Trivia: More coolly charismatic than drop-dead handsome, Richard Gere was one of the most successful sex symbols of the '80s and early '90s. Possessing something of an actual talent in addition to his good looks, Gere has proven himself to be a versatile actor since first starring as the pick-up artist who creeps out Diane Keaton in Looking For Mr. Goodbar. Capable of playing everything from romantic leads and action heroes to medieval knights and ruthless villains, Gere has moved beyond his role as cinematic eye candy to become one of the more enduring actors of his generation. Born in Philadelphia on August 31, 1949, Gere had a strict Methodist upbringing in upstate New York. Following his 1967 high school graduation, he studied philosophy and film at the University of Massachusetts -- only to leave school to pursue an acting career two years later. Gere became a professional actor and sometime musician, performing theatrically in Seattle and New York and attempting unsuccessfully to form a rock band. In 1973 the young actor landed in London, where he gained prominence playing Danny Zuko in Grease, a role he would later reprise on Broadway. While in London, Gere gained the privilege of becoming one of the few Americans ever to work with Britain's Young Vic Theater, with which he appeared in The Taming of the Shrew.Back in the U.S., Gere made his feature film debut in 1974 with a tiny part in Report to the Commissioner. He returned to the stage the following year as part of the cast of an off-Broadway production of Sam Shepard's Killer's Head; following Gere's turn in the 1977 Looking for Mr. Goodbar, he and Shepard would again collaborate in Terrence Malick's breathtaking Days of Heaven (1978). In 1979, Gere won considerable theatrical acclaim for his performance in the Broadway production of Martin Sherman's Bent, and the next year enjoyed his first shot at screen stardom with the title role in Paul Schrader's American Gigolo. Though the film was not a major critical or box-office success, it did earn recognition for the actor, who had taken the role after John Travolta turned it down. Gere did not become a real star until he appeared opposite Debra Winger in An Officer and a Gentleman in 1982, but his bona fide celebrity status was jeopardized with roles in several poorly received films including King David (1985). A lead role in Francis Ford Coppola's 1984 The Cotton Club also failed to perk up the actor's career; despite a legendary director and stellar cast, the film received mixed reviews and poor box-office turnout. With no recent major successes behind him by the end of the decade, it looked as if Gere's career was in a tailspin. Fortunately, he abruptly pulled out of the dive in 1990, first as a cop/crime lord in Mike Figgis' Internal Affairs and then as a ruthless businessman who finds true love in the arms of prostitute Julia Roberts in the smash romantic comedy Pretty Woman. Back in the saddle again, Gere continued to star in a number of films, including Sommersby (1993), Intersection (1994), and First Knight (1995). In 1996, he was highly praised for his portrayal of an arrogant hot-shot attorney in Primal Fear, and in 1999 found further financial, if not critical, success starring opposite Julia Roberts in Runaway Bride. The following year the actor enjoyed some of his best reviews to date as a gynecologist at once devoted to and bewildered by all of the women in his life in Robert Altman's aptly titled Dr. T & the Women; many critics noted that Gere seemed to have finally come into his own as an actor, having matured amiably with years and experience. In 2002, Gere played the too-perfect-for-words husband to Diane Lane in Unfaithful. While the film was not a huge critical success, Gere was praised for a game performance, and Lane was nominated for an Oscar. Unfortunately for Gere, a starring role in The Mothman Prophecies didn't do too much for his resume -- while critics once again lauded the actor's intensity, the film itself was widely hailed as too slow-paced to properly showcase his talents. Luckily, the same couldn't be said for his performance in the multiple Oscar winning Chicago, which found Gere in the role of another hotshot lawyer, this time alongside a diverse and talented cast including Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renée Zellweger, and Queen Latifah. In 2004, Gere starred opposite Jennifer Lopez and Oscar-winning Hollywood veteran Susan Sarandon in Peter Chelsom's Shall We Dance?.On- and offscreen, Gere uses his acting clout to promote his various political ventures. A devout Buddhist, Gere has been deeply involved with the struggles surrounding the Dalai Lama and the worldwide struggle for human rights -- the documentaries Return to Tibet (2003) and Shadow Over Tibet: Stories in Exile (1994) featured Gere as a prime interviewee, while 1997's Red Corner starred the versatile actor as a victim of a grossly corrupt Chinese court system.In 2005, Gere played a professor of religious studies in director David Siegel's drama Bee Season, and enjoyed success in 2007 with The Hoax, an edgy biographical drama, and The Hunting Party, a political tragi-comedy in which he played a discredited reporter mistaken as a member of a CIA hit squad. The actor joined the casat of Nights in Rodanthe in 2008, and worked with Hilary Swank in Amela, the 2009 Amelia Earhart biopic. Gere took on the role of a burnt out cop in Training Day (2009), director Antoine Fuqua's gritty crime drama Brooklyn's Finest.

