Trivia: While still in high school, American actor Timothy Hutton, son of actor Jim Hutton, toured with his father in a stage production of Harvey. After high school he moved to southern California and managed to land roles in several TV films, notably Friendly Fire and Young Love, First Love (both 1979). He debuted onscreen as a troubled teenager in Robert Redford's first directorial effort, Ordinary People (1980). For his work in that film he won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, at the time the youngest actor to earn such an honor. Hutton soon became typecast as sensitive, somewhat wimpy youths in a string of major films, a mold he didn't break out of until the late '80s. Despite his auspicious beginning, most of Hutton's films have been financially unsuccessful. In 1984 he made his New York stage debut in Orpheus Descending, and in 1990 starred on Broadway in the hit romance Prelude to a Kiss. He has also done some directing, including an episode of the TV show Amazing Stories and a rock video made by the band The Cars. He married and divorced actress Debra Winger.

Trivia: Blonde actress Beth Riesgraf made the majority of her on-camera appearances in a guest capacity on various television series, then took her debut feature bow with a bit role in the CG-animated Jason Lee-starrer Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007). Riesgraf was engaged Lee for a time, and the couple had a child together in 2003. In 2008, the actress signed to star opposite Timothy Hutton in Leverage, a TNT original series about an insurance investigator-turned-high-tech outlaw.

Trivia: When he initially surfaced as an on-camera presence during the 1990s and 2000s, supporting actor Aldis Hodge recalled a young Will Smith, with his looks, his relaxed charm, and easygoing manner; like Smith, Hodge made one of his first significant impressions on the small screen, yet he maintained a lower profile. Parts included guest starring appearances on such series programs as ER, CSI, NYPD Blue, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Around 2005, Hodge broke into big-screen features, first with small-scale roles, such as an appearance in the David Mamet-Stuart Gordon thriller Edmond, then in that same year's Snoop Dogg-headlined urban drama The Tenants. Hodge also provided one of the adorable penguins' voices in George Miller's animal picture Happy Feet (2006). One the small screen that year, Hodge could be seen in a recurring role on the critically acclaimed sports drama series Friday Night Lights as Ray "Voodoo" Tatum. He enjoyed a healthy run on the hit cable program Leverage as part of a group of criminals who take revenge against other scammers in order to help out those who have been victimized. Aldis Hodge is not to be confused with Al Hodge (Captain Video and His Video Rangers), a television actor from the '50s and '60s -- nor are they related.

Trivia: Versatile performer Christian Kane posed a dual threat in Hollywood, juggling multiple careers as an actor and vocalist/guitarist. Born to a prosperous oil-industry family in Dallas, TX, Kane relocated frequently with his family as a youngster, but ultimately settled in Norman, OK. From early boyhood, he nurtured dreams of Hollywood stardom -- dreams that eventually prompted him to leave college and head to the lights of Los Angeles; he also possessed an ingenuity that helped him find an "in" to the seemingly impenetrable entertainment industry, by approaching a prestigious Hollywood production company and offering to deliver scripts in exchange for talent consideration. It marked a bold but innovative move; significantly, the bid worked and Kane got his foot in the proverbial door. He soon landed his premier on-camera role, as one of the leads in the late '90s television series Fame L.A. Meanwhile, he jump-started a career as a musician on the side, by meeting the man who quickly became his songwriting partner, Steve Carlson. The two formed a band, christened KANE and started turning heads via Christian's unique country & western-infused vocals; with that outfit they headlines numerous Southern California hotspots including The Mint and The Viper Room.Unfortunately, Fame L.A. only lasted a short time, but Kane connected with much greater success via a recurring run on the vampire-themed fantasy series Angel, as attorney Lindsey McDonald. He then moved into feature roles and racked up a series of supporting turns in A-listers including the gentle Disney drama Secondhand Lions (2003), the dismal Ashton Kutcher sex farce Just Married (2003), and the critically acclaimed Billy Bob Thornton sports drama Friday Night Lights (2004). In the years that followed, Kane returned to television on two high-profile series: he played prosecutor's husband Jack Chase on the acclaimed Jerry Bruckheimer procedural drama Close to Home (2005-2006), then signed to star opposite Timothy Hutton and Beth Riesgraf in Leverage (2008), a TNT original series about an insurance investigator-turned-high-tech outlaw. While continuing to work on that successful program, he appeared in The Donner Party and Universal Squadrons.

