Trivia: An actress whose fire-red mane sets the screen ablaze, Marcia Cross has carved out an impressive television career thanks to winning roles on such shows as Melrose Place and Desperate Housewives. With a resumé that reads like a "television's greatest hits" list from the mid-'80s through the new millennium, small-screen veteran Cross is hardly a new face to devoted TV viewers, and thanks to her role as über-perfectionist suburban homemaker Bree Van De Kamp on ABC's surprise hit Desperate Housewives, chances are she'll be sticking around for some time. A native of Marlborough, MA, who first discovered her love for acting while taking the stage for a sixth-grade production of The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Cross was soon setting her sites on New York's world-renowned Juilliard Drama School, where she would major in drama. In the years following her graduation, Cross made a name for herself in and around the New York stage, with performances in the Williamstown Theater Festival's production of La Ronde and the Hartford Stage Company's production of Twelfth Night serving as early career highlights. Appearances on shows like Cheers and Who's the Boss? got the actress started on screen, preparing her for the career landmark of being cast as Dr. Kimberly Shaw on 1992's Melrose Place. A direct descendent of Beverly Hills 90210 that lit the small-screen ablaze for much of the 1990s, Melrose Place occupied most of Cross' time, save for the occasional television guest appearance or feature role. Though she had only been slated to appear in one episode of Melrose Place, Cross' character proved so popular that producers went to great lengths to keep her on board, eventually going so far as to reach beyond the grave to keep the character alive. If it seemed like Cross' career was floundering somewhat in the wake of her Melrose Place success, a role in the WB's 2002 drama Everwood served well to bring her back into the collective conscience of television viewers. Though she would only remain with the series for one season, her furlough from the small screen proved to be short-lived when Cross returned stronger than ever in 2004 in the hugely popular dark comedy drama Desperate Housewives. Cast as a Martha Stewart-worshipping suburbanite whose obsession with perfection is slowly tearing her family apart at the seams, Cross used her keen skills in front of the camera to hold her own in an ensemble cast that included the likes of Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, and Nicollette Sheridan.

Trivia: Born in Guyana on December 25, 1952, actress CCH Pounder made her first film appearance as a nurse in Bob Fosse's All That Jazz (1979). Pounder went on to play a small part in Prizzi's Honor before her first big role as truckstop owner Brenda in Bagdad Cafe. Her first TV-series assignment was as husband-murderer Dawn Murphy in the short-lived FOX sitcom Women in Prison. Many dramatic TV movies followed, including Leap of Faith, Third Degree Burn, Murder in Mississippi, and the two-part CBS miniseries Common Ground. On the big screen, she had supporting parts in Postcards From the Edge, Kurt Baker's version of The Importance of Being Earnest, and the romantic comedy Benny & Joon. After appearing in Sliver and Robocop 3, she returned to television for the role of Dr. Angela Hicks on ER, earning her an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress. She left the show in 1997 and went on to countless TV movies (Final Justice, Netforce, A Touch of Hope, just to name a few), as well as a couple feature films (Face/Off, End of Days) and TV miniseries (House of Frankenstein, To Serve and Protect). In 2001, she narrated the PBS documentary series Race: The Power of an Illusion and played a judge in Allison Anders' independent drama Things Behind the Sun. In 2002, she was back on television as Detective Claudette Wynn on the FOX police drama The Shield.Pounder continued to work on The Shield until the series concluded in 2007, and was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for her role as Detective Wynn. The actress appeared in 2009's psychological horror The Orphan, and voiced Mo'at, the spiritual leader of the Omaticaya clan, in James Cameron's mega-blockbuster Avatar the same year. 2009 would prove a rewarding year for Pounder, as her guest appearances on the BBC/HBO series No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency would earn her an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series.

