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: First big acting gig came in 1983 when she played Pepper in a production of Annie. Studied with a theater group in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, where she lived as an exchange student in the 10th grade. Moved to New York in 1988 to pursue her acting career. A guest-starring role on the 1992 Law & Order episode "Intolerance" led her to a new agent and an influx of jobs.

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: Possessing an air of smug authority that isn't without a slight sense of self-conscious humor, actor Anthony Heald's supporting roles in such films as The Silence of the Lambs and Deep Rising have found him mastering the art of the overconfident character who audiences instinctively sense (often rightly so) will receive his comeuppance before the end credits roll. Born Philip Anthony Mair Heald in New Rochelle, NY, the aspiring actor with a keen eye for detail sought higher education at Michigan State University following graduation from New York's Massapequa High School. It was during his tenure at Michigan State that Heald became involved with a street theater troupe, honing his skills while simultaneously developing a unique style that he would continue to develop in the decade that followed. Making the leap to the big screen with a supporting role in the 1983 drama Silkwood, Heald also impressed small-screen viewers with occasional roles in Miami Vice, Tales From the Dark Side, and later, Cheers. Of course, it was feature films that provided the most exposure for Heald, though, his role as Dr. Frederick Chilton in The Silence of the Lambs offering the ideal celluloid personification of the actor's nervous confidence. Supporting roles in such high-profile releases as Searching for Bobby Fischer, The Pelican Brief, The Client, and 8MM kept Heald in the public eye throughout the 1990s, and with his role as buttoned-down Assistant Principal Scott Guber in the popular 2000 series Boston Public, Heald seemed to hit his stride on the small screen. On the high-school comedy drama, Heald embued his straight-laced, officious, authoritarian character with a surprising degree of sympathy, making Mr. Gruber somewhat more endearing than would be expected. In 2002, Heald reprised his role as Dr. Frederick Chilton in Red Dragon, the second sequel -- actually a prequel -- to The Silence of the Lambs. Though Boston Public would close its doors in 2004, Heald continued to act in addition to providing vocal work on a number of talking books. In 2006 Heald helmed the clichéd part of the unctuous Dean of the rival college in the comedy Accepted, as well as appearing in the third installment of the popular X-Men franchise.

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: Forget "ingenue" -- by the time the glamorous Diane Farr arrived on set for her first major filmed assignment, with her sun-drenched brunette hair and photogenic Mediterranean complexion, she already qualified as an old pro in the talent realm, as a veteran model from her preteen years. Though her official acting resumé dates back to 1992, Manhattan-born Farr first culled national recognition six years later, as a hostess of the television series Loveline, a somewhat frank spin-off of a popular radio program in which viewers could phone in and ask the hosts questions about health and/or relationships. After a series of occasional turns in low-profiled TV series and telemovies, Farr landed a string of semi-permanent roles on popular small-screen series. She began with the blockbuster sitcom The Drew Carey Show (in 1999). As Tracy -- the object of multiple affections from Drew, Lewis (Ryan Stiles), and Oswald (Diedrich Bader) -- Farr unwittingly instigated a series of cutthroat competitive games among the boys, including her own sporting event, christened "The Tracy Bowl" and announced by broadcaster Bob Costas. The Tracy characterization lasted a short time, but it marked only the beginning of a seemingly unending line-up of roles for Farr. Between 2001 and 2002, she starred as gutsy female police detective Jan Fendrich in the critically praised but all-too-short-lived Denis Leary cop dramedy The Job. Two years after that, Farr worked for director Barnet Kellman in Like Family (2003), a short-lived sitcom about a black family and a white family attempting with great strain to live under the same roof together harmoniously. In 2005, Farr scored critically and commercially as FBI agent Megan Reeves on the detective program Numb3rs, starring David Krumholtz, Rob Morrow, and Judd Hirsch. Carr joined the cast of HBO's Californication in the show's first season, and appeared in Buried (2010), a well-received psychological thriller following a truck driver who becomes trapped underground.In addition to her acting work, Farr is also a published author. Her first novel, The Girl Code, found a considerable audience, and she has penned articles for numerous women's magazines. In addition to her acting and writing work, Farr co-founded and operates a greeting card firm.

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: American character actress Kathy Najimy specializes in offbeat, theatrical characters. A substantial and energetic woman with distinctive curly hair and exotic features, Najimy has appeared on-stage, in feature films, and on television. She has also voiced cartoons. Film credits include The Fisher King, Soapdish (both 1991), Sister Act (1992), and Jeffrey (1996). In 1996, she appeared -- over 100 pounds thinner -- for a brief but memorable recurring role as a manic-depressive psychiatrist on the CBS TV series Chicago Hope. In 1997, she became a regular on the Kirstie Alley sitcom Veronica's Closet. Beginning in 1997 she spent thirteen seasons voicing Peggy Hill, the wife to tried and true Texan Hank Hill on the animated series King of the Hill. During the run of the show she appeared in a variety of big-screen projects including Bride of Chucky, Rat Race, Scream Team, and Say Uncle. She landed a recurring role on the TV series Numb3rs, and joined the Pixar family when she lent her vocal talents to WALL-E in 2008.

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: The ever-fascinating Nancy Travis excelled in edgy, neurotic characterizations during the 1990s; she sounds like a chain-smoker or Valium-popper even when not playing one. Graduating with a BA degree from New York University, Travis apprenticed at Circle in the Square, acted in the touring company of Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs, and starred on Broadway with Judd Hirsch in I'm Not Rappaport. As a means of continually recharging her creative batteries, she helped found the Naked Angels, an off-Broadway acting troupe. After laboring in virtual anonymity in such TV movies as Malice in Wonderland (1985), Travis was afforded top billing in the 1986 two-parter Harem, lending a little artistry and dignity to an otherwise trivial affair. Her movie breakthrough was in the role of the errant, unmarried British mother Sylvia in Three Men and a Baby (1987) and its 1990 sequel Three Men and a Little Lady. More complex roles came her way in Internal Affairs (1992), The Vanishing (1993) and Chaplin (1993); in the latter film, she appeared as the real-life Joan Barry, whose spiteful and unfounded paternity suit against Charlie Chaplin (Robert Downey Jr.) was the beginning of the end of The Little Tramp's Hollywood career. Even when playing comedy in So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993), Travis retained her ticking-bomb, "don't turn your back on me" aura. Nancy Travis' television credits of the 1990s include her gravelly voiceover work as Aunt Bernice on the animated weekly Duckman (1993- ) and her starring stint on the so-so 1995 sitcom Almost Perfect.

Trivia: Spent his summers during high school at the Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan. First paid acting job was at the New London Barn Playhouse in New Hampshire. Studied for a semester at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. Got his break playing Jesus in the 2000 off-Broadway revival of Godspell. While playing Princeton in Avenue Q on Broadway in 2006, he was offered the role of Leaf in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. For two weeks, he rehearsed Spelling Bee in the afternoons before going on stage for Avenue Q in the evenings. His recurring role in NCIS: Los Angeles was upgraded to a series regular in the middle of the first season.

Trivia: Began acting at age 9. Made his Broadway debut in a revival of Private Lives in 2002. Stepped in last minute to take on the lead role in the controversial play Paul in London in 2005. Researched autism for several months before portraying Raymond Babbitt in the 2008 stage adaption of Rain Man in London. Was unfamiliar with the comic-book series Powers before landing a role on the related TV series of the same name.

Trivia: Appeared in a stage production of Angels in America: Millennium Approaches while attending college. Has performed on stage at the Kennedy Center, Folger Shakespeare Theater and Arena Forum. Performed with the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in Los Angeles.