Trivia: The youngest of four children born to Evelyn "Brandy" Foster, Jodie Foster entered the world on November 19, 1962, under the name Alicia, but earned her "proper" name when her siblings insisted upon Jodie. A stage-mother supreme, Brandy Foster dragged her kids from one audition to another, securing work for son Buddy in the role of Ken Berry's son on the popular sitcom Mayberry RFD. It was on Mayberry that Foster, already a professional thanks to her stint as the Coppertone girl (the little kid whose swimsuit was being pulled down by a dog on the ads for the suntan lotion), made her TV debut in a succession of minor roles. Buddy would become disenchanted with acting, but Jodie stayed at it, taking a mature, businesslike approach to the disciplines of line memorization and following directions that belied her years. Janet Waldo, a voice actress who worked on the 1970s cartoon series The Addams Family, would recall in later years that Foster, cast due to her raspy voice in the male role of Puggsley Addams, took her job more seriously and with more dedication than many adult actors.After her film debut in Disney's Napoleon and Samantha (1972), Foster was much in demand, though she was usually cast in "oddball" child roles by virtue of her un-starlike facial features. She was cast in the Tatum O'Neal part in the 1974 TV series based on the film Paper Moon -- perhaps the last time she would ever be required to pattern her performance after someone else's. In 1975, Foster was cast in what remains one of her most memorable roles, as preteen prostitute Iris in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver. Both the director and the on-set supervisors made certain that she would not be psychologically damaged by the sleaziness of her character's surroundings and lifestyle; alas, the film apparently did irreparable damage to the psyche of at least one of its viewers. In 1981, John Hinckley Jr. attempted to assassinate President Reagan, and when captured, insisted he'd done it to impress Foster -- a re-creation of a similar incident in Taxi Driver. The resultant negative publicity made Foster (who'd been previously stalked by Hinckley) extremely sensitive to the excesses of the media; through absolutely no fault of her own, she'd become the quarry of every tabloid and "investigative journalist" in the world. Thereafter, she would stop an interview cold whenever the subject of Hinckley was mentioned, and even ceased answering fan mail or giving out autographs. This (justifiable) shunning of "the public" had little if any effect on Foster's professional life; after graduating magna cum laude from Yale University (later she would also receive an honorary Doctorate), the actress appeared in a handful of "small" films of little commercial value just to recharge her acting batteries, and then came back stronger than ever with her Oscar-winning performance in The Accused (1988), in which she played a rape victim seeking justice. Foster followed up this triumph with another Oscar for her work as FBI investigator Clarice Starling (a role turned down by several prominent actresses) in the 1991 chiller The Silence of the Lambs.Not completely satisfied professionally, Foster went into directing with a worthwhile drama about the tribulations of a child genius, Little Man Tate (1991) -- a logical extension, according to some movie insiders, of Foster's tendency to wield a great deal of authority on the set. Foster would also balance the artistic integrity of her award-winning work with the more commercial considerations of such films as Maverick (1994). She made her debut as producer in 1994 with the acclaimed Nell, in which she also gave an Oscar-nominated performance as a backwoods wild child brought into the modern world. Foster would continue to to produce and direct, with 1995's Home for the Holidays and 2011's The Beaver.Foster would continue to chose a challenging variety of roles, playing scientist Ellie Arroway in Robert Zemeckis' 1997 adaptation of the Carl Sagan in Contact, and a widowed schoolteacher in Anna and the King (1999), and a mother defending her daughter during a home invasion in David Fincher's Panic Room. The 2000's would see Foster appear in several more films, like Inside Man, The Brave One, and the Roman Polanski directed domestic comedy Carnage. In 2013, Foster was honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes, and later appeared in sci-fi thriller Elysium.

