Trivia: Australian actor Jesse Spencer launched his career with a long stint (from the mid- to late '90s) on the popular Aussie soap opera Neighbours, playing Billy Kennedy. He followed that up with a number of key supporting roles in acclaimed features, such as that of Marwood de Whichehalse in Mike Barker's R.D. Blackmore adaptation Lorna Doone (2001) before signing on for the lead in Russell Mulcahy's inspirational drama Swimming Upstream (2002). That picture -- about a young man destined to become a champion swimmer despite the setbacks thrown into his path by an abusive father (Geoffrey Rush) became a small-scale hit and earned favorable reviews. After a turn in the Brittany Murphy vehicle Uptown Girls (2003), Spencer landed one of his greatest achievements when he signed on to play Dr. Robert Chase on the Fox medical drama House, and the series quickly became a hit. Offscreen, Spencer made headlines for his romantic involvement with House co-star Jennifer Morrison (Dr. Allison Cameron). The two -- who reportedly met on the set of House -- became engaged during the 2006 holidays.

Trivia: Was a star volleyball player in high school and was named Section Two Volleyball Player of the Year in Pennsylvania. Studied business management in college. Big break came when he was cast as a regular on Fashion House in 2006. Appeared in Lady Gaga's 2011 music video "You and I." Played the recurring role of werewolf Mason Lockwood on The Vampire Diaries. Participated in the Chicago Polar Bear Plunge, which raises money for the Special Olympics, in 2015.

Trivia: Born in London to Grenadian parentage, distinguished actor Eamonn Walker acquired a deep-seated interest in drama at the age of 9, when he witnessed Sidney Poitier acting; the experience helped the young man perceive drama as a powerful tool to change individual lives. Walker began his professional life in repertory theater by touring across United Kingdom and tackling roles in smaller regional productions, then formally honed his craft in South London's Albany Empire. Thereafter, Walker unveiled an ability to seamlessly segue between portrayals of African Americans, West Indians, and Africans. He first bowed in front of the camera in the early '90s, but came into his own around the tail end of that decade as the deeply conflicted Muslim/black nationalist Kareem Said on all six seasons of HBO's harrowing prison drama Oz (1997-2003). That marked a watershed assignment that opened up the floodgates to many others, including a small contribution to M. Night Shyamalan's sci-fi thriller Unbreakable (2000), a turn as Baptiste Senior in director Andrew Niccol's political thriller Lord of War (2005), and an uncanny portrayal of blues legend Howlin' Wolf in the period ensembler Cadillac Records (2008). In 2006, Walker drew from his theatrical roots -- and made more than a few headlines -- with a Broadway performance opposite Denzel Washington in Julius Caesar.

Trivia: Began performing with the Sarasota Youth Opera and in various theater productions at age 7. Raised on a sailboat for most of his childhood. Was named on VH1's 2012 list of TV's Most Promising Eye Candy. Spent two weeks preparing for his role in Chicago Fire by going on ride-alongs with real firefighters and learning the ropes at a Chicago fire station.

