Trivia: With a rare beauty that has inspired countless platitudes and an almost-permanent place on People's Fifty Most Beautiful list, Michelle Pfeiffer had to work long and hard before getting respect for her talent, rather than mere adulation for her looks. Born April 29, 1957, in Santa Ana, CA, Pfeiffer got her first taste of fame in her late teens, when she won both the Miss Orange County beauty contest and then the title of Miss Los Angeles. After high school, Pfeiffer went to college for a year, deciding that she wanted to become a court reporter. It was while working in a supermarket that Pfeiffer realized that acting was her true calling and she auditioned for commercials and modeling assignments while she attended acting school.Pfeiffer debuted before the cameras in a one-line role on the TV series Fantasy Island and went on to a string of bit parts on TV. She debuted on the big screen in a small part in Falling in Love Again (1980) and then had small roles in two more films before getting her big break with the role of Stephanie in Grease 2 (1982). This led to her portrayal of Al Pacino's wife in Brian De Palma's 1983 classic Scarface, for which the actress garnered favorable attention and greater opportunities. Her first starring role was in the comedy thriller Into the Night (1984) with Jeff Goldblum and was followed by a turn in Richard Donner's fantasy adventure Ladyhawke (1985). Over the next couple of years, Pfeiffer acted in films of varying quality, but it was with 1987's The Witches of Eastwick that her career turned in a truly positive direction. Starring alongside Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Jack Nicholson, Pfeiffer received much acclaim for her work, acclaim that continued with her turn in Dangerous Liaisons (1988), for which she received a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination. The same year, Pfeiffer took on an entirely different role as a Mafia wife in the 1988 hit comedy Married to the Mob. In 1990, she was rewarded with yet another Oscar nomination -- this time for Best Actress -- for her portrayal of a nightclub singer in The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989). The 1990s proved to be a good decade for Pfeiffer, allowing her to branch out with a variety of roles that kept her from being pigeonholed and provided opportunities for her to showcase her versatility. Highlights from the first half of the decade included the 1991 romantic drama Frankie and Johnny, in which she played a frumpy, bitter waitress opposite Al Pacino; 1993's underrated Love Field, for which she received her second Best Actress nomination; Tim Burton's 1992 adventure Batman Returns, in which she co-starred with Michael Keaton and a lethally sexy cat suit; and the acclaimed 1993 Martin Scorsese adaptation of Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence. That same year, Pfeiffer would finally realize her lifelong goal of motherhood when she adpoted a baby girl named Claudia just a few short months before walking down the aisle for a second time to wed Ally McBeal and Boston Legal creator David E. Kelley (the actress' previous marriage to actor Peter Horton had dissolved in 1988). In 1994, Pfeiffer and Kelly would complete their nuclear family when the ecstatic mother gave birth to young John Henry.The second half of the decade saw Pfeiffer stick to dramas and romantic comedies, notably the 1996 hit One Fine Day with George Clooney, Jocelyn Moorhouse's 1997 adaptation of Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres, the star-studded 1999 adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and the family drama The Deep End of the Ocean. Through it all, Pfeiffer maintained her siren status while increasing her bankability, no small feat in an industry where women over the age of 27 are often labeled as past their prime. Not that Pfeiffer would be in any danger of losing her looks in the near future; after perfectly meeting the rigorous standards of California plastic-surgeon Dr. Stephen Marquardt's complex "beauty formula" in 2001, the sultry actress was singled out as having the most beautiful face in all of Hollywood. Of course Pfeiffer's face alone couldn't be held accountable for her wild success, and the millennial turnover found the talented actress apprearing in such high-profile features as Rob Reiner's comedic marriage drama The Story of Us, Robert Zemeckis' supernatural thriller What Lies Beneath, and the Sean Penn drama I Am Sam. A supporting role in the 2002 literary adaptation White Oleander found Pfeiffer supporting an all-star cast of Hollywood up and comers, and a role as the voice of the goddess Eris in 2003's Sinbad: The Legend of the Seven Seas marked her first foray into animated feature territory. In 2006 Pfeiffer would continue to turn heads when she accepted the role of an older woman who falls for a younger man in director Amy Heckerling's I Could Never Be Your Woman. A small role in director Adam Shankman's phenominally successful remake of John Waters' Hairspray was quick to follow, and after enchanting fantasy fans in 2007's Stardust, the veteran actress was sexy as ever as an aging seductress in Stephen Frears' Cheri. And though her 2008 film Personal Effects only received a limited release, Pfeiffer would quickly returns to the screen in director Garry Marshall's episodic rom com New Years Eve, and Tim Burton's misguided feature adaptation of the popular supernatural soap opera Dark Shadows.

