Trivia: Mickey Rourke originally aspired to careers as a pro baseball player and - later - a championship boxer, but did a 180 away from the ring and cut his chops as an actor instead. Rourke launched his career with small roles in 1941 (1979) and Heaven's Gate (1981) before gaining broader notice as a pyro expert in Body Heat (1981) and one of the raunchier leads in Barry Levinson's Diner (1982). He followed with admirable work in Rumble Fish (1983) and The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984), and gave a bravura performance as fanatically determined police captain Stanley White in Year of the Dragon (1985). When the film was slammed by critics, Rourke defended director Michael Cimino and snubbed all interview requests. He immediately gained a reputation as a perfectionist, agreeing only to work with directors and on projects that met with his high standards. His 1987 performances in Angel Heart, A Prayer for the Dying, and Barfly attest to this, but starring roles in Adrian Lyne's infamous 9 1/2 Weeks (1986) and Zalman King's Wild Orchid (1990) gave him a "Eurotrash" taint, only enhanced by his hot temper and maverick nature. These qualities, however, while career poison in the U.S., did nothing to hurt Rourke's reputation in France, where filmgoers adored him.From the late '80s through the early '90s, the career of this disillusioned actor with the potential of Robert De Niro spiraled down, down, down, with his co-starring appearance in Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (1991) just one nadir. He wrote, produced, and starred in Homeboy (1988), a film about a near brain-dead prize fighter. It skipped theatrical release and went straight to home video. The masochistic connection between this film and Rourke's subsequent resumption of his boxing career (from 1991-1994) was undeniable, though he continued to appear sporadically in small films and supporting roles. In 1997, Rourke reprised his role as an s&m fetishist in Another 9 1/2 Weeks, a virtual remake of the original, only sans the redeeming presence of Kim Basinger. Although Rourke's career consisted primarily of direct-to-video titles for several years, he had enough friends and respect among his contemporaries that he hung on to his rebound potential, and his small role in Francis Ford Coppola's 1997 adaptation of John Grisham's The Rainmaker marked something of a comeback. The following year, Vincent Gallo, an unapologetic fan of Rourke's, cast him as the antagonist in Gallo's directorial debut, Buffalo '66; the long-dormant Terrence Malick also cast Rourke in his critically-worshipped Thin Red Line (1998), but Malick excised the actor's scenes from the final cut, probably to reduce the film's whopping length. Rourke showed flashes of his former brilliance in Steve Buscemi's Animal Factory (2000), joined the cast of the Sly Stallone-headlined Get Carter remake that same year, and gave an impressive supporting performance in Sean Penn's police procedural-cum-harrowing study of obsession, The Pledge (2001). Rourke also signed on with director Robert Rodriguez for the third of that helmer's Mariachi films, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, in 2003. As a harbinger of things to come, a powerful creative bond formed between the weathered, iconic Rourke and the tireless director on the Mexico set. In 2005 the duo again teamed for Rodriguez's and Frank Miller's eagerly anticipated big screen adaptation of Miller's Sin City comics. Cast as lovelorn brute Marv, Rourke delivered an impressive performance as an imposing beast of a fellow bent on avenging the death of an angelic prostitute in this stylish noir comic book come to life, which gave him cult status among a new generation of fans. In 2004, Rourke delivered a memorable supporting performance in Tony Scott's Man on Fire alongside Denzel Washington; it marked the first film in a two-picture creative partnership between Scott and Rourke, the second half of which came to fruition with 2005's Domino.2006 saw Rourke appearing in Stormbreaker (co-starring Bill Nighy and Ewan McGregor) with Rourke as the nasty villain opposite Alex Pettyfer's "teen spy" Alex Ryder. Killshot, with Rourke as the hitman who attempts to rub out married Federal Witnesses Diane Lane and Thomas Jane, ended up being sitting on the studio's shelf for nearly three years. The film marked Rourke's first collaboration with Lane since Francis Coppola's critically-championed 1983 cult film Rumble Fish. With the release of 2008's The Wrestler, Rourke pulled off one of the most remarkable career comeback stories of the era. His role as the aging professional grappler Randy "The Ram" earned him the strongest reviews he'd received in over two decades, and secured him his first acting nomination from the Academy as well as a nod from Screen Actors Guild, and he took home the Golden Globe for best actor in a drama. Rourke would enjoy sustained success in the years to follow, appearing in films like Iron Man 2, The Expendables, and Immortals.Rourke was married to Debra Feuer from 1981-89 and Wild Orchid co-star Carre Otis from 1992-1998. Both marriages ended in divorce.

