Trivia: Mainstream America got its first taste of David Caruso when he appeared in a nationally syndicated mid-'70s coffee commercial as a stock boy in a general store run by Margaret Hamilton. In those days, Caruso would pick up extra cash by appearing in lineups for the New York police department, where his street-urchin style made him fit right in. This same street-tough quality won Caruso his first semi-regular TV series role in 1981, as the Irish-American gang leader "Shamrock" on Hill Street Blues. Building up his resumé, he continued to take supporting roles like the "washout" aviation candidate in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) and assistant to Judd Nelson's quest for revenge in Blue City (1986). 1984 proved a busy year as he divorced wife Cheri Maugans and married Rachel Ticotin, with whom he had a daughter, Greta, later that year. More supporting roles paid Caruso's bills throughout the '80s, as well as a starring TV gig on a short-lived 1990 cop series called H.E.L.P. A much more important law enforcement role still lay ahead, however, in the form of a hot new series called NYPD Blue that premiered in 1993. Playing the role of Detective John Kelly on the series made Caruso an overnight star. The show was produced by his old Hill Street Blues boss Steven Bochco, and Caruso had the groundbreaking drama to thank for his transformation from working actor to sought-after star -- yet he remained with the monumentally successful show for only 26 episodes. After a very public series of disagreements with producers, Caruso left NYPD Blue in 1994, hoping to use his new celebrity to invigorate a film career. He returned to audiences in 1995, starring the crime thriller Kiss of Death. Unfortunately, Kiss of Death was a critical and box-office failure, as were his successive suspense thrillers Jade, Cold Around the Heart, and Body Count. Though he walked down the isle a third time in 1995, the actor's wedding seemed to be the only happy news associated with his name. By the end of the '90s, Caruso's decision to leave NYPD Blue was considered one of the most infamous career blunders in history, landing him on the C-list and making a joke of the inflated ego that some said put him there. In 1997, the first episode of the outrageous animated media satire South Park seemed to summarize the actor's status with a gag in which the two-year-old character Ike is persuaded to jump from a spaceship and fall several feet to the ground when his brother yells "Do your impression of David Caruso's career!" Many actors find themselves remembered as cinematic or TV one-hit wonders, and this was how Caruso was already being recorded in pop-culture history. The new millennium, however, would find the actor defeating the Hollywood laws of physics with a resurrection on a par with that of John Travolta. In 2002, the hit procedural prime-time crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation was launching a spin-off, CSI: Miami, and in the starring role of Lieutenant Horatio Caine was none other than David Caruso. The spin-off proved to be just as successful as its predecessor, and almost ten years after his first shot at fame with NYPD Blue, Caruso was back in the game. While cynics predicted that he would grow too big for his britches and leave the series in a disastrous repetition of history, Caruso remained loyal to the show, even making cameo appearances on the other CSI series. Though 2005 brought a divorce, it also saw the birth of a son with girlfriend Liza Marquez.

Trivia: Born October 08, 1968, actress Emily Procter made her way into the stormy world of acting by forecasting the weather. While a Journalism and Dance major at East Carolina University, she landed a job as a weather anchor for a local CBS affiliate. One thing led to another, and soon she was headed west, travelling the well-travelled route to Los Angeles. Luck greeted Procter shortly after her arrival, when she began landing spots on television sitcoms and dramas. After appearing on such shows as Lois and Clark and Friends, Procter made her film debut with a small role in Leaving Las Vegas in 1995. Work in a number of small films followed, as did parts in Jerry Maguire (1997), the HBO movie Breast Men (1997), and such television movies as The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion! (also 1997). 1999 proved a busy year for the actress, as she had supporting roles in both Guinevere and the Scottish film The Big Tease. She also starred in Body Shots, playing a member of a group of friends looking for love and/or sex in pre-millennial Los Angeles.2002 brought what could effectively be called a "big break" as Procter landed a leading role on the CSI spin-off CSI: Miami. The show proved just as successful as its predecessor and Procter found herself on one of the most watched shows on television, sticking around for season upon season as its popularity seemed to only grow with each passing year.

