Trivia: Though best known as an outspoken comedienne, Whoopi Goldberg is also a talented dramatic actress. By virtue of her distinctive appearance and a persona that is both no-nonsense and empathic, Goldberg has emerged as one of the most recognizable celebrities of the '80s and '90s.Born Caryn Johnson on November 13, 1955 in New York City, Goldberg began her long career when she was eight years old, performing with New York's Helena Rubenstein Children's Theater. She then went on to study with the Hudson Guild children's arts program and attended the prestigious High School for the Performing Arts. After graduating, Goldberg occasionally won small parts in Broadway productions such as Hair, Pippin and Jesus Christ Superstar, but also supported herself doing odd jobs like bricklaying and serving as a funeral parlor make-up artist. In 1975, Goldberg moved West and helped found the San Diego Repertory Theater, where she appeared in a number of plays, including Brecht's Mother Courage and Marsha Norman's Getting Out. After several stints with the Spontaneous Combustion improvisational troupe and work in avant-garde productions at Berkeley's Blake Street Hawkeyes theater, Goldberg devised The Spook Show, a one woman satirical production in which she played several characters. The show, which originated in San Francisco, eventually toured the U.S. and Europe, earning acclaim and the attention of director Mike Nichols. Nichols went on to direct a 1984 Broadway version of the show, which earned Goldberg Drama Desk and Theatre World awards, as well as a Grammy for the album recording.Goldberg made an auspicious Hollywood debut with her portrayal of Celie, the lead character in Steven Spielberg's controversial 1985 adaptation of Alice Walker's novel. Goldberg's moving performance was rewarded with an Oscar nomination and Best Actress Golden Globe, as well as instant stardom for the actress. Although Goldberg's film career looked promising, the actress unfortunately spent much of the decade's remainder appearing in terrible action comedies such as Fatal Beauty and Burglar (both 1987) that did not do her comic gifts justice. Her one partial success during this period was her first action comedy, Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986), which did relatively well at the box office and gave her a certain cult status. In 1988, Goldberg took a break from comedy with a memorable turn as a worldly Jamaican nanny in the otherwise unremarkable Clara's Heart. She also made numerous appearances in television specials, most notably as a co-host for the annual Comic Relief benefit for the homeless. Her attempt at sitcoms failed with the short-lived series Bagdad Cafe, but she did find greater television success with a small but crucial recurring role as the sagacious intergalactic bartender Guinan on the syndicated Star Trek: The Next Generation. Around the same time, Goldberg's film career underwent a sharp turn-around. She won acclaim playing a selfless housekeeper opposite Sissy Spacek in the provocative Civil Rights drama The Long Walk Home (1989), and then played an eccentric con artist possessing unexpected psychic powers in the 1990 smash hit Ghost. Goldberg's funny yet moving performance earned her her first Oscar and the widespread opinion that this marked her comeback performance. After a couple of missteps that had a few people rethinking this verdict, Goldberg scored again with the 1992 hit comedy Sister Act. Nominated for Golden Globes and two NAACP awards, the film spawned mass ticket sales and an unsuccessful 1993 sequel, Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit. Meanwhile, Goldberg also continued her television work with a 1992 late night talk show. A laid back affair that ran for 200 episodes, it was praised by critics but failed to secure high ratings and went on permanent hiatus after only six months. However, Goldberg continued to appear on TV with her recurring role as a Comic Relief co-host and as an MC for the Academy Awards ceremony, a role she reprised multiple times. At the same time, Goldberg continued to work in film, doing both comedy and drama and experiencing the obligatory highs and lows. Some of her more memorable roles included that of a single mother who discovers that Ted Danson, not a black genius, fathered her daughter in Made in America (1993), a lesbian lounge singer in Boys on the Side (1995), a white-middle-aged corporate executive in The Associate (1996), Angela Bassett's best friend in the 1998 hit How Stella Got Her Groove Back, and a private detective in the drama The Deep End of the Ocean (1999). In addition, Goldberg also appeared in two notable documentaries, The Celluloid Closet (1995), and Get Bruce! a piece about comedy writer Bruce Vilanch that also featured fellow comedians such as Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Nathan Lane and Bette Midler.As the new decade dawned, Goldberg could be seen in supporting roles in projects like Rocky and Bullwinkle and the ensemble comedy Rat Race. Then, in 2003, she tried her hand at a starring sitcom role for the first time with Whoopi. The show found Goldberg playing an irreverent hotel owner and was met with mixed reviews before being cancelled mid-season.In 2004, Goldberg focused her career on voice work with appearances in Doogal, The Lion King 1 1/2, and P3K: Pinocchio3000. She continued this trend in the following years with such films as Racing Stripes and Everyone's Hero. Then, in 2007, Goldberg returned to the small-screen, replacing Rosie O'Donnell on the ABC panel show The View. Goldberg lent her voice to Pixar's Toy Story 3 in 2010, and as the narrator for 2011's documentary Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey.