Trivia: As the son of broadcast journalist Nick Clooney and the nephew of chanteuse Rosemary Clooney, George Clooney entered the world with show business coursing through his veins. Born May 6, 1961 in Lexington, Kentucky, the future E.R. headliner appeared at the tender age of five on his father's Cincinnati talk program, The Nick Clooney Show. In his youth, Clooney honed a sharp interest in sports - particularly baseball - but by adulthood, Clooney launched himself as an onscreen presence, seemingly without effort. Beginning with a string of television commercials, then signed with Warner Brothers Entertainment as a supporting player. By the time Clooney had paid his dues, he'd appeared in single episodes of The Golden Girls, Riptide, Crazy Like a Fox, Street Hawk and Hunter.After regular gigs on TV shows like The Facts of Life, Roseanne, and Sisters, Clooney scored a role on the NBC medical drama E.R., which proved his breakthrough to superstardom. When that program shot up to #1 in prime time ratings, Clooney carried it (much more, in fact, than a first-billed Anthony Edwards) - his inborn appeal to women and his onscreen grace and charm massive contributing factors. This appeal increased as his character - initially something of a callous womanizer - matured with the show, eventually evolving into a kind and thoroughly decent, if somewhat hotheaded, human being.The performer's newfound star power led to big screen opportunities, like an acid-mouthed, rifle-wielding antihero (one of the Gecko Brothers, alongside Quentin Tarantino) in the Robert Rodriguez-directed, Tarantino-scripted horror comedy From Dusk Till Dawn (1995). Not long after, Clooney shifted gears altogether, co-headlining (with Michelle Pfeiffer) in the charming romcom One Fine Day (1996). Though he would notoriously misstep in accepting the role of Bruce Wayne in the 1997 attempted Batman reboot Batman & Robin, Clooney's honesty about the part being a bad fit was refreshing to audiences, and he took little flack for the movie, moving on to critically acclaimed movies like the action-laced crime comedy Out of Sight, and Terrence Malick's adaptation of The Thin Red Line. Out of Sight represented a massive watershed moment for Clooney: the first of his numerous collaborations with director Steven Soderbergh. In 1999 -- following his much-talked-about departure from E.R. - Clooney continued to work on a number of high-profile projects. He would star alongside Mark Wahlberg and Ice Cube as an American soldier reclaiming Kuwaiti treasure from Saddam Hussein in David O. Russell's Three Kings, and eventually win a 2000 Golden Globe for his portrayal of a pomade-obsessed escaped convict in the Coen brothers' Odyssey update O Brother Where Art Thou?. It was around this time that Clooney, now an established actor equally as comfortable on the big screen as the small, began to branch out as the Executive Producer of such made-for-TV efforts as Killroy (1999) and Fail Safe (2000). Soon producing such features as Rock Star (2001) and Insomnia (2002), Clooney next re-teamed with Soderbergh for a modern take on a classic Rat Pack comedy with Ocean's Eleven (2001). After the dynamic film duo stuck together for yet another remake, the deep-space psychological science-fiction drama Solaris (2002), busy Clooney both produced and appeared in Welcome to Collinwood and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind later the same year.Confessions marked Clooney's behind-the-camera debut, and one of the most promising actor-turned-director outings in memory. Adapted by Charlie Kaufman from Gong Show host Chuck Barris's possibly fictionalized memoir, the picture exhibited Clooney's triple fascinations with politics, media and celebrity; critics did not respond to it with unanimous enthusiasm, but it did show Clooney's promise as a director. He went on to star alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones