Trivia: Began studying ballet at age 6; and left home at age 15 to become a ballerina with the San Francisco Ballet. Among her highlights: performing at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, Left ballet after three years to pursue acting; and supported herself as a bartender while taking acting classes. Is a trained stunt driver; and is also proficient with firearms. Served as Julia Roberts' body double in the opening scenes of the 1990 movie Pretty Woman. Supports an array of charities, including the National Hospice Palliative Care Organization; My Good Friend; The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research; and Project Angel Food.

Trivia: After bit parts in the John Woo martial arts extravaganza Face/Off (1997) and guest-starring appearances on the weekly series Ally McBeal and The Drew Carey Show, James Denton (also billed under his formal prename, Jamie Denton) achieved national recognition for his contribution to the darkly comic prime-time soap opera Desperate Housewives. In that program, Denton played Mike Delfino, the very eligible bachelor plumber, tossed like a volleyball in between sexy suburbanites Edie Britt (Nicollette Sheridan) and Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher). The eldest child of a Nashville, TN, dentist, Denton attended Goodlettsville High School and junior college prior to enrolling in the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. At that institution, he majored in television and journalism, and graduated with honors, a degree in advertising under his arm. Grassroots experience acting in a number of regional plays -- including a local production of Thornton Wilder's Our Town -- imparted to Denton a permanent love of acting, and thus shifted his career path; he spent four years making a living by selling advertising to radio stations, but nothing could outshine the passion and drive he felt for acting. Thus, after a short theatrical stint in North Carolina, Denton set out for Chicago to pursue drama full-time. In the Windy City, Denton landed roles in such productions as A Streetcar Named Desire and Lapin, Lapin, and signed on as a semi-permanent member of the Griffin Theater and the Strawdog Theater Ensemble.Denton subsequently scored the key role of Mr. Lyle in the NBC fantasy-adventure series The Pretender, and worked on a number of other small-screen programs, including The Untouchables, Sliders, and Dark Skies. An even bigger TV role would come later, in the formof his role on Housewives. Shortly after the series premiered in October 2004, it rocketed up to become one of the most popular shows on television, and Denton would stick with the series as it was renewed for season after season.

Trivia: A seasoned Shakespearean stage actor, Massachusetts native Jeffrey Donovan possesses precisely the kind of steely eyed gaze that made him an ideal candidate to portray a former government agent struggling to piece his life back together in the tense USA Network series Burn Notice. Donovan attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, continuing his studies in New York University's Acting Graduate program, and after receiving his MFA, it was time to put his skills to the ultimate test. Frequently alternating between the stage and the screen in the 1990s, Donovan appeared in episodes of Law & Order, Homicide: Life on the Street, The Pretender, and Spin City while nurturing a feature career with supporting roles in such films as Sleepers and Catherine's Grove. A part in the eagerly anticipated 2000 sequel Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 gave Donovan increased exposure, though it was his role in the 2004 made-for-television crime thriller Touching Evil that marked the beginning of the actor's fruitful collaboration with the USA Network. Cast as a detective whose close brush with death gave him an uncanny ability to peer into the criminal mind, Donovan was a hit with viewers and critics, and went on to reprise the role in the short-lived series that followed. While network executives may not have given Touching Evil quite enough time to find a solid viewing audience, they did recognize Donovan's onscreen charisma. After a memorable supporting role in the 2005 Will Smith comedy Hitch and numerous television appearances (including a recurring role in the popular NBC series Crossing Jordan), the USA Network gave the actor a second shot by casting him as the lead in Burn Notice. By this point, Donovan was on the verge of bona fide screen stardom, with substantial roles in such dramatic features as the 2006 sports drama Believe in Me pointing toward success for Donovan as well as Burn Notice. Donovan would also appear in several successful films over the years, like Changeling and J.Edgar.

Trivia: First earning an international reputation in opera and musical comedy, Harve Presnell made his feature-film debut in the film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical The Unsinkable Molly Brown playing opposite Debbie Reynolds. Though he has spent the bulk of his career on the stage, Presnell periodically appeared in other films through the '70s. After taking no film roles in the '80s, Presnell re-emerged in the Coen brothers' Fargo (1996) and continued to play character roles in films such as Julian Po (1997) and Saving Private Ryan (1998).

Trivia: Upon leaving the Midwest where he was born, raised, and educated (University of Iowa), James Tolkan headed for New York, where he studied acting with Stella Adler. In movies since 1969, Tolkan has been seen in gritty urban character roles in such films as The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973), Author! Author! (1981), Off Beat (1985), and Made in Heaven (1987). In the first two Back to the Future films, Tolkan appeared as acerbic high school teacher Strickland; in Top Gun (1986), he was seen as Stinger; and in Dick Tracy (1990), he showed up as minor criminal Numbers. On television, James Tolkan appeared on the short-lived 1985 Mary Tyler Moore sitcom Mary as mobster Lester Mintz, and on both installments of the two-episode Sunset Beat (1990), in which he played Captain Parker.

Trivia: Despite the dubious distinction of having made his feature debut in the Tom Arnold clunker Big Bully, young Cody McMains has nevertheless gone on to turn in memorable performances in such efforts as What Love Sees (1996) and Tumbleweeds (1999). Born in October of 1985, and raised in Pasadena, CA, McMains appeared on the small screen in The Pretender after his debut, and has since turned up in such features as Thomas and the Magic Railroad, Bring It On (both 2000), and Not Another Teen Movie (2001). Taking home a Young Artist Award for his role in What Love Sees, McMains was later nominated for yet another Young Artist Award for his memorable turn in Tumbleweeds.