Trivia: From the mid- to late '80s, slender, carrot-topped, and luscious-lipped Molly Ringwald was the reigning teen queen of mainstream films. At the peak of her popularity, Ringwald was on the cover of Time magazine and even had groups of adolescent girl fans, called "Ringlets," who would emulate her every move.The daughter of jazzman Bob Ringwald, the leader of the Great Pacific Jazz Band, Ringwald was raised in Sacramento, CA, where she was born February 14, 1968. She started performing as a toddler, although not as an actress. She embarked on a very early and brief career as a singer after her parents discovered that she had a remarkable ability to perfectly match the tune and phrasing of almost any song she heard. Ringwald began singing jazz with her father at state fairs, and by the age of six, she already had a jazz album, I Wanna Be Loved By You--Molly Sings. In the meantime, Ringwald began to develop an interest in acting: she was four when she started hanging around the local community theater and five when she started getting small parts, including the role of a preacher's child in Truman Capote's The Grass Harp. At the age of eight, Ringwald appeared on The New Mickey Mouse Club. Encouraged by her talent and driven by her father's desire to get better bookings for his band, Ringwald's family moved to L.A.'s San Fernando Valley. In 1979, the actress won a part on Norman Lear's sitcom The Facts of Life. Ringwald only lasted a season before she was let go, but her television work paved the way for subsequent screen roles.In 1982, Ringwald made an auspicious film debut in Paul Mazursky's acclaimed Tempest, earning a Golden Globe nomination for her portrayal of John Cassavetes' daughter. In order to prepare for the role, Mazursky had Ringwald and her family move to a flat in New York's Greenwich Village to help her develop the necessary New York accent and attitude. Her performance in the film attracted the attention of screenwriter/aspiring director John Hughes who cast her as the protagonist of Sixteen Candles (1984), his wistful chronicle of suburban teenaged angst. The film was a hit, and so was Ringwald. Hughes would cast her in two more teen films, The Breakfast Club (1985) and Pretty in Pink (1986), both of which were hugely popular with teen audiences. In addition to a solid film career, Ringwald -- who had become a household name -- also occasionally appeared in television movies. Despite her continued success through the early '90s, Ringwald felt her life had reached a crossroads; by 1992, she decided to sell her house, put her personal effects in storage, pack up seven suitcases, and exchange life in the L.A. fast lane for a more romantic existence in Paris, where she was busy shooting Seven Sundays (released in 1994). Ringwald, who had learned French while attending a French high school in Los Angeles, remained there, dividing her time between reading (she has been a voracious reader since childhood when she and her siblings would read stories to her blind father), writing short stories and screenplays, cooking, and hanging out with her French husband. She occasionally continued to act in American and internationally produced films and television projects that include George Hickenlooper's Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade (1993), Stephen King's The Stand (1994), and Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999). Ringwald also continued to do stage work, appearing in an acclaimed 1998 off-Broadway production of Paula Vogel's How I Learned to Drive. She spoofed her own iconic persona by appearing in the 2001 comedy Not Another Teen Movie, and in 2008 she was cast as the mother in the Fox Family series The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