in the Coen Brothers movie Intolerable Cruelty. The small film was a major sleeper hit among the lucky few who got to see it, and it proved to be a great showcase for Clooney's abilities as a comedian. He moved on to team up with Zeta-Jones again, along with almost the entire cast of Ocean's Eleven, for the sequel, Oceans Twelve, which earned mixed critical reviews, but (like its predecessor) grossed dollar one at the box office. By 2005, Clooney achieved his piece-de-resistance by writing, directing, and acting a sophomore outing: the tense period drama Good Night, and Good Luck.. Shot in black-and-white by ace cinematographer Robert Elswit, the picture followed the epic decision of 1950's television journalist Edward R. Murrow (played by David Strathairn) to confront Senator Joseph McCarthy about his Communist witch hunt. The picture drew raves from critics and received nominations for Best Picture and Best Director.Clooney next appeared in the harshly explicit and openly critical Syriana. He took the lead in this ensemble political thriller about the oil industry, directed by Stephen Gaghan of Traffic and heralded by critics as a disturbingly real look at a hopelessly flawed and corrupt system. Clooney won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a veteran CIA officer. Never one to rest for very long, Clooney then joined the cast of The Good German. Directed by longtime collaborator Steven Soderbergh, German unfolds in post-WWII Berlin, where Clooney plays a war correspondent who helps an ex-lover (Cate Blanchett) search for her missing husband. The actor-director team would pair up again the following year for the third installment in the Ocean's saga, Ocean's Thirteen. Next turning towards a more intimate, individualized project, Clooney earned yet more acclaim playing the title role in Tony Gilroy's Michael Clayton, where his portrayal of a morally compromised legal "fixer" earned him strong reviews and an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.Complications during the pre-production of the period comedy Leatherheads led to Clooney rewriting the script, as well as starring in and directing the picture. Though the movie made few ripples with audiences or critics, Clooney's adeptness continued to impress. In 2009, he gave voice to the lead character in Wes Anderson's thoroughly charming stop-motion animation feature Fantastic Mr. Fox, played a soldier with ESP in the comedy The Men Who Stare at Goats, and earned arguably the best notices of his career as corporate hatchet man Ryan Bingham in Jason Reitman's Up in the Air. His work in that well-reviewed comedy/drama earned him nominations from the Screen Actors Guild, the Golden Globes, and the Academy. In the midst of awards season, Clooney again produced a successful telethon, this time to help earthquake victims in Haiti.In 2011 Clooney would, for the second time in his already impressive career, score Oscar nominations for writing and acting in two different films. His leading role in Alexander Payne's The Descendants earned him a wave of critical praise, as well as Best Actor nods from the Screen Actors Guild and the Academy, as well as capturing the Best Actor award from the Golden Globes. The film he co-wrote and directed that year, the political drama The Ides of March garnered the heartthrob a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination from BAFTA, the Academy, and the Golden Globes. In 2012 he earned his second Oscar as one of the producers of that year's Best Picture winner, the Ben Affleck-directed political thriller/Hollywood satire Argo. The following year, he appeared in the critically-acclaimed, box office smash Gravity, and also produced August: Osage County. In 2014, he co-wrote and co-produced (with Grant Heslov) and starred in The Monuments Men, but the film was delayed from a late-2013 release and didn't score well with critics or at the box office.

