Trivia: Mixed-blood and Filipino-born, Phillips was raised in Arlington, Texas, where he began acting at age 10. After receiving his college degree in theater, he studied film technique with Adam Roarke at the Film Actor's Lab in Dallas. Between 1983 and 1986 he worked at the Lab as an assistant director and instructor. Concurrently, he performed in several plays in Dallas and Fort Worth, including Doctor Faustus and Hamlet. From 1983-87 Phillips appeared in several small, independent, Texas-made films, beginning with Angel Alley; one of these, Trespasses (1987), he co-wrote, while he associate-produced another, Dakota (1988). His big break came when director Luis Valdez was casting the Hollywood biopic La Bamba (1987), which focused on early rock 'n' roller Ritchie Valens. Someone suggested Phillips for the role of Valens' brother, but after he auditioned he was selected by Valdez to play the lead. The film was surprisingly successful and Philips married its assistant director, Julie Cypher. With his performance as a barrio boy in Stand and Deliver (1988) he further established himself as a leading Hispanic star and representative of the Hispanic community. After playing an American Indian in the youth Western Young Guns (1988), he found himself fascinated with Indian culture and became a Cherokee blood brother. He wrote one of his films, Ambition (1991).

Trivia: Since his 1983 breakout role as an Irish-Catholic misfit nicknamed "The Sheik" opposite Rosanna Arquette in Baby It's You, Vincent Spano has proved himself a versatile and skilled actor to those who have followed his career. Spano had begun acting in a professional capacity by the age of 14, when he starred in a 1977 theater production of The Shadow Box, and landed a small Broadway role two years later in The Double McGuffin. Though audiences had expected Spano to rise along with the other budding stars of his time, particularly after a critical nod for his role in Francis Ford Coppola's Rumble Fish (1983) and appearances in several popular 1980s teen films, Spano opted against the high-profile stardom he could have easily pursued in favor of taking on a variety of unique but decidedly less flashy roles.Unfortunately, most of those roles ended up buried within otherwise unremarkable movies; this was the case with his portrayal of a bewildered graduate assistant in Creator (1985), as was his performance in Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky's first American film, Maria's Lovers (1984). Luckily, Spano received no small amount of praise for his contribution to Good Morning, Babylon (1987), an Italian/American/French collaboration that chronicled the efforts of an Italian cathedral builder's (Spano) complicated emigration to the United States. After filming several foreign features, Spano turned in a solid performance as the good-hearted but emotionally lost New Jersey native in John Sayles' urban drama City of Hope (1991), and went on to star alongside Ethan Hawke in the hotly anticipated cannibalistic docudrama Alive (1993).Though significant mainstream recognition continued to elude him, Spano nonetheless continued to exhibit an admirable willingness to try anything when it came to selecting roles. Whether it was as a rogue government agent (1996's Downdraft) or the excruciatingly macho brother of an AIDS victim (1998's The Unknown Cyclist), Spano continued to impress fans with his wide-ranging capabilities. After filming several horror films and psychological thrillers during the early 2000s, Spano was given a warm reception for his performance as a "justice fighter" in the Sci-Fi channel's feature-length pilot Deathlands: Homeward Bound.

Trivia: Beefy, burly character actor Robert Baker broke into Hollywood features during the 2000s and specialized in physically dominant and imposing types from a broad cross-section of genres. Projects included the Will Ferrell/Vince Vaughn frat-boy comedy Old School (2003) (as a college student), the Denzel Washington crime thriller Out of Time (2003), and the Pierce Brosnan/Liam Neeson western Seraphim Falls (2006) (as one of the members of a man-hunting posse). In 2008, Baker scored a double-coup with a supporting role as football player Stump in the George Clooney-directed sports comedy Leatherheads and an ongoing turn as Leo, one of a family of Greek immortals assigned to bring human soulmates together, on the romantic comedy series Valentine. In 2009 Baker joined the cast of Grey's Anatomy as antagonistic Dr. Charles Percy, with subsequent feature roles in Atom Egoyan's Devil's Knot and Gore Verbinski's The Lone Ranger highlighting his unique ability to move effortlessly between screens both big and small.

