kent School Connecticut, and then moved on to Stanford University. It was in the process of getting acquainted with an aspiring actress at Stanford that Danson found himself attending his first audition-- and by years' end had transferred to the drama department at Carnegie Tech. Marking time in non-speaking roles, Danson left the stage for the more lucrative world of TV commercials, some of which have been well-circulated on videotape since Danson has become famous. Danson's first steady TV work was as a slimy villain on the NBC soap opera Somerset. Shortly afterward, the actor attained his first film role, as a murdered cop, in The Onion Field (1978). After seeing Danson in the movie Body Heat (1981) and in an episode of the TV series Taxi, producer Glen Charles cast the actor as Sam Malone, ex-sports star and full-time barkeeper and womanizer, on the long-running, well-loved sitcom Cheers He won Emmys for the 1989-90 and 1992-93 seasons. Frequently making attempts at film stardom during the 11-season run of Cheers, Danson finally struck gold in Three Men and a Baby (1987) and its sequel Three Men and a Little Lady (1990). Danson's most recent work includes the 1996 starring role in the TV miniseries Gulliver's Travels and a co-starring role, opposite his new wife Mary Steenburgen, in the television sit-com Ink (also 1996). In 1998 Danson began a six-year run on another successful sitcom portraying the lead character on Becker, playing a caustic grump who couldn't have been further from Sam Malone's effortless charm. He continued to work steadily on the big screen as well scoring appearances in Saving Private Ryan and Mumford. He made sporadic appearances on Larry David's award-winning Curb Your Enthusiasm, and earned strong reviews for his dramatic work on the first season of the TV show Damages. He followed that up with a co-starring role on the HBO series Bored to Death, which lasted three seasons. In 2012 he could be seen in the inspirational animal movie Big Miracle.

Trivia: Best known for his role as Warrick Brown, the detective with a marked predilection for risk (and an ongoing gambling addiction), on CBS's blockbuster series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, the easygoing, congenial, and memorably handsome African-American actor Gary Dourdan has built his life and his public image around uniqueness and originality. Six foot two inches tall, green-eyed, sporting bushy yet sculpted dreadlocks, and straddling the worlds of drama and avant-garde music, Dourdan commented to Ebony magazine, "I've always tried to be unconventional as much as I possibly could...one thing I'm trying to do with my career and with my craft is to blur the lines between what people think African-Americans should play and what I'm doing. I'm not much into fads and fashions and trying to follow things."Born December 11, 1966, in Philadelphia, PA, as the son of Robert and Sandy Durdin (his actual surname), the adolescent Dourdan attended "Freedom Theater," an inner-city program for aspiring actors, during adolescence. Success in this venue prompted him to travel to Manhattan on a weekly basis for musical training and dramatic auditions. Dourdan landed his "big break" as an actor in the early '90s, seemingly without even trying. While dating fashion model Roshumba Williams around 1991 and vacationing with her in France, Dourdan was spotted by powerhouse Debbie Allen, then the producer and director of A Different World; impressed by his looks and manner, she invited him to audition for the series. He played Shazza Zulu, the resident "con man" of Hillman College -- a role he sustained through the end of 1992 (for less than one season), before moving on to new endeavors. Dourdan debuted onscreen inauspiciously, with a bit part as the Second Cartel Man in Weekend at Bernie's II. Additional roles included that of a copy guy in Ron Howard's The Paper (1994), Christie in Alien Resurrection, and Yates in the Andy Wilson-directed medical thriller Playing God (1997). In 2000, Dourdan landed his biggest break with the CSI role, for executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer -- and (when the program instantly shot up to number one) continued the part as the series progressed. The same year that he signed with Bruckheimer and company, Dourdan played Malcolm X in the telemovie Muhammad Ali: King of the World. As mentioned, Dourdan is also a prolific alternative musician (with solo albums to his credit) and a record producer. He married African-American model Williams in 1992; the couple divorced two years later. He has two children, a son, Lyric, and a daughter, Nyla (the daughter of Jennifer Sutton, whom Dourdan dated from 1995 to 2000). He voiced the character of Detective Crispus Allen in 2008's Batman: Gotham Knight, and took on a supporting role as a chef in Jumping the Broom (2011).