Trivia: Mae Whitman began acting at the ripe old age of six with a role in the 1994 alcoholism drama When a Man Loves a Woman. Appearances in Bye Bye, Love and Independence Day followed before multiple-episode stints on the CBS dramas Chicago Hope and JAG. In 2001, Whitman was cast in the title role of the Fox Family Channel period sitcom State of Grace, about a pair of adolescent girls overcoming cultural differences against the backdrop of 1960s America. After that show's two-season run, she could next be seen as George Michael's milquetoast girlfriend Ann on the critically acclaimed Fox sitcom Arrested Development. A starring role opposite Andre Braugher on the short-lived FX series Thief came in 2006. And in 2007, Whitman was cast in a supporting role on NBC's reimagined The Bionic Woman. In the years to come, Whitman would remain active on screen, starring on the series Parenthood, and in movies like The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Trivia: Alex D. Linz kick-started his career when he approached his mother -- reportedly at the age of four -- and precociously expressed interest in appearing in television commercials. She obliged, and in seemingly no time, Linz had racked up filmed promotional spots for JC Penney, McDonald's, and other corporate giants. The young actor transitioned to scripted dramatic work with guest roles in series programs including The Young and the Restless and Step by Step, but achieved his biggest break when he signed to star in Home Alone 3 (1997), the third outing of 20th Century Fox and John Hughes' wildly successful franchise (a job Linz inherited from Macaulay Culkin). Though clearly a formulaic sequel, the film drew praise from no less than Roger Ebert (who proclaimed it better than the first two outings) and performed well at the box office and in ancillary, proving that Linz could hold his own onscreen. After providing a voice in Disney's animated Tarzan (1999) and playing Gwyneth Paltrow's young son in the romantic drama Bounce (2000), Linz graduated to preteen roles as the lead in the Disney comedy Max Keeble's Big Move -- a farce about a seventh-grader who turns the tables on his bullies when he discovers his family's impending move -- little foreseeing the consequences. After several additional supporting roles, Linz next tackled the lead role in Choose Connor (2007). Undoubtedly his most sober and earnest assignment to date, the film told of a teenager ruthlessly exploited when he naïvely signs to work as a politico's (Steven Weber) young spokesperson.

Trivia: Before he became an actor, Charles Durning, the son of an Army man, continued in his father's footsteps with valor and distinction, earning a silver star and purple heart in World War II. Durning held down several "joe jobs" -- iron worker, elevator operator, cabbie, waiter, and dance instructor -- until turning to acting in the late 1950s. Fresh from the national tour of The Andersonville Trial, Durning began his long association with Joseph Papp in 1962, distinguishing himself in Shakespearean roles. He made his earliest film appearance in Ernest Pintoff's Harvey Middleman, Fireman (1965). Durning's film roles increased in size and importance after his interpretation of a crooked cop in the Oscar-winning The Sting (1973). He went on to appear in several Burt Reynolds films, most memorably as the singing governor in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982). That performance landed him an Oscar nomination, as did his spin on "Concentration Camp" Erhardt in the 1983 remake of To Be or Not to Be. In 1975, Durning was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of ulcerated police lieutenant Moretti in the theatrical feature Dog Day Afternoon (1975); he finally won that award 15 years later for his work as "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald in the TV miniseries The Kennedys of Massachusetts. Other notable film roles to his credit include Peter Stockmann in the Steve McQueen-produced An Enemy of the People (1978), Dustin Hoffman's "suitor" in the cross-dressing classic Tootsie (1982) (he later co-starred with Hoffman in the 1984 stage revival of Death of a Salesman), and the foredoomed Waring Hudsucker in the Coen Brothers' Hudsucker Proxy (1994).On television, Durning played Lt. Gil McGowan on the daytime soap Another World, officer Frank Murphy in The Cop and the Kid (1975), Big Ed Healey in Captains and the Kings (1976), Studs' dad in Studs Lonigan (1979), private-eye Oscar Poole in Eye to Eye (1985), the title character in PBS' I Would Be Called John: Pope John XXIII (1987), crooked industrialist Dan Packard (the old Wallace Beery role) in Dinner at Eight (1989), and Dr. Harrlan Eldridge in the Burt Reynolds TV vehicle Evening Shade (1990-1994), an assignment which afforded the far-from-sylph-like Durning his first nude scene.While his television and film career have continued to be prolific, Durning has also continued to earn acclaim for his stage work. In 1990, he won a Tony Award for his performance as Big Daddy in the Broadway revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.He continued to work steadily well into his seventies in a variety of projects including Jodie Foster's dysfunctional family comedy/drama Home for the Holidays, the absurd comedy Spy Hard, and Jerry and Tom. At the beginning of the 20th century he reteamed with the Coen Brothers for O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and was part of the impressive ensemble in David Mamet's State and Main. He was also part of the original cast of the firefighter drama series Rescue Me. Durning died at age 89 in late December 2012, two months before his 90th birthday.

