Trivia: One of the most iconic action stars of all time, Kurt Russell (born March 17th, 1951) is among the few to make the successful transition from child star to successful adult actor. As a youth, Russell aspired to follow the footsteps of his father, Bing Russell, who, in addition to being a big league baseball player, was also an actor (he was perhaps best known for his role as the sheriff on the TV Western Bonanza). That his heroes Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris did the same thing only strengthened Russell's resolve to have both a baseball and acting career.He first broke into acting on television, starring in the series The Travels of Jamie McPheeters, and he made his film debut playing the boy who kicks Elvis in the 1963 Elvis Presley vehicle It Happened at the World's Fair. After signing a ten-year contract with Disney, Russell got his big break as a juvenile actor in 1966, starring opposite Fred MacMurray in Disney's live-action feature Follow Me Boys! His association with the studio lasted through 1975, and produced such comedic family movies as The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit (1968), The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969), The Barefoot Executive (1971), and The Strongest Man in the World (1975). The last film marked Russell's final collaboration with Disney, aside from his voicing the character of Copper in the studio's The Fox and the Hound (1981). Still an avid baseball enthusiast during those years, Russell nurtured his dreams of becoming a professional ball player until a shoulder injury permanently changed his plans.After ending his association with Disney, Russell disappeared from features for a few years. He appeared in a few television movies, most notably playing the title role in Elvis, John Carpenter's made-for-television biopic. His next role as a sleazy used car salesman in Robert Zemeckis' hilariously caustic Used Cars (1980) allowed him to counter his wholesome, all-American nice guy image, and prove that he was an actor of untapped range. Director Carpenter recognized this and cast Russell as ruthless mercenary Snake Plissken in his brooding sci-fi/action film Escape From New York (1981). The role would prove to be one of legendary status, and one that would cement Russell as a cult hero for generations to come. Carpenter also cast Russell as a scientist stranded in the Antarctic in his chilling 1982 remake of The Thing. Realizing that his characters were larger than life, Russell typically played them with a subtle tongue- in-cheek quality. He also used this comic intuition in comedies like 1987's Overboard, in which he starred alongside his long-time life-partner and mother of his child Golide Hawn.In 1983, Russell moved to serious drama, playing opposite Cher and Meryl Streep in Silkwood. The success of that film helped him break into a more mainstream arena, and he was later able to win praise for his dramatic work in such films as Swing Shift (1984), Tequila Sunrise (1988), and Winter People (1989). However, it is with his performances in action films that Russell remains most widely associated. He has appeared in a number of such films, all of disparate quality. Some of Russell's more memorable projects include Big Trouble in Little China (1986), Tango and Cash (1989), Backdraft (1991), Tombstone (1993), and Executive Decision (1996). In 1996, he reprised his Snake Plissken character for Carpenter's Escape From L.A. The following year, he starred opposite Kathleen Quinlan in the revenge thriller Breakdown before returning to the sci-fi/action realm with Soldier in 1998. It would be two years before movie-going audiences would again catch a glimpse of Russell, though with his roles in 2000 Miles to Graceland (again carrying on the Elvis associations that have haunted his career) and Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky, the versatile actor proved that he was still very much on the scene. Is some of Russell's later day roles had stressed the action angle a bit more than the more dramatic aspects of the stories, the release of Dark Blue in 2003 combined both with Russell cast as a volitile police officer tracking a killer against the backdrop of the 1992 L.A. riots. In 2005, Russell played a frustrated father and horse-man in Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story, showing audiences that for all his on-screen bombast, he still had a sensitive side. He quickly leapt back into the action-packed saddle, however, with a leading role in 2006's remake of The Poseidon Adventure, Poseidon. Soon afterward, he accepted a role that took a decidedly self-aware perspective on his own fame as an over-the-top action star as he signed on for the leading role in Death Proof, Quinten Tarantino's half of the double-feature Grindhouse. A tribute to the fantastically violent B-exploitation films of its title, Grindhouse would cast Russell as Stuntman Mike, a literal lady-killer with a car that can be crashed and smashed without ever allowing the driver to be hurt.

