Trivia: The daughter of actress Whitney Blake, Meredith Baxter received extensive training in the arts at the Interlochen Summer Camp in Michigan. Meredith worked as an usher, file clerk and cafeteria checker before getting her first film break in Ben (1971). The 5'7" blonde actress entered the "America's sweetheart" category when she was cast as Bridget Fitzgerald Steinberg, the prettier half of a Catholic-Jewish married couple, in the TV sitcom Bridget Loves Bernie (1972). While the series lasted only a year, her "reel" marriage became a "real" one when, in 1974, she wed her B Loves B co-star David Birney. In addition to yielding a new, hyphenated professional name for Meredith, her union with Birney produced three children before the couple divorced in the early 1990s (she also had two children from a previous marriage). In between stage appearances in such productions as Hamlet, Guys and Dolls and Butterflies are Free, Meredith played Nancy Lawrence Maitland on the TV dramedy Family, winning two Emmy nominations during her four-year (1976-80) stint with this series. In 1982, Meredith agreed to star as flower child-turned-suburban mom Elyse Keaton on the weekly TV comedy Family Ties, having been assured that she would be the star of the series in fact as well as in name. As it happened, Family Ties was dominated throughout its seven-year run by co-star Michael J. Fox. A prolific TV-movie actress, she owns the distinction of playing the same real-life character twice, with two entirely different interpretations. When she first played accused murderess Betty Broderick in 1992's A Woman Scorned, Meredith was sympathetic to Broderick's plight, and played the role accordingly (earning an Emmy nomination in the process); but by the time 1993's Her Final Fury rolled around, Meredith, like everyone else involved in the project, was convinced that Betty Broderick deserved what she got--and played the role in the manner of a Gothic Novel villainess. A made-for-TV movie fixture over the course of the next decade, Baxter remained a familiar face on the small screen thanks to appearances in such popular shows as The Closer and Cold Case, later showing her playful side with voice work in such animated series' as Family Guy and Dan Vs. A breast-cancer survivor, she received a public-awareness award from the National Breast Cancer Coalition for starring in and coproducing the 1994 drama My Breast.

Trivia: Character actress Diana Scarwid's pre-film credentials are impeccable. Scarwid was active with the University of Georgia Theatre Workshop, the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, the National Shakespeare Conservatory and the Film Actor's Workshop at Burbank Studios before making her first movie appearance in Louis Malle's Pretty Baby (1978). She was nominated for an Academy Award for her portrayal of John Savage's girlfriend in Inside Moves (1980), then moved on to her most talked-about screen role: Cristina Crawford, the much-abused adopted daughter of Hollywood star Joan Crawford (Faye Dunaway) in Mommie Dearest (1980). Opinions are split right down the middle concerning Scarwid's work in this film: Some congratulate her for bringing artistry and craftsmanship to an impossibly written role, while others condemn her for never rising above the tawdry material--and for failing to shed her Southern accent. Evidently Mommie Dearest did more harm than good for Scarwid; thereafter, with isolated exceptions like 1981's Silkwood (in which she was superb as Cher's humorless lesbian lover), she was largely confined to garbage like Psycho III (1986) and Brenda Starr (1993). Happily, there are still some producers willing to cast Diana Scarwid in worthwhile parts; the most recent of these was the role of Rose Kennedy in the made-for-TV JFK: The Restless Years (1993).

Trivia: Richmond, IL, native Tom Amandes received his formal dramatic training at DePaul University's Goodman School of Drama, where he aggressively cut his chops on the stage. After his 1981 graduation, Amandes remained in the Chicago area and broke into its theatrical community, with apprenticeships at such venues as the Body Politic Theater and the Court Theatre. The actor achieved his on-camera breakthrough almost a decade later, as the lead, Eliot Ness, in the 1992-1994 syndicated television revival of the 1960s police drama The Untouchables, then went on to essay guest appearances on series programs including Murphy Brown, The Larry Sanders Show, and NYPD Blue, and landed small roles (usually bit parts as professional types) in films including Straight Talk (1992), The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996), and Brokedown Palace (1999). Beginning in 2002, Amandes commenced a multi-season supporting turn as a physician, Dr. Harold Abbott, on the family-themed small-town drama Everwood (2002-2007). In 2006, he co-starred opposite Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, and Christine Baranski in the gentle seriocomedy Bonneville.

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: Made his feature film debut playing Bailiff in the 1988 drama, Jesse, starring Lee Remick.Worked as an actor in more than 20 productions at the Arizona Theatre Company from 1986 to 2008.Appeared as himself in the 2016 episode "The Ghosts of Lote Bravo" in the TV series documentary Working in the Theatre.Started working as a director for Tucson's Live Theatre Workshop in December 2017, directing The House of Blue Leaves.Performed the one-actor play White Rabbit Red Rabbit, for which the actors are to have no rehearsal, no set, no director, and are not allowed to see the script until they step onstage to perform it, at the Invisible Theatre in Tucson, Arizona February 21st, 2019.