Trivia: Born on December 31, 1937, as the only son of a baker, Welsh actor Anthony Hopkins was drawn to the theater while attending the YMCA at age 17, and later learned the basics of his craft at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. In 1960, Hopkins made his stage bow in The Quare Fellow, and then spent four years in regional repertory before his first London success in Julius Caesar. Combining the best elements of the British theater's classic heritage and its burgeoning "angry young man" school, Hopkins worked well in both ancient and modern pieces. His film debut was not, as has often been cited, his appearance as Richard the Lionhearted in The Lion in Winter (1968), but in an odd, "pop-art" film, The White Bus (1967).Though already familiar to some sharp-eyed American viewers after his film performance as Lloyd George in Young Winston (1971), Hopkins burst full-flower onto the American scene in 1974 as an ex-Nazi doctor in QB VII, the first television miniseries. Also in 1974, Hopkins made his Broadway debut in Equus, eventually directing the 1977 Los Angeles production. The actor became typed in intense, neurotic roles for the next several years: in films he portrayed the obsessed father of a girl whose soul has been transferred into the body of another child in Audrey Rose (1976), an off-the-wall ventriloquist in Magic (1978), and the much-maligned Captain Bligh (opposite Mel Gibson's Fletcher Christian) in Bounty (1982). On TV, Hopkins played roles as varied (yet somehow intertwined) as Adolph Hitler, accused Lindbergh-baby kidnapper Bruno Richard Hauptmann, and the Hunchback of Notre Dame.In 1991, Hopkins won an Academy Award for his bloodcurdling portrayal of murderer Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. With the aplomb of a thorough professional, Anthony Hopkins was able to follow-up his chilling Lecter with characters of great kindness, courtesy, and humanity: the conscience-stricken butler of a British fascist in The Remains of the Day (1992) and compassionate author C. S. Lewis in Shadowlands (1993). In 1995, Hopkins earned mixed acclaim and an Oscar nomination for his impressionistic take (done without elaborate makeup) on President Richard M. Nixon in Oliver Stone's Nixon. After his performance as Pablo Picasso in James Ivory's Surviving Picasso (1996), Hopkins garnered another Oscar nomination -- this time for Best Supporting Actor -- the following year for his work in Steven Spielberg's slavery epic Amistad. Following this honor, Hopkins chose roles that cast him as a father figure, first in the ploddingly long Meet Joe Black and then in the have-mask-will-travel swashbuckler Mask of Zorro with Antonio Banderas and fellow countrywoman Catherine Zeta-Jones. In his next film, 1999's Instinct, Hopkins again played a father, albeit one of a decidedly different stripe. As anthropologist Ethan Powell, Hopkins takes his field work with gorillas a little too seriously, reverting back to his animal instincts, killing a couple of people, and alienating his daughter (Maura Tierney) in the process.Hopkins kept a low profile in 2000, providing narration for Ron Howard's live-action adaptation of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas and voicing the commands overheard by Tom Cruise's special agent in John Woo's Mission: Impossible 2. In 2001, Hopkins returned to the screen to reprise his role as the effete, erudite, eponymous cannibal in Ridley Scott's Hannibal, the long-anticipated sequel to Jonathan Demme's Silence of the Lambs (1991). The 160-million-dollar blockbuster did much for Hopkins' bank account but little for his standing with the critics, who by and large found Hannibal to be a stylish, gory exercise in illogical tedium. Worse yet, some wags suggested that the actor would have been better off had he