Trivia: A woman whose combination of talent, tenacity, and beauty has made her one of Hollywood's busiest actors, Halle Berry has enjoyed a level of success that has come from years of hard work and her share of career pitfalls. Berry's interest in show business came courtesy of her participation in a number of beauty pageants throughout her teens, including the 1986 Miss U.S.A. Pageant. A native of Cleveland, OH, where she was born to an African-American father and white mother on August 14, 1968, Berry was raised by her mother, a psychiatric nurse, following her parents' divorce. At the age of 17, she appeared in the spotlight for the first time as the winner of the Miss Teen All-American Pageant, and subsequently became a model. Berry won her first professional acting gig on the TV series Living Dolls, and then appeared on Knots Landing before winning her first big-screen role in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever. It was on the set of the film that she first earned her reputation for her full commitment to acting, reportedly refusing to bathe for weeks in preparation for her portrayal of a crack addict.Following her film debut, Berry was cast opposite Eddie Murphy in Boomerang (1992) as the comedian's love interest; not only did she hold her own against Murphy, but the same year she did acclaimed work in the title role of the Alex Haley miniseries Queen, playing a young woman struggling against the brutal conditions of slavery.After a comedic turn as sultry secretary Sharon Stone in the 1994 live-action version of The Flintstones, Berry returned to more serious fare with her role in the adoption drama Losing Isaiah (1995). Starring opposite Jessica Lange as a former crack addict battling to win custody of her child, who as a baby was adopted by an affluent white couple, Berry earned a mixed reception from critics, some of whom noted that her scenes with Lange highlighted Berry's own shortcomings.However, critical opinion of the actress' work was overwhelmingly favorable in 1998, when she starred as a street smart young woman who comes to the aid of a bumbling politician in Warren Beatty's Bullworth. The following year, Berry won even greater acclaim -- and an Emmy and Golden Globe -- for her turn as tragic screen siren Dorothy Dandridge in the made-for-cable Introducing Dorothy Dandridge. Unfortunately, any acclaim Berry enjoyed was overshadowed by her widely publicized brush with the law in February of 2000, when she allegedly ran a red light, slammed into another car, and then left the scene of the accident. The actress, who suffered a gash to her forehead (the driver of the other car sustained a broken wrist), was booked in a misdemeanor court in early April of that year.Fortunately for Berry, her subsequent onscreen work removed the spotlight from her legal troubles; that same year, she starred as Storm in Bryan Singer's hugely successful adaptation of The X-Men. The film was a box office hit, but her next popcorn flick, the thriller Swordfish, which touted itself as the first movie to feature Berry baring her breasts, had a less impressive reception.Berry again bared more than her character's inner turmoil in Monster's Ball (2001), a romantic drama directed by Marc Forster that starred the actress as a woman who becomes involved with an ex-prison-guard (Billy Bob Thornton) who oversaw the prison execution of her husband (Sean Combs). Berry earned wide critical praise for her work in the film, as well as Golden Globe and Oscar nominations for Best Actress. And though she may have lost out to Sissy Spacek in the Golden Globes, her night at the Oscars found Berry the favored performer as took home a statue for Best Actress. A momentous footnote in Academy Award history, Berry's win marked the first time an African American had been bestowed that particular honor.Although her turn in the James Bond flick Die Another Day was so successful that talk began of a spin-off film, Berry's first true post-Oscar vehicle Gothika proved to be unpopular with both critics and moviegoers. Luckily, 2003 wasn't a total loss for her though as X2: X-Men United was a box-office smash and was regarded by many to be superior to its predecessor. Sticking with comic-books as source-material, Berry could be seen in Catwoman the following Summer. The film was the biggest flop of her career, panned by audiences and critics, and earning the actress a coveted Razzie for her terrible performance. She won back a great deal of respect, however, by starring in the made for TV adaptation of the Zora Neale Hurston novel Their Eyes Were Watching God the next year. She followed this moving performance with a return to her X-Men comrades for X-Men: The Last Stand in 2006, then signed on to star alongside a decidedly creepy Bruce Willis in the suspense thriller Perfect Stranger (2007), directed by James Foley.As the 2010's unfolded, Berry continued to enjoy top-tier status as one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, taking on roles in films like Things We Lost in the Fire, Dark Tide, Cloud Atlas, and The Call. In 2014, she reprised her role of Storm yet again in X-Men: Days of Future Past and took the lead role in her own TV series, Extant, which lasted for two seasons.