Trivia: More coolly charismatic than drop-dead handsome, Richard Gere was one of the most successful sex symbols of the '80s and early '90s. Possessing something of an actual talent in addition to his good looks, Gere has proven himself to be a versatile actor since first starring as the pick-up artist who creeps out Diane Keaton in Looking For Mr. Goodbar. Capable of playing everything from romantic leads and action heroes to medieval knights and ruthless villains, Gere has moved beyond his role as cinematic eye candy to become one of the more enduring actors of his generation. Born in Philadelphia on August 31, 1949, Gere had a strict Methodist upbringing in upstate New York. Following his 1967 high school graduation, he studied philosophy and film at the University of Massachusetts -- only to leave school to pursue an acting career two years later. Gere became a professional actor and sometime musician, performing theatrically in Seattle and New York and attempting unsuccessfully to form a rock band. In 1973 the young actor landed in London, where he gained prominence playing Danny Zuko in Grease, a role he would later reprise on Broadway. While in London, Gere gained the privilege of becoming one of the few Americans ever to work with Britain's Young Vic Theater, with which he appeared in The Taming of the Shrew.Back in the U.S., Gere made his feature film debut in 1974 with a tiny part in Report to the Commissioner. He returned to the stage the following year as part of the cast of an off-Broadway production of Sam Shepard's Killer's Head; following Gere's turn in the 1977 Looking for Mr. Goodbar, he and Shepard would again collaborate in Terrence Malick's breathtaking Days of Heaven (1978). In 1979, Gere won considerable theatrical acclaim for his performance in the Broadway production of Martin Sherman's Bent, and the next year enjoyed his first shot at screen stardom with the title role in Paul Schrader's American Gigolo. Though the film was not a major critical or box-office success, it did earn recognition for the actor, who had taken the role after John Travolta turned it down. Gere did not become a real star until he appeared opposite Debra Winger in An Officer and a Gentleman in 1982, but his bona fide celebrity status was jeopardized with roles in several poorly received films including King David (1985). A lead role in Francis Ford Coppola's 1984 The Cotton Club also failed to perk up the actor's career; despite a legendary director and stellar cast, the film received mixed reviews and poor box-office turnout. With no recent major successes behind him by the end of the decade, it looked as if Gere's career was in a tailspin. Fortunately, he abruptly pulled out of the dive in 1990, first as a cop/crime lord in Mike Figgis' Internal Affairs and then as a ruthless businessman who finds true love in the arms of prostitute Julia Roberts in the smash romantic comedy Pretty Woman. Back in the saddle again, Gere continued to star in a number of films, including Sommersby (1993), Intersection (1994), and First Knight (1995). In 1996, he was highly praised for his portrayal of an arrogant hot-shot attorney in Primal Fear, and in 1999 found further financial, if not critical, success starring opposite Julia Roberts in Runaway Bride. The following year the actor enjoyed some of his best reviews to date as a gynecologist at once devoted to and bewildered by all of the women in his life in Robert Altman's aptly titled Dr. T & the Women; many critics noted that Gere seemed to have finally come into his own as an actor, having matured amiably with years and experience. In 2002, Gere played the too-perfect-for-words husband to Diane Lane in Unfaithful. While the film was not a huge critical success, Gere was praised for a game performance, and Lane was nominated for an Oscar. Unfortunately for Gere, a starring role in The Mothman Prophecies didn't do too much for his resume -- while critics once again lauded the actor's intensity, the film itself was widely hailed as too slow-paced to properly showcase his talents. Luckily, the same couldn't be said for his performance in the multiple Oscar winning Chicago, which found Gere in the role of another hotshot lawyer, this time alongside a diverse and talented cast including Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renée Zellweger, and Queen Latifah. In 2004, Gere starred opposite Jennifer Lopez and Oscar-winning Hollywood veteran Susan Sarandon in Peter Chelsom's Shall We Dance?.On- and offscreen, Gere uses his acting clout to promote his various political ventures. A devout Buddhist, Gere has been deeply involved with the struggles surrounding the Dalai Lama and the worldwide struggle for human rights -- the documentaries Return to Tibet (2003) and Shadow Over Tibet: Stories in Exile (1994) featured Gere as a prime interviewee, while 1997's Red Corner starred the versatile actor as a victim of a grossly corrupt Chinese court system.In 2005, Gere played a professor of religious studies in director David Siegel's drama Bee Season, and enjoyed success in 2007 with The Hoax, an edgy biographical drama, and The Hunting Party, a political tragi-comedy in which he played a discredited reporter mistaken as a member of a CIA hit squad. The actor joined the casat of Nights in Rodanthe in 2008, and worked with Hilary Swank in Amela, the 2009 Amelia Earhart biopic. Gere took on the role of a burnt out cop in Training Day (2009), director Antoine Fuqua's gritty crime drama Brooklyn's Finest.