Trivia: The oldest of three sons of a high school art teacher, Timothy Bottoms was 17 when he toured Europe as a member of the Santa Monica Madrigal Society. Enjoying the "rush" of appearing before live audiences, Bottoms pursued a theatrical career. While playing the lead in a stage production of Romeo and Juliet, he was selected by writer/director Dalton Trumbo to play the blind, deaf, armless, and legless protagonist in the 1971 film version of Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun. That same year, Bottoms was tapped by Peter Bogdanovich to star as Texas teenager Sonny Crawford in the award-winning The Last Picture Show (1971), which featured Tim's younger brother Samuel. Bottoms followed these triumphs by creating the role of harried first-year law student Hart in the 1973 sleeper The Paper Chase. Thereafter, his film roles seemed haphazardly selected. On TV, Bottoms was given an opportunity to age nearly 30 years as Adam Trask in the 1981 miniseries version of East of Eden; he also co-starred with brothers Joseph and Sam in the feature-length TV pilot Favorite Son (1987). Again appearing opposite younger sibling Joseph, Tim made his Broadway bow in The 5th of July (1951). Bottoms surprised no one when he balked at the opportunity of re-creating his Sonny Crawford characterization in Texasville, the 1991 sequel to Last Picture Show. Eventually he not only agreed to co-star in Texasville, but also served as executive producer of a documentary on the making of that film, Picture This (1990).

Trivia: The son of a drama teacher and dialogue director, American actor Stacy Keach began performing in college productions, then studied at the Yale Drama School. He spent a year at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art on a Fulbright scholarship, then acted in Shakespeare in the Park productions, where he first established his reputation; he soon worked both off and on Broadway, winning a Tony for his work in Indians. Keach debuted onscreen as a drunken drifter in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968), then went on to play leads and supporting roles in a number of films; his screen appearances after 1982, however, have been infrequent. He wrote and directed the short film The Repeater (1972); he also directed a TV version of Pirandello's classic Six Characters in Search of an Author. In 1975 he starred in the short-lived TV series Caribe, and after starring in several TV movies, Keach assumed the title role of the TV series Mike Hammer in 1983. His career came to an abrupt halt in the mid-'80s when he was arrested and imprisoned in England for cocaine possession; after serving nine months and participating in drug rehabilitation, he returned to Mike Hammer. He is the brother of actor James Keach, with whom he co-starred in The Long Riders (1980), a film he also co-wrote and co-produced. He is married to Polish actress Malgosia Tomassi.

Trivia: Was adopted; is the youngest of six children. To overcome shyness as a teen, her mother sent her to self-improvement class, which led to modeling, and soon she was appearing on fashion runways around the world. Was seriously injured in a 1988 car accident that rendered her unconscious for 10 days and required almost a year of physical therapy to be able to walk again. The character Faith Rosco on the soap opera General Hospital was specifically written for her. Served as a volunteer at the Los Angeles Zoo.

Trivia: A character actor whose beefy, imposing build (a magazine once listed him as 6'3" and 245 pounds) typecast him as thugs, hoods, and underworld heavies, performer Mike Starr was raised in the Manhattan area, as the son of a meatpacker and a five-and-dime clerk. He attended Long Island's Hofstra University on a drama scholarship, and -- after graduation -- toiled at menial jobs as a bartender and club bouncer before landing his first film role in William Friedkin's gay-themed cop thriller Cruising (1980). Many projects ensued over the following decades, including The Natural (1984), Uncle Buck (1989, in a memorable bit as a drunken clown), Ed Wood (1994), and Jersey Girl (2004). Fans of the gangster-themed comedy Mad Dog and Glory (1993), in particular, might remember Starr -- he played Harold, the wife-beater husband who gets on David Caruso's bad side, and physically suffers for it. In 2007, Starr essayed a rare lead in the character comedy Osso Bucco; he played a gangster unknowingly targeted for death and due for extermination by his cousin.

Trivia: The youngest of the acting Bottoms brothers, Samuel Bottoms made his first film appearance as the retarded Billy in The Last Picture Show, appearing in several scenes with older brother Timothy. Samuel later showed up in two Vietnam-themed Francis Ford Coppola films: he was hotshot PFC Lance in Apocalypse Now (1979) and the more sober-sided Lt. Webber in Gardens of Stone (1987). In 1981, he starred in the TV-miniseries remake of East of Eden as Cal Trask, while his brother Timothy played his father, Adam Trask. Samuel Bottoms went on to co-star with Tim and Joseph Bottoms in 1987's Island Sons, a busted TV pilot.