Trivia: Youthful actor Andrew McCarthy went to prep school in New Jersey, lending to his classic, clean-cut good looks. A member the so-called Brat Pack of '80s Hollywood teen stars, McCarthy was usually cast as a good-guy leading man, basically sincere underneath his brooding teen angst. After studying theater at N.Y.U., he made his film debut in 1983 in the teen sex comedy Class with Rob Lowe and Jacqueline Bisset. In 1985, he appeared as the sulky writer Kevin in St. Elmo's Fire and the new Catholic school kid in Heaven Help Us. The next year, he was cast opposite Molly Ringwald as rich boy Blaine in John Hughes' Pretty in Pink. He later re-teamed with Ringwald for the dark romantic drama Fresh Horses. In 1987, he appeared opposite Kim Cattrall in the screwball comedy Mannequin and opposite Jami Gertz and Robert Downey Jr. in the addiction drama Less Than Zero. The same year, he portrayed Henry Hopper in the PBS American Playhouse production of Waiting for the Moon, based on the colorful lives of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. In 1989, McCarthy formed a winning comedy team with Jonathan Silverman for the goofy farce Weekend at Bernie's, a surprisingly funny hit. They re-teamed for the less-successful Weekend at Bernie's II in 1993. The next year, he appeared briefly in the critically acclaimed ensemble films The Joy Luck Club and Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle. In 1999, he married his college girlfriend, actress Carol Schneider. His youthful good looks enabled him to play Bobby Kennedy in the 2000 television miniseries Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. As the following years passed, McCarthy would find success on the series Lipstick Jungle, as well as in movies like The Spiderwick Chronicles, Camp Hell, Main Street, and Snatched.

Trivia: Dark-haired comedic actor Jon Cryer remains best-known for his lovable performance as Duckie Dale in the 1986 teen movie Pretty in Pink. Even though he was 21 years old playing a high school senior, he exhibited a vulnerable yet goofy freshness unlike most other teen stars. The son of Broadway performers, he was schooled in the Bronx before making his film debut in the romantic comedy No Small Affair as a young photographer obsessed with Demi Moore. He made some unfortunate movies after Pretty in Pink, including the Ferris Bueller knock-off Morgan Stewart's Coming Home, which suggested unfair comparisons with actor Matthew Broderick. Other forgettable movies followed until he was cast as the star of the sitcom The Famous Teddy Z, which was then followed by several other short-lived sitcoms. After appearing in the anarchic comedy Hot Shots!, he proved fairly successful with offbeat comedies and independent films. He helped write the talky romantic comedy The Pompatus of Love then starred in the similarly themed Plan B. He teamed up with director Richard Schenkman to write the offbeat comedy Went to Coney Island on a Mission From God...Be Back by Five. In 2003, Cryer re-teamed with Hotshots! co-star Charlie Sheen for the sitcom Two and a Half Men, which proved to be a massive success. The show was so popular that it stayed on the air, even after Sheen left in 2011, with Ashton Kutcher filling in the empty spot in the cast.

Trivia: Often noted for his comment that he enjoys working in all of his films -- as long as he doesn't have to see any of them -- actor James Spader (born February 2nd, 1960) may have missed out on seeing a few good performances in some pretty memorable films.Though descended from a long line of scholars and professors, Spader, in ironic contrast to his theatrical image as the definitive terminal yuppie, dropped out of Phillips Andover prep school to pursue a career as an actor. Forsaking his formal education, Spader instead decided to focus his attention on acting by studying at the Michael Chekhov school in New York, while also working a variety of odd jobs to support himself until he found success as a thespian. Making his debut in the 1978 comedy Team Mates, Spader began the slow process of gaining more frequent work with roles of increasing substance. Spader's first role came in Franco Zeffirelli's soft-core teen melodrama Endless Love (1981) (also notable as the debut of another young unknown actor named Tom Cruise. After a brief, mid-'80s stint in teen exploitation including Tuff Turf and The New Kids (both 1985), Spader gained mainstream recognition with his first fore in yuppiedom as Molly Ringwald's insincere suitor in Pretty in Pink (1986). Over the course of the next few years, Spader would refine his slimy persona to perfection in Wall Street (1987) and Less Than Zero (1987), and take an interesting turn as a possible serial killer in the Jack the Ripper thriller Jack's Back (1988), but it was the end of the decade that brought the defining role in Spader's career.Though his role in independent filmmaker Steven Soderbergh's voyeurism-obsessed sex, lies and videotape did little to propel his persona into more likeable territories, it showed an actor with considerable talent who wasn't afraid to take risks, winning him the Best Actor award at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival. Spader's dark portrayal of the ominously seductive videophile struck a chord in audiences and critics alike and turned him into a household name. The '90s found Spader expanding his yuppie image into more sympathetic territory with roles in White Palace and Bad Influence (both 1990), and he continued his likeable trend in the first of the mega-budget Dean Devlin/Roland Emmerich collaborations, Stargate (1994), before reverting back as Jack Nicholson's manipulative lycanthropic rival in Mike Nichols' imaginative satire Wolf (1994). Controversy soon followed with David Cronenberg's widely panned study of fetishistic alienation Crash (1996), and Spader has worked steadily since, with roles in Supernova (2000) and Speaking of Sex (2001). With the release of Secretary (2002), Spader once again found himself in the favor of art house audiences for his portrayal of a demanding lawyer who hires a recently released mental patient for the eponimous duty.Spader found success on the small screen once again for his work on Boston Legal from 2004 to 2008 as the character of Alan Moore, a vehemently moral attorney who resorts to unethical methods during his pursuit of justice (a role that would win the actor two Emmys). Spader made a guest appearance on an episode of The Office, and returned to the sitcom in 2011 as part of the main cast.