Trivia: An alumnus of State University of New York and the University of Massachusetts, American actor Bill Pullman excelled in both wacky comedy and intense drama during his stage years, working with such repertory companies as the Folger Theatre Groupe and the Los Angeles Theatre Center. Before college, he attended a technical institute and studied building construction (years later he used those skills to build his own house in California). In films, Pullman could be relied upon to almost invariably lose the girl, as witness his brace of 1993 films, Sleepless in Seattle and Somersby. He almost lost his screen wife Geena Davis to Tom Hanks in A League of Their Own (1992), but this gratuitous plot point was eliminated from the script. Only since 1994 has Pullman won the heroine's hand with any regularity. The summer of 1995 found Bill Pullman with back-to-back leading roles in two of the season's biggest box-office successes: While You Were Sleeping and Casper: The Movie. Pullman gained even more recognition for his heroic portrayal of the self-sacrificing U.S. president in the special effects blockbuster Independence Day. Up to this point, Pullman was pretty well typecast in "nice guy" roles. In David Lynch's Lost Highway (1996), he broke that mold by appearing as a deeply disturbed husband. In 1995, Pullman began a side career as a producer when he founded his own production company Big Town.

Trivia: James Earl Jones is a distinguished African American actor instantly recognizable for his deep, resonant Shakespearean voice and wide smile. The son of prizefighter and actor Robert Earl Jones, he was raised on a farm. In college, he briefly studied medicine but switched to drama. After serving with the Army he enrolled at the American Theater Wing in New York. He made his Broadway debut in 1957, then went on to appear in many plays before spending several seasons with Joseph Pap's New York Shakespeare Festival. Jones' biggest success onstage was as the star of The Great White Hope on Broadway (1966-68); for his work (portraying heavyweight champion Jack Jefferson) he received a Tony award. He had a small part in Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove (1964), but did not begin to appear onscreen much until the '70s. In addition to stage and occasional film work, he also appeared as an African chieftain in the TV series Tarzan and was one of the first black actors to be cast as a regular on the soap opera The Guiding Light in 1967. Reprising his stage role, he received a Best Actor Oscar nomination and won a Golden Globe award for his work in the screen version of The Great White Hope (1970) and went on from there to have a busy screen career. He starred in the TV series Paris in 1979-80. Beginning in 1977, he provided the melodiously wicked voice of the villainous Darth Vader in the three Star Wars films. Since then he has continued to appear on screen (over 40 films to date), stage, and television. He also continues to provide voiceovers (he can frequently be heard on the CNN television network). His portrayal of the grouchy, reclusive writer opposite Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams (1989) is among his most notable turns. In 1987 he won another Tony Award, this time for his portrayal of a frustrated baseball player in August Wilson's Fences. Most recently, Jones provided the voice for Mufasa, the regal patriarch in Disney's animated film The Lion King (1994).