followed his Silence co-star Jodie Foster's lead and opted out of the sequel altogether. Later that year, the moody, cloying Stephen King adaptation Hearts in Atlantis did little to repair his reputation with critics or audiences, who avoided the film like the plague.The long-delayed action comedy Bad Company followed in 2002, wherein audiences -- as well as megaproducer Jerry Bruckheimer -- learned that Chris Rock and Sir Anthony Hopkins do not a laugh-riot make. But the next installment in the cash-cow Hannibal Lecter franchise restored a bit of luster to the thespian's tarnished Hollywood career. Red Dragon, the second filmed version of Thomas Harris' first novel in the Lecter series, revisited the same territory previously adapted by director Michael Mann in 1986's Manhunter, with mixed but generally positive results. Surrounding Hopkins with a game cast, including Edward Norton, Ralph Finnes, Harvey Keitel and Emily Watson, the Brett Ratner film garnered some favorable comparisons to Demme's 1991 award-winner, as well as some decent -- if not Hannibal-caliber -- returns at the box office.Hopkins would face his biggest chameleon job since Nixon with 2003's highly anticipated adaptation of Philip Roth's Clinton-era tragedy The Human Stain, a prestige Miramax project directed by Robert Benton and co-starring Nicole Kidman, fresh off her Oscar win for The Hours. Hopkins plays Stain's flawed protagonist Coleman Silk, an aging, defamed African-American academic who has been "passing" as a Jew for most of his adult life. Unfortunately, most critics couldn't get past the hurtle of accepting the Anglo-Saxon paragon as a light-skinned black man. The film died a quick death at the box office and went unrecognized in year-end awards.2004's epic historical drama Alexander re-united Hopkins and Nixon helmer Oliver Stone in a three-hour trek through the life and times of Alexander the Great. The following year, Hopkins turned up in two projects, the first being John Madden's drama Proof. In this Miramax release, Hopkins plays Robert, a genius mathematician who - amid a long descent into madness - devises a formula of earth-shaking proportions. That same year's comedy-drama The World's Fastest Indian saw limited international release in December 2005; it starred Hopkins - ever the one to challenge himself by expanding his repertoire to include increasingly difficult roles - as New Zealand motorcycle racer Burt Munro, who set a land speed record on his chopper at the Utah Bonneville Flats. The quirky picture did limited business in the States but won the hearts of many viewers and critics.He then joined the ensemble cast of the same year's hotly-anticipated ensemble drama Bobby, helmed by Emilio Estevez, about the events at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles just prior to RFK's assassination. Hopkins plays John Casey, one of the hotel proprietors.Hopkins long held true passions in arenas other than acting - specifically, painting and musical composition. As for the former, Hopkins started moonlighting as a painter in the early 2000s, and when his tableaux first appeared publicly, at San Antonio's Luciane Gallery in early 2006, the canvases sold out within six days. Hopkins is also an accomplished symphonic composer and the author of several orchestral compositions, though unlike some of his contemporaries (such as Clint Eastwood) his works never supplemented movie soundtracks and weren't available on disc. The San Antonio Symphony performed a few of the pieces for its patrons in spring 2006.Hopkins would remain a prolific actor over the next several years, appearing in films like The Wolfman, Thor, and 360.Formerly wed to actress Petronella Barker and to Jennifer Lynton, Hopkins married his third wife, actress and producer Stella Arroyave, in March 2003.