Trivia: Screen siren, opinionated diva, and one of the few actresses in Hollywood who can claim to be both a Paul Verhoeven muse and a MENSA member, Sharon Stone is nothing if not a legend in her own right. Beginning with her notorious disinclination to wear underwear during a police interrogation in Basic Instinct, Stone went on to become one of the most talked about actresses of the '90s, earning both admiration and infamy for her on- and off-screen personae.Almost as famous as Stone's glamorous image are her working-class roots. Born in the Northwest Pennsylvania town of Meadville on March 10, 1958, Stone grew up a bookworm in a large family. Highly intelligent in addition to being a local beauty pageant queen, she won a scholarship to Pennsylvania's Edinboro University when she was 15 years old. After studying creative writing and fine arts, she decided to pursue a modeling career, and after moving to New York, she signed on with the Eileen Ford agency. Stone became a successful model by the late '70s, appearing in print and television ads for Clairol, Revlon, and Diet Coke.In 1980, Stone branched out into acting, making her screen debut as the "pretty girl on train" in Woody Allen's Stardust Memories. Following this role, she spent the '80s appearing in one forgettable film after another, often cast as the stereotypical blonde bimbo. She finally got a break in 1990, when she appeared as Arnold Schwarzenegger's kickboxing secret-agent wife in Verhoeven's Total Recall. Any recognition she gained for that role, however, was more than eclipsed by the notoriety she earned for her starring turn in her second Verhoeven feature, Basic Instinct. The 1992 film, in which Stone portrayed a bisexual author/sexual adventurer who may or may not be a serial killer, did her a huge favor by making her a star but also a sizable disservice by further typecasting her in blonde seductress roles. Stone's subsequent effort, the erotic thriller Sliver (1993), was an example of this: the actress attracted notice less for her acting than for her willingness to simulate masturbation. Her role in the following year's The Specialist was also fairly limiting -- an action flick co-starring Sylvester Stallone, it called for Stone to run around in a tight dress in heels when she wasn't seducing various characters.In 1995, Stone managed to break into the "serious actress" arena with her performance in Martin Scorsese's Casino. Cast as an ex-prostitute, she won an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe for her work, as well as the general opinion that she was capable of dramatic acting. Stone branched out further that same year with The Quick and the Dead, a revisionist Western directed by Sam Raimi in which she starred as a tough-talking, hard-drinking broad bent on revenge. Unfortunately, the film was a relative flop, as were her subsequent 1996 films, Diabolique, a remake of the 1954 French film by Clouzot and Last Dance, a drama that featured Stone as a woman on death row. By this point winning more notice for her off-screen role as an arbiter of fashion and old-school Hollywood glamour than for her onscreen acting work, Stone next lent her voice to the animated Antz in 1998. The film proved to be a success, unlike the actress's other projects that year, the lackluster Barry Levinson sci-fi thriller Sphere and The Mighty. The latter film, which Stone produced as well as starred in, was a heartfelt story about two adolescent misfits; although it did win a number of positive reviews, audiences largely kept their distance. The same couldn't be said of Stone's next film, a 1999 remake of Gloria; not only did audiences stay away from it, critics savaged it with vituperative glee. Never one to let a bad review get her down, Stone soon rebounded, receiving a more positive reception for her performance in The Muse and then starring as Jeff Bridges' long-suffering wife in Simpatico. If her roles in the years that followed weren't as high profile, that's certainly not to say that they were any less challenging. After taking a turn towards the small screen in the lesbian-themed made-for-cable drama If These Walls Could Talk 2, Stone broke for comedy with Alfonso Arau's Picking Up the Pieces and essayed the role of an unpredictable bad girl in Beautiful Joe (all 2000). Having veered increasingly towards family-oriented fare in recent years, the trend continued with vocal work for Harold and the Purple Crayon. Of course, all was not child's play in Stone's career, and with the release of Cold Creek Manor the following year, audiences were indeed in for a frightful chill. A series of continual highs and lows marked Stone's career path in successive years. In 2004, the actress appeared as Laurel Hedare opposite Halle Berry in Catwoman. Though eagerly anticipated, the effects-heavy vehicle opened that July to abysmal reviews and devastating box office returns. Despite Stone's confession that she was toning down her oft cited diva-like ways after suffering a brain aneurysm in 2001, rumors of outrageous behavior on the film's set began to circulate. She fared much better on all fronts when she essayed a role as one of Bill Murray's ex-girlfriends in Jim Jarmusch's Golden Palm winner Broken Flowers (2005) - and walked away with the most memorable and endearing role in the picture - a role that showcases her skills as a disciplined thespian. Stone then contributed a cameo (as did many stars) to that same year's disappointing Martin Short vehicle Jiminy Glick in LaLa Wood Early 2006 gave rise to another embarrassment, as Stone appeared (at the age of 48!) in the sequel Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction. Despite a somewhat respectable pedigree (the gifted Michael Caton-Jones helmed the picture) the public and press scoffed. Incredibly, Stonespoke of a possible third entry in the franchise, and even explored the option of assuming the position of director. No such luck: much to the chagrin of viewers who relish Hollywood stars in humi roles, the picture failed to materialize. But soon after, a couple of potential triumphs surfaced, defiantly challenging the tabloids hungry for a 'losing streak' in Stone's career. She joined an exemplary cast in Emilio Estevez's hotly anticipated November 2006 release Bobby, an ensemble piece that intertwines multiple substories in the Ambassador Hotel just prior to RFK's assassination. She also appears in Nick Cassavetes's Alpha Dog (2007), alongside an A-list cast that includes newbie Emile Hirsch and Bruce Willis. The picture dramatizes the true story of a drug dealer in his early twenties who gets in over his head; Stone plays the traumatized mother of the child he kidnaps, a boy who is in hock for a massive drug tab. Universal slated it for release in January 2007. In that same year's drama When a Man Falls in the Forest, directed by Ryan Eslinger, she plays a kleptomaniacal Midwestern housewife. The cast also stars Timothy Hutton, Dylan Baker and Pruitt Taylor Vince. She continued to work steadily in projects such as Streets of Blood, Largo Winch II, and the biopic Lovelace.Wed to MacGyver producer Michael Greenberg from 1984 to 1987, and George Englund, Jr. (Cloris Leachman's son) prior to that, Stone married her third husband, San Francisco Examiner editor Phil Bronstein, in early 1998, with whom she adopted a son. They divorced in early 2004. She runs an LA-based production shingle, Chaos Productions.