Trivia: The lithe and attractive brunette American actress Jorja Fox entered the public eye in the late '90s and early 2000s, given her involvement as a recurrent cast member in three consecutive, top-ranked U.S. television series: ER (1994), The West Wing (1999), and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000). Fox is perhaps most familiar to fans of CSI, appearing in well over 150 episodes and numerous seasons.Born Jorja-An Fox on July 7, 1968, in New York, NY, but raised in Melbourne Beach, FL, Fox moved back to Manhattan in her teens and began a modeling career after winning a local modeling contest, then subsequently enrolled as a drama student at the Lee Strasberg Institute, where she studied acting under the aegis of legendary actor William Hickey (Prizzi's Honor, Forget Paris). Fox's early roles were minor and somewhat forgettable, though she debuted onscreen under the tutelage one of the finest American indie filmmakers -- Maggie Greenwald -- in that director's well-received film noir debut The Kill-Off (1991). She followed it up with an equally dark turn, as Fate 3 (alongside future West Wing co-star Allison Janney), in John Feldman's little-seen black comedy thriller Dead Funny (1995), and joined mentor Hickey and Alan Arkin for the best-forgotten Jerky Boys (1995) -- a loud, rude and obnoxious farce about a couple of prank phone callers. The film bombed with critics and the public, and disappeared instantly.Fox joined the cast of the blockbuster series ER in 1996, during its third season on the air. She played Maggie Doyle, a lesbian intern at County General Hospital who launches a sexual harassment suit against a seemingly invincible administrator. The role lasted for three seasons, wrapping in 1999; that same year, Fox signed for a supporting role on The West Wing, mega-producer Aaron Sorkin's blockbuster series drama about life in the Oval Office. Fox would spend the following years finding continued success on the small screen, most notably in the role of investigator Sara Sidle on the hit CBS series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Trivia: Louise Lombard lived and breathed the fine arts from an early age, and projected extreme versatility in many arenas. A trained dancer and actress from early childhood, Lombard graduated to television commercials by age 14, and subsequently delved into dramatic roles. Lombard evinced a remarkable predilection for emotionally and psychologically challenging evocations, such as that of a heroin addict in a PSA directed by Jon Amiel (Copycat). After gracing the BBC series Casualty and Bergerac, the ITV show Capital City, and the ITV telemovies Catherine Cookson's A Black Velvet Gown, and Perfect Scoundrels: Sweeter Than Wine, Lombard broke through to national fame in 1991, with the lead role of Evangeline Eliott in the three-season House of Eliott series on the BBC. The story concerns two sisters who travel the road from extreme poverty to wealth as proprietors of the most successful dressmaking business in all of England.For the remainder of the 1990s, Lombard sought out a series of highly individualized and intelligent projects, including Elizabeth Gill's 1997 ensemble drama Gold in the Streets (as the girlfriend of an illegal Irish immigrant) and the ITV series Bodyguards (as one of the toughs of the title). After a brief tenure as a literature student at Cambridge University (as well as studying photography and print work at St. Martin's College), Lombard spent the first decade of the new millennium branching out into more internationally oriented roles, including insurance investigator Ellen Brachman in the Dutch movie Claim (2000), and the part of Kath in My Kingdom (2001), a highly modernized adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear. American viewers, however, will most closely associate Lombard with the romantic lead of Lady Anne Davenport in the Viggo Mortensen period adventure saga Hidalgo (2004), and the role of Dr. Harriet Fellows, a physician who assists crash survivor Alec Baldwin, in the TNT telemovie Second Nature (2003).

Trivia: Studied with Second City and Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago. Hired to work on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as a researcher. Founded, with CSI co-star David Berman, Entertainment Research Consultants, a company that does research for forensic television shows. First appeared on-screen on CSI in season 5 as a recurring character; was promoted to a series regular in season 13. Suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative retinal disease; works with the Foundation Fighting Blindness to promote the disease.

Trivia: Detroit native Elisabeth Harnois relocated to California at a young age and was raised in Los Angeles. Living in such close proximity to the home of the film industry, she began appearing in film and TV at the age of six, with a role in the movie One Magic Christmas. She would go on to study at Wesleyan University, and graduated in 2001 with a degree in film studies. Getting back into the business after graduation, Harnois began appearing in films like the critically acclaimed Pretty Persuasion in 2005, Chaos Theory in 2007, and A Single Man in 2009. Branching into lighthearted fare in 2011, the actress would sign on to provide the voice of Ki in the animated film Mars Needs Moms. Later that same year, Harnois joined the cast of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as Morgan Brody.

Trivia: A versatile entertainer who first shot to fame as redheaded housewife Peg Bundy on the long-running television sitcom Married with Children, Katey Sagal has since established herself as one of the small screen's most reliable and prolific actresses.It was at the tender age of five that the talented youngster first began to show promise as a singer, and after honing her talent with years of practice, Sagal went on to perform as a Harlette opposite future superstar Bette Midler. After performing as a backup singer for the likes of Etta James, Olivia Newton-John, and Tanya Tucker in the mid-'80s, Sagal made her television debut on the Mary Tyler Moore sitcom Mary. Though that particular show didn't make it past the one-season mark, it did open up a world of opportunity for the aspiring young actress, who would subsequently earn three Golden Globe nominations as gaudily attired suburbanite Peg Bundy on the raunchy Fox Television sitcom Married with Children. A stinging satire of suburban dysfunction, Married with Children's gleefully lowbrow humor earned it as many fans as detractors over the course of the show's impressive ten-year run. When the plug was finally pulled on Married with Children in 1998, Sagal teamed with former Three's Company star John Ritter in the made-for-television romance Chance of a Lifetime before making appearances on such series as That '70s Show and Disney's animated show Recess.While performances in a number of made-for-television movies hinted at dramatic abilities that had never been tapped during her extended stint on Married with Children, it was cartoon voice-over work that would soon prove the bread and butter of her career during the millennial crossover. Despite the fact that it never achieved the popularity of The Simpsons, Matt Groening's animated sci-fi comedy series Futurama did gain a fairly devoted fan base during its four-year run, with Sagal in particular getting a fair amount of laughs in her role as voluptuous one-eyed alien Leela. In 2002, Sagal partnered with former Chance of a Lifetime star Ritter for the Emmy Award-winning sitcom 8 Simple Rules...for Dating My Teenage Daughter, though the tragic and unexpected death of star Ritter -- who collapsed on-set at the beginning of the second season -- brought the show to an untimely end in 2005. A pair of appearances on the phenomenally successful small-screen thriller Lost followed in 2005, and in 2006 Sagal traded barbs with William Shatner and James Spader on Boston Legal. She was a member of the cast of Sons of Anarchy when that show debuted in 2008, and she returned to voicing Leela on Futurama when the show began production again after a multi-year layoff.