Trivia: The great-grandson of a famous and influential 19th century Minnesota senator, actor William Windom was born in New York, briefly raised in Virginia, and attended prep school in Connecticut. During World War II, Windom was drafted into the army, which acknowledged his above-the-norm intelligence by bankrolling his adult education at several colleges. It was during his military career that Windom developed a taste for the theater, acting in an all-serviceman production of Richard III directed by Richard Whorf. Windom went on to appear in 18 Broadway plays before making his film debut as the prosecuting attorney in To Kill a Mockingbird. He gained TV fame as the co-star of the popular 1960s sitcom The Farmer's Daughter and as the James Thurber-ish lead of the weekly 1969 series My World and Welcome to It. Though often cast in conservative, mild-mannered roles, Windom's offscreen persona was that of a much-married, Hemingway-esque adventurer. William Windom was seen in the recurring role of crusty Dr. Seth Haslett on the Angela Lansbury TV series Murder She Wrote.

Trivia: A veteran character actor whose work has shown he's as comfortable with comedy as drama, Frankie Faison was born in Newport News, VA, in 1949. Faison developed the acting bug while in grade school after appearing in a school play, and after high school he was a theater student at both Illinois Wesleyan University and New York University. Faison began pursuing a career in the theater, and appeared in a number of acclaimed off-Broadway productions, including Athol Fugard's Playland, the New York Shakespeare Festival's production of Before It Hits Home, and an adaptation of King Lear at the NYSF Delacorte Theater. Faison made his film debut in 1981 with a small role in Ragtime, and Faison soon began supplementing his stage work with small parts in motion pictures and guest shots on television. An inkling of what was to come for Faison appeared in 1986, when he was cast in a small role as a cop in Manhunter, an adaptation of Thomas Harris' novel Red Dragon, in which Brian Cox played the murderous Hannibal Lector. In 1987, Faison appeared on Broadway in August Wilson's drama Fences, opposite James Earl Jones; Faison's performance earned him a Tony award nomination. In 1988, Faison scored a showy comic role in the Eddie Murphy vehicle Coming to America, and a year later he was one of the "corner men" in Spike Lee's acclaimed and controversial Do the Right Thing. In 1990, Faison scored the male lead in a short-lived sitcom, True Colors, and in 1991 he appeared in another adaptation of a Thomas Harris novel when he was cast as Barney Matthews, the big but gentle male nurse in The Silence of the Lambs. Faison continued to win supporting roles in a variety of notable films, including City of Hope, Sommersby, Mother Night, I Love Trouble, Albino Alligator, Where the Money Is, and The Thomas Crown Affair, and he had a leading role in the well-regarded police drama Prey; sadly, the show fared poorly in the ratings and didn't survive its first season. Faison revived his role as Barney Matthews in 2001's box-office blockbuster Hannibal, making him the only actor to appear in all three films about the famous cannibal. ~ Mark Deming