Trivia: Mimi Rogers spent her youth moving around with her family to various parts of the U.S. and England; she settled in Los Angeles. Graduating from high school at age 14, she became involved with community work and working with drug addicts, Vietnam vets, and the mentally retarded. She didn't begin acting until her early 20s. Rogers debuted onscreen in Blue Skies Again (1983) as the manager of a girl who wants to join a baseball team. She didn't make another film for three years, meanwhile working extensively on TV; she had regular roles on the TV series "Paper Dolls" and "The Rousers," made guest appearances on a number of shows, and appeared in a few TV movies. She began making her reputation as a screen actress with her portrayal of a Manhattan heiress in Ridley Scott's Someone to Watch Over Me (1987), her fourth film. Most of her films have been unsuccessful, and she has yet to attain star status. For three years she was married to actor Tom Cruise.

Trivia: Tall, thin, and blonde, Oscar-nominated actress Lindsay Crouse has been appearing onscreen since the mid-'70s -- though contemporary, television-savvy fans may be more familiar with her thanks to memorable small-screen roles on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Providence, and Hack. Crouse is a New York City native and the daughter of Life With Father author Russel Crouse; her literary father named her after his longtime writing partner Howard Lindsay. An education at Radcliffe first led Crouse to a career as a dancer, though it wasn't long before she began leaning toward acting; she made her screen debut in 1976's All the President's Men. Roles in Slap Shot (1977) and The Verdict (1982) found Crouse managing to hold her own opposite screen heavy Paul Newman, and after remaining under the direction of Sidney Lumet for Daniel (1983), Crouse earned an Oscar nod for her performance opposite Sally Field in the 1984 drama Places in the Heart. With the exception of a season of Hill Street Blues, Crouse would stick mainly to feature films for the remainder of the 1980s. Her leading role as a conflicted psychiatrist in 1987's House of Games (under the direction of then-husband David Mamet) seemed to capitalize on her status as one of John Willis' Screen World's "Most Promising New Actors of 1984." If the 1990s found Crouse edging almost exclusively into small-screen work, the occasional feature, such as The Juror (1996) and Prefontaine (1997), proved that she had lost none of her enduring big-screen appeal. Indeed, Crouse was equally effective in both film and television; small-screen roles in Norma Jean and Marilyn and If These Walls Could Talk (both 1996) proved just as compelling as her turn in Michael Mann's acclaimed 1999 drama The Insider. In 2000, Crouse took on the role of Caroline Ingalls in the made-for-TV family film Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Before returning to the character in the 2002 sequel, she played supporting roles in Imposter and Cherish (both 2002).

Trivia: Contemporary American actress Kelly Lynch has been playing leads in Hollywood films since the late 1980s, but has yet to make it big. The daughter of show people, she has been acting since age four. Lynch studied dance and then spent two summers training to be a director at the Guthrie Theater. As a young woman she moved to New York to study drama with Sanford Meisner and Marilyn Fried. After briefly encountering the head of the Elite modeling agency in an elevator one day, Lynch was signed up for a $250,000 per year modeling contract. During the three years she modeled, Lynch made occasional TV appearances. She made her feature-film debut playing a bit part in Bright Lights, Big City (1988) but did not play her first leading role until the following year in Road House. Lynch first gained widespread acclaim for her portrayal of a suburban drug addict in Van Sant's Drug Store Cowboy (1989); it was a role she could relate to, as she had broken both legs in an auto accident when she was 20 and had come dangerously close to being addicted to painkillers. Though major stardom has as yet eluded Lynch, she has recently proven herself to be a competent and versatile actress, capable of playing in everything from light romantic comedies to high drama.

Trivia: Stone-jawed and puppy-eyed, Elias Koteas has the enviable ability to call on both his distinctive looks and talent to portray a variety of complex, often troubled characters. Koteas is one of Canada's most prominent and well-respected actors, and during the late '90s, he began to amass international critical attention for his work in a number of high profile films, including David Cronenberg's Crash (1996) and Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line (1998).Koteas, who is of Greek ancestry, was born in Montreal on March 11, 1961. His father was a mechanic for the Canadian National Railways and his mother worked as a hatmaker; Koteas himself planned to be an architect until his teenage introduction to acting changed his plans. He was particularly inspired by Nick Nolte's performance in the TV miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man; little did Koteas know that two decades later, he would be starring opposite Nolte in The Thin Red Line. After beginning his education at Montreal's Vanier College, Koteas left to study at New York's prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1981. Following his graduation, he went to New York's Actors Studio, where he studied under Ellen Burstyn and Peter Masterson. The actor made his film debut in the Mary Steenburgen drama One Magic Christmas in 1985 and went on to do supporting work in a variety of films that included Francis Ford Coppola's Gardens of Stone (1987), Some Kind of Wonderful (1987), Coppola's Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988), and She's Having a Baby (1988). In 1989, he earned a Genie Award nomination (Canada's equivalent of the Oscar) for his portrayal of the title character of Malarek: A Street Kid Who Made It; two years later, he earned additional acclaim for his performance as a voyeuristic insurance adjustor in Atom Egoyan's The Adjuster. It was for his portrayal of an embittered DJ in another of Egoyan's films, Exotica (1994), that Koteas garnered his second Genie nomination; following this critical success, he began to appear in an increasing number of high profile productions.Koteas was subsequently featured to great effect as the creepy Vaughan in David Cronenberg's controversial Crash (1996), and he invested his brief but pivotal role as Holly Hunter's mystery man in the acclaimed Living out Loud (1998) with memorable charisma. In The Thin Red Line, he managed to stand out from his accomplished co-stars -- who included Nolte, Sean Penn, John Cusack, and Ben Chaplin -- as Captain Storos, an alienated, idealistic soldier who refuses his superior's orders to send his men on a suicidal attack plan. Over the next several years, Koteas would prove to be a consistent force on screen, appearing in films like Shooter, Shutter Island, and Let Me In, as well as the series Combat Hospital.