Trivia: American actor Cliff DeYoung began a stop-and-start film career with Pilgrimage in 1972; most of his work for the next several years was on stage and in television. DeYoung starred in the very brief 1975 TV series Sunshine, playing a widowed musician raising a young stepdaughter; the series was a spin-off of the 1973 TV movie of the same name, which also starred DeYoung. The actor also played the lead role of a blinded Vietnam vet in the Joseph Papp-produced CBS drama special Sticks and Bones (1973) which was blacked out by many affiliates due to its vitriolic antiwar stance. Three years later, DeYoung played Charles Lindbergh (to whom he bore a daunting resemblance) in the 1976 made-for-TV Lindbergh Kidnapping Case. After his attention-grabbing appearance in the 1983 horror film The Hunger, Cliff DeYoung concentrated on movie roles, with occasional returns to TV in such productions as the 1985 miniseries Robert Kennedy and His Times.

Trivia: A performer who succinctly defines the term "character actor," Tom Noonan has appeared in over 20 feature films and numerous TV series and movies, and has also enjoyed a career as a playwright, director, and acting professor. A 1973 graduate of the esteemed Yale acting program, Noonan began his career as a guitarist and composer, working with such downtown theater troupes as Mabou Mines and The Wooster Group (which has included fellow actor Willem Dafoe among its ranks) until he found his niche in film and TV in the early '80s.Noonan began to find work as a premier villain in such films as Manhunter ([1986] the first film to feature the infamous Hannibal Lecter), The Monster Squad (1987), Robocop 2 (1990), and Last Action Hero (1993), the latter few representing Hollywood action-adventure pictures that helped subsidize smaller projects that the actor wished to take on. One of these projects was the 1994 Sundance Film Festival sleeper What Happened Was..., a startling examination of a truly awkward first date based on Noonan's play produced the previous year. The film, which Noonan wrote, directed, and starred in opposite Karen Sillas, won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance that year, as well as the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. That same year, the film was released on the arthouse circuit and garnered accolades for Noonan, including several Ten Best citations from critics. What Happened Was... was featured in Scenario Magazine in the July 1995 issue as one of its featured screenplays.Noonan continued to appear in such mainstream fare as Michael Mann's cops-and-robbers epic Heat (1995) and more television offerings, including a memorable stint on the popular sci-fi show The X-Files. He then made a film called The Wife, based on his play Wifey, co-starring Wallace Shawn, Julie Hagerty, and Karen Young, all holdovers from the stage version, which premiered at his Paradise Theater, a small off-off-Broadway space in New York's East Village. This film was also accepted into the Sundance Film Festival and was (barely) released theatrically, not enjoying the same success as his 1994 play to film.Noonan is the author of several collections of fiction, as well as an unpublished novel titled Must Have. A former National Endowment of the Arts scholar, he has long used New York City as his home and professional base, and has taught classes in acting technique at the Paradise Theater, which for years has been host to original, quirky downtown theatre.

Trivia: Evan Rachel Wood was born in Raleigh, NC, where her father Ira David Wood ran a theater company. Along with her two brothers, she acted in her dad's stage productions before getting small roles in made-for-TV movies. In 1995, she made several guest appearances on the CBS drama American Gothic, as the daughter of Mrs. Russell (played by real-life mom Sara Lynn Moore). Her next regular role was Chloe on the NBC sci-fi police drama Profiler. She left the show to join the cast of the popular ABC family drama Once and Again as Rick's daughter Jessie. Along with child actor co-stars Julia Whelan and Meredith Deane, she won a Young Artist Award for her work on the show. Other TV appearances include Touched by an Angel, The West Wing, and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. In 1998, Wood made her first feature film in Timothy Hutton's directorial debut Digging to China. In the starring role of Harriet Frankovitz, she played a ten-year-old girl who befriends mentally challenged adult Ricky (Kevin Bacon). More movie appearances followed in Griffin Dunne's fantasy Practical Magic, Joey Travolta's crime movie Detour, and Andrew Niccol's sci-fi comedy Simone. Her next leading role was in the family-friendly drama Little Secrets as teenage concert violinist Emily Lindstrom. Her big breakthrough came in 2003 as the star of Catherine Hardwicke's directorial debut Thirteen, which was partially written by teenage co-star Nikki Reed. Launched into semi-stardom by the well-marketed movie, she was then offered a part in Ron Howard's Western The Missing, also starring Cate Blanchett and Tommy Lee Jones. Projects for 2004 include the family drama The Upside of Anger and the teen comedy Pretty Persuasion.

Trivia: Actor, singer, and voice actor Keith David has spent much of his career on the stage, but also frequently works in feature films and on television. A native of New York City, David first performed as a child, singing in the All Borough Chorus and later attended the prestigious High School of Performing Arts. Shortly after graduating from Juilliard, where he studied voice and theater, David landed a role in a production of Coriolanus at Joseph Papp's Public Theater. He starred opposite Christopher Walken. David made his Broadway debut in Albee's The Lady From Dubuque (1980) and, two years later, had his first film role in John Carpenter's The Thing. He would not appear in another feature film until he played King in Oliver Stone's Platoon (1986). In between, David alternated between stage and television work. He appeared in five films in 1988, including Clint Eastwood's Bird, where he gave a memorable performance as jazz sax player Buster Franklin. In 1992, David showed his considerable skill as a singer and dancer and won a Tony nomination for starring in the musical Jelly's Last Jam, opposite Gregory Hines. David's film career really picked up in the mid-'90s, with roles ranging from a gunslinger in Sam Raimi's The Quick and the Dead to a New York cop in Spike Lee's Clockers to an amputee who owns a pool parlor in Dead Presidents (all 1995). In 1998, David had a brief but memorable role as Cameron Diaz's boisterous stepfather in the Farrelly brother's zany Something About Mary. In one of the film's funniest scenes, David tries to help Diaz's prom date, Ben Stiller, extricate himself from an embarrassingly sticky situation. He is also well known to animation fans for his voice work in, among other projects, Disney's Gargoyles, HBO's Spawn, and the English-dubbed version of the Japanese-animated film Princess Mononoke. In 2000 he appeared in Requiem for a Dream, Pitch Black, and Where the Heart Is, as well as providing the narration of Ken Burns documentary on the history of jazz. He continued to work steadily in a variety of projects including Barbershop, 29 Palms, Agent Cody Banks, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and the 2005 Oscar winner for Best Picture, Crash. He also found work in Transporter 2, The Oh in Ohio, Meet Monica Velour, Lottery Ticket, and the 2010 remake of Death at a Funeral.