Trivia: A few character actors make such an indelible impression with one role that they find it consistently impossible to outgrow that image. Anthony Perkins had it with Norman Bates, M. Emmet Walsh has it with Visser (from Blood Simple), and R. Lee Ermey will forever be associated with the sadomasochistic verbal rapist of a drill instructor, Gunnery Sgt. Hartman, from Stanley Kubrick's Vietnam opus, Full Metal Jacket (1987). Though Ermey never again quite matched the intensity of this role (or the gutter-bucket poetic invention of its obscene dialogue), it was enough to give him permanent recognition as a character actor among filmgoers, and to typecast him in a series of variants on that role, again and again, throughout his life.Born on March 24, 1944, in Emporia, KS, Ermey enlisted in the armed forces as a young man and hightailed it to Vietnam on a non-commissioned basis, but injuries forced him to retire from active duty. He received full disability pay and moved to Manila in the early '70s, where he managed to ably support himself on his USAF allotment (thanks to the lower cost of living) while studying for a degree in criminology. Each morning, Ermey visited the coffee shop at the Manila Hilton -- well-reputed as the haunt of American filmmakers shooting on-location in the Philippines -- until one of the directors happened to notice Ermey and asked him to pose for a series of blue jeans ads. This experience led to his film debut, a role as a retired soldier in a local production. By 1976, Ermey had appeared in several Filipino films. He broke into Hollywood films that year, when he slipped onto the set for Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now and convinced Coppola to hire him as a helicopter pilot. Indeed, the ex-officer's Vietnam experience came in handy and Coppola utilized him as a technical advisor. Ermey made his American cinematic debut -- and held to the military-man typecasting -- in Sidney J. Furie's comedy drama The Boys in Company C (1978), and the director's follow-up, Purple Hearts (1984). But his biggest break came shortly thereafter, when Stanley Kubrick -- a notorious tyrant himself -- tapped him to portray Gunnery Sgt. Hartman in Full Metal Jacket (1987). Ermey's evocation of the satanically profane, vile, and sadistic Hartman, laden with the thankless, brutal job of toughening up raw recruits before sending them to Vietnam (who eventually gets blown away by one of his trainees) dominates the film's first 45 minutes and provides an unforgettably realistic, disturbing portrait of military training. Thanks to his unique countenance and authoritative voice, Ermey maintained his image as a rough-hewn, tough-as-nails SOB onscreen.Neither Company C or Purple Hearts received substantial critical and public recognition (or a very wide release); in contrast, the broader exposure of Full Metal Jacket (it received an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay and a National Board of Review nomination for Best Picture) boosted Ermey's prominence -- immeasurably so. He followed it up with spots in such well-received pictures as Alan Parker's racial drama Mississippi Burning (1988) and Abel Ferrara's Body Snatchers (1993). In 1995, Ermey spoofed himself to great effect as the voice of the leader of the little green soldiers in Toy Story, and doubled it up with a turn as the vengeful father of a homicide victim in Tim Robbins' capital punishment drama Dead Man Walking. A third role in that same year -- as the boss of Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt in David Fincher's seminal work Seven -- elicited a positive (if limited) critical and public response for Ermey's portrayal.During the early 2000s, Ermey once again drew on his military expertise and background, albeit in a much different fashion, as host of the small-screen program Mail Call. Episodes featured him answering a series of viewer questions about various aspects of military life and history. In 2003, he returned to his dramatic roots (and managed to top the despicability of Sgt. Hartman) in Marcus Nispel's Tobe Hooper remake, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Ermey plays Sheriff Hoyt, the deviant backwater law officer -- in cahoots with the family of slaughter-happy cannibals -- who refuses to listen the cries and wails of Jessica Biel's Erin. (In fact, Nispel invented Ermey's role for the remake). After a comic turn as yet another tough-nosed authority figure, Captain Nichols, in the 2005 Tommy Lee Jones vehicle Man of the House, Ermey reprised the Hoyt role for the sequel to the Chainsaw remake, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006). In that picture, Hoyt precipitates the central crisis by happening upon another group of teens, murdering one in cold blood, and dragging the others back to the house where maniac Leatherface and his cronies reside. R. Lee Ermey married his wife, Nila Ermey, in 1975. They have four children.

Trivia: Played clarinet in his high school band and sang in the choir. Theater debut was in a 1970 college production of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. Taught an acting class at the Georgia State Penitentiary in the early 1970s. Made his big-screen debut in the 1989 thriller Black Rainbow. Has had recurring roles as an inmate on Prison Break and a former Naval Criminal Investigative Service agent on NCIS.

Trivia: Began acting in Atlanta in the early 1980s. Made film debut (as a state trooper) in 1989's Driving Miss Daisy; other film credits include Apollo 13, O Brother, Where Art Thou? and The Blind Side. Shared the 2001 live-action short Oscar for The Accountant with his late wife, Lisa Blount, the comedy's executive producer; and his costar and producing partner, Walton Goggins. McKinnon also wrote and directed. Was a regular on the first season of HBO's Deadwood (2004). His 2004 indie drama Chrystal (starring Blount and Billy Bob Thornton) was nominated for a Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize. Was nominated for a 2009 Independent Spirit supporting-actor award for That Evening Sun. (He also produced the drama, along with Goggins.)

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).