Trivia: One way (though perhaps not the ideal way) to describe the familiar TV persona of American Actor Rob Morrow is as a more neurotic, less loveable Woody Allen. Supporting himself as a waiter and balloon messenger in his earliest acting days, Morrow made his prime time network TV debut in 1988 as Marco on the weekly dramatic series Tattinger's. A year later, he was up for the lead in a planned series called The Antagonists, but he opted instead for a tailor-made role in the shortlived stage play The Substance of Fire. Though warned by his agent that this move would cost him any future TV work, Morrow went on to achieve fame in 1990 as Dr. Joel Fleischman, the misplaced general practictioner of Cicely, Alaska, on CBS' Northern Exposure. Two years into the series, Morrow threatened to quit if he wasn't given a substantial pay hike; but when September rolled around, Morrow was back as Dr. Fleischman. Morrow left Northern Exposure for good in 1994 (the series was obviously on its last legs anyway), but not before appearing as cigar-chomping, Boston-accented, fiercely moralistic federal attorney Richard Goodwin in Quiz Show, the 1994 film re-enactment of the 1958 TV game-show cheating scandal.

Trivia: One of the more accomplished young actors to be immortalized on celluloid in the late 1990s, David Krumholtz has distinguished himself with both talent and the sort of unconventional looks that allow him to be both dashing and nebbish at the same time.A native of New York City, where he was born May 15, 1978, Krumholtz began his professional career at the age of 13, when he starred opposite Judd Hirsch in the Broadway production of Conversations with My Father. He went on to make his film debut in 1993, appearing as an obnoxious child actor in the Michael J. Fox comedy Life with Mikey. That same year, he had a small role as Wednesday Addams' (Christina Ricci) socially stunted love interest in Addams Family Values. Krumholtz's first truly memorable film role was that of Francis Davenport, the Upper East Side brat who gets Katie Holmes drunk in Ang Lee's The Ice Storm (1997). He'd go on to play Natasha Lyonne's older brother in The Slums of Beverly Hills, and a high schooler in 10 Things I Hate About You (1999). As the years wore on, Krumholtz would prove himself to be a viable force on screen, appearing in movies like Ray, Serenity, Walk Hard, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle and This is the End,, and on the popular crime proceedural Numb3rs.

Trivia: Born March 15th, 1935, Bronx-native Judd Hirsch attended CCNY, where he majored in engineering and physics. A blossoming fascination in the theatre convinced Hirsch that his future lay in acting. He studied at the AADA and worked with a Colorado stock company before his 1966 Broadway debut in Barefoot in the Park. He spent many years at New York's Circle Repertory, where he appeared in the first-ever production of Lanford Wilson's The Hot L Baltimore. After an auspicious TV-movie bow in the well-received The Law (1974), Hirsch landed his first weekly-series assignment, playing the title character in the cop drama Delvecchio (1976-77). From 1978 to 1982, he was seen as Alex Reiger in the popular ensemble comedy Taxi, earning two Emmies in the process. While occupied with Taxi, Hirsch found time to act off-Broadway, winning an Obie award for the 1979 production Talley's Folly. In the following decade, he was honored with two Tony Awards for the Broadway efforts I'm Not Rappoport and Conversations with My Father. His post-Taxi TV series roles include Press Wyman in Detective in the House (1985) and his Golden Globe-winning turn as John Lacey in Dear John (1988-92). Judd Hirsch could also be seen playing Jeff Goldblum's father in the movie blockbuster Independence Day (1996). In 2001, Hirsch co-starred with Paul Bettany and Christopher Plummer in the multi-Award winning biopic A Beautiful Mind. The actor once again found success on the television screen in CBS' drama Numb3rs, in which he took on the role of Alan Eppes, father of FBI agent Don Eppes (Rob Morrow) and Professor Charlie Eppes (David Krumholtz). After appearing on all four seaons of Numb3rs, Hirsch took a small role in director Brett Ratner's crime comedy Tower Heist (2011).