Trivia: For audiences around the world whose ears ring with the haunting and fateful revelation of a child tortured by terrifying visions of the afterlife, Haley Joel Osment may forever be linked to his role in what would rank among the most popular supernatural thrillers ever made, The Sixth Sense (1999). An Oscar nominee at the age of 11, Osment quickly became one of the most recognized and versatile young actors working in film, proving to audiences that his talents exceeded typecasting by constantly tackling new and challenging roles and characterizations.Born in Los Angeles, CA, on April 10, 1988, Osment set his acting career into motion, as many actors do, by appearing in commercials and taking small roles on television. Accompanied by his father to an audition for a Pizza Hut commercial and initially discouraged by the overwhelming amount of children vying for the role, Osment eventually stuck out the wait at his father's request and landed the role that would launch his career. Soon making his feature debut as the son of the titular shrimp slinger in the phenomenally successful Forrest Gump in 1994, Osment alternated between television (Murphy Brown and The Jeff Foxworthy Show) and film (Mixed Nuts and Bogus) while frequently appearing in such made-for-TV movies as The Ransom of Red Chief before making his breakthrough in director M. Night Shayamalan's The Sixth Sense.Following the success of The Sixth Sense with the well-intended but fatally flawed feel-good failure Pay It Forward, Osment escaped relatively unscathed as critics recognized the young actor's exceptional performance in what was otherwise a flop with critics and audiences alike. Imagination was the key to Osment's next project: director Steven Spielberg's long-anticipated, much-hyped A.I. An elaborately futuristic tale of an android that aspires to experience human emotion, A.I. was the first and only collaboration of two of the most influential filmmakers of the 20th century, the late Stanley Kubrick (who conceived the story based on Brian Aldiss' short story Supertoys Last All Summer Long) and Spielberg. In addition to appearing onscreen, Osment lent his voice to a number of animated films in 2000 and 2001, including the Disney sequels The Hunchback of Notre Dame II and The Jungle Book II. After once again providing voice work for the comedy musical The Country Bears, Osment returned to the screen body intact with Secondhand Lions in 2003. Cast as an intorverted youngster whose irresponsible mother sends him off to spend his summer with his eccentric uncles in Texas, Osment's onscreen abilities were key in making his character's transformation from withdrawn child to responsible young man believable.

Trivia: From her debut as an improvisational comic on the hit series SCTV to her later status as a voice-over artist for such popular children's shows as Sesame Street and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Emmy-winning actress Andrea Martin has remained a recognizable performer to generations of television viewers. A native of Maine whose relocation to the Great White North found her signing on with the Toronto branch of the famed Second City comedy troupe, Martin formed close working relationships with such fellow improv-ers as Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara. Fueled by a powerhouse group of comic talent that included such future stars as John Candy, Martin Short, and Rick Moranis, the Second City troupe gained a loyal following and after small roles in such features as Cannibal Girls and Black Christmas, Martin followed the troupe to the small screen with Second City TV in 1976. Equally, if not more hilarious than its American counterpart Saturday Night Live in the eyes of many comedy fans, SCTV ultimately went through three small-screen incarnations including SCTV: Network 90 and SCTV Channel before calling it quits in 1984. Though she would remain closely involved with her former cast-mates on such projects as Club Paradise, Innerspace, The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley, and Camp Candy (the latter two marking her entrance into voice-over work), Martin also branched out on her own as the title character in the 1987 television series Roxie and as a cast member in the 1991 version of The Carol Burnett Show. The '90s found her frequently alternating between television and film, and though roles in such features as Boris and Natasha and Bogus did little to further her career, fans could still catch a glimpse of the old magic when Martin joined former cast-mate Short in 1994's short-lived The Martin Short Show. On the heels of more voice-over work in such efforts as television's Recess: School's Out and the hit Disney feature Anastasia, Martin joined the cast of Sesame Street in 1998, marking something of a shift to more family-oriented material (save for an appearance in the 2001 musical comedy Hedwig and the Angry Inch) that would keep her very busy into the new millennium. Even as a voice-over artist, Martin still got the occasional opportunity to perform alongside old friends Levy (The Kid) and Martin (Prince Charming). Even if the next generation would remember her face mainly from appearances in My Big Fat Greek Wedding and New York Minute, the release of SCTV on DVD in 2004 offered parents with fond memories of the series a chance to share it with their children and show them where all the fun began.