Trivia: Though eminently distinguished, actor Mike Nussbaum built a screen career tackling the most difficult sort of onscreen character roles: that of the everyman. After serving in World War II, Nussbaum applied to the esteemed Goodman School of Drama but was rejected; he subsequently started an exterminator business and became active in community theater before achieving his break at the hands of Hull House theater proprietor Bob Sickinger and developing a particularly strong reputation for Chicago-area work in the plays of Beckett, Ionesco, and Pinter. Nussbaum debuted on film in the late '60s and early '70s, with bit parts in features such as The Monitors (1969), T.R. Baskin (1971), and Harry and Tonto (1974), and in the mean time remained extremely active on the stage, particularly Windy City and Gotham productions, where he excelled in David Mamet-authored plays including American Buffalo and Glengarry Glen Ross. In fact, Nussbaum's onscreen activity re-crescendoed to no small degree in the late '80s thanks largely to Mamet, who cast him in two films -- the 1987 thriller House of Games (1987, with prominent billing as a snaky con man) and the gentle 1988 comedy Things Change (as a Mafia don). Subsequent projects included Steal Big, Steal Little (1995), Men in Black (1997), and Osso Bucco (2007).

Trivia: A fixture of 1980s TV series and movies, prolific character actor David Morse became a reliable and much lauded supporting presence in feature films from the 1990s onward.Raised in Hamilton, MA, Morse began his professional career after high school, joining the Boston Repertory Theater in 1971. Over the next six years, Morse acted in over 30 productions, amply preparing him for a move to New York theater in 1977. Morse subsequently got his first big movie break when he was cast in the drama Inside Moves (1980). Though Morse proved that he could handle lighter films with Neil Simon's comedy Max Dugan Returns (1983), his detour into television in 1982 was initially more fruitful. As Dr. Jack "Boomer" Morrison, Morse spent six seasons on the esteemed hospital drama St. Elsewhere, co-starring with, among others, Denzel Washington. During his stint on St. Elsewhere, Morse also starred in a diverse collection of TV movies. He was a priest in love with Valerie Bertinelli's nun in Shattered Vows (1984), a prisoner attempting a breakout from Alcatraz in Six Against the Rock (1987), a detective in Down Payment on Murder (1987), and a mental hospital escapee in Winnie (1988). Continuing his presence on the small screen after St. Elsewhere, Morse appeared in several more TV movies, including starring as a deranged kidnapper in Cry in the Wild: The Taking of Peggy Ann (1991).Though he co-starred as a drifter in the indie film Personal Foul (1987) and appeared in Michael Cimino's noir remake The Desperate Hours (1990), Morse did not concentrate most of his energies on feature films until the 1990s. After starring as Viggo Mortensen's brother in Sean Penn's directorial debut, The Indian Runner (1991), Morse moved to more mainstream work with supporting roles in The Good Son (1993), the Alec Baldwin-Kim Basinger version of The Getaway (1994), and medical thriller Extreme Measures (1996). While he appeared in Terry Gilliam's thoughtful La Jetée (1962) remake 12 Monkeys (1995), faced off with Jack Nicholson in Penn's The Crossing Guard (1996), and starred as a janitor-turned-rich man in George B. (1997), Morse really captured audience attention in a concurrent string of high-profile projects. Returning to Alcatraz, Morse projected quiet menace as one of Ed Harris renegade Marines in the blockbuster hit The Rock (1996). Morse tapped his bad self again in the action romp The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996), then cemented his versatility with a small yet vital role as Jodie Foster's gentle father in Contact (1997). Notching his third major summer release in a row, Morse played a SWAT team commander up against Samuel L. Jackson's wrongly accused cop in The Negotiator (1998). Returning to serious blockbuster fare, Morse then co-starred with Tom Hanks as prison guards who witness miracles in The Green Mile (1999). After a foray into comedy with Bait (2000), Morse stole hostage drama Proof of Life (2000) from his glamorous tabloid-ready co-stars Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe with his intense performance as Ryan's kidnapped husband. Even as he became a popular Hollywood second lead, however, Morse wasn't afraid to veer away from the multiplex, winning an Obie Award for Paula Vogel's acclaimed play How I Learned to Drive and putting a believably human face on an utterly hateful character in Lars von Trier's bleak, award-winning musical Dancer in the Dark (2000). Continuing his protean career, Morse appeared in another gentle Stephen King adaptation Hearts of Atlantis (2001) and starred in Diary of a City Priest (2001) for PBS. Morse followed the ill fated Hearts of Atlantis with a lead role in the indie drama The Slaughter Rule (2002), which was well received on the film festival circuit. Morse subsequently returned to series television, and received top billing, in the CBS drama Hack (2002). Starring Morse as an ex-cop-turned-cab driver, Hack was pummeled by critics, but audiences took to Morse's well intentioned, marginalized law enforcer and Hack became a modest ratings success. He had a recurring part on the medical drama House as a police detective driven to put the title character behind bars. In 2007 he played the bad guy in the teen thriller Disturbia. He appeared in a pair of award-winning projects in 2008 - he was a military man in The Hurt Locker, and tackled the role of George Washington in the Emmy-winning miniseries John Adams for HBO. In 2011 he had a major part in Drive Angry, and the next year he was in the family-oriented fantasy film The Odd Life of Timothy Green.