Trivia: California native Melinda Clarke was born into show business. With an actor father and a ballet dancer mother, it was only a matter of time before Clarke grew up and headed for L.A. to follow in her parents' footsteps. She spent the late '90s paying her dues with appearances on shows like Seinfeld and Xena: Warrior Princess before being cast as Julie Cooper on the smash-hit series The O.C. She stayed with the show for its entire run from 2003 to 2007. Clarke continued to find success in television, with high-profile recurring gigs on CSI as Lady Heather and as herself on Entourage. She joined the cast of Nikita in 2010; once that show ended in 2013, Clarke resumed making her guest star rounds on shows like Vegas and Dallas.

Trivia: During a 1994 interview with comedian Bobcat Goldthwait, The Today Show's Katie Couric became so rattled at Goldthwait's paranoiac, high-decibel responses to her questions that she repeatedly entreated him to calm down and relax. After the commercial break, a frowning Couric looked directly at the guys in the NBC control room and asked, "Why didn't you tell me he always talks like that?" Indeed, Goldthwait has never spoken when shouting will do -- at least not professionally. A popular attraction on the comedy-cabaret circuit in the early '80s, Goldthwait made his film bow as gonzo gang leader Zed in Police Academy 2: The First Assignment (1985); he revived the character -- this time as a good-guy police cadet -- in two Police Academy sequels. Though we've been treated to generous helpings of Goldthwait's marine-raiders comic style in such TV series as Capitol Critters (1992) and Unhappily Ever After (1995), his funniest appearance thus far has been his briefest: in the satirical MTV special Medusa: Dare to Be Truthful (1992), he offers a 30-second parody of Kevin Costner's aw-shucks cameo in Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991). Having previously directed his own concert video Is He Like That All the Time? (1988), Goldthwait extended his directorial activities to the 1994 theatrical feature Shakes the Clown (1994), a grimly amusing look at the underbelly of show business. While promoting Shakes on May 9, 1994, Bobcat Goldthwait made his bid for media immortality by impulsively setting fire to Jay Leno's guest couch on The Tonight Show -- an act which resulted in shocked outrage from both Leno and NBC, but did not prevent them from using this inflammatory vignette in their advertising.His career geared increasingly towards the small screen for the majority of the '90s, Goldthwait would stay in the public eye with a variety of guest appearances on such popular shows as Tales from the Crypt, ER, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, as additional roles on such animated efforts as Buzz Lightyear of Star Command; Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist; Duckman; and Lion of Oz found his services as a voice-over artist in ever-increasing demand. The trend would continue as Goldthwait lent his distinctive vocal inflections to such shows as Crank Yankers and Lilo and Stitch: The Series at the turn of the millennium, though it seemed as if his career was increasingly coming into its own behind the camera as the comic began directing episodes of Chappelle's Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live. Goldthwait's 2003 comedy feature Windy City Heat would debut on Comedy Central to the delight of fans everywhere. He directed Sleeping Dogs Lie, a low budget film about a man who must confront his fiancée when she finds out about some of his past behavior. In 2006 the newly empowered filmmaker's surprisingly tender yet shockingly outrageous romantic comedy Stay would make an impression on audiences at the Sundance Film Festival when it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at that year's proceedings.

Trivia: California-born actor Robert Gunton has been essaying film character roles since 1980. Among his film credits are Rollover (1981), Matewan (1987), Glory (1988) and Cookie (1989). Many observers feel that Gunton was at his performing peak in the role of a wildly neurotic streetcorner evangelist in the little-seen satire Static (1985). A seasoned improv performer, Robert Gunton was one of the regulars (along with such future notables as Mark-Linn Baker and Joe Mantegna on the Manhattan-based TV series Comedy Zone (1984).

Trivia: Citing Danny Kaye as one of his foremost idols, American actor Arye Gross has done well for himself in a variety of supporting roles in television and film; like Kaye, he shows a particular talent for playing affable, if quirky, young men. While his feature debut was rather unremarkable -- he was credited as, simply, "Turbo" in 1984's forgettable The Exterminator 2 -- he was able to achieve top billing throughout the late '80s and mid-'90s for his performances in House 2: The Second Story (1987), The Couch Trip (1988), Coupe de Ville (1990), For the Boys (1991), and Hexed (1993). 1992's A Midnight Clear earned him particular acclaim for his role as a GI alongside Ethan Hawke and Gary Sinise. However, it wasn't until 1994, when Gross landed the part of good-hearted but somewhat hapless Adam on the award-winning sitcom Ellen, that he found prominent mainstream recognition. Gross continued to work in film during Ellen's four-year run -- in 1996, he was able to act with Kirsten Dunst and Nick Nolte in Keith Gordon's war-themed satire Mother Night, and during that same year, he played Tadpole opposite Tony Curtis in The Continued Adventures of Reptile Man and His Faithful Sidekick Tadpole. Several years later, critics praised Gross' performance as a metropolitan artist forced to return to his hometown in Montana in Big Eden. After appearing in Seven Girlfriends (2000) and Burning Down the House (2001), Gross played the ill-fated, would-be criminal Howard Marks in Steven Spielberg's Minority Report. In 2003, Gross could be seen in a recurring role on HBO's hit series Six Feet Under.