Trivia: Lived in and attended schools in California, South Africa and Brazil. Was playwright-in-residence with the New York Stage and Film Company from 1986 to 1989. Co-wrote "The Frightening Frammis," a 1993 episode of the Showtime anthology series Fallen Angels that marked the directorial debut of Tom Cruise. Was a finalist for the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for his semi-autobiographical play A Fair Country. Has won numerous awards, including a 1987 Theatre Communications Group Playwrights USA Award, a Humanitas Award for the 1991 PBS American Playhouse production of Three Hotels, and a Guggenheim fellowship in 1999. Was artist-in-residence at the New School for Drama in New York for the 2009-10 academic year.

Trivia: Supercharged American stage and screen actress Ellen Greene was educated at Ryder College. After her leading-lady film debut in Next Stop Greenwich Village (1978), Ellen's career was steady but unspectacular until she was cast as airheaded heroine Audrey in the 1982 Broadway musical hit Little Shop of Horrors. She was among the few cast members to recreate her role for the 1986 screen version; so winning was her performance in this film and the subsequent Talk Radio (1988), that critics and pundits predicted major stardom. So far as Ellen was concerned, she was already a star, and behaved accordingly. Cast as a neurotic rock 'n' roller-turned-evangelist in the 1989 TV movie Glory! Glory!, Ms. Greene became difficult and demanding, throwing her weight around in a manner suggesting that she been on top long enough to be permitted this behavior. Evidently her imperiousness paid off; Glory! Glory! was an excellent effort, thanks in no small part to the towering performance of its leading lady. After Glory! Glory!, Ellen Greene continued to get good roles on stage and in television; in 1992, the actress joined several other musical comedy veterans as a voice artist for the animated cartoon feature Rock a Doodle.

Trivia: Stage actor Joe Grifasi was 33 when he made his inaugural movie appearance during the lengthy opening wedding sequence in 1978's The Deer Hunter as the bandleader. The actor has since been seen in such films as Still of the Night (1982) and Presumed Innocent (1990), appearing in the latter as Tommy Molto. In 1990, Joe Grifasi was cast in the regular role of TV-station public relations man Tony Pro on the brief TV series WIOU. A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, Grifasi first gained professional experience on the New York stage. In addition to his acting credits, Grifasi frequently appears in television commercials.

Trivia: Black supporting actress, onscreen from the late '70s.

Trivia: Became accustomed to performing on stage by serving as an altar boy at church. Hired as a teenager by his insurance adjuster/private investigator father to deliver subpoenas during one summer vacation, but lost the job after his father discovered he was using it as a Method Acting opportunity to interact with strangers in character. Cast in his first union acting job as Frankenstein's Monster in the cult musical Have I Got A Girl For You. Honored with a caricature on the wall of Sardi's in 2005. After meeting and impressing Tom Selleck on the set of In & Out (1997), Selleck recommended him for a role on Blue Bloods.