Trivia: Best known as Steve, the boyishly charming nice-guy bartender (and the perfect complement to his onscreen romantic partner, snappish Miranda Hobbes) in HBO's blockbuster original series Sex and the City, the slightly diminutive, raven-haired American character actor David Eigenberg was born in Manhasset, NY, on May 17, 1964. As the only boy in a family of six children, Eigenberg moved with his parents and sisters at age four to Naperville, IL, a farming community just outside of the Windy City -- where he remained through the end of adolescence. Eigenberg reportedly struggled as a student, barely scraping by; a handful of run-ins with the law and minor recreational drug abuse allegedly ensued. Eigenberg did graduate from Naperville High School in 1982, however, and was promptly accepted to the University of Iowa, where he planned to study social work. For better or worse, this was not to be, for the Chicagoan ripped his dormitory apart during the first semester and was promptly booted out of the university after five weeks.A stint in the Marines and various construction jobs followed, instilling in Eigenberg healthy amounts of much-needed self-discipline and a sharply honed work ethic. These skills paved the way for Eigenberg's true calling: acting. A love of the dramatic arts had already taken root for the thespian when -- at age 12 -- he had signed on to play a key role in a local production of Kurt Vonnegut's Happy Birthday, Wanda June, and received an outstanding review from a local critic. These fond memories doubtless came flooding back when an adult Eigenberg auditioned -- and was selected for -- a large part in the Dennis Rosa-directed Chicago stage musical One Shining Moment, opposite Megan Mullally and Alan Ruck. Dissatisfied with a mere taste of the theatrical arts and eager to extend acting into a full-time passion, Eigenberg subsequently moved to New York and attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, working odd jobs on the side (construction et al.) to put himself through school.Scattered roles followed, including a guest appearance on The Cosby Show and a bit part in the awful 1989 generation-gap comedy Rude Awakening (co-starring Cheech Marin and Eric Roberts), but Sex and the City (which Eigenberg auditioned for out of innumerable hopefuls) represented the actor's first huge break. He reportedly auditioned for a small part, and though the show's producers did not deem him right for the characterization, they felt so impressed by Eigenberg's presence that they created the character of Steve Brady especially for him, as an extension of his own personality; the plan, again, was to create a sincere, committed, down-to-earth male paramour to offset Miranda's (Cynthia Nixon) cynicism.Though initially intended as a temporary part, the popularity of the character among viewers (and Eigenberg's onscreen chemistry with Nixon) led to Eigenberg's permanent inclusion on the show, as well as subsuquent movies.Circa 2002, Eigenberg expanded into film roles by playing the business partner of Richard Gere in Mark Pellington's underrated supernatural thriller The Mothman Prophecies. When Eigenberg's Sex and the City run ended with the wrap-up of that series (at the end of the 2003-2004 season), he continued his cinematic work, first voicing Nermal the Cat in the FX-extravaganza Garfield: The Movie, then playing Reggie, the lover of Alicia Goranson's Myra, in Adrienne Weiss' quirky indie romantic comedy Love, Ludlow. Eigenberg returned to the same genre amid a cast of unknowns with the 2007 film The Trouble with Romance, directed by Gene Rhee. He reprised his role in the Sex and the City movie in 2008 and the sequel in 2010. In 2012, he joined the cast of NBC's Chicago Fire, playing a firefighter in the Windy City.

Trivia: Raven-haired Lauren German made her film debut with a small appearance in the 2000 comedy Down to You. She paid her dues over the following years with minor roles in A Walk to Remember, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Hostel: Part II. A much more prominent part came in 2011, when German was cast in the role of Lori Weston on the TV remake of Hawaii Five-0.

Trivia: Actress Monica Raymund learned as much as she could about her craft before getting a serious start on her professional career, graduating from the Juilliard School in New York and participating in Ann Reinking's Broadway Theatre Project for three years. When she decided to pursue an on-screen career, Raymund had little trouble getting started, snagging the role of tough-talking Ria Torres on the crime drama Lie to Me. When Lie to Me ended its three-season run in 2011, Raymund made the seamless transition to the CBS drama The Good Wife, in which she played the character of Dana Lodge.

Trivia: A slightly tough and weathered character actor who specialized in playing gruff, domineering types (including guards, Mafiosos, and authoritarian fathers), Christian Stolte debuted onscreen in the early '90s and went on to distinguish himself with bit parts in films including Novocaine (2001), Road to Perdition (2002), and Stranger Than Fiction (2006). On the small screen, Stolte took on the recurring role of C.O. Keith Stolte during the first two seasons (2005-2007) of the cult series Prison Break. Back on the big screen, he received unusually prominent billing with his wry comic turn as a Mafia hitman assigned to rub out his cousin, in the character comedy Osso Bucco (2007).

Trivia: Is half-Georgian, half-Armenian; moved to the United States at age 2. Appeared in The History Boys at the Timeline Theatre in Chicago in 2009, while he was still attending college. Prepped for his role in Chicago Fire by doing ride-alongs with the Chicago Fire Department. Shared an apartment with Chicago Fire castmates Charlie Barnett and Joe Minoso during the show's first season.

