Trivia: For better or worse, leading actor Kelsey Grammer's name will probably forever be associated with the pompous, garrulous, and self-absorbed but lovable psychiatrist Frasier Crane, a character Grammer has played on television since he first appeared on the NBC sitcom Cheers, in 1984, as a love interest for Shelley Long. Though Frasier was not intended to become a series regular, Grammer's performance of the blowhard neurotic charmed audiences and he remained with Cheers through its 1993 demise. At the beginning of the 1993-1994 television season, Grammer's character was resurrected in his own show and moved from Boston to Seattle, where he became a radio psychologist and faced a whole slew of folks just waiting to poke metaphorical pins in his hot air balloon. Thanks to excellent performances and top-notch writing, Frasier became as big a hit as its predecessor. Grammer won three Emmy awards and was nominated for seven more (twice for Cheers, once for his guest appearance on a 1992 episode of Wings, four times for Frasier) for playing the character. Born on St. Thomas, one of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Grammer knew extreme tragedy in youth. Following the shooting death of his father when he was a boy, he was raised in New Jersey and then Florida, by his mother and grandfather. His grandfather died before Grammer became a teen. When he was 20, his sister was abducted and violently murdered. Five years later, he lost two half brothers in a diving accident. As a young man, Grammer found comfort in Shakespeare; with his acting debut in a high school production of The Little Foxes came an interest in pursuing drama as a career. He enrolled in Juilliard, but dropped out after two years to work at San Diego's Old Globe Theater, where he gained three years' invaluable experience performing in Shakespearean and classical dramas; afterward, Grammer performed in productions across the country. He eventually made it to Broadway, where he appeared in various productions, including Othello. Prior to playing Frasier, Grammer appeared occasionally on television and had regular roles in three soap operas, including One Life to Live. He continues to occasionally guest star on other series. Fans of the animated satire The Simpsons will recognize his periodic voice characterization as the venomous Sideshow Bob. Miniseries and telemovies in which he has appeared include London Suite and Beyond Suspicion. Grammer made his feature film debut with a small role in Top of the Hill (1989) and had his first starring role in the much-panned comedy Down Periscope (1996). In addition to his Emmy kudos, Grammer has received an American Comedy Award, two Golden Globes, and a People's Choice Award. In 1995, he published his autobiography So Far.Grammer would spend the following years taking on TV roles on shows like Back to You and Boss, but would find even more success as a producer, helping bring shows like The Game, Girlfriends, Hank, Medium, and World Cup Comedy to fruition. In 2014, he returned to acting in a big way, making a cameo appearance in X-Men: Days of Future Past, reprising his role as Beast, playing the bad guy in Transformers: Age of Extinction, and returning to television in the FX series Partners.

Trivia: Although he is best known for his role as anal-retentive psychiatrist extraordinaire Niles Crane on the celebrated sitcom Frasier, David Hyde Pierce has also done considerable work on the stage and screen. Fair, birdlike, and bearing an uncanny resemblance to Frasier co-star Kelsey Grammer, Pierce is one of the entertainment business' finest purveyors of a certain kind of blue-blooded neuroticism, and, in the eyes of some viewers, has even gone so far as to make insecurity perversely sexy.Born in Saratoga Springs, New York, on April 3, 1959, Pierce was raised in what he has described as a "very run-of-the-mill, middle-class" household. When he was eight, he began taking piano lessons, and he decided to pursue a career as a concert pianist. He continued to train until he got to Yale University, where he realized that he was better suited to the acting profession. Following graduation, Pierce moved to New York and did a brief stint as a tie salesman at Bloomingdale's before being cast in a Broadway play. Although the production was a flop, Pierce continued to work on the stage in New York and Chicago for several years and was eventually cast as a suicidal congressman on the short-lived sitcom The Powers That Be in 1992. His work on the show, coupled with his resemblance to Kelsey Grammer, led to his casting on Frasier the following year.Frasier proved to be the turning point in Pierce's career. His portrayal of Niles, aside from winning him a slew of awards, including an Emmy, also provided a number of opportunities for the actor on the big screen. Pierce, who had been acting sporadically in films since the early '80s, could be seen in supporting roles in such '90s films as Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Nixon (1995), in which he played John Dean, and the animated A Bug's Life (1998), for which he provided the voice of a stick insect.As the first decade of the 21st century opened, Pierce began appearing in more and more feature films, selecting an eclectic array of roles that utitlized his strengths without resorting to rehashing the Niles Crane character. Diverse in their genre and theme, the projects also ranged in their levels of success and acclaim. The 2000 comedy Isn't She Great was an abysmal failure, while the indie films Wet Hot American Summer and Full Frontal both left audiences and critics fiercely split. Pierce also continued to flex his voice skills in the animated features Osmosis Jones and Treasure Planet.One of Pierce's best-received roles came in 2003, when he costarred in the tongue-in-cheek comedy Down With Love. While not much of a box-office hit, the film managed to charm many critics with its wall-to-wall homages to 1960s sex-comedies. A year later, Pierce again showed up sans-body, providing the voice of Abe Sapien in the comic-book adaptation Hellboy. He reunited with Hellboy creator Mike Mignola's animated comic adaptation The Amazing Screw-On Head to voice the role of the dreaded Emperor Zombie in 2006, and joined the cast of The Perfect Host in 2010 for a leading role as Warwick Wilson, whose genteel façade hides a deep rage and mental instability.

