Trivia: Launching his career as a standup comic, American performer Richard Belzer entered the 1970s as a member of an odd New York-based comedy troupe called Channel One. Anticipating the home video explosion by over a decade, Channel One staged satirical, scatological routines lampooning the banalities of television -- and staged them in front of TV cameras, which transmitted the routines to little TV monitors, which in turn were watched by the live audience. Some of the best sketches were assembled into an X-rated comedy feature, The Groove Tube (1970), which featured Belzer, Ken Shapiro, and a brash newcomer named Chevy Chase. For the next decade, Belzer played the comedy-club circuit, popped up as a talkshow guest, and appeared in occasional films like Fame (1982). He joined still another comedy troupe in 1983, which appeared nightly on the syndicated interview program Thicke of the Night. The host was Allan Thicke, and Belzer's comic cohorts included such incipient stars as Charles Fleischer, Chloe Webb and Gilbert Gottfried. Thicke of the Night was one of the more notorious bombs of the 1983-84 season, but it enabled Belzer to secure better guest-star bookings, and ultimately a hosting job on his own program, debuting in 1986 over the Lifetime Cable Service. It was on this series that wrestler Hulk Hogan, demonstrating a stranglehold on Belzer caused the host to lose consciousness -- which prompted a highly publicized lawsuit instigated by Belzer against the Hulkster. In the early 1990s, Richard Belzer could be seen as a non-comic regular on the TV series Homicide. His Homicide character, John Munch, would become one of the longest-running fictional creations on TV appearing in more than a half-dozen other television shows, most notably Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Trivia: A burly, thickset, and occasionally scruffy character actor with a domineering and imposing presence, Peter Gerety often accepted roles as ordinary working-class stiffs, judges, or inner-city law officers. A performer with equal footing in film and on the stage, Gerety took his premier onscreen bow during the early '80s but first began drawing substantial attention over a decade later. Gerety remains best known for his multi-season portrayal (1996-1999) of Detective Stuart Gharty on the cop drama Homicide: Life on the Street. He also played the recurring role of Judge Daniel Phelan on another Baltimore-set crime series, The Wire (2002-2008). Big-screen projects include Sleepers (1996), K-PAX (2001), Syriana (2005), Charlie Wilson's War (2007), Leatherheads (2008), and Public Enemies (2009).

Trivia: One of the most talented -- and often underappreciated -- character actresses of the late 1990s, Allison Janney first began courting critical attention with roles in such acclaimed films as Big Night (1996) and American Beauty (1998). Able to play characters ranging from a name-dropping Manhattan socialite to a withdrawn, abused wife, the 6'0" Janney infuses all of her portrayals with equal parts poignancy and unforced gusto.A product of Dayton, Ohio, where she was born November 19, 1959, Janney was raised as the daughter of a homemaker and the president of a real estate firm. She aspired to be a champion figure skater from a young age, but any hopes of pursuing a skating career were halted by a freak accident that badly damaged Janney's leg when she was in her mid-teens. As a student at Kenyon College, she became interested in acting, and got her first break when she successfully auditioned for a play being directed by Kenyon alum Paul Newman. After impressing Newman, a racing enthusiast, with both her acting skills and her love of fast cars, Janney went on to impress his wife, Joanne Woodward, who directed her in a number of off-off-Broadway plays during the early 1980s.Although she enjoyed early stage success, Janney had difficulty starting her career, something that was hindered by her height: one disparaging casting agent went so far as to tell her that the only roles she was suitable for were lesbians and aliens. Thankfully, the actress pressed on in the face of such idiocy, waitressing and scooping ice cream to support herself during dry spells. Her luck began to change for the better in the late 1990s, when she started garnering luminous reviews for her work both on Broadway -- where she earned a Tony nomination for her role in 1998's A View from the Bridge -- and onscreen in such films as Big Night (1996) and Mike Nichols' Primary Colors (1998). In the former film, she appeared as the quiet, capable love interest of Tony Shalhoub's struggling Italian chef, while the latter featured the actress in the minor but poignant role of a painfully-awkward schoolteacher who is seduced by John Travolta's libidinous Presidential candidate. Janney, who had been appearing on television and in films since the early '90s, went on to do reliably excellent work in a variety of films that ranged from The Object of My Affection (1998), in which she played the supercilious, name-dropping wife of a high-powered literary agent (Alan Alda); to Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999), which featured her as a beehived, chain-smoking trailer park resident; to American Beauty (1999), in which she gave a quietly powerful portrayal of the abused wife of a tyrannical ex-Marine (Chris Cooper). Janney's talents have also been put on ample display on the small screen: in 1999, she joined the cast of the acclaimed NBC White House drama The West Wing, originating the role of tough press secretary C.J. Cregg.In addition to continuing her work on The West Wing, Janney played a supporting role in the award winning psychological drama The Hours (2002), and voiced Peach the Starfish in Pixar's wildly successful Finding Nemo (2003). The actress' would play the neighbor of protagonist Jim Winters (Anthony LaPaglia) in 2004's drama Winter Solstice, and continued to play small, yet meaty roles throughout the coming years (among them include On Our Very Own and Hairspray), she earned mainstream attention and critical praise for her role as the parent of a pregnant teen (Ellen Page) in Juno. Ironically, in light of her Juno success, Janney was also critically recognized for her performance as an emotionally detached mother in Sam Mendes' bittersweet comedy Away We Go (2009).