Trivia: Was named the associate artistic director for Teatro Vista in Chicago in 2009. Appeared in the Goodman Theatre's production of A Christmas Carol in the 2011-12 season. Had a memorable recurring role on the Starz series Boss where his character's ears were cut off. Shared an apartment with his Chicago Fire castmates Yuri Sardarov and Charlie Barnett when the show was first picked up.

Trivia: While she has appeared in a handful of feature films, Michelle Forbes is best known for her TV work in the 1990s. Born in Austin, TX, Forbes moved to New York when she joined the cast of daytime serial The Guiding Light in 1987. Moving to prime time after 1989, Forbes endeared herself to legions of Trekkies as Ensign Ro on Star Trek: The New Generation during the 1991-1992 season. Leaving the show to pursue feature films, the actress appeared in the Irish romance The Playboys (1992), co-starred with David Duchovny as the unwitting companions of Brad Pitt and Juliette Lewis' homicidal couple in Kalifornia (1992), and helped send up the Hollywood snakepit in Swimming With Sharks (1994). Following a couple of B-films and a supporting turn in John Carpenter's over-the-top sequel Escape From L.A. (1996), Forbes returned to series TV on the highly praised NBC police drama Homicide: Life on the Street in 1996. Though her character was written out after 1998, Forbes returned for the final TV film Homicide: The Movie (2000). She seemed on track to add another well-regarded series to her resumé in 2000 as one of the doctors on duty in Peter Berg's edgy mental hospital drama Wonderland, but ABC showed little patience for the show's slow start and yanked it off the air after a couple of episodes. After Wonderland's quick disappearance, Forbes played photographer Jared Harris's wife in the fashion world feature Perfume (2001). Despite an illustrious ensemble cast, though, Perfume didn't fare much better than Robert Altman's ignominious haute couture flop Ready to Wear (1994). Finding better work in TV, Forbes appeared in the cable western The Johnson County War (2002) and joined the cast of Fox's much lauded real time CIA drama 24 in 2002, playing a tough, loyal aide to Dennis Haysbert's President Palmer. She continued her run of being part of well-respected TV shows with recurring roles in Battlestar Galactica, In Treatment, True Blood, and AMC's The Killing.

Trivia: Wanted to be an actress after seeing The Philadelphia Story (1940) as a young girl. Holds a first-degree blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Starred in Hulu's first original scripted show, Battleground, as KJ Jameson. Member of the Chalk Repertory Theatre in Los Angeles.

Trivia: A bandleader from age 16 until his death 62 years later, Charlie Barnet was at his peak in the late '30s and early '40s. Of his many recordings, Barnet is best remembered for his smash hit single "Cherokee;" his arrangement, in fact, has been followed note by note by virtually every band and orchestra since. Among the first white bandleaders to hire blacks (one of his discoveries was Lena Horne), he was refreshingly casual about it, refusing in later years to posture as a Civil Rights pioneer. Compared to other bandleaders of his stature, Charlie Barnet's film appearances were sparse, consisting of a mere four feature films: Music in Manhattan (1944), Jam Session (1944), Idea Girl (1946), and A Song Is Born (1948).

Trivia: A Michigan native, clean-cut actor and television emcee Jeff Hephner broke himself in as an actor by performing in regional theatrical productions in the Great Lakes State and in Florida. He attended Ferris State University in Grand Rapids, MI, before debuting on film with a small supporting role in the 2000 Joel Schumacher period drama Tigerland and a bit part as a waiter in the 2002 comedy Maid in Manhattan. Hephner received his broadest exposure, however, with recurring roles on the television series The Jury (as attorney Keenan O'Brien), and a multi-episode stint as Matt Ramsey on the primetime, teen-oriented soaper The O.C. Meanwhile, Hephner made guest appearances on programs including House, Nip/Tuck, and Without a Trace. In 2008, Hephner signed for the lead role of Morgan Buffkin in the CW primetime drama series Easy Money. A role in the short-lived CW cheerleading drama Hellcats follwed in 2009, and two years later Hephner could be seen opposite Kelsey Grammer in the dark Starz crime drama Boss.