Trivia: Thesp Shawnee Smith's name might not be a household word, but her face will register with thousands of sci-fi and horror aficionados thanks to her supporting turns in the big-screen remakes of The Blob (1988) and Carnival of Souls (1998). Smith's recurring role as Amanda, a young woman tormented by the clown-like serial killer Jigsaw, in the popular Saw series, broadened her exposure, even as it threatened to further typecast her as a woman in peril and fix her reputation as a horror queen. Yet the actress's resume demonstrates far greater versatility than this, and it may surprise fans to discover that she claims several decades of credits in multiple genres.Born on July 3, 1970, in Orangeburg, South Carolina, Smith debuted on the big screen at 11, as a dancer, in mogul Ray Stark's multimillion-dollar production of Annie (1982). A bit part in Michael Tuchner's acclaimed telemovie Not My Kid (1985) followed, at the age of fourteen; the picture drew solid Nielsen ratings and favorable critical responses, but Smith's only amounted to a bit part. She maintained greater visibility in the late eighties, with two significant roles: Rhonda Altobello in Carl Reiner's 1987 Mark Harmon-starrer Summer School. While most critics dismissed the film, it charmed a handful of others (such as Kevin Thomas and Rita Kempley) and did outstanding box office for a programmer, grossing several times its original budget. The very same could be said of Chuck Russell's 1988 remake The Blob, and then some: in addition to delighting nostalgia-hungry moviegoers (and some critics), it purportedly acquired a loyal following, becoming - in time - something of a cult film. Over the nineties and into the 2000s, Smith evinced a predilection for slightly deeper and more intelligent fare, but kept a somewhat low onscreen profile for several years, usually (though not always) with bit parts in lower budget indie dramas. Smith also appears in director Paul Quinn's Never Get Outta the Boat, which dramatizes the lives of several recovering addicts. She landed a regular role as Linda, a not-so-bright nurse's aide, on the 1998 CBS sitcom Becker, starring Ted Danson, and stuck with the series until it wrapped in 2004.When Smith's horror film quotient skyrocketed in the early 2000s (with the Saw role) it temporarily eclipsed her involvement in more substantial fare, even as her screen activity per se crescendoed. In the vein of earlier slasher film franchises, the initial Saw entry and its sequels did exemplary box office and obtained a rabid following; surprisingly, the pictures drew a favorable response in some critical quarters, as well.