Trivia: A perpetually haggard character actor with hound-dog eyes and the rare ability to alternate between menace and earnest at a moment's notice, Harry Dean Stanton has proven one of the most enduring and endearing actors of his generation. From his early days riding the range in Gunsmoke and Rawhide to a poignant turn in David Lynch's uncharacteristically sentimental drama The Straight Story, Stanton can always be counted on to turn in a memorable performance no matter how small the role. A West Irvine, KY, native who served in World War II before returning stateside to attend the University of Kentucky, it was while appearing in a college production of Pygmalion that Stanton first began to realize his love for acting. Dropping out of school three years later to move to California and train at the Pasadena Playhouse, Stanton found himself in good company while training alongside such future greats as Gene Hackman and Robert Duvall. A stateside tour with the American Male Chorus and a stint in New York children's theater found Stanton continuing to hone his skills, and after packing his bags for Hollywood shortly thereafter, numerous television roles were quick to follow. Billed Dean Stanton in his early years and often carrying the weight of the screen baddie, Stanton gunned down the best of them in numerous early Westerns before a soulful turn in Cool Hand Luke showed that he was capable of much more. Though a role in The Godfather Part II offered momentary cinematic redemption, it wasn't long before Stanton was back to his old antics in the 1976 Marlon Brando Western The Missouri Breaks. After once again utilizing his musical talents as a country & western singer in The Rose (1979) and meeting a gruesome demise in the sci-fi classic Alien, roles in such popular early '80s efforts as Private Benjamin, Escape From New York, and Christine began to gain Stanton growing recognition among mainstream film audiences; and then a trio of career-defining roles in the mid-'80s proved the windfall that would propel the rest of Stanton's career. Cast as a veteran repo man opposite Emilio Estevez in director Alex Cox's cult classic Repo Man (1984), Stanton's hilarious, invigorated performance perfectly gelled with the offbeat sensibilities of the truly original tale involving punk-rockers, aliens, and a mysteriously omnipresent plate o' shrimp. After sending his sons off into the mountains to fight communists in the jingoistic actioner Red Dawn (also 1984) Stanton essayed what was perhaps his most dramatically demanding role to date in director Wim Wenders' Paris, Texas. Cast as a broken man whose brother attempts to help him remember why he walked out on his family years before, Stanton's devastating performance provided the emotional core to what was perhaps one of the essential films of the 1980s. A subsequent role as Molly Ringwald's character's perpetually unemployed father in 1986's Pretty in Pink, while perhaps not quite as emotionally draining, offered a tender characterization that would forever hold him a place in the hearts of those raised on 1980s cinema. In 1988 Stanton essayed the role of Paul the Apostle in director Martin Scorsese's controversial religious epic The Last Temptation of Christ. By the 1990s Stanton was a widely recognized icon of American cinema, and following memorably quirky roles as an eccentric patriarch in Twister and a desperate private detective in David Lynch's Wild at Heart (both 1990), he settled into memorable roles in such efforts as Against the Wall (1994), Never Talk to Strangers (1995), and the sentimental drama The Mighty (1998). In 1996, Stanton made news when he was pistol whipped by thieves who broke into his home and stole his car (which was eventually returned thanks to a tracking device). Having previously teamed with director Lynch earlier in the decade, fans were delighted at Stanton's poignant performance in 1999's The Straight Story. Still going strong into the new millennium, Stanton could be spotted in such efforts as The Pledge (2001; starring longtime friend and former roommate Jack Nicholson), Sonny (2002), and The Big Bounce (2004). In addition to his acting career, Stanton can often be spotted around Hollywood performing with his band, The Harry Dean Stanton Band.