Trivia: John Leguizamo is a Colombian-born comedian and actor best known for his memorable, often sharply satirical, characterizations of Latinos on stage and in films. He began his career as a stand-up comedian in New York clubs and as a performer in small independent feature films. These engagements led to his playing small roles in major features such as Casualties of War (1989) and Die Hard 2 (1990) where he was typically cast as a violent, unsavory fellow; none of these films seemed to utilize his talents and potential on film. Leguizamo has fared better in smaller films such as Time Expired (1991). His stage career also continues to grow. For his one-man show Mambo Mouth, a scathing look at Hispanic stereotypes, he won awards and great acclaim. His follow-up play Spic-o-Rama is equally funny and thought provoking. Leguizamo played his first leading film role in Super Mario Brothers. (1993). That year he also played an important and acclaimed role in De Palma's Carlito's Way. In 1995 he finished two movies, A Pyromaniac's Love Story and To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar where he played the lovely drag queen Miss Chi Chi Rodriguez. That year, Leguizamo also created, scripted, executive produced and starred in a sketch comedy show on Fox, House of Buggin. Done in the style of Fox's smash hit series In Living Color, Leguizamo's show was billed as the first show of its kind to feature an all Latino cast. Unfortunately, though the show received good ratings, it failed to attract an audience and was cancelled after only a few months. The Colombian funnyman has since returned to feature films. In 1996, he starred, wrote and co-produced another showcase for his talents, The Pest.

Trivia: A master of several Japanese martial arts, Steven Seagal is a popular action movie hero whose films combine spiritual concepts and social/environmental consciousness with high-voltage violence. Born in Lansing, MI, on April 10, 1951, Seagal traveled to Japan at the age of 17. There, he taught English, studied Zen, and perfected his martial arts, earning black belts in Aikido, karate, judo, and kendo. Afterwards, he became the first Westerner to open a martial arts school in Japan. During this time, Seagal occasionally choreographed fight scenes in movies and coached such stars as Sean Connery and Toshiro Mifune. He also became interested in Eastern religion: in a November 1997 interview for the Shambala Sun, he stated that his relationship with Tibetan Buddhism resulted from his study of acupuncture. According to Seagal, several ailing Tibetan lamas, suffering from malnutrition, exhaustion, and the effects of Chinese torture, were sent to him for treatment, which led him to become a director of secret security operations and setting up special safe houses. Regarding other incidents from his past, Seagal has remained secretive, though he was allegedly a bounty hunter and occasionally has hinted about involvement with the CIA. Further speculation has surrounded the work he did on behalf of Tibetan freedom fighters, and it was not until 1997 that he mentioned the large amounts of money he claimed to have donated to various religious organizations. Seagal spent about 15 years in Asia before returning to the States, where he opened a new martial arts academy and also worked as a celebrity bodyguard. His clients included his future (now ex-) wife Kelly LeBrock and Hollywood agent Michael Ovitz. With help from Ovitz, Seagal contracted to make martial arts films for Warner Bros. For his first film, he and cinematographer-turned-director Andrew Davis carefully refashioned an average police drama into Above the Law (1988), which stressed characterization and plot as well as high-energy action scenes. It was well received and Seagal found himself an instant star among action aficionados. His next film, Hard to Kill (1989), overflowed with chop-socky violence, casting him as a cop who wakens from a coma and sets out for revenge against those who sent him to the hospital. Seagal attracted mainstream appeal in 1992 when he starred in the Davis-directed hit Under Siege, his most popular movie. In 1994, he made his directorial debut with the environmentally conscious but critically panned On Deadly Ground, in which he single-handedly attempts to save Alaska and the Eskimos from an avaricious oil tycoon. Subsequent action attempts included 1996's Executive Decision and 1998's The Patriot. In 1999, Seagal turned to producing with Prince of Central Park, an uncharacteristically gentle film about a young boy living in the titular park. Following a rollicking time in the corrupt cop thriller Exit Wounds (2001), Segal shook things up behind bars in Half Past Dead (2002). The coming years would find Segal continuing to star in low proifle action fare like Urban Justice and Flight of Fury. He'd also find success starring on the TV series True Justice.In 1997, Seagal publicly announced that one of his prime Buddhist teachers, His Holiness Penor Rinpoche, had proclaimed him a tulku, the reincarnation of a Buddhist lama. Seagal's announcement met with some cynicism, but Penor Rinpoche backed him up with a formal statement at Colorado's Naropa Institute. In subsequent interviews, Seagal has presented himself as a serious student of Buddhism who spends many hours meditating, studying, and practicing the tenets to help him become a teacher and healer.