Trivia: Best known for playing mean Uncle Frank in the Home Alone series, Kansas-born Gerry Bamman began his acting career in the '80s with roles in a number of films including Cocktail and The Secret of My Success. He continued to work consistently throughout the '90s and 2000s, and became a familiar face to a new generation of fans with a recurring role on Law & Order as lawyer Stan Gillum.

Trivia: Began acting in plays as a child and did theatre at university. Visited New York City while at university to interview for jobs on Wall Street, but also used the time to go on auditions. Attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Often portrays some type of authority figure. Was cast as a cop in Lethal Weapon 2, a commanding officer in Starship Troopers, and a state trooper in Little Miss Sunshine, amongst others. Has created several videos parodying his cop persona, including a fictional show called Cop Talk and one that pokes fun at his character in the series Breaking Bad.

Trivia: With a countenance that can effortlessly suggest a beleaguered everyman or a no-nonsense tough, American character actor John Finn has sustained a prolonged and impressively varied career. A New York City native, Finn received one of his earliest assignments under the aegis of Stuart Rosenberg, as Ginty in the ethnic drama (and cult hit) The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984). The actor's resumé over the following ten years packed in a series of key Hollywood films of varying quality -- from the wonderful Ed Zwick drama Glory (1989) and the fine Alan Pakula political thriller The Pelican Brief (1993) to the Bob Clark buddy comedy Loose Cannons (1990). Finn also appeared in occasional telemovies, notably the 1991 Posing: Inspired by Three Real Stories, as Jimmy Lanahan, the husband of homemaker-turned-Playmate Meredith Lanahan (Lynda Carter). After appearances on such hit series as The X-Files, Frasier, and NYPD Blue, and parts in the major studio releases Catch Me If You Can and Analyze That (2002), Finn landed one of his first regular series roles, playing Lieutenant John Stillman on the popular detective program Cold Case.

Trivia: Made his film debut in 1998 romantic comedy Among Giants. Appeared as Pete Quinlan in The Lakes between 1997 and 1999. Starred as John Barton in Emmerdale between 2009 and 2012. In 2012, was nominated for the Best Exit British Soap Award for his role in Emmerdale. In 2014, appeared as Marcus in Stella.

Trivia: One of America's most recognizable character actors, James Rebhorn was a veteran of over 100 television shows, feature films, and plays. While best known for portraying lawyers, politicians, doctors, and military men, he delivered equally notable performances in a variety of other roles, including that of a brutal serial killer on NBC's Law & Order, a shipping magnate in Anthony Minghella's The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), and a comically doomed restaurateur in Billy Morrisette's Scotland, PA (2001).Born in Philadelphia, PA, on September 1, 1948, Rebhorn moved to Anderson, IN, as a child. A devout Lutheran, he attended the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Wittenburg University in Ohio, where he studied political science. After graduating in 1970, Rebhorn moved to New York City, where he earned a Master's of Fine Arts in acting from Columbia University's School of the Arts and joined the metropolitan theater scene.After making his television debut on the NBC soap opera The Doctors in 1977, Rebhorn starred on Another World: Texas and The Guiding Light, as well as earned a 1989 Soap Opera Digest Award for his performance as Henry Lange on As the World Turns. He displayed his comic talents during a recurring role on Kate and Allie, and in an unforgettable turn as the district attorney who jails the Seinfeld gang in the show's final episode. He also garnered recurring roles on some of television's most heralded dramas -- including Law & Order, Third Watch, Now and Again, and The Practice -- and memorable telefilms -- including Sarah, Plain and Tall (1981), North and South (1985), Skylark (1993), From the Earth to the Moon (1998), and A Bright Shining Lie (1998).Rebhorn's feature-film career began in the early '80s with roles such as "Lawyer" in Soup for One (1982), "Los Alamos Doctor" in Silkwood (1983), and "Drunken Business Man" in Cat's Eye (1985). As the decade progressed, his parts increased in importance and he emerged in the '90s as an established supporting actor with roles in several high-profile films. After appearing in 1991's Regarding Henry with Harrison Ford and Annette Bening, Rebhorn gave stand-out performances opposite Marisa Tomei and Joe Pesci in My Cousin Vinny (1992), Sharon Stone and Michael Douglas in Basic Instinct (1992), Chris O'Donnell and Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman (1992), and Susan Sarandon and Nick Nolte in Lorenzo's Oil (1992). He went on to earn prominent roles in Carlito's Way (1993), Guarding Tess (1994), I Love Trouble (1994), Up Close & Personal (1996), Independence Day (1996), If Lucy Fell (1996), and My Fellow Americans (1996). Rebhorn rounded out the '90s by playing the mysterious Consumer Recreation Services representative in The Game (1997), the prosecuting attorney in Snow Falling on Cedars (1999), and Jude Law's shipping magnate father in the above-mentioned The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999). The new millennium saw him starring as Robert De Niro's future in-law in Meet the Parents (2000) and a modern-day version of Macbeth's Duncan in the above-mentioned Scotland, PA, before gearing up for the Eddie Murphy sci-fi vehicle The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002), and Todd Haynes' long-awaited return to directing, Far From Heaven (2002).Towards the end of his career, Rebhorn returned to television, playing recurring characters on several different shows, playing the CEO of Abbadon Industries on HBO's Enlightened, an FBI special agent on USA's White Collar and, his final role, Carrie Mathison's father on Showtime's Homeland.While juggling his film and television work, Rebhorn frequently returned to the stage. He appeared at the Manhattan Theater Club, Playwright's Horizons, the New York Shakespeare Festival, the LaJolla Playhouse, the Ensemble Studio Theater, and Lincoln Center. In 2002, he earned rave reviews for his performance in the Roundabout Theater's production of Arthur Miller's first play, The Man Who Had All the Luck, with Chris O'Donnell and Samantha Mathis.Rebhorn was diagnosed with melanoma in 1992 and struggled with the disease for the next two decades, before succumbing in 2014 at the age of 65.