Trivia: Black supporting actor, onscreen from the '80s.

Trivia: African American actor Yaphet Kotto was one of the most prominent beneficiaries of the upsurge in black-oriented theatrical pieces of the late 1950s; he appeared in many prestigious Broadway and off-Broadway productions, taking regional theatre work rather than accept stereotypical "mainstream" roles in movies and TV. Kotto's first film was Nothing But a Man (1964), an independently produced study of black pride in the face of white indifference. Though he vehemently steered clear of most of the '70s blaxploitation fare, in 1972, Kotto produced, directed and wrote the feature film Speed Limit 65 (aka The Limit and Time Limit), a one-of-a-kind "black biker" film. The biggest production with which Kotto was associated in the early 1970s was the James Bond film Live and Let Die, in which, as the villainous Mr. Big, he was blown up in the final scene (a similarly grisly fate awaited Kotto in 1979's Alien). On television, Yaphet Kotto was a regular on the TV series For Love and Honor (1983) and Homicide: Life on the Streets (1992), and was seen as Ugandan president Idi Amin in the 1977 TV movie Raid on Entebbe.

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

Trivia: A lovely and gifted actress, Michael Michele has won acclaim for her portrayals of strong and capable women on television as well as in feature films. Born in Evansville, IN, on August 30, 1966, she, like practically everyone in the Hoosier State, grew up a big basketball fan. Michele played roundball in high school (with her team making the state championships) and participated in volleyball and track. In time, she developed a passion for acting which overwhelmed her enthusiasm for sports (although she remained a committed runner and was known to shoot baskets for relaxation between takes shooting films or television shows), and she moved to the East Coast to concentrate on her career in the late '80s. In 1989, after a few minor TV roles and parts in commercials, Michele's big break appeared to have arrived in the form of a showy supporting role in Eddie Murphy's film Harlem Nights; the actress was fired during the shooting, however, and she later filed a sexual harassment suit against Murphy, which was settled out of court. Michele rebounding in 1991 when she was cast in Mario Van Peebles's gritty urban drama New Jack City; a year later, she was a regular on the short-lived TV series Dangerous Curves. Her performance in the mini-series Trade Winds proved more memorable, and led to recurring roles on New York Undercover and Central Park West. After appearances in a handful of feature films, Michele scored another major TV role in the series Homicide: Life on the Street in 1998. She turned in her badge a year later to step up to the top-rated medical drama ER, where, between 1999 and 2001, she appeared as Dr. Cleo Finch. Michele's well-regarded work on that series boosted her stock in the film industry, and, in 2003, she appeared in two major motion pictures: How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days and Dark Blue. An avid jazz fan, Michele became active in mentoring underprivileged children when not busy with her work.

Trivia: Versatile American actor Giancarlo Esposito was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, but grew up in Manhattan from the age of six. His mother was an African-American nightclub singer (who once shared a bill with Josephine Baker) and his father was an Italian stagehand. In show business most of his life, Esposito made his Broadway debut in a 1966 production of Maggie Flynn. His other stage credits include Sacrilege, Miss Moffatt, and Balm in Gilead. He won a 1981 Theatre World Award for his performance in Zooman and the Sign.On the big screen, Esposito started appearing in Spike Lee films during the late '80s in a wide range of roles with great character names. He was the frat leader Julian "Big Brother Almighty" in School Daze, the outspoken reactionary Buggin' Out in Do the Right Thing, the dandy pianist Left Hand Lacey in Mo' Better Blues, and the criminal Thomas Hayer in Malcolm X. Esposito's other film roles include an investigative journalist in Bob Roberts, an activist in Amos & Andrew, and a game show host in Reckless. In 1995, he earned an Independent Spirit award nomination for his supporting role of doting drug dealer Esteban in Boaz Yakin's debut drama Fresh. Esposito also appeared in Wayne Wang and Paul Auster's Smoke, along with the sequel Blue in the Face. The next year, he turned briefly to producing with the independent prison film The Keeper, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.On television, Esposito appeared on NYPD Blue, Law & Order, and the short-lived Fox comedy Bakersfield, P.D. In 1999, he earned an Image award nomination for his role as FBI Agent Michael Giardello on Homicide: Life on the Street. He also has contributed to the Fox television dramas The $treet and girls club. While teaching at the Atlantic Theatre Company, Esposito found time to portray real-life figures in the biopics Ali (as Cassius Clay Sr.) and Piñero (as Miguel Algarin). Projects for 2004 included James Hunter's feature Back in the Day and the television movie NYPD 2069. He played a detective in the thriller Derailed, and appeared in the indie drama SherryBaby. In 2008 he directed, starred in, and helped write the drama Gospel Hill. In 2010 he joined the cast of the highly-respected AMC drama series Breaking Bad, and appeared in the 2012 big-screen thriller Alex Cross.