Trivia: A graduate of Alfred University, American actor Robert Klein spent the 1960s and 1970s amassing a respectable list of stage and film credits (he played George Segal's befuddled roomie in The Owl and the Pussycat [1970]), but his bread and butter turned out to be his career as a stand-up comic. First gaining national attention as host of the 1970 TV variety series Comedy Tonight, Klein went on to transcribe his comedy routines in a series of popular record albums. A "reporter" of humor, the raspy-voiced, heavily eyebrowed Klein is at his best commenting offhandedly on the absurdities of everyday life. Some of his best routines involve the dissection of such pop-culture icons as The Little Rascals, My Little Margie, and Babe Ruth; other monologues recall such childhood experiences as civil defense drills and the first dance (complete with imitations of the Johnny Mathis records heard on the PA). Klein continued taking acting jobs into the 1970s and 1980s: one of his longer engagements during this period was in the Neil Simon Broadway musical They're Playing Our Song. In 1991, Robert Klein found himself the unofficial spokesperson for the Comedy Central cable service, hosting the weekly series Dead Comics Society and Stand Up Stand Up. He also appeared occasionally on the NBC drama Sisters. Klein continued to take small roles in respectable films throughout the late 1990s and 2000s; among his credits include Primary Colors (1998), Next Stop Wonderland (1998), and Ira & Abby (2006). In 2007 he appeared in the noted documentary Sputnik Mania, and continues to be active in film and television.

Trivia: Philadelphia-born actress Holland Taylor majored in drama at Bennington College, and arrived in New York in 1966, hoping to take the theater world by storm. That didn't quite happen, despite Taylor making her Broadway debut in The Devils, starring Anne Bancroft, and working with Alan Bates in Butley (she was also in that notorious failure, Moose Murders). A protégée of legendary acting teacher Stella Adler, Taylor endured 14 years of disappointments interspersed with the occasional success, and played in one heavily hyped television series (CBS's Beacon Hill) that failed in less than a season, all of it broken up by work in the daytime drama The Edge of Night. Finally, in 1980, lightning struck when Taylor was cast in the series Bosom Buddies in the role of Ruth Dunbar, the acid-tongued advertising agency executive employing the two protagonists of the program, played by Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari. Taylor accepted the part despite some initial reluctance, mostly thanks to Adler's urging, but she proved almost as much of a breakout personality onscreen as Hanks and Scolari. Taylor took lines written with venom and added her own wry twists to their meanings and inflections, and made all of her scenes memorable. The series only lasted two full seasons, but when it folded, Taylor was being offered television and movie roles on a steady basis. Most of her subsequent series didn't last more than a season each, but Taylor's parts, usually as charmingly acerbic middle-aged women, stayed big and got larger, up through programs such as The Naked Truth, starring Téa Leoni. Taylor's big-screen appearances have included supporting roles in such diverse films as The Truman Show, Spy Kids 2, Legally Blonde, George of the Jungle, Romancing the Stone, The Jewel of the Nile, How to Make an American Quilt, Fame, She's Having a Baby, and To Die For. She's also had some choice parts in made-for-television movies, including playing Nancy Reagan in The Day Reagan Was Shot, but Taylor's most successful medium remains the television series. In recent years, she has proved a mainstay of producer David E. Kelley's stable of actors, taking on the recurring role of Judge Roberta Kittleson, a Boston jurist whose sex-drive is a match for her legal intellect, in the series The Practice (with a cross-over appearance in the same role on Ally McBeal), winning an Emmy for her work on the show's 1999 season. That series, which has included an episode featuring Taylor in a semi-nude scene, has not only given the middle-aged actress a chance to explore sides of her screen persona that other producers never even considered, but has transformed her into a sex symbol among the ranks of mature actresses, right up there with Kathleen Turner as Mrs. Robinson in the stage version of The Graduate.As the new century began she continued to work steadily in both movies and TV in projects such as Happy Accidents, playing the first-lady in The Day Reagan Was Shot, Legally Blonde, and Spy Kids 2. She returned to series television with a recurring role on Two and a Half Men, which was the most-watched sitcom on TV during part of its successful run. She also appeared in the big screen comedy Baby Mama.