Trivia: Brooklyn-born Xander Berkeley made the rounds on numerous TV shows throughout the '80s, '90s, and 2000s, not just as an actor, but as a makeup artist. The actor has put his uncanny talent in the makeup department to use on the sets of many shows, like on 24, where he designed his own makeup to depict his character's affliction with radiation sickness.Berkeley got his start in show business in the early '80s, appearing on shows like Moonlighting, The A-Team, and M*A*S*H. He went on to appear in movies, as well, like The Rock and Apollo 13, but he frequently returned to the small screen for memorable roles like George Mason, head of the Counterterrorist Unit on 24, and Sheriff Roy Atwater on CSI. In the coming years, Berkeley would continue to find success on teh small screen, on shows like Nikita.

Trivia: Intimidation often looms large for a legendary director's son who wishes to follow in the footsteps of his famous parent; perhaps for this reason, more than a few opt to establish themselves in another field. For Danny Huston, however -- the scion of mythically revered, Academy Award-winning filmmaker John Huston -- it wasn't at all a question of intimidation, merely one of circumstance. After pursuing directorial work fervently and dauntlessly, but encountering mixed success and frustration about his own inability to get studio backing for projects, Danny Huston found himself being drawn, one assignment at a time, into bit roles before the camera. In the process, Huston inadvertently launched himself as one of the most respected character actors of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.Born May 14, 1962, in Rome, as the illegitimate child of John Huston and European actress Zoe Sallis (during the former's separation from his then-wife, the late Ricki Soma), Daniel Huston came of age in Ireland and London. He studied art and cinema as a young adult, often spending a considerable amount of time on his father's movie sets, and honed his skills in his early twenties not in the arena of directing (as might be expected), but in that of painting.Danny Huston's directorial assignments began inconspicuously, at the age of 24, with the 1987 made-for-television comic fantasies Bigfoot and Mr. Corbett's Ghost (the second of which featured John Huston in the cast). The elder Huston -- then riding on the tails of his mid-'80s comeback with Under the Volcano and Prizzi's Honor -- engineered Danny's premier A-list feature. For it, Danny signed to helm a cinematization of Thornton Wilder's picaresque fantasy novel Theophilus North, co-adapted by John Huston, Prizzi's Honor scribe Janet Roach, and James Costigan. The Hustons assembled a dream cast: Anthony Edwards, Lauren Bacall, Harry Dean Stanton, Mary Stuart Masterson, Anjelica Huston (Danny's half-sister), David Warner, and Virginia Madsen, who dated and then married Danny in the fall of 1989. Robert Mitchum replaced John Huston in a key role when he died during production. Mr. North stars Edwards as the title character, a Yale graduate who wheedles his way into the upper crust of Newport, RI, in 1926, thanks to an inherent surge of electricity in his body that enables him to relieve the ailments of locals and thus charm them irrepressibly.Unfortunately, Mr. North -- which took its stateside bows in early August 1988 -- received tepid and lackluster reviews. Perhaps for this reason, Huston found it difficult to lock down a follow-up. Within a decade, the assignments were few and far between, and he occasionally found himself directing embarrassing fare like the 1995 direct-to-video horror exploitationer The Maddening (where psychotic marrieds Burt Reynolds and Angie Dickinson trap a poor woman and her daughter in their home and torture them systematically), and waiting, ever so patiently, for additional projects to take shape. Huston's personal life also decrescendoed during the early '90s, given his separation and divorce from Madsen. With no other immediate options visible to him, Huston started accepting Hollywood friends' invitations to play on-camera bit roles -- and scored tremendous success in this arena to rival anything prior in his career. He debuted as a bartender in Mike Figgis' late-1995 critical smash Leaving Las Vegas, then followed it up with turns in such cause célèbres as Timecode (2000), 21 Grams (2003), Silver City (2004), and The Aviator (2004). Huston was particularly memorable as British agent Sandy Woodrow in Fernando Mereilles' The Constant Gardener (2005), and as sociopath Arthur Burns in John Hillcoat's ultraviolent Western The Proposition (2005). He would go on to appear in films like Robin Hood, Stolen, and on the series Magic City.

Trivia: A prolific film, television, and theater actress, Megan Follows became a TV star as Anne Shirley in Canadian television's adaptation of L.M. Montgomery's popular Anne of Green Gables books. Born in Toronto to two actors, Follows began acting on TV as a toddler. After she appeared in several Canadian features and shows, and made her American movie debut in Stephen King's Silver Bullet (1985), her performance as Montgomery's feisty redheaded orphan in the acclaimed 1985 miniseries Anne of Green Gables and the 1987 sequel Anne of Avonlea won her two Gemini awards and made her an international name. Supposedly putting her career-making turn as Anne behind her, Follows continued to act in plays and movies throughout the 1980s and early '90s, including TV movies Sin of Innocence (1986) with a young Dermot Mulroney, Inherit the Wind (1988), and Back to Hannibal: The Return of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn (1990) (as a grown up Becky Thatcher). The versatile actress also played Anne of Green Gables co-star Colleen Dewhurst's daughter in the grim Canadian drama Termini Station (1991), and voiced the role of Clara in the animated feature The Nutcracker Prince (1990). Follows devoted the rest of the 1990s to starting a family, acting in Canadian TV movies and starring in the Canadian feature comedy Reluctant Angel (1997). She began the next decade, though, by reprising her most famous role (as a now fully adult, aspiring writer in New York) in Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story (2000).