Trivia: A distinctive-looking, grey-haired British character actor, John Mahoney worked onstage in his teens, and moved to the U.S. at 19. In his mid-30s, while employed as an editor in Chicago, he decided to renew his interest in acting, and he enrolled in classes at a local theater co-founded by playwright David Mamet; he landed a role in a Mamet play and left his job for the part. At the urging of actor John Malkovich, he went on to join Chicago's celebrated Steppenwolf Theater; eventually he appeared in more than 30 plays. For his work in the Broadway play House of Blue Leaves he won a Tony and a Clarence Derwent Award. For his work in the lead role of Orphans (on Broadway and in Chicago) he won a Theater World Award. He still lives in Chicago, and maintains his connection with Steppenwolf. Mahoney debuted onscreen in Mission HIll (1982), but his screen breakthrough came in his fifth film, Barry Levinson's popular comedy Tin Men (1987); afterwards he went on to better parts in more noteworthy movies, and has avoided typecasting in a busy screen career. Mahoney's TV credits include Favorite Son and House of Blue Leaves, in which he reprised his stage role; he has since achieved wide popularity as Martin Crane, Frasier Crane's crochety father, on the NBC sitcom Frasier.

Trivia: Began studying ballet at a very early age, but hurt her ankle when she was 18 and was forced to give it up. Appeared in David Lee Roth's video for "California Girls." Lived for a time with her best friend Faith Ford, whom she met in acting class. Cofounded the production company Bristol Cities with Frasier costar Peri Gilpin in 1998. Since her first pregnancy wasn't written into Frasier, her character, Daphne, was sent off to a fat camp and was said to have lost 9 pounds, 12 ounces---the weight of Jane's daughter when she was born. Made her Broadway debut in Cabaret as Sally Bowles in 2002. Reunited with Fraiser alum Wendy Malick to costar in the TV Land sitcom Hot in Cleveland.

Trivia: With a father who was a famous local radio and television celebrity, a model mother who appeared in television, and a working relationship with Wings producer Roz Doyle in her past, it may all seem like an obscure cosmic joke that pretty Peri Gilpin would rise to fame as radio producer Roz Doyle on the smash television sitcom Frasier, though the longtime actress would likely credit her success to hard work rather than astrological coincidence.Born in Waco, TX, and raised in Dallas, Gilpin began acting on stage with the Dallas Theater Company at the age of eight, a fact that helped her shake stage fright and gain the confidence that would accompany her through numerous future auditions. A Skyline High School graduate, Gilpin later studied acting at both the University of Texas at Austin and London's British-American Academy. Upon returning to the U.S., Gilpin worked as a makeup artist in the Dallas area before taking an apprenticeship with the Williamstown Theater Festival. A chance meeting with actress Blythe Danner resulted in Gilpin gaining some support within the industry, and it wasn't long before Gilpin's dreams were coming true with roles on television's Flesh 'n' Blood and 21 Jump Street. A role on Cheers followed shortly after, and when a spin-off series entitled Frasier became an unexpected hit, Gilpin found the role that would bring her into households across the country on a weekly basis. Appearing frequently on such made-for-television films as The Secret She Carried (1996) and Laughter on the 23rd Floor (2000) while simultaneously essaying her role on Frasier, Gilpin (who was named after the animated Disney character Peri the squirrel) has also loaned her voice to such animated projects as television's Hercules and the computer-animated feature Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001). Throughout the 2000's and 2010's, Gilpin remained active, starring most notably on the dance series Make It or Break It.