Trivia: Born on January 11th, 1972, Amanda Peet grew up in New York and made a decidedly unconventional debut into showbiz: At three-years-old, a thoroughly uninvited Peet jumped onto a stage during the middle of a play. Despite the auspicious beginning, Peet treated acting as more of a hobby than anything else, and only began to consider it a potential career after her drama professor at Columbia University encouraged her to audition for renowned acting teacher Uta Hagen. Peet studied with Hagen for four years, during which time she participated in the off-Broadway revival Awake and Sing. Though she would eventually be voted one of the year's 50 most beautiful people in a 2000 issue of People magazine -- not to mention participate with the likes of Susan Sarandon, Samuel L. Jackson, and Jack Nicholson -- Peet worked as a waitress during the first few years of her acting career.The sloe-eyed brunette made her onscreen debut in Craig Singer's Animal Room (1996). That same year, she could also be seen in an episode of Law & Order, and went on to play a role in Grind (1996), a crime drama starring Billy Crudup. Before long, Peet landed a small role in the Michelle Pfeiffer-George Clooney romantic comedy One Fine Day. Since then, the actress has continued to build both her film and television credits: in 1997, she appeared in the AIDS drama Touch Me, and the following year she had sizable roles in South Boston crime drama Southie with Donnie Wahlberg and Rose McGowan, which won the American Independent award at the 1998 Seattle Film Festival. On television, she could be seen guest starring on a number of shows including Seinfeld and Ellen Foster. In 1999, she got her own television show, Jack & Jill, on the WB network. That same year, she could be seen playing Sean Patrick Flanery's fiancée in Simply Irresistible and then acting as his bedmate in Body Shots, another in the long line of explorations into pre-millennial twentysomething dating angst.After starring in director Neil Turitz's debut Two Ninas, Peet landed a leading role in Peter M. Cohen's independent comedy Whipped. While the film itself performed dismally, Peet met her boyfriend, Brian Van Holt, on the set. Despite it's independent status, Whipped was given a solid amount of mainstream marketing, and Peet was praised for a game performance in the face of an admittedly weak script.After a small role in 2000's Isn't She Great with Bette Midler and Nathan Lane, Peet was finally recognized by critics and audiences alike in The Whole Nine Yards. Though the film itself did not fare particularly well, Peet was praised for holding her own against Hollywood heavy-hitter Bruce Willis, which certainly didn't hurt her when it came time to audition for Saving Silverman, which placed her opposite Jason Biggs while he was still reeling from the success of American Pie. In 2002, Peet played a considerably less vicious wife in Changing Lanes with Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson, and won no small amount of praise for her performance as the heroin-addled mistress of Kieran Culkin's godfather in Igby Goes Down. Peet would go on to star opposite film veterans Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson in Nancy Meyers' Something's Gotta Give, in which she stars as Nicholson's scandalously young girlfriend, as well as James Mangold's psychological thriller Identity with John Cusack. In 2004, Peet signed on for the sequel to The Whole Nine Yards (aptly titled The Whole Ten Yards), and acted alongside Will Ferrell, Chloë Sevigny, and Josh Brolin in the Woody Allen feature Melinda and Melinda. The next year, Peet starred alongside Ashton Kutcher in the romantic comedy A Lot Like Love, before joining the cast of the politically charged thriller Syriana. Then, in 2006, the actress accepted a recurring role on the one-hour drama Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip. The Aaron Sorkin written series received major critical acclaim but was cancelled after just one season. Undeterred, Peet next teamed up with John Cusack for the quirky, heartfelt drama Martian Child. The sci-fi theme continued with voice work in Battle for Terra (2007), The X-Files: I Want to Believe, and 2012, though by 2010 Peet seemed to be focusing on honing her comedy skills with toles in Wainy Days, Important Things with Demetri Martin, and How I Met Your Mother. In 2010, after receiving numerous critical accolades for her performance in Nicole Holofcener's Please Give, Peet plunged into televosion full-time with Bent -- an NBC series that found her cast as a high-strung lawyer contening with a free-spirited construction worker. Unfortunately for Peet the series failed to perform, and was swiftly cancelled by the network, freeing her up to appear in such high profile fare as director Terrence Malick's romantic drama To the Wonder (2012), though her scenes were ultimately cut from the final film. She had a guest arc on The Good Wife and played a supporting role in the indie flick The Way, Way Back in 2013.