Trivia: Declined a full college scholarship to pursue acting.Made his feature film debut in 1967's In the Heat of the Night.Received a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe nomination for his work in The Ninth Configuration.Is perhaps best known for playing veterinarian Hershel Green in zombie drama series The Walking Dead between 2011 and 2018.In 2016, appeared in Netflix sci-fi drama series The OA.

Trivia: A talented character actor whose pudgy frame and adaptable face allows him to alternate between meek and imposing at the drop of a hat, Maury Chaykin endeared himself to television audiences as razor-sharp detective Nero Wolfe, though he has been appearing in film and television since the late '70s. Raised in Brooklyn, NY, Chaykin took a shine to acting while attending James Madison High School. Following his dream to the University of Buffalo, where he majored in theater, it was there that Chaykin would found The Swampfox Theater in 1968. An avant-garde troupe that became the talk of the town after crashing Toronto's Festival of Underground Theater in 1970, The Swampfox troupe would later gain accolades as the most original group at the Yale Drama Festival. Following such strong beginnings, it was clear to many that great things were in store for Chaykin. Spending a few years at North Buffalo's American Contemporary Theater following his college graduation, Chaykin would later move on to work in experimental theater in Toronto. Alternating frequently between television and film in his early years, small early roles in such popular films as 1983's WarGames insured the burgeoning actor increased visibility, and following roles in such high-profile fare as Mrs. Soffel (1983) and Turk 182! (1984), Chaykin made a lasting impression when promoted to leading-man status in 1985's Canada's Sweetheart: The Saga of Hal C. Banks. Flawlessly essaying the role of a Canadian union-leader who presided over the country's shipping industry in the 1950s and '60s, the film found Chaykin gaining near universal critical accolades in addition to winning a Nellie Award for his spot-on performance. Despite his success in the role of Banks, Chaykin rounded out the '80s with appearances in such schlocky films as Meatballs III (1987) and Iron Eagle II (1988), with only the occasional dark drama such as Cold Comfort (1989) offering the rare opportunity for him to truly shine. Things began to look up for Chaykin in the 1990s, and appearances in such acclaimed efforts as Dances With Wolves (1990) and My Cousin Vinny (1992) ensured that he would retain a high profile in the coming years. Though Chaykin's roles were far from top-billed, appearances in Sommersby (1993) and Devil in a Blue Dress (1995) served well to balance out forgettable turns in such efforts as Josh and S.A.M. (1993). In addition to an affecting turn as a faded rock star who attempts to create music that will allow him to communicate with nature in 1994's Whale Music, a haunting turn in the downbeat drama The Sweet Hereafter (1997) provided Chaykin with one of his most memorable roles of the decade. As the 1990s drew to a close, his turn as a biker inmate in the long-running HBO series Oz found a virtually unrecognizable Chaykin using his imposing frame to surprising effect. Rounding out the decade with roles in Entrapment and Mystery, Alaska (both 1999), it seemed that Chaykin was finally getting the recognition he deserved. At the dawn of the new millennium, television audiences began to warm up to Chaykin when A Nero Wolfe Mystery debuted in 2001. That same year Chaykin would take a memorable turn as a bumbling bureaucrat in director Jonathan Parker's Bartleby, and a dramatic role as a husband suffering after the tragic loss of a child in the made-for-television Crossed Over (2002) proved that he could alternate between mystery, comedy, and drama with unprecedented ease. In the following years, Chaykin could be spotted in substantial roles in such films as Owning Mahowney (2003) and Being Julia (2004).

Trivia: Born into a Polish Chicagoan family, blonde-haired and baby-faced actress Nina Siemaszko began life as Antonina Jadwiga Siemaszko in 1970. Though she initially harbored no definite plans to pursue acting professionally, Nina -- the sister of actor Casey Siemaszko (Stand by Me, Young Guns) --unexpectedly broke into show business by goofing off in front of her sibling's agent (and reportedly poking fun at Casey); it so impressed the agent that he signed her not long after. She landed her first significant role as the onscreen sister of teen heartthrob Corey Haim in 1988's License to Drive, then acted for the eminent Francis Ford Coppola in that helmer's 1988 pet project, Tucker: The Man and His Dream (as Preston Tucker's teenage daughter). For better or worse, Siemaszko subsequently had to endure a string of less-than-prestigious projects, including the 1992 softcore melodrama Wild Orchid 2: Two Shades of Blue (as the lascivious title character) and the 1994 telemovie Baby Brokers, as a sleazy con-woman who joins her husband in luring childless victims into a phony adoption scheme. Siemaszko took a massive step up (in prestige and visibility) with a key supporting role in the Rob Reiner/Aaron Sorkin comedy-drama The American President (1995), played Mona Ramsey in the acclaimed miniseries More Tales of the City (1998), and, around the middle of the following decade, played a recurring role as an amateur detective's (Kellie Martin) close friend, in the "Mystery Woman" series of telemovies. In 2008, Siemaszko signed on for a supporting turn in the teen-oriented shocker The Haunting of Molly Hartley. Siemaszko's resumé also includes guest spots on series such as Judging Amy, The West Wing, and Red Shoe Diaries (which reunited her with Orchid director Zalman King).