Trivia: The daughter of respected off-Broadway playwright Romulus Linney, Laura Linney was born in New York City on February 5, 1964. Her parents divorced when she was six months old. Thanks to her father's job, Linney grew up working in the theater, both behind the scenes and, in her late teens, on the stage. Following prep school in Massachusetts, she attended both Brown University and Juilliard, and she was soon appearing in a number of Broadway productions. She garnered notice for her roles in plays like The Seagull and Six Degrees of Separation, and won particular acclaim for her performance in Hedda Gabler.Linney made her onscreen debut in 1992 with a small role as a teacher in Lorenzo's Oil. The following year, she had a brief but pivotal role as Kevin Kline's presidential mistress in Dave, appeared in Searching for Bobby Fischer, and landed a lead as one of the protagonists of Armistead Maupin's acclaimed Tales of the City, which aired on PBS. Linney later reprised her role as Mary Ann Singleton for More Tales of the City in 1998. Following leads in two box-office failures, A Simple Twist of Fate (1994) and Congo (1995), Linney had a supporting role as Richard Gere's lawyer/ex in Primal Fear (1996). Based on the strength of her performance, Clint Eastwood chose her to play his daughter -- another lawyer -- in Absolute Power the following year. In 1998, Linney sent up her wholesome, fresh-scrubbed appearance to great effect as Truman Burbank's wife in Peter Weir's highly acclaimed The Truman Show.The actress finally came into her own in 2000, thanks to two very different parts in two highly acclaimed independent features. Writer/director Kenneth Lonergan's You Can Count on Me featured Linney as Sammy, a small-town single mother whose placid life takes some interesting turns when she's visited by her errant brother Terry (Mark Ruffalo). Aided by Lonergan's precise script and her own copious note-taking, Linney turned in her most nuanced, accomplished performance to date. Critics paid attention: after its much-heralded debut at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival, the film went on to garner a slew of recognition for its lead actress, including Best Actress of the Year awards from the National Society of Film Critics and the New York Film Critics Circle, and an eventual Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Linney further polished her reputation with a supporting turn as the icy Bertha Dorset in director Terence Davies' adaptation of Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, released in late 2000.She continued working steadily and garnered great critical respect throughout the next decade. In addition to returning for Further Tales of the City, she was one of the many talented actors who appeared in the controversial The Laramie Project. She had a few big-budget films that missed their mark in The Mothman Prophecies and The Life of David Gale, but those came around the same time as her superb turn as Sean Penn's wife in Mystic River, and as one of the few Americans in the very British romantic comedy Love Actually. She continued to earn strong reviews as the headstrong wife to Liam Neeson's Kinsey, and in 2005 offered a subtle but penetrating portrayal of a selfish mother and divorcee opposite Jeff Daniels in The Squid and the Whale. The next year she acted opposite Robin Williams in Barry Levinson's political and social satire Man of the Year.In 2007 Linney offered a spot-on portrayal of a dissatisfied Manhattan wife and mother in The Nanny Diaries, and earned a wealth of strong reviews for her work in Tamara Jenkins' The Savages. Playing a neurotic woman opposite Philip Seymour Hoffman as her brother, Linney scored her third Academy Award nomination.2008 brought Linney her fourth Golden Globe nomination, and first win, for the portrayl of first lady Abigail Adams in the acclaimed HBO miniseries John Adams. In the following years, Linney would continue to appear in several projects, including movies like Morning and The Details, and the acclaimed Showtime series The C Word.

Trivia: Despite her relative obscurity, redheaded performance artist Ann Magnuson has a bright star persona, a multitude of talents, and a definitive sense of style and glamour. Born in the South and schooled in the Midwest, she escaped to New York and worked on a number of projects as a theatrical collaborator with the likes of Eric Bogosian and Joey Arias. In 1985, she helped form the performance art group/rock band Bongwater along with her creative partner and guitarist Kramer. While singing and writing songs for the band, she was also building her acting career. Co-starring Bogosian and Meatloaf, her comedic social commentary special Vandemonium Plus was released on HBO Home Video along with her sly parody sketches "Made For Television." Her first few films were made by rising young directors Beth B., Sara Driver, and Susan Seidelman. She also made an appearance in the documentary Mondo New York, along with contemporaries Lydia Lunch and Karen Finley. In 1987, she made her breakthrough film performance in the romantic comedy Making Mr. Right, ideally cast as the high-fashion publicist Frankie Stone opposite the literally robotic John Malkovich. She got another juicy role the following year as older woman Joyce Fickett in A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon opposite earthy teen heartthrob River Phoenix. The next year she joined the cast of the ABC sitcom Anything but Love as fashionable magazine editor Catherine Hughes. Meanwhile, Bongwater released several albums on Shimmy Disc before breaking up in 1992 after a legal dispute. Magnuson continued to make brief yet memorable appearances in feature films (Cabin Boy, Clear and Present Danger, Tank Girl) before releasing her solo album The Luv Show on Geffen Records. Staying with her acting career, she went on to appear in various supporting roles in independent films, mainstream blockbusters, and TV specials. After 2000, she turned away from comedies toward darker material in The Caveman's Valentine, Panic Room, and Night at the Golden Eagle. In 2003, she joined the cast of the FOX sitcom Wanda at Large as liberal political commentator Rita and went on tour with her one-woman show "Pretty Songs and Ugly Stories."