Trivia: Involved in amateur theatricals since childhood, Annie Potts received her BFA in theatre arts from Missouri's Stephens College. Potts has been seen in comic supporting roles in films since 1978; she is most closely associated with the part of ditzy secretary Janine Melnitz in the two Ghostbusters flicks of the 1980s. On television, Potts has played Edith Bedelmeyer on the one-season sitcom Goodtime Girls (1980), then enjoyed a longer run as Mary Jo Shively on Designing Women (1986-93). Her characterization of outspoken gourmet chef Dana Paladino on the prime time sitcom Love and War won Annie an Emmy nomination in 1994. Annie Potts has also been featured in a popular series of commercials for a well-known corn-chip product, and has served as national spokesperson for the Women for Arthritis Foundation. In 1996 she was cast as a no-nonsense schoolteacher of troubled inner-city high schoolers in the ABC-TV show Dangerous Minds, a series based on the 1995 Michelle Pfeiffer film of the same name. She voiced the part of Bo Peep in the first two Toy Story films, and in 2003 she took part in a Designing Women reunion. That same year she was the lead in Defending Our Kids: The Julie Posey Story. She appeared intermittently on the Showtime series Huff, and in 2007 she joined the cast of the short-lived series Men In Trees. In 2012 she was cast as one of the leads in the new TV series GCB.

Trivia: A versatile, no-nonsense actress, Margaret Colin has moved easily between TV and films throughout her career, from such acclaimed series as Chicago Hope to Hollywood blockbusters and independent features.Born in Brooklyn to a large Irish-Catholic family and raised on Long Island, Colin began acting in elementary school. Along with winning a drama scholarship to Hofstra University, Colin studied the craft at the Stella Adler Conservatory and Juilliard. Leaving school for a career in Manhattan, Colin soon landed on the TV daytime dramas Edge of Night and As the World Turns in the early '80s. Colin made the move to feature films playing one of teen icon Molly Ringwald's teachers in Pretty in Pink (1986) and psycho Ray Liotta's wife in Jonathan Demme's off-kilter romance Something Wild (1986). With substantial roles in the TV movies The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1987) and Warm Hearts, Cold Feet (1987), and the cop series Leg Work (1987) created as a vehicle for her, Colin was poised to become a small-screen star. Leg Work, however, didn't last beyond its first season. Nevertheless, Colin remained quite visible, appearing as Tom Selleck's love interest in the wildly popular feature comedy Three Men and a Baby (1987) and earning kudos for her turn as an intrepid investigator in the James Woods legal drama True Believer (1989). Back on the small screen, Colin starred in the well-received docudrama Goodnight, Sweet Wife: A Murder in Boston (1990).Though she decided to start a family with husband and erstwhile daytime TV colleague Justin Deas, Colin continued to work regularly. After sharing screen time with such stars as Demi Moore, Nicolas Cage, and Samuel L. Jackson in the ill-received feature comedies The Butcher's Wife (1991) and Amos and Andy (1993), and appearing as a regular guest on CBS's lauded hospital drama Chicago Hope, Colin landed roles in two high-profile movies. As the President's press secretary and addled scientist Jeff Goldblum's ex, Colin was a key part of the ensemble battling an apocalyptic alien attack in the flashy summer blockbuster Independence Day (1996). Harking back to her family's history in law enforcement, Colin was then cast as N.Y.C. Irish cop Harrison Ford's wife in the political thriller The Devil's Own (1997). Despite the presence of Ford and co-star Brad Pitt, however, The Devil's Own was a financial disappointment. Colin fared better, at least critically, with her role as the title character's mother in the indie teen comedy The Adventures of Sebastian Cole (1998). Cast as John Goodman's wife in CBS's supernatural spy series Now and Again (1999), Colin then seemed to be on the verge of regular TV series work again, but Now and Again failed to live up to the hype. After a handful of roles in independent and TV films, including coming-of-age drama and Sundance Film Festival entrant Blue Car (2002), Colin returned to glossy Hollywood product with an appearance as one of Diane Lane's friends in the infidelity potboiler Unfaithful (2002).