Trivia: Actress Lolita Davidovich made her flamboyant film debut by playing the notorious Louisiana stripper Blaze Starr who became the mistress of Governor Earl Long in Blaze (1988). With her voluptuous body (much of which was faked for the film--something Davidovich is not embarrassed to admit), bright red hair, and lively acting style, she accurately captured the qualities that made the real Blaze a living legend. Born of Yugoslavian parents, Davidovich was raised speaking Serbo-Croatian. When she was 10, her parents divorced and she stayed with her mother. Davidovich was determined to become an actress, and as a young woman moved to Chicago to take classes. There she found some stage work under the name Lolita David. She gradually began getting bit parts in feature films like Adventures In Babysitting (1987). It took six months of fiercely competitive auditioning to land the part of Blaze. A wide variety of subsequent roles have allowed her to spread her wings and demonstrate her considerable abilities. She co-starred with acting legends Lynn Redgrave and Ian McKellan for Gods and Monsters (1998), a showbiz drama that took home an Oscar for Best Screenplay. In 2004, Davidovich made several appearances on The L Word, a primetime drama from Showtime that focuses on gay and lesbian issues. Though a far cry from Gods and Monsters, Davidovich co-starred in September Dawn (2007) and Cinema Verite in 2011.

Trivia: Saturnine character actor Martin Landau was a staff cartoonist for the New York Daily News before switching to acting. In 1955, his career got off to a promising beginning, when out of 2,000 applicants, only he and one other actor (Steve McQueen) were accepted by Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio. Extremely busy in the days of live, Manhattan-based television, Landau made his cinematic mark with his second film appearance, playing James Mason's henchman in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest (1959). In 1966, Landau and his wife Barbara Bain were both cast on the TV adventure/espionage series Mission: Impossible. For three years, Landau portrayed Rollin Hand, a master of disguise with the acute ability to impersonate virtually every villain who came down the pike (banana-republic despots were a specialty). Unhappy with changes in production personnel and budget cuts, Landau and Bain left the series in 1969. Six years later, they costarred in Space: 1999 a popular syndicated sci-fi series; the performances of Landau, Bain, and third lead Barry Morse helped to gloss over the glaring gaps in continuity and logic which characterized the show's two-year run. The couple would subsequently act together several times (The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island (1981) was one of the less distinguished occasions) before their marriage dissolved.Working steadily in various projects throughout the next few decades, Landau enjoyed a career renaissance with two consecutive Oscar nominations, the first for Francis Ford Coppola's Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988), and the second for Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989). Landau finally won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Bela Lugosi in Tim Burton's 1994 Ed Wood; his refusal to cut his acceptance speech short was one of the high points of the 1995 Oscar ceremony. He would continue to work over the next several years, appearing in movies like City of Ember and Mysteria, as well as on TV shows like Without a Trace and Entourage.