Trivia: Handsome and elegant African-American actor Alimi Ballard recalls such contemporaries as the St. Elsewhere-era Denzel Washington and Blair Underwood, but has only gradually begun to draw like stature and acclaim. After cutting his acting chops as a frequent guest star on various U.S. television series for decades, including Loving, NYPD Blue, and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Ballard worked his way up to recurring roles in several U.S. television programs around the turn of the millennium. Ballard is perhaps best known for his portrayal of urban philosopher Herbal Thought, who offered wise counsel to bioengineered superhero Max Guevara (Jessica Alba), on the James Cameron-produced apocalyptic actioner Dark Angel (2000), starring Jessica Alba. Ballard procured another regular TV role a few years later, playing Special Agent David Sinclair opposite Rob Morrow and Judd Hirsch in the weekly procedural Numb3rs (2005), a detective program about a brilliant mathematician (David Krumholtz) who helps the feds solve baffling crimes. Ballard also appeared in bit roles in the big-screen films Deep Impact (1998) and Men of Honor (2000).

Trivia: Upon graduating from the University of Minnesota, Peter MacNicol traveled the length and breadth of the U.S. as a regional repertory actor. In his first film, Dragonslayer (1981), MacNicol essayed one of his few leading-man roles as Galen, a hapless assistant sorcerer who makes good. His most celebrated film assignment was as Stingo, the innocent-bystander narrator of Sophie's Choice. Most of the time, MacNicol has been seen in comical, sycophantic roles, such as the easily demonized Janocz in Ghostbusters II (1989) and the unctuous camp counselor in Addams Family Values (1993). On television, Peter MacNicol starred in the brief Norman Lear political lampoon The Powers That Be (1992) and co-starred as Alan Birch on the CBS medical drama Chicago Hope (1994).MacNicol continued to play small but indelible roles in a variety of small but indelible films throughout the mid-'90s. There was 1992's underrated Housesitter with Goldie Hawn and Steve Martin; acclaimed director Mel Brooks' Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995); and a starring role opposite cult comedian Rowan Atkinson in 1997's Bean. Despite his respectable feature-film success, however, MacNicol wouldn't get solid mainstream recognition until the 1997 debut of Ally McBeal. The show featured MacNicol as John Cage, an immensely insecure but highly gifted lawyer whose lovable, if over-sensitive, nature tugged at the heartstrings of Ally (Calista Flockhart) and television audiences alike. MacNicol remained a lead character on the show from 1997 to 2002, and was able to participate not just as an actor, but also as a director, screenwriter, and amateur karaoke singer. No longer the affable John Cage, MacNicol could be seen assigning Jamie Foxx the unpleasant task of letting his employees know of a rapidly approaching downsizing in 2004's Breakin' All the Rules. Recurring roles on Numbers and 24 as well as voice work in such animated shows as Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, The Batman, The Spectacular Spider-Man helped MacNicol maintain a high profile in the following years, and in 2012 he could be seen as the Secretary of Defense in the big-budget game board adaptaion Battleship.

Trivia: The daughter of a German mother and Indian father, actress Navi Rawat grew up in California before moving to New York to attend New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Her first big break came in 2003, when she won the recurring role of Theresa Diaz on the hit series The O.C. Later that same year, she appeared in the critically acclaimed film House of Sand and Fog, but she would become even more well known to audiences in 2005, when she was cast as Amita Ramanujan on the procedural show Numb3rs.