Trivia: New Yorker Barry Primus is primarily an actor, but has also doubled and tripled as writer and director. Primus worked on stage for the first decade of his career, then made his screen bow in the Manhattan-filmed The Brotherhood (1968). Additional films include Boxcar Bertha (1972), Heartland (1979) Night Games (1980) and Guilty by Suspicion (1991). Primus also had a continuing role on the TV series Cagney and Lacey (1982-88) as Cagney's(Sharon Gless) erstwhile boyfriend Sgt. Dory McKenna, whose drug problem compromised his value as a cop. After working as director Mark Rydell's assistant on The Rose (1981) Barry Primus has increased his behind-the-camera activities; in 1992, Primus directed his first theatrical feature, the "inside" Hollywood comedy/drama Mistress.

Trivia: Upon earning his BA at Bucknell University, Ralph Waite embarked upon no fewer than three careers before deciding upon acting. First, Waite was a social case worker in New York's Westchester County, a job he quit after running into the stone walls of indifference and bureaucracies. Then, after spending three years at the Yale School of Divinity, he was a practicing Presbyterian minister; this, too fell by the wayside due to Waite's unwillingness to conform to church protocol and his disenchantment over the perceived hypocrisy of his fellow clerics. Finally, he worked as a religious editor for the publishing firm of Harper & Row. This job might have panned out, but Waite, separated from his wife and suffering an identity crisis, felt the need to "prove himself" by entering a tougher, more competitive field. Thus, at the age of 30, Waite began taking acting lessons. His professional debut in the off-Broadway production The Balcony proved so disastrous that it is little wonder he chooses to regard his 1965 Broadway bow in Hogan's Goat as the true beginning of his career. After an excellent showing as Jack Nicholson's impotent brother in Five Easy Pieces (1971) the offers began pouring in. In 1972, Waite was cast as John Walton in the immensely popular TV series The Waltons. During the nine-season run of that ratings bonanza, Waite helped form the Los Angeles Actors' Theatre. He also was prominently featured in the blockbuster miniseries Roots (1977), and wrote and directed (but did not star in) the 1980 film On the Money. His post-Walton credits included the TV series Mississippi, the film Cliffhanger (1993) and TV movies Crash and Burn and Sin and Redemption. Towards the end of his career, he had a recurring role on Day of Our Lives as Father Matt, and played the father of two leading men on two long-running series - Gibbs on NCIS and Booth on Bones. Waite died in 2014 at age 85.