Trivia: His irises tremble violently as the camera fixes on his glassy gaze, and before you know it, you've once again been entranced by the character with whom you're unsure if you should fear or sympathize. With the rare ability to convey the delicate blend of conflicting emotions that only the most effective character actors can convincingly portray, actor Pruitt Taylor Vince has crafted a successful film and television career playing introspective, often disturbed, loners teetering on the fringes of society. Though the portly Baton Rouge native's first onscreen role was to have been in director Jim Jarmusch's 1986 comedy drama Down by Law, his scenes were cut before the film hit theaters, and audiences would not get their first look at Vince until the release of Alan Parker's Angel Heart the following year. Vince owes something of a debt to the prolific director, since it was Parker's racially charged drama Mississippi Burning that first found audiences taking notice of the burgeoning, sometimes fearsome, actor. In 1990, Vince turned up in yet another of Parker's films, Come See the Paradise, though it was that same year's horrific thriller Jacob's Ladder that truly found Vince setting himself apart from the pack. If the 1990s had proven kind to Vince early on, it was his emotionally compelling role opposite Paul Newman in Nobody's Fool that truly began to give audiences an idea of what Vince was capable of as an actor. Cast as the village idiot who finds a sympathetic ear in Newman's character, Vince lent an uncanny depth to a character that may have otherwise been an instantly forgettable, two-dimensional role. Though Vince's early roles were indeed noteworthy thanks to his uncommon ability to exude repression and deeply rooted malaise as few other actors could, it wasn't until director James Mangold's cast him in the lead for his 1995 drama Heavy that Vince was truly given the opportunity to shine. Mangold did something that few mainstream Hollywood efforts would allow when he dared to offer the overweight and balding actor the dramatic lead -- the role of Victor Modina, a shy cook in a small-town restaurant who secretly longs for the love of an attractive young waitress (portrayed by Liv Tyler). With his expressive eyes (their sometimes discomforting vibration the result of a condition known as nystagmus) effectively conveying the desperation of a trapped animal longing to escape his suffocating existence, Vince's heartbreaking performance eloquently conveyed the internal distress and helplessness felt by his long-suffering character. Though the following years may not have offered Vince more roles the size or caliber of his part in Heavy, a series of small-screen performances in the late '90s showed that his talent was, without question, as potent as ever. Following an unforgettable performance as a mentally unbalanced photographer who kidnaps Agent Scully (Gillian Anderson) in a 1996 episode of The X-Files ("Unruhe"), Vince's turn as a suspicious kidnapping suspect in the miniseries Night Sins and a disturbed serial killer in several episodes of Murder One proved that he could be chillingly effective in menacing roles. The latter role even proved so effective as to earn Vince an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. It was at this point that directors were truly beginning to discover the dramatic possibilities of casting Vince in their films, and his turn as a gifted musician and compelling storyteller proved a highlight of the wistful 1998 drama The Legend of 1900. Supporting performances in Mumford (1999), Nurse Betty (2000), The Cell (2000), and S1m0ne (2002) found Vince steadily becoming a recognizable face to mainstream audiences, and in 2002, he sent chills down the spines of suspense fanatics as the childlike accomplice in a harrowing kidnapping scheme in Trapped. Vince's skittishly ominous performance left viewers on the edge of their seats as he held a young girl (played by Dakota Fanning) hostage with instructions to kill her on a moment's notice, and the film utilized Vince's alternately innocent and threatening character to chilling effect. He again teamed with director Mangold for the 2003 thriller Identity, cast in a key role that proved elemental to the film's startling denouement. Vince also continued to take on guest-starring roles in such TV series as Alias and The Handler. After appearing in the 2003 Aileen Wuornos biopic Monster, Vince would play a priest in the 2004 comic-to-film adaptation of Hellblazer, entitled Constantine.

Trivia: Modeled from age 9 to 16. Minored in French in college. Trained with Ron Stetson for three years at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York. Landed her first major role as Lucinda Nicholson on the show Beverly Hills, 90210 in 1993. Did many of her own stunts for her physically demanding roles in Starship Troopers, Johnny Mnemonic and Dragonheart.

Trivia: No stranger to emotionally and psychologically challenging roles, Doug Savant broke through the fear barrier that separates many actors from achieving their full onscreen potential. In the process, he tackled many characterizations somewhat removed from himself. These included a sociopathic rapist (in the 1995 TV movie Fight for Justice: The Nancy Cohn Story), a gay social worker (Matt Fielding on the prime-time soap opera Melrose Place), and -- most prominently -- a businessman-turned-stay at home dad (Tom Scavo, on the domestic black comedy Desperate Housewives). The latter, of course, required less of a stretch for Savant; it was perhaps ironic, then, that the Scavo characterization (opposite actress Felicity Huffman) reeled in Savant's largest audience and virtually turned him into a household name. Savant's resumé also includes brief appearances in such features as Secret Admirer (1985), Teen Wolf (1985), The Hanoi Hilton (1987), and Godzilla (1998). His second wife is actress Laura Leighton, whom he met on the set of Melrose.