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: From his earliest days, Michael Badalucco could feel the beacon of show business drawing him ever closer to a career as an actor. There was just something about him that drew people's attention, and his love for film, combined with his natural knack for entertaining friends and family, helped the painfully shy youngster overcome his aversion to the spotlight and develop his talent with the full blessing of his mother and father. Badalucco is a Flatbush native whose Sicilian father worked as a movie set carpenter when he was growing up; his parents instilled in him a strong devotion to family and religion that would serve as a guiding light through his life and career. Badalucco was in the third grade when his father was working on the Sidney Lumet thriller Fail-Safe, and when the script called for a young boy, the elder Badalucco offered the services of his son without hesitation. Though his screen debut as an ill-fated Russian general's son was a non-speaking role that required little more than standing still for a few photographs, the aspiring young actor was already on the path to a successful acting career. In the following years, Badalucco earned his bachelor's degree in theater arts from the State University of New York at New Paltz, and it was there that he cut his teeth on-stage and made the acquaintance of another up-and-coming talent named John Turturro. During his years at S.U.N.Y. New Paltz, Badalucco essayed roles in over 20 plays. When their appearances in the off-Broadway production of Sam Shepard's Tooth of Crime caught the attention of actor Robert De Niro, both Badalucco and Turturro were called into director Martin Scorsese's office to audition for supporting roles in Raging Bull. Not only did the experience provide young Badalucco with the chance to appear onscreen with one of his cinematic idols, but it also set into motion a career that would find him turning up in such acclaimed films as Miller's Crossing (1990), Jungle Fever (1991), and The Professional (1994). Throughout the 1990s, Badalucco rose steadily through the ranks with a series of memorable supporting roles. His performance in the romantic comedy One Fine Day (1996) prompted star Michelle Pfeiffer to recommend Badalucco to husband David E. Kelley for a role in Kelley's weekly law drama The Practice. Not only did Badalucco get the part, but his performance as Jimmy Berluti would ultimately serve as his breakout role. After re-teaming with Jungle Fever director Spike Lee to essay the role of disturbed serial killer David Berkowitz in 1999's Summer of Sam, Badalucco stepped into the shoes of notorious gangster George "Baby Face" Nelson for the throwback Coen brothers comedy O Brother, Where Art Thou? the following year. His role in the Coens' subsequent film, The Man Who Wasn't There, found Badalucco threatening to become a Coen regular, and after appearing opposite Steve Buscemi in 13 Moons, the Practice star joined old friend Turturro in the comedy drama 2 B Perfectly Honest.

Trivia: Aspiring to become a professional dancer until a congenital hip disorder dashed her dreams, Sheila Kelley turned toward acting and, since her film debut playing the oldest of three sisters who compete to bed the same man in Some Girls (1989), Kelley has built a low-profile but steady career in films. Kelley debuted on television in 1987, but did not attract much notice until she portrayed legal secretary Gwen Taylor from 1990 to 1993 on the NBC courtroom drama L.A. Law. Kelley's subsequent films include John Sayles' Passion Fish (1992) and Mike Leigh's Secrets and Lies (1997).