Trivia: From the outset of her career, sloe-eyed British actress Gina Bellman exuded an alluring, exotic appeal that recalled the glamorous screen sirens of Hollywood's Golden Age. She first achieved fame by virtue of her collaboration with the English playwright-cum-scriptwriter/director Dennis Potter, in whose overtly sexual and explicit Blackeyes she starred. In that controversial outing, Bellman played the sexual abuse victim of the title -- an imaginary character within the context of the film. The choice of project (given its content) marked a bold move for the actress, but an intelligent one given Potter's peerless reputation and the respect afforded him in the English film industry. More importantly, it succeeded in turning spectators' and critics' heads toward Bellman in the very best way.Intriguingly, Bellman had no educational or industry experience as an actress when she auditioned for Blackeyes (1990), shy of a role as King David's daughter in Bruce Beresford's critically maligned Biblical epic King David (1985). The daughter of Russian-Jewish-Polish parents, born in New Zealand, Bellman grew up with a father who worked in retail and a homemaker mother. The family immigrated to London before Bellman's 11th birthday, and within a year, she discovered a passion for acting and soon began attending auditions. After Blackeyes, parts came quickly and furiously, marked by the actress' intriguing, distinguished choice of projects on-stage, in features, and on television. Some of her higher-profile endeavors included the eccentric Jewish-themed feature comedy Leon the Pig Farmer (1992), a theatrical role in David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow, and an ongoing turn as the flighty, hare-brained man-hunter Jane Christie on the BBC's wildly popular (and extremely explicit) sex comedy series Coupling (2000).In 2006, Bellman signed for a supporting role in director Martin Curland's raunchy sci-fi comedy Zerophilia, while the following year, she co-starred opposite James Nesbitt in the BBC miniseries Jekyll, an unusual revisionist version of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In the years to come, Bellman would remain an active force on screen, most notably on shows like Leverage.

Trivia: Born in a German refugee camp, actor Saul Rubinek was raised in Canada, where he began his career. After several years of activity with the Toronto Free Theater, the versatile Rubinek headed for New York, where he worked in repertory and on Broadway. Rubinek's performance as the best friend of religious cult member Nick Mancuso in the little-seen Ticket to Heaven (1981) was a critical coup for the actor. A reliable presence in such meaty supporting roles as the Ned Buntline-ish dime novelist in The Unforgiven (1994), and Hollywood producer Lee Donowitz in True Romance, Rubinek would spend the coming decades working steadily in films like I Love Trouble and Nixon, as well as on TV shows like A Nero Wolfe Mystery, Frasier, Blind Justice, and Warehouse 13.

Trivia: A former English and Art major at Notre Dame University, Tony Bill was fortunate enough to work with Frank Sinatra in his first film, Come Blow Your Horn. "Old Blue Eyes" took a liking to Bill, securing him parts in the subsequent Sinatra vehicles None but the Brave (1965) and Marriage on the Rocks (1968), and helping to open several professional doors for the young actor. After this promising start, Bill settled into a string of colorless juvenile roles. Feeling that his acting career wasn't going anyplace in particular, he formed a production company with Michael and Julia Phillips, turning out two "trendy" feature films, Deadhead Miles (1972) and Steelyard Blues (1973). Scoring a significant success with the Oscar-winning The Sting (1973), Bill parted company with the Phillipses, soloing as producer of Hearts of the West (1975), Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976), and Boulevard Nights (1979). In 1980, he decided to give directing a try, and the result was the engaging teen-angst drama My Bodyguard (1980). Additional directorial credits include the theatrical features Five Corners (1988), Crazy People (1990), and A Home of Our Own (1993), and the made-for-TV movies Love Thy Neighbor (1984), One Christmas (1988), and Next Door (1994). Despite his executive responsibilities, Tony Bill has kept a hand in acting, most amusingly in the semi-autobiographical role of Warner Bros. executive Terry Hawthorne in Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985). Increasingly active behind the camera as the 1980s gave way to the 1990s, Bill would stick almost exclusively to television following Next Door as he alternated between series work (Chicago Hope and Felicity) and made for television features (Beyond the Call, Iliver Twist, and A Chance of Snow). Of course once an actor always an actor, and when given the opportunity to appear before the camera in such efforts as Barb Wire, The Fixer, and Lying in Wait, Bill was always keen to perform. Subsequent directorial work on such television series' as UC: Undercover, Monk, and Keen Eddy found Bill's career receiving something of a second wind as the new millennium blew in, and in the wake of his success with the Emmy-nominated made for television feature Harlan County War the longtime filmmaker would take to the skies to call the shots for some of the hottest young stars of the day in the 2006 World War I adventure Flyboys. A historical war film documenting the cloud-cutting adventures of America's very first fighter pilots, Flyboys featured hot young actors James Franco, Martin Henderson, and David Ellison performing alongside such experienced screen veterans as Jean Reno and Tchéky Karyo.

Trivia: British actor Mark A. Sheppard tackled guest spots on such varied small-screen series as CSI, Firefly, Charmed, Monk, and Battlestar Galactica, as well as appearing for a six-episode stint during the fifth season of 24. In 2007, he landed a regular supporting part on the weekly sci-fi drama Bionic Woman (2007) -- as Dr. Anthony Anthros, the father of the title character's boyfriend and the scientist who invented her "bionic" technology. Sheppard's resumé also includes appearances in such features as Boa (2002), Evil Eyes (2004), and Broken (2006).

Trivia: Credits S.E. Hinton's novels, in particular The Outsiders, with helping her focus on acting. Became a star in Canada by appearing on TV and in films, such as The Rez, Power Play, Cube 2: Hypercube, A Colder Kind of Death and Blue Murder. Won a 2001 Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Guest Role for her appearance on Blue Murder and was subsequently invited to join the show as a regular cast member. Broke into American TV with the A&E series Nero Wolfe. Has appeared with Timothy Hutton in three projects: Nero Wolfe, 5ive Days to Midnight and Leverage. A sign in her hometown of Spalding, Saskatchewan, welcomes passing motorists to the birthplace of Kari Matchett.