Trivia: Best known to small-screen devotees as sales representative Jim Halpert, the eternally patient, undeclared admirer of Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) on Greg Daniels' hit NBC sitcom/mockumentary The Office, Massachusetts native John Krasinski graduated from Rhode Island's Brown University in 2001 as an honors playwright, but quickly segued into acting. Within three years launched himself into films, predominantly with bit roles and supporting parts, but consistently echoing the promise that he would soon find himself among number-one box-office draws and Tinseltown heartthrobs. By 2006, in fact, People Magazine featured Krasinski in its "Sexiest Men" issue, a testament to the actor's rapidly growing recognition in the eyes of the public.Born October 20, 1979, Krasinski grew up and attended high school in Newton, an affluent western suburb of Boston. After receiving his degree from Brown, Krasinski studied at the National Theater Institute. 2004 marked the actor's "breakthrough year," with fleeting appearances in no less than four A-list productions. That year, he had bit parts as Ben in the American Zoetrope film Kinsey, a biopic of sex researcher Alfred Kinsey, directed by Bill Condon and starring Liam Neeson; Bob Flynn in Matt Mulhern's finely wrought (and underappreciated) alcoholism drama Duane Hopwood starring David Schwimmer; Messenger #3 in Tim Story's urban comedy Taxi, with Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon; and the British CG-animated fantasy Doogal (aka, The Magic Roundabout), which didn't find U.S. release until early 2006. The first two of these films were widely lauded sleepers, the last two critically despised (though they failed to hurt Krasinski's career, given the low profile of his involvement).The Office followed in 2005. Adapted by Daniels from a hit 2001 British series of the same title, the program -- a ratings bonanza on NBC -- stars Daily Show vet Steve Carell as Michael Scott, the tactless, vain, pushy, and loudmouthed (yet well-meaning) director of the Dunder-Mifflin paper company. While Carell's off-the-wall antics spiked the series with a never-ending source of hilarity, the gradually developing relationship between Krasinski's Jim and Fischer's Pam (two straight roles) brought the series weight and solicited interest from those viewers seeking deeper and more meaningful character development. Perhaps sensing this, Daniels opted to stretch their courtship at a snail's pace over the course of several seasons. Krasinski would appear in several movies even as The Office's success continued on the small screen, like Jarhead, The Holiday, For Your Consideration, License to Wed, Leatherheads, Away We Go, and Big Miracle. In 2015, he appeared in Cameron Crowe's Aloha and acted as executive producer on the highly-successful TV series Lip Sync Battle.

Trivia: Possessing a near-perfect balance of everyman looks and tremendous talent on both stage and screen, actor Zeljko Ivanek has been a key supporting player in feature films since the early '80s. A native of Ljubljana, Yugoslavia (now Slovenia), Ivanek's family moved to the United States in 1960 in order for his father to complete his doctoral research in electronic engineering at Stanford University. Briefly returning to Yugoslavia before settling in Palo Alto, CA, in 1967, it was only a few short years before young Ivanek was pursuing his higher education at Yale. Subsequently accepted at The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, he continued to refine his passion for acting and the summers of 1978-1980 found him honing his stage skills in the Williamstown Theater Festival in such efforts as Hay Fever and The Front Page. In 1983, Ivanek was nominated for a Tony award for his role in Brighton Beach Memories and it was around this time that he made his first film and television appearances. An early role as a telepathic killer in the 1982 thriller The Sender found Ivanek making a chilling impression, and strong performances in Mass Appeal (1984) and the AIDS drama Our Sons (1991) kept expectations high for the rising star. As his feature credits continued to build, Ivanek began appearing in such popular television series as L.A. Law, Law & Order, The X-Files, and Murder, She Wrote. Though the adjustment from stage to screen was initially daunting for the classically trained actor, once he got accustomed to the change of pace, he adjusted remarkably well. As the '90s rolled on, Ivanek's film credits included such A-list releases as Courage Under Fire (1996), Donnie Brasco (1997), and the John Travolta thriller A Civil Action (1998). It was also around this time that Ivanek embarked on a six-year stint as Governor James Devlin on HBO's acclaimed series Oz. As the millennium turned, so did Ivanek's onscreen career, and his resume seemed to be exclusively built of nothing but high-profile efforts in both film and television. In addition to appearing in Dancer in the Dark (2000), Hannibal (2001), Black Hawk Down (2001), Unfaithful (2002), and Dogville (2003), memorable roles on The Practice and The West Wing kept television audiences glued to their sets. He reteamed with Lars Von Trier for the director's drama Maderlay, and continued his film career in projects such as The Hoax, In Bruges, and Tower Heist, while maintaining a presence on the small-screen with appearances on Damages, Heroes, and Big Love.

Trivia: Actress Lolita Davidovich made her flamboyant film debut by playing the notorious Louisiana stripper Blaze Starr who became the mistress of Governor Earl Long in Blaze (1988). With her voluptuous body (much of which was faked for the film--something Davidovich is not embarrassed to admit), bright red hair, and lively acting style, she accurately captured the qualities that made the real Blaze a living legend. Born of Yugoslavian parents, Davidovich was raised speaking Serbo-Croatian. When she was 10, her parents divorced and she stayed with her mother. Davidovich was determined to become an actress, and as a young woman moved to Chicago to take classes. There she found some stage work under the name Lolita David. She gradually began getting bit parts in feature films like Adventures In Babysitting (1987). It took six months of fiercely competitive auditioning to land the part of Blaze. A wide variety of subsequent roles have allowed her to spread her wings and demonstrate her considerable abilities. She co-starred with acting legends Lynn Redgrave and Ian McKellan for Gods and Monsters (1998), a showbiz drama that took home an Oscar for Best Screenplay. In 2004, Davidovich made several appearances on The L Word, a primetime drama from Showtime that focuses on gay and lesbian issues. Though a far cry from Gods and Monsters, Davidovich co-starred in September Dawn (2007) and Cinema Verite in 2011.