Trivia: With his tough-guy image and stocky build, American actor Dylan Bruno carved out a niche for himself as a character player in steel-toed action and adventure movies, beginning in the late '90s. These ran the gamut from critically praised masterworks -- such as Steven Spielberg's much-ballyhooed war opus Saving Private Ryan (1998) -- to John Irvin's less successful WWII telemovie When Trumpets Fade, that same year. Perhaps afraid of limiting himself, Bruno made a conscious attempt to expand his range into alternate genres, but successive roles essentially constituted variations on this original typecast. For example, Bruno appeared in the gentle romantic drama Where the Heart Is (2000) -- about an expectant blue-collar mother (Natalie Portman) who moves into an Oklahoma Wal-Mart -- as the rough-hewn redneck boyfriend, Willy Jack Perkins, who deserts her. Similarly, Bruno appeared in the TV drama The Pennsylvania Miners' Story (2002) as one of the gritty working-class men of the title who find themselves trapped in a mine with a decidedly slim chance of survival. Bruno subsequently built up his television resumé during the mid-2000s. He was particularly memorable as Colby Granger, a military veteran-cum-federal agent, on the popular detective drama Numb3rs (2005).

Trivia: Best known as the acid-mouthed Raina Troy -- a take-no-prisoners litigator -- on the James Woods-headlined, prime-time legal drama Shark (2006), African-American actress Sophina Brown also performed sketch comedy in the second season of the popular Chappelle's Show, opposite comic Dave Chappelle. Her resumé includes occasional guest appearances on such programs as Committed, Numb3rs, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Trivia: Started dancing at a young age and studied ballet at the Juilliard School. Worked as a cocktail waitress in Manhattan. Only female regular in ensemble cast of cop drama Hawaii. Performed in the 2003 stage production of Pieces. Film debut was in the 2004 horror movie Bloodline. Produced and choreographed the short experimental film Love Runs Red. On her mixed heritage (her mother is Japanese, her dad is Caucasian) she told the Honolulu Advertiser in 2004: "Growing up, everyone is always asking you, 'Where are you from? Where did you get those eyes? What planet are you from?' I was conscious of it every day."

Trivia: Classically trained actress Rowena King received formal dramatic instruction in Great Britain, at the London Drama School. From there, King transitioned to ensemble work with the esteemed Royal Shakespeare Company and became a frequent presence on U.K. television, in series programs including Just a Gigolo, Tales of the South Seas, and Full Stretch. King's big-screen appearances officially commenced in the early '90s, and she displayed a predilection for choosing unique, dynamic, and challenging material -- evidenced, for example, by her film-stealing turn as Amelie in John Duigan's South Seas erotic melodrama Wide Sargasso Sea (1992) and a rare lead as Rachel Morris in Welsh director Julian Richards' harrowing pagan horror outing, Darklands (1997). Her collaboration with Kenneth Branagh, as an attendant in the director's controversial four-hour screen version of Hamlet (1996) drew on the actress' Shakespearean background but provided her with relatively little screen time. King enjoyed a period of increased television activity during the late '90s and early 2000s, which included parts in the series Wonderful You and Breaking News, then moved back into films with supporting work in such features as A Perfect Day (2006) and The Bucket List (2007).

Trivia: Actor Stephen Spinella grew up in sunny Glendale, AZ, and fell in love with theater by witnessing a performance in a high school play. In an effort to realize his life's calling, the blossoming thespian moved to Manhattan in 1979 and sustained himself for years with a lengthy series of odd jobs while tackling theatrical roles in off-Broadway and regional productions. Spinella finally broke through to widespread acclaim in the early '90s, via a shattering performance as the AIDS-stricken Prior Walter in a two-play series by Tony Kushner: Angels in America Part I: The Milennium Approaches, and Angels in America Part II: Perestroika. For the dazzling evocation, Spinella won two consecutive Tony Awards for Best Actor: one in 1993 and another in 1994. That, in turn, opened the floodgates to a lengthy series of film roles, with the openly homosexual Spinella frequently gravitating (though not always) to gay-themed material onscreen. Contributions in this arena included a substantial role in HBO's groundbreaking miniseries And the Band Played On (1993); the seriocomedy Love! Valour! Compassion! (1997), adapted for the big screen from Terrence McNally's popular play; and Gus Van Sant's Harvey Milk biopic Milk (2008) as attorney Rick Stokes. Additional features to showcase Spinella's talents include Virtuosity (1995), Great Expectations (1998), and House of D; he is best known to many, however, as Miles on the fifth season of the small-screen thriller 24.