Trivia: Actress Alexa Kenin launched her film career in the late '70s and went on to appear in feature films such as Little Darlings (1978) and television movies like Word of Honor (1980). Kenin died in 1985 while her final film, Animal Behavior (1989), was still in production.

Trivia: Supporting actor, onscreen from the '80s.

Trivia: One of the most controversial standup comics since Lenny Bruce, Andrew "Dice" Clay has brought the vulgar comedy of hatred, obscenity, and misogyny to new lows or new highs, depending on one's age and feelings about such subjects. His black leather jacketed, cigarette-puffing "Diceman" persona was so raunchy and offensive that he was banned from performing on the MTV network and was eventually blackballed in Hollywood after his obscene performances caused 20th Century Fox to tear up their movie contract with him, despite that fact that he was filling up clubs and even Madison Square Gardens with fans. Before obtaining notoriety as a comic, Clay (born Andrew Clay Silverstein) was a promising young actor. He made his film debut in Wacko (1981) and appeared in a few more films during the early '80s. At the peak of his standup career, Clay resumed his film career as well as numerous television appearances. But as time passed, Clay's act went beyond mere boundary pushing. This coupled with his absolute refusal to apologize or admit that maybe the Diceman had gone too far led to his downfall. Following his fall from grace in Hollywood, Clay moved his wife and two boys to Florida for a couple years where he ran a Gold's Gym and underwent therapy. When he next reappeared, Clay had dropped "Dice" from his name (a contract stipulation from the CBS network) and was starring in the sitcom Bless This House (1995) opposite Cathy Moriarty. Billed as a family show patterned after The Honeymooners, it had none of the hallmarks of Clay's act. In interviews with Clay at this time, he swore that the "Diceman" was just an act, that he never meant any of the horrible things he'd said on-stage; he was only trying to be funny. He also said he would focus on a broader type of relationship comedy. His resolve to clean up barely lasted to the series' demise eight months later and soon Clay was exuberantly preparing for a new raunch-fest on the HBO network. By 1997, he seemed to have mended his rift with MTV, which co-starred him in Hitz, a sitcom airing on the UPN network. Clay appeared in a host of straight-to-DVD films throughout the 2000s, participated in the 8th season of The Apprentice, and had a recurring role, playing himself, on the final season of HBO's Entourage.