Trivia: A natural-born actress who received her primary training in the foyer of her parents' home, Leila Kenzle has since moved on to brighten the lights of Broadway and bask in the warm glow of television and film. Born in Patchogue (Long Island), NY, and raised by an electrical supplies salesman and an antique dealer in nearby Rutherford, NJ, Kenzle was the one of three daughters who often entertained houseguests with her energetic antics. After deciding to expand her talents beyond the realm of home dinner theater, Kenzle earned her B.F.A. in theater from the Mason Gross School of the Arts Conservatory at Rutgers. As with many others in her field, the burgeoning talent found the demanding life of an actress too much to bear and promptly withdrew from the stage, finding work as a hotel phone operator. Encouraged by a sympathetic casting director to follow her dreams and go in for an audition, Kenzle landed her first off-Broadway role and has since never looked back. Following a breakthrough role in the off-Broadway hit Tony 'n Tina's Wedding, the newly confident actress soon relocated to Los Angeles and quickly landed roles in no less than five television pilots. Her television career on a role, Kenzle appeared in such popular series as The Golden Girls, thirtysomething, and Mad About You. Her exposure growing, it wasn't long before Kenzle was making the leap to films with roles in Other People's Money (1991) and Dogmatic (1996). The new millennium found Kenzle landing roles in such popular features as White Oleander and the Rob Schneider comedy The Hot Chick (both 2002). Married to acting coach Neil Monaco in April of 1994, Kenzle often dedicated her time off-camera to work with the Children's International Institute and working with multiple sclerosis charities. With the release of the award-winning short film Bigger Fish, the established actress branched out to receive her first producer's credit.

Trivia: Following graduation from Northern Illinois University, Carrie Snodgress earned her MA from Chicago's Goodman Theatre School. Making the Hollywood rounds in the late 1960s, she drew attention to herself with her offbeat characterizations in such Universal television productions as the weekly series The Outsider and the 1968 TV movie The Whole World is Watching. In 1970, she earned an Oscar nomination for her first theatrical-film performance as Tina Balser in director Frank Perry's Diary of a Mad Housewife. After this one film, and her 1971 starring appearance as a social worker in the 2-hour TV pilot The Impatient Heart, Carrie dropped completely from public view. During her years away from the cameras, she lived with rock musician Neil Young, the father of her son Zeke. Then, just as suddenly as she'd disappeared, Snodgress resurfaced in Brian DePalma's The Fury (1978). In 1981, she made her off-Broadway debut in A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking (the other "chick" was Susan Sarandon). Since that time, Carrie Snodgress has made sporadic film and TV appearances in such roles as psychopathic murderer Joan Freeman in Charles Bronson's Murphy's Law (1986) and Stefania Comenici in the 1985 TV miniseries Nadia; later, she was seen in 8 Seconds (1994) and the long-delayed Blue Sky (1994).

Trivia: American actor Bruce Kirby made his Broadway bow at age 40 in the 1965 production Diamond Orchid. More stage work followed, and then movie assignments, commencing with the all-star Catch 22 (1970), and continuing into the 1980s with such productions as Sweet Dreams (1985) and Throw Momma from the Train (1987). Kirby's TV career has embraced both series successes (1989's Anything But Love, as Jamie Lee Curtis' father), ignoble failures (1976's Holmes and Yoyo, as Henry Sedford), and a few projects which never sold (Kirby was in two busted pilots for something called McNamara's Band). In 1984, Kirbyreturned to Broadway to understudy Dustin Hoffman as Willy Loman in the revival of Death of a Salesman. Bruce Kirby, sometimes billed as Bruce Kirby Sr., was the father of actor Bruno Kirby, who formerly billed himself as B. Kirby Jr.

Trivia: Best known for playing biker James Hurley on David Lynch's television series Twin Peaks, actor James Marshall has gone on to play leading roles in low-budget or independent films of the '90s. He made his feature-film debut in the television movie Nightbreaker (1989). As the '90s progressed, Marshall obtained larger roles in more mainstream films such as Don't Do It (1994).