Trivia: Redheaded leading lady Marilu Henner was born and educated in Chicago, where her mother ran a dance studio in the family garage. Henner also began her acting career in City of Broad Shoulders. She was one of the stars of the original community-theatre production of Grease, remaining with the show when it moved to New York in 1976 (During this period, she carried on a well-publicized romance with former Grease cast member John Travolta). She went on to garner excellent revues for her work in the Broadway production Over Here, an otherwise disappointing musical spoof of the 1940s starring the Andrews Sisters. Henner began making on-camera appearances in 1977, notably as a stripper in Joan Micklin Silver's Behind the Lines, and in a generously distributed "Ring Around the Collar!" TV commercial. From 1978 through 1983, Henner played Elaine Nardo on the popular TV sitcom Taxi. Though she never won the Emmy that she deserved for this role, she could take consolation in the fact that she was made an honorary New York City cabbie. Several film roles followed in such low-profile productions as Hammet (1983) and Johnny Dangerously (1984) before Henner re-entered the sitcom grind as Ava Evans Newton, wife of high-school athletics coach Burt Reynolds, on the long-running (1990-94) Evening Shade. In 1994, Henner hosted her own TV talk show, a career move that coincided with the publication of her autobiography By All Means Keep on Moving. Chatty and very candid, the book revealed that Henner had slept with virtually every male member of the Taxi cast (only Danny DeVito was bypassed because, unlike his hot-to-trot Louie DePalma character, he never asked). Marilu Henner has been married twice, to actor Frederic Forrest and producer/director Robert Lieberman. Still active on the small screen in the first decade of the new millennium, Henner could be spotted in guest roles on such popular shows as Providence, ER, Numb3rs, and Grey's Anatomy.

Trivia: Started acting at age 4. Studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute in Los Angeles. Wrote, directed and starred in the short film A Mi Amor, Mi Dulce (2003). At age 29, she portrayed a middle-aged woman for her role as a former housekeeper in Meet the Fockers (2004). Has does extensive voice-over work, including providing the voice of the lead character in the cartoon El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera. Has appeared in stage productions of Kindertransport, Club Soda and The Vagina Monologues. Wrote and performed in a one-woman play called Patriotic Bitch.

Trivia: The son of actors Bill Williams and Barbara Hale, curly-haired leading man William Katt is fond of noting that he made his movie "debut" while residing in his mother's womb during filming of Lorna Doone (1951). After attending Orange Coast College, Katt pursued a career as a musician. He then made his formal acting bow in summer stock and small TV roles. Among Katt's film credits are the role of the high-school jock date of telekinetic wallflower Sissy Spacek in Carrie (1977), and one-half of the title role in Butch and Sundance, The Early Days (1979). From 1981 through 1983, Katt played the reluctant-superhero protagonist (originally named Ralph Hinkley, redubbed Ralph Hanley after the '81 assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan) on TV's Greatest American Hero. Beginning in 1987, Katt played the recurring role of detective Paul Drake Jr. in the periodic Perry Mason TV movies, co-starring with his mother Barbara Hale, who resumed her "Della Street" characterization from the original 1961-66 Mason run. Katt also worked on the scripts of several of these latter-day Masons. More recently, William Katt was a regular on the 1991 Farrah Fawcett-Ryan O'Neal TV sitcom Good Sports.

Trivia: Waited tables at an L.A. deli before his big break. Was named one of the 10 Actors to Watch by Variety in 2000. Shared screen time on the TV series Suits with his mother and father, Gail and Charlie Hoffman, when they made their acting debut as the parents of their son's character.