Trivia: With a father like the legendary Frank Zappa, one might assume that it may be difficult to gain recognition for your own independent accomplishments outside of the larger-than-life legendary status built in the family name. Not so for guitarist virtuoso/actor Dweezil Zappa. After winning a Grammy at the age of 18 and topping the charts in 1988 with the humorously rebellious "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama," the younger Zappa found popularity not only in the music scene, but in movies and television as well.Born September 5, 1969, in Hollywood, CA, Dweezil took to the guitar from an early age. With teachers like his father, Eddie Van Halen, and Steve Vai, Dweezil quickly gained musical footing and mastered the instrument. Occasionally playing on his father's recordings and with sibling Ahmet, it wasn't long before Dweezil opted for a solo career and released his first album, Havin' a Bad Day, in 1986. Following with My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama two years later, Dweezil proved that his talents on the guitar were no fluke and scored a big hit with the title single. Dweezil's musical talents would later be employed with his brother, Ahmet, as they formed Z and released their debut album, Shampoohorn, in 1994. Aside from their musical partnership, Dweezil and Ahmet got big laughs with numerous talk show appearances and eventually filtered their unique and wacky chemistry into a USA Networkvariety show called Happy Hour in 1999. With it's no-holds-barred, anything-goes format and a pension for inviting wild guests, it wasn't unusual to see such luminaries as Danny Bonaduce drop his pants and do a table dance. Often spotted in small roles and cameos, Dweezil may also be a familiar face to moviegoers and TV addicts with his roles in Pretty in Pink (1986) and Jack Frost, as well as his voice work on Duckman and appearances on Hollywood Squares. Pitching in as a composer for the theme of The Ben Stiller Show, among others, Dweezil's love for music never trailed too far behind his movie and television appearances. Frequently seen in the company of singer Lisa Loeb, Dweezil released Automatic, his first album in nearly a decade, in 2000.

Trivia: Sultry, dark-eyed, brunette leading actress Gina Gershon mixes a muscular toughness with her seductive femininity. Born June 10th, 1962, Gershon wasthe youngest of five children. Raised in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley, Gershon gets her exotic looks from her French, Russian, and Dutch heritage. After high school, she decided she wanted a more sophisticated image than those usually attributed to Valley Girls like herself and so moved to the Big Apple, to earn a bachelor of arts degree at New York University. While in New York, she studied acting with such well-known teachers as Sandra Seacat, David Mamet, and Harold Guskin. She started out in theater and worked on both coasts.Since the mid-'80s, Gershon has carved out a living as a reliable character actress on both the big and the small screens. Her most notable role on the tube was that of Nancy Sinatra, the famous wife of Old Blue Eyes himself, in the CBS miniseries Sinatra (1994). Gershon made her feature film debut playing a small role opposite Molly Ringwald in 1986's Pretty in Pink, and graduated to the jucier role of of Coral opposite Tom Cruise in Cocktail (1988). Through the 1990s, Gershon vascillated between high-brow and low-brow fare, the former exemplified by her memorable turns in John Sayles's City of Hope (1991), Robert Altman's The Player (1992), and Michael Mann's The Insider (1999); the latter, by her gleeful, scenery-chewing work in Best of the Best 3 and the infamous Showgirls (both 1995). Gershon's signature role, however, was a synthesis of B-movie pulp and indie smarts, courtesy of the Wachowski brothers' twisty 1996 neo-noir Bound. Cast as a woman falling in love with an abusive gangster's moll, Gershon was able to radiate an intelligence, sexuality, and power not afforded her by previous scripts, and the lead part would go a long way in establishing her screen persona into the new millenium.Gershon enjoyed success in 1997 when she co-starred with Nicolas and John Travolta in the blockbuster action thriller Face/Off, and again in 1999 with a role in The Insider. The actress co-starred with Dennis Hopper in the crime thriller Out of Season (2004), and the 2006 comedies Delirious and I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With. In 2010, Gershon appeared in The Love Ranch, a period film documenting the true story of Nevada's first legal brothel.

Trivia: American actress Kristy Swanson has been in films since 1986's Deadly Friend, but cemented her reputation on TV with recurring roles in Knot's Landing (1987) and Nightingales (1988). Her forte has been the portrayal of young ladies with prom-queen looks and room-temperature I.Q.s. Among her leading roles in films have been the title characters in Mannequin 2 (1991) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992). The failure of the highly touted Buffy has resulted in a number of negligible career moves for Kristy Swanson, most recently the role of a Beverly Hills princess accidentally kidnapped by fugitive Charlie Sheen in the doomed-from-the-start The Chase (1994).

Trivia: Lead actress, onscreen from The Big Picture (1989).