Trivia: Latino actor and heartthrob Adam Rodriguez found a convenient backdoor to Hollywood success. Proving definitively the old adage that "it's all in who you know," Rodriguez's dad, the longtime COO of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, happened to be watching the Emmys in 1996 and recognized an old army buddy accepting a production award. The gentleman in question had graduated from policeman to NYPD Blue consultant to one of the program's producers. The elder Rodriguez impulsively phoned his pal to congratulate him on the award; this led to a renewed friendship, and in time, a small guest spot for Adam on NYPD Blue. At that point, Rodriguez had only just decided on his true calling in life. A stint of seemingly random occupations (including stockbroker and bellhop) followed by a brief theatrical tenure at the Jersey Peppermill Playhouse convinced the young man that his passion lay in acting. The Emmy incident, as it were, happened almost immediately afterward.A recurring role on the brief series drama Brooklyn South ensued, followed by a guest spot on Law & Order, then a bit part in the Gary Fleder movie Impostor. Rodriguez attained his first substantial recognition, however, as Jesse Ramirez, an erudite attorney unknowingly saddled with an extraterrestrial girlfriend, on the sci-fi series Roswell. But his greatest exposure was still yet to come. Beginning in 2002, he played Eric Delko, drug and fingerprint expert at the Miami-Dade crime laboratory, on CSI: Miami, the first successful spin-off to the crime series phenomenon CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Shortly thereafter, Rodriguez also signed for a part in Jessica Kavana Dornbusch's indie coming-of-age drama Thanks to Gravity (2005), about the trials and travails of a young woman of Jewish-Hispanic ancestry enrolled at Harvard. Numerous film roles followed, and on the heels of an appearance in Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself Rodriguez turned up in Ugly Betty as Hilda's on again-off again flame Bobby Talercio. In 2012 the chisled actor could be seen opposite Channing Tatum in Steven Soderbergh's Magic Mike.

Trivia: U.S. character actor Jonathan Togo is best known for his multi-season portrayal of Ryan Wolfe, the police officer-turned-laboratory geneticist on the blockbuster crime series CSI: Miami. His resumé also includes an appearance in the Clint Eastwood-helmed ensemble feature Mystic River (2003).

Trivia: With his bald head and beefy exterior, Hollywood character player Rex Linn quickly built up an acting resumé replete with many portrayals of toughs, feds, cops, thugs, and -- occasionally -- unremarkable, beleaguered everymen. Born in the panhandle of the Lone Star State, Linn came of age in the small Texas town of Spearman. He discovered a lingering interest in drama during his teenage years, but buckled under the weight of discouragement from an acting coach, and put acting on the shelf to focus on career pursuits in banking and the oil industry. Dissatisfied with these fields, Linn convinced an Oklahoma talent agent to sign him, and made the leap from commercials to feature roles with his portrayal of serial murderer Fred Epps in the Peter Masterson-directed thriller Night Game (1989), opposite Roy Scheider. The pleasure of this experience prompted Linn to head to the West Coast, where he worked construction, landed intermittent acting assignments, and studied the craft under the tutelage of Silvana Gallardo in Studio City, CA. Linn was memorable as the rogue treasury agent who assists terrorist John Lithgow in the Sylvester Stallone vehicle Cliffhanger (1993), which brought the actor the recognition he so persistently sought and led to a series of supporting roles in dozens of feature films. Linn's portrayal of Frank McLaury in Wyatt Earp (1994) marked the first in a series of several onscreen collaborations with Kevin Costner that also included the romantic comedy Tin Cup (1996) and the laborious sci-fi epic The Postman (1997). Linn also landed guest appearances on such series as JAG and 3rd Rock From the Sun. He is best known, however, for his fine portrayal of Miami-Dade Police Department detective Frank Tripp on the hit crime series CSI: Miami.

Trivia: Sexy and talented, with a memorably exotic look (due to a multiethnic ancestry), model-turned-actress Eva La Rue (also occasionally billed by her married name, Eva LaRue Callahan) launched her career in print work, with a heavy emphasis on covers for such periodicals as Woman's World, Latina, and Cosmopolitan en Español. La Rue segued into acting in the late '80s and early '90s, and landed a number of nonfiction television assignments, first as cohost, with the legendary Dom DeLuise, of the gag-laden series revival The New Candid Camera (1991), then as hostess of the Miss America Pageant and the Lifetime network special Weddings of a Lifetime. The ever-versatile La Rue concurrently tackled scripted roles as well. After supporting parts in many a Hollywood programmer (Robocop 3, Ghoulies III: Ghoulies Go to College, Mirror Images 2) and several years as a regular on the soap All My Children, she earned stellar notices for her portrayal of Mouseketeer-turned-beach bunny Annette Funicello in the telemovie A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story. She went on to perform in recurring roles on the popular series Third Watch and Soul Food. La Rue culled her broadest fan base, however, for her portrayal of lab specialist and grant writer Natalia Boa Vista on the crime series phenomenon CSI: Miami.