Trivia: The ever-fascinating Nancy Travis excelled in edgy, neurotic characterizations during the 1990s; she sounds like a chain-smoker or Valium-popper even when not playing one. Graduating with a BA degree from New York University, Travis apprenticed at Circle in the Square, acted in the touring company of Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs, and starred on Broadway with Judd Hirsch in I'm Not Rappaport. As a means of continually recharging her creative batteries, she helped found the Naked Angels, an off-Broadway acting troupe. After laboring in virtual anonymity in such TV movies as Malice in Wonderland (1985), Travis was afforded top billing in the 1986 two-parter Harem, lending a little artistry and dignity to an otherwise trivial affair. Her movie breakthrough was in the role of the errant, unmarried British mother Sylvia in Three Men and a Baby (1987) and its 1990 sequel Three Men and a Little Lady. More complex roles came her way in Internal Affairs (1992), The Vanishing (1993) and Chaplin (1993); in the latter film, she appeared as the real-life Joan Barry, whose spiteful and unfounded paternity suit against Charlie Chaplin (Robert Downey Jr.) was the beginning of the end of The Little Tramp's Hollywood career. Even when playing comedy in So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993), Travis retained her ticking-bomb, "don't turn your back on me" aura. Nancy Travis' television credits of the 1990s include her gravelly voiceover work as Aunt Bernice on the animated weekly Duckman (1993- ) and her starring stint on the so-so 1995 sitcom Almost Perfect.

Trivia: Ubiquitous Canadian actor/director Al Waxman is not always cast in leading roles, but he is invariably given special billing, usually with a box around his name in the opening credits. This honor is well-deserved; in show business since the 1950s, Waxman labored long and hard to make a name for himself. During his first Hollywood stay in the 1960s, Waxman worked as a waiter and bouncer between engagements. He was fired from his job as a short-order cook at Barney's Beanery after sneaking extra portions of food to his fellow starving artists. Returning to Canada in the late 1960s, Waxman directed several intriguing but unsuccessful low-budget films, among them Tviggy (the story of a Jewish model), The Crowd Inside, and the soft-core My Pleasure is My Business. He finally struck gold in the role of blue-collar blowhard Larry King on the popular 1970s Canadian sitcom King of Kensington, which clocked in at 111 episodes, 65 of which were syndicated to the U.S. On the strength of this series, Louis Malle cast Waxman as ever-grinning cocaine dealer Alfie in Atlantic City (1980). Waxman has remained busy ever since, as both actor and director (White Light [1991], The Diamond Fleece [1992]). Most American televiewers know Waxman as short-tempered Lt. Bert Samuels on Cagney and Lacey (1982-88). For many years, Al Waxman's wife Sara wrote a food and restaurant column for a major Toronto newspaper.

Trivia: Character actor Richard Portnow has worked steadily in theater, feature films, and on television for many years. On stage, he has appeared both on and off Broadway, as well as in many regional productions, and at London's Royal Court Theatre. Portnow made his feature film debut with a bit part in Susan Seidleman's Desperately Seeking Susan (1985). On television, Portnow has guest starred on many series, including Seinfeld, NYPD Blue, and The Nanny.

Trivia: Canadian actor/singer Don Francks spent his formative performing years in his native country as a nightclub jazz vocalist, an all-night disc jockey, a member of a barbershop quartet called the Model T Four, and a trombonist in a country-western band. Despite all this activity, Francks was virtually unknown in the United States until 1960. At that time, a Canadian TV adventure series titled RCMP was syndicated regionally in the U.S. after a successful year's run above the border. Francks managed to attain a modest fan following in his handsome-hunk role as Constable Bill Mitchell. RCMP seemed to bode well for an American career, but Francks met a Waterloo of sorts when he was cast in the lead of the 1964 Broadway musical Kelly, which opened and closed on the same night and became a title synonymous with "disaster." Licking his wounds, Francks returned to his nightclub act, then in 1966 was cast in the Hollywood-filmed TV adventure series Jericho, the saga of a trio of secret agents sent behind German lines during World War II. The threesome consisted of an American, an Englishman and a Frenchman; Francks was the American, Franklin Shepard, a psychological warfare expert who dressed immaculately and took snuff. But with Batman and Daniel Boone as competition, Jericho took not snuff but a powder. It was back to Canadian TV spots and club dates for Francks until he was cast in the big-budget Hollywood musical Finian's Rainbow (1968), where, alas, he was effortlessly upstaged by Fred Astaire and Tommy Steele. Still popular in his own country, Don Francks supplemented his income in the '80s and '90s with Canadian-recorded cartoon voiceovers; his best showcase in this endeavor was on ABC's Ewoks-Droids Adventure Hour (1986).