Trivia: A boyishly handsome boxer-turned-actor who turned in his gloves for real after making his screen debut as a pugilist in the 1992 drama Gladiator, New York-born film and television star Jon Seda rose through the ranks in the '90s to make a name for himself as a bit player in such high-profile films as Carlito's Way and Twelve Monkeys -- though it wasn't until his 1997 debut on television's Homicide: Life on the Streets that audiences truly sat up and took notice. Those who had been following Seda's career since his early days had little doubt that the rising young star had what it took to make it as an actor, and following an Independent Spirit Award-winning role as a flawed but well-meaning husband and father in the 1994 drama I Like It Like That, major offers quickly began pouring in. An impressive run in the mid-'90s found Seda turning up in everything from such high-profile Hollywood fare as Primal Fear to such little-seen efforts as New York Cop and Michael Cimino's The Sunchaser -- the latter of which offered Seda in a particularly memorable role as a terminally-ill juvenile delinquent who kidnaps his doctor in hopes of finding a mythical healing lake. Following an impressive turn in the hit HBO prison series Oz, Seda hit his stride on the small screen with a turn as Detective Paul Falsone on Homicide: Life on the Street. By this time Seda was becoming a familiar face to audiences, and in 2000, he once again laced up his boxing gloves for a role opposite Jimmy Smits in the well-received feature Price of Glory. Despite his prominence and success in film and television, it still seemed as if Seda was awaiting the breakout role that would truly make him a household name. In 2002 he proved that he could carry a film when he took the lead in the street-gang drama King Rikki, with a role on the 2004 UPN series Kevin Hill, marking what fans hoped would be a successful return to the small screen.

Trivia: An actress whose capability to seamlessly alternate between roles that call for unchallenged authority figures and vulnerable, coyly girlish types, Callie Thorne is equally comfortable on small-screen crime and police dramas (Homicide: Life on the Street, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Wire, and Prison Break) and big-screen comedies (Next Stop Wonderland, Wirey Spindell, and Strangers With Candy). It was her recurring role as Sheila Keefe on the hit FX series Rescue Me, however, that truly allowed Thorne to gain considerable notice as an actress. A graduate of Lincoln-Sudbury High School who went on to study at Wheaton College, Thorne credits much of her success to Wheaton theater director Pamela Bongas. While early roles in such features as Turbulence and Next Stop Wonderland served well to get the emerging actress comfortable in front of the camera, it was her performance as Detective Laura Ballard on Homicide: Life on the Street that truly propelled Thorne's career to the next level. After breaking the glass ceiling on the series by becoming the first female homicide detective to be paired with another female on a case, Thorne displayed her indie side with commendable roles in Ed Burns' Sidewalks of New York and Tim McCann's Revolution #9. But Thorne truly shined on the small screen, and despite the occasional appearance in such big-budget efforts as Analyze That, recurring roles on The Wire, ER, Prison Break, and, of course, Rescue Me made her a favorite of television viewers who liked their drama served with a side of grit.

Trivia: An alumnus of the Yale School of drama, American actor Austin Pendleton was lucky enough to latch onto a starmaking stage role relatively early in life. Pendleton was the first performer to play the part of tailor Motel Kamzoil in the evergreen musical Fiddler on the Roof, in which he had one of the play's best non-Tevye songs, "Miracle of Miracles." Hollywood has been less generous to Pendleton in terms of good roles. He was cast in a supporting role in Skidoo (1968), a smash miss frequently cited as the worst film in the careers of most of its participants (Jackie Gleason, Groucho Marx, Carol Channing, Otto Preminger, et al.) He was shown to better advantage in What's Up, Doc? (1972), while in The Front Page (1974) he sparkled as a condemned killer plagued by a bad head cold on the eve of his execution. A first-rate character player, Austin Pendleton has never quite scaled the heights of stardom in films, though his theatre work as both actor and director has always been critically lauded.