Trivia: Actress Megalyn Echikunwoke has bewitched the viewers of many TV shows with her knowing charm and stunning looks, showing up on everything from period sitcoms to sci-fi dramas. With a black Nigerian father and a white American mother, Echikunwoke was seemingly predisposed to a wide cultural and ethnic understanding from birth, an aspect of her personality that was bolstered by growing up on a Navajo Indian Reservation. At 14 she attended an arts-oriented summer camp, where she was discovered by her manager while performing a monologue. By 15, Echikunwoke had been cast in the mini-series Creature, and her family moved to L.A. She found regular work, soon scoring a recurring role on the first season of 24 as Nicole Palmer. She also made guest appearances on shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Veronica Mars, and starred in a series called Like Family. She played a recurring character on That '70s Show in 2004, before signing on to play the grown-up version of Isabelle Tyler on the sci-fi series The 4400. She stayed with the show for two seasons, after which she joined the cast of the 2008 drama Fix.

Trivia: California native Evan Ellingson began his acting career in commercials, eventually taking on a supporting role on the Fox sitcom Titus in 2004. This eventually led to more recurring roles, like Josh Bauer, son of Jack Bauer, on the series 24, and Kyle Harmen, son of Horatio Cane, on CSI: Miami. Additionally, Ellingson has appeared on many other TV shows, like Bones and State of Mind.

Trivia: A student of dance since she was four, Elizabeth Berkely has been in show business since the age of nine. She got her start in television appearing in over a dozen series, the best-known of which is Saved By the Bell, in which she played proto-feminist high school student Jesse Spano from 1989 to 1991. Berkely made her feature film debut billed as Macrame Girl in the Patrick Swayze/Keanu Reeves vehicle Point Break (1991). In 1995, Berkely gained national notoriety and proved that she had come a long way since Jesse Spano when she played the trashy, determined, and frequently naked lead in the Joe Esterhaz-penned, Paul Verhoeven-directed Showgirls (1995), a glitzy exploitation film that, while one of the year's biggest stinkers, gained popularity on the midnight movie circuit, especially among drag queens. While such negative publicity as was received by Showgirls can be instant death to a budding career, Berkely has continued to appear in films such as The First Wives Club (1996), and such television series' as The L Word and CSI Miami.

Trivia: Sang in choirs, performed in high school and community theatre, and entered singing competitions while growing up.Played Disney princess Belle from Beauty and the Beast at Disneyland early in her career.First major role in a film was Eva in the 2008 TV movie Flu Bird Horror.

Trivia: Began dancing competitively at 3—studying ballet, jazz, tap and hip-hop—and started singing in choirs and musicals at a young age, performing a solo at her church at 4. Signed with Ford Models when she was 8 and subsequently appeared in a number of print ads. Made her big-screen debut with a bit part in the 2004 comedy 13 Going on 30. Had to overcome her fear of heights in order to perform the cheerleading stunts in the 2007 comedy Bring It On: In It to Win It. Spent three years as a series regular on the daytime soap Days of Our Lives; made the leap to prime time in 2009 with the ABC supernatural comedy Eastwick.

Trivia: Began acting in plays as a child at his synagogue. Wrote an original stage play, I Know You Are, But What Am I?, which he later adapted into his film All Over the Guy. Performed with the Groundlings improv troupe in New York. Wrote Lisa Kudrow's part in All Over the Guy specifically for her, after the two became friends while attending Vassar College. Wrote a book about being a gay parent called Does This Baby Make Me Look Straight? Confessions of a Gay Dad. Runs a production company, Is or Isn't Entertainment, with Lisa Kudrow.