Trivia: Despite his unorthodox visage, Gérard Depardieu has made a profound mark on the acting world, earning a recognition as one of Europe's most accomplished performers and appealing leading men. Perhaps a contributor to his consistently intense performances, Depardieu's childhood was one of extreme poverty. At twelve years old, he dropped out of school and hitchhiked across Europe on an informal tour funded primarily by the profits of stolen cars and assorted black-market products. Depardieu would likely have continued in his juvenile delinquency were it not for a friend who was attending drama school in Paris. Intrigued, Depardieu enrolled at the Theatre National Populaire, where he studied his trade alongside future co-stars Patrick Dewaere and Miou-Miou. In 1965, the young actor made his debut in a French short film by the name of Le Beatnik et le Minet, and began making regular appearances on French television shows. By the mid-'70s, Depardieu had co-starred in 11 French films, though he wouldn't enjoy widespread success until his role of a nihilistic but lovable petty criminal in director Bertrand Blier's Going Places (1974). Not long afterward, Depardieu could be found holding his own against acclaimed French actress Isabelle Adjani in Barocco and portraying a passionate Communist organizer in 1900 (both 1976). In 1978, Depardieu re-teamed with Blier for the Oscar-winning Get Out Your Handkerchiefs, and he went on to win France's prestigious César award for his performance as a resistance fighter in The Last Metro (1980). After his portrayal of a 16th century peasant in The Return of Martin Guerre (1982), Depardieu played the title role in Danton, and he stepped behind the camera as co-director for 1984's Le Tartuffe.The 1990s were equally successful for Depardieu, particularly in the case of director Jean-Paul Rappeneau's 1990 version of Cyrano de Bergerac, for which Depardieu earned an Oscar nomination. He made his foray into American film in 1990's Green Card opposite Andie MacDowell . Though the bulk of his success still stemmed from French films (All the Mornings of the World [1991], Germinal [1993], A Pure Formality [1994], and Colonel Chabert [1994], to name a few) Depardieu nonetheless achieved moderate recognition in the American film market. Despite the failures of Ridley Scott's 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992) and Steve Miner's English remake of My Father the Hero, Depardieu was praised for his performances in Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet (1996), Nick Cassavetes' She's So Lovely (1997), and Randall Wallace's The Man in the Iron Mask (1998), with Gabriel Byrne, John Malkovich, Jeremy Irons, and Leonardo DiCaprio.Over the following years, Depardieu maintained his prowess in film. In addition to critically acclaimed performances in The Closet (2001), CQ (2001), City of Ghosts (2002), and Nathalie... (2003), Depardieu began work with internationally recognized French director Alain Chabat for RRRrrr! in 2004. Additional appearances throughout 2005 and 2006 included the title role in Boudu (2005), Alain in Quand j'étais chanteur (2006), and Chef Didier in Last Holiday. Depardieu made his directorial debut with 2000's The Bridge.Depardieu has become somewhat notorious for his stormy offscreen life. He made a concerted effort to cut back on his alcohol consumption following a heart attack and an emergency quintuple bypass operation, in 2000. In 2003, he officially cut off contact with his son, Guillaume Depardieu when the young man threatened him with a gun and received a suspended prison sentence. On another note, the elder Depardieu was involved in both a plane collision and two motorcycle accidents as well (in 1998 and 2003), and officials attributed at least one of the incidents to abnormally high alcohol levels in the actor's bloodstream. In 2005, Depardieu allegedly scandalized European viewers when he crassly (and drunkenly) insulted a fellow guest on a French talk show for comments that the woman made about the cookbook he had authored. The aforementioned cookbook was no one-hit wonder for Depardieu. A highly-regarded gourmand and gifted enologist, he opened the Parisian restaurant La Fontaine Gaillon, on the second arrondissement, along with Buffet froid co-star Carole Bouquet in fall 2003. In October 2005, Depardieu publicly announced his intention to retire from screen acting, following his starring role in Michou d'Auber (2007). Retirement was not to be, however, as he went on to appear in over a dozen projects since that film including Bellamy, Potiche, and 2012's Life of Pi.