Trivia: The nephew of producer-turned-Variety editor-in-chief Peter Bart (Islands in the Stream), actor Roger Bart specialized in evenhanded portrayals of characters with "extreme" personalities that belied and offset the actor's seemingly average, everyman appearance. Among other accomplishments, Bart received critical laurels for his evocation of an outré homosexual in Frank Oz and Scott Rudin's uneven comedic update of The Stepford Wives in 2004. Bart followed that up by deftly playing the flamboyant Carmen Ghia, personal assistant to transvestite director Roger de Bries, in the 2005 Susan Stroman-directed musical comedy remake of Mel Brooks' The Producers, and then played one of two seriously disturbed American businessmen who buy into a thrill-kill franchise in Eli Roth's splatter-fest Hostel Part II (2007). Bart is perhaps best known, however, for his portrayal of George Williams on the prime-time black comedy hit Desperate Housewives (2004-2005).

Trivia: Lead actress, onscreen from the late '80s.

Trivia: Was raised in Chicago. Helped found Chicago's Roadworks Theatre Ensemble. Best known for her role as Chief Vick on the USA drama Psych.

Trivia: Named "wittiest" in her junior-high-school yearbook. Created sketch-comedy group Ms. Dee, named after her dog, in New York before writing and performing in the one-woman off-Broadway show This Is Where I Get Off. In 1996 became the first female correspondent on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and hosted her own series of interview specials. Was a recurring character on the Michael J. Fox sitcom Spin City for two years. In 2004 landed a lead role on the short-lived Fox comedy Method & Red, which starred Method Man and Redman. Played extremely different moms on Disney's I'm in the Band and MTV's The Hard Times of RJ Berger. Is fond of saying that she follows in "the rich tradition of Episcopalians in comedy."

Trivia: Who knew gluing a plastic arm to your head, wearing false teeth, and drooling on yourself to act as the love child of Angelina Jolie and her brother could be so damn funny? That character (even given a name: Kerplixik), along with several others, has led comedian Rachel Dratch through her uproarious tenure on Saturday Night Live. Born February 22, 1966, Dratch grew up in Lexington, MA; her mother was the director of a nonprofit agency and her father, a radiologist. Dratch majored in Drama at Dartmouth College and graduated in 1989. She spent six months doing a children's theater tour and then moved to Chicago, where she signed up for classes at ImprovOlympic and spent years working on her skills. After four years on the main stage of Chicago's Second City troupe -- the fertile comedic ground that sprouted Horatio Sanz, Tina Fey, and several other well-known names in the SNL family tree -- she was ready for prime time. Since her start on Saturday Night Live in 1999, Dratch's versatility has helped her build quite a list of memorable characters. From her Denise to Jimmy Fallon's horny Bostonian boyfriend, Sully, to her wispy little Calista Flockhart impression, Dratch easily goes from nerd (à la Sheldon on "Wake Up Wakefield") to sensuous "luv-uh" Virginia to Will Ferrell's Professor Klarvin. In 2000, she and Fey put on their two-woman show, Dratch & Fey, at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York. And in 2001, a short film that Dratch wrote, directed, and performed (The Vagina Monologues Monologues, also featuring Fey and SNL performer Amy Poehler) premiered at the New York Comedy Film Festival. She has appeared in the movie Down With Love (with Ewan McGregor and Renée Zellweger) and the independent film The Hebrew Hammer (with Adam Goldberg). Her television appearances include Late Night with Conan O'Brien, CBS' King of Queens, and Third Watch. Dratch and Fey left SNL after the 2005-2006 season to try their luck on a primetime slot with 30 Rock, a sitcom about a television writer (played by Fey) and her supporting cast. In August 2010, Dratch gave birth to a son, Eli. She continued to show up here and there, including reprising her role of Debbie Downer on SNL for the infamous Betty White episode, appearing on 30 Rock's live episode in October 2010, and inFunny or Die Presents skits on HBO. She went on to take small supporting roles in the comedies Just Go With It (2011) and That's My Boy (2012).