Trivia: A San Diego native, Jolene Blalock left home at the age of 17 to pursue a career in modeling. Traveling through Europe and Asia, the fledgling but confident model unsurprisingly found frequent work on the runways and in print. It was on a 1998 trip back to the States that Blalock was compelled to flex her heretofore untested acting skills, and after a few commercial appearances and some skill-sharpening at Toronto's Second City Improv and the Dwight Bacquie Rehearsal Workshop, she made her acting debut on television's Veronica's Closet. Already comfortable in front of the camera, Blalock's magnetism shined through the lens and she was soon cast in the made-for-television movies Jason and the Argonauts (2000) and On the Edge (2001). After nearly passing on the role three times, Blalock read the script for Enterprise and made the decision to join the crew on their missions into the stars. Set before the missions of Captain Kirk and the rest of the crew on the original Star Trek, Enterprise tells the tales of a newly commissioned spaceship's maiden voyages into the depths of space. In 2001, the actress appeared in the television miniseries drama Diamond Hunters.

Trivia: Made his TV debut in 1981 in the television movie Enter the Ninja (1981).Has performed in multiple Shakespeare's plays, including Othello and The Tempest.Has worked in multiple films directed by Roland Emmerich playing military personnel, including Stargate (1994), Independence Day (1996) and Godzilla (1998).Has appeared in multiple shows from the JAG and NCIS universe, including JAG, NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: New Orleans.Best known for his work in NCIS: New Orleans, In the Dark and 9-1-1: Lone Star.

Trivia: Actor/producer Chad Allen grew up in Hollywood, in the shadow of show business. A child actor from the age of four (when he appeared in a McDonald's commercial), he soon landed regular roles on series including Webster (1985-1986), Our House (1986-1988), and My Two Dads (1989-1990), in addition to a pivotal role on St. Elsewhere as the autistic and incommunicative child of Dr. Westphall (Ed Flanders), a boy whose delusions "created" St. Eligius. In the 1990s, Allen signed on to play Matthew Cooper, the adopted son of Dr. Michaela "Mike" Quinn on the western drama Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993-1998).Allen made headlines and then some beginning in 2001, when the thespian came out of the closet as a homosexual; in addition to embracing his status as a gay male (and discussing his orientation at length in a series of publications including The Advocate), he co-founded a production company, Mythgarden, devoted to dramatically expanding the number of LGBT themes explored in contemporary cinema and television. The Roman Catholic-raised actor stirred up some controversy in certain sectors when he signed on in 2005 to portray Nate Saint, a missionary murdered by Ecuadorian tribes, and Steve Saint, the missionary's son, in the inspirational religious drama End of the Spear (2005), though only because the feature found an audience among conservative evangelical audiences. In 2008, Allen produced and starred in the drama Save Me. The tale of a deeply confused gay man lured into a "Christian recovery center" by an evangelical couple, it critiqued conservative evangelical attitudes (and harsh hypocrisy) often directed toward the contemporary gay community.

Trivia: An artist, a dancer, and a true "actor's actor," hard-working Khandi Alexander began her career on-stage with the first national touring company of Bob Fosse's Dancin' and then on Broadway in Dreamgirls. While the mid-'80s saw Alexander land small roles in movies like Streetwalkin' and Maid to Order, her skills as a dancer earned her a full scholarship at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater School. Her dance career also regularly found her appearing in award shows, which eventually brought her into contact with pop sensation Whitney Houston. Impressed with Alexander's talent and no-nonsense attitude, Houston signed Alexander on to choreograph her sold-out I'm Your Baby Tonight world tour.Music was only part of the picture for the thespian, however, and to pursue her dream of becoming an accomplished actress, Alexander enrolled at the Stella Adler Conservatory. While she would continue to accept supporting roles in projects she was attracted to, two prominent gigs would catapult Alexander's career in 1995 when she accepted a regular part on the prime-time drama ER as sister to Eriq La Salle's Dr. Peter Benton, as well as a starring role in the critically acclaimed ensemble sitcom NewsRadio. While the two strong characters and formats were drastically different, Alexander stayed with NewsRadio until 1998, and continued to reprise her role on ER for seven years. After retiring from both of her TV gigs, Alexander continued to participate in a variety of projects until 2002, when an irresistible character would draw her back into television. The CSI spin-off CSI: Miami offered the part of smart, dignified coroner named Dr. Alexx Woods. The character seemed tailor-made for the charismatic actress, who joined the cast from the show's inception. Alexander would stick with the series for season upon season, as it became one of the most watched shows on TV. Alexander never abandoned the love of dance and stage acting that once dominated her career. In 1998 she played the leading role of Velma Kelly in a nationally touring production of Bob Fosse's Chicago. She has also taken to the stage in productions such as The Tragic and Horrible Life of the Singing Nun, Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?, Legacy, Period of Adjustment, and Color of Blue.