Trivia: Lead and supporting actor David Selby is best remembered for playing Richard Channing on the television nighttime serial Falcon Crest between 1982 and 1990. A native of Morgantown, WV, Selby obtained a master's degree from West Virginia University and a doctorate from Southern Illinois University before launching his acting career in regional theaters such as the Cleveland Playhouse (where he has been inducted into their Hall of Fame). He has also worked on and off-Broadway as well as in major theaters across the U.S. Selby made his feature-film debut in Up the Sandbox after playing Quentin Collins on the spooky daily serial Dark Shadows between 1968 and 1971. Throughout his subsequent career Selby has divided his time between stage, screen, and television. Notable film efforts include Raise the Titanic (1980) and Headless Body in Topless Bar (1995).

Trivia: An actress who first earned her critical laurels (and reeled in a substantial television fanbase) as Dr. Alison Cameron on the blockbuster medical drama House (2004), Jennifer Morrison grew up well outside the realm of Hollywood, in a middle-class family in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois. As a preteen and teenager, Morrison entered showbusiness via modeling, appearing in innumerable print campaigns and gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated for Kids at one point; after wrapping up high school, she attended Loyola University as a theater major (reportedly graduating in only three years) and subsequently trained with the legendary Steppenwolf theatrical ensemble, onetime home to such stars as John Malkovich, Gary Sinise, and Glenne Headly. From there, Hollywood fame was merely a short leap away; by the time of her Loyola graduation, Morrison had already officially debuted onscreen, with a small part as the daughter of Richard Gere and Sharon Stone in the psychological drama Intersection (1994) and a more significant role as a missing girl who psychically haunts Kevin Bacon in the supernatural thriller Stir of Echoes (1999). Morrison signed for her first lead with a role that many felt unworthy of her talents and intelligence: that of Amy Mayfield, a young film student who gets in way over her head amid a thesis project on urban legends, in John Ottman's slasher outing Urban Legends: The Final Cut (2000). Subsequent projects included Michael Davis's teen-oriented romantic comedy 100 Women (2002), Casey La Scala's teen comedy Grind (2003), and -- as something of a nadir -- the critically despised holiday gross-out fest Surviving Christmas (2004), in which she played Ben Affleck's snotty girlfriend.As indicated, House represented Morrison's breakthrough and the role that finally brought her public attention. The long-running Fox drama told of Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie), a diagnostician with an astounding degree of medical knowledge and an absolute dearth of social skills. As Dr. Cameron (an immunologist with a not-so-secret crush on the physician), Morrison brought a much-needed dose of warmth and vulnerability to the series.Morrison subsequently made headlines in 2007, when she was tapped to appear as Winona Kirk, James T. Kirk's mother, in J.J. Abrams's much-anticipated 11th installment of the Star Trek series. Despite it being a fairly small role, Morrison still managed to make a big impression in Star Trek, and a somewhat meatier role in 2011's Warrior, as the wife of a natural born fighter from a fractured family, preceded her departure from House the following year. Her ties to television remained tight, however, thanks to a recurring role on the hit CBS comedy series How I Met Your Mother starting in 2010, with a turn as Emma Swan -- a mother who doesn't believe in fairy tales -- in ABC's Once Upon a Time revealing that Morrison possessed a flair for fantasy as well.

Trivia: Actor Timothy Webber -- a tough-looking, stark-featured character player -- jump-started his career in early-'80s Canada and quickly amassed a substantial array of supporting roles on both sides of the border. Efforts included the 1981 and 1982 Genie winners for Best Picture, Ticket to Heaven and The Grey Fox, respectively; Tony Richardson's underrated John Irving adaptation The Hotel New Hampshire (1984); Alan Rudolph's period drama The Moderns (1988); and Michael Anderson's unusual science fiction outing Millennium (1989). Webber is perhaps best known, however, for his prominent regular role as Jerome on the prime-time seriocomedy Men in Trees (2006).

Trivia: Moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in June 1957.Wanted to become a teacher.Studied acting at Studio 58.Auditioned for the role of Megatron in Beast Wars: Transformers (1996), but was casted as Optimus Primal.Is an skilled guitarist and singer.

Trivia: Son of a Nebraska Supreme Court judge. Enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II. Was the first independent casting director for motion pictures. Opened his own casting office in 1955. Was the first casting director in the history of the Academy to receive an Oscar.

Trivia: Supporting actor, onscreen from the '60s.