Trivia: A hulking character actor who brings new meaning to the concept of versatility, Oliver Platt has appeared in a dizzying array of films that make him instantly recognizable but not instantly placeable to the average filmgoer. Since making his screen debut as an oily Wall Street drone in Mike Nichols' Working Girl (1988), Platt has lent his talents to almost every conceivable genre, including period dramas, political comedies, children's films, and campy horror movies.The son of a U.S. Ambassador, Platt was born in Windsor on January 12, 1960, Platt and his family soon moved to Washington, D.C. Thanks to his father's job, he had an exceptionally itinerant childhood. By the time he was 18, he had attended 12 different schools in places as diverse as Tokyo, the Middle East, and Colorado. Long interested in acting, Platt received a BA in drama from Boston's Tufts University; following graduation, he remained in Boston for three years to pursue his stage career. In 1986 he moved to New York, where he performed in a number of off-Broadway productions and had the lead in the 1989 Lincoln Center production of Ubu. Following his screen debut in Working Girl, Platt began finding steady work in such films as Married to the Mob (1988), Postcards from the Edge (1990), Beethoven (1992) -- which featured him and future collaborator Stanley Tucci as puppy thieves -- and Benny and Joon (1993). He also proved himself adept at cheesy period drama in The Three Musketeers (1993), which cast him as Porthos, and at all-out comedy, as demonstrated by his turn as a struggling comic in Funny Bones (1995). Rarely cast as a leading man, Platt has always been visible in substantial supporting roles, equally comfortable at portraying nice guys, bad guys, and just flat out weird guys alike. As Ashley Judd's suitor in Simon Birch (1998), he was the straight man, while in The Impostors (1998), his second collaboration with Tucci (two years earlier he served as associate producer for the latter's Big Night), he again displayed his capacity for broad physical comedy as a struggling actor who finds himself a stowaway on an ocean liner. In Dangerous Beauty (1998), Platt was able to exercise his nasty side as a bitter nobleman-turned-religious zealot in 16th-century Venice; that same year, his capacity for exasperated quirkiness was displayed in Bulworth, which cast him as Warren Beatty's put-upon, coke-snorting campaign manager.1999 proved to be a somewhat disappointing year for Platt, as two of his films, Three to Tango (which featured him as a gay architect) and the schlock-horror Lake Placid, which cast him as an idiosyncratic mythology expert, were both critical and commercial flops. A third film that year, Bicentennial Man -- in which Platt played the scientist who turns the titular robot (Robin Williams) into a man -- fared somewhat better. The following year, Platt's comic abilities were again on display in Gun Shy, in which he hammed it up as a bottom-rung mafioso with an overblown ego.Fortunately for the workhorse actor, the 2000s seemed to prove the boost -- and exposure -- his sagging career needed. Earning back to back Emmy nominations in 2006 and 2007 for his performance opposite former Tufts University classmate Hank Azaria in the weekly dramedy Huff, Platt was also nominated for a Screen Actor's Guild Award for his turn as New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner in the TV mini-series The Bronk is Burning (2007). With 2008 came yet another Ammy nomination -- this time for his guest role on the hit FX series Nip/Tuck -- and in 2009 he appeared as Nathan Detroit in the Broadway revival of Guys and Dolls. Other notable television appearances from this phase of Platt's career included a recurring character on the seriocomic HBO series Bored to Death and a prominent role as the husband of a suburban housewife diagnosed with cancer in the Showtime comedy drama series The Big C.

Trivia: Though he spent most of his childhood in Japan and Europe, Joe Morton, along with his mother and remaining family, moved from Germany to New York after the passing of his father. While he hadn't given acting an incredible amount of thought during his adolescence, Morton decided to pursue a career in the performing arts during his first day at Hofstra University. After his first professional acting job in an off-Broadway production of A Month of Sundays, Morton was cast in Hair (1968), and subsequently became a well-known name within Broadway circles. Morton's role in Raisin, a musical version of A Raisin in the Sun, earned him a Tony nomination. Though he didn't manage to snag the award, the young actor nonetheless found work on several popular television shows of the time, including M*A*S*H and Mission: Impossible. By the late '70s, Morton had appeared in a variety of equally acclaimed films, such as The Outside Man (1973), Between the Lines (1977), and ...And Justice for All (1979).After continuing his work in television, Morton made his first leading-man feature-film appearance as "The Brother," an intergalactic escaped slave, in John Sayles' 1984 hit The Brother From Another Planet. A year later, Morton could be seen in a supporting capacity alongside Lori Singer and Keith Carradine in the post-noir romantic drama Trouble in Mind (1985). Though Morton found no small amount of work during the 1980s, it wasn't until 1991 that he would play one of the most recognizable roles of his career: the cyborg-components researcher in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. However, Terminator 2 was by no means the peak in his career -- that same year, he reunited with Sayles and played a frustrated city councilman in City of Hope. In 1994, Morton portrayed a police captain in Speed, and, after a recurring role on NBC's Homicide: Life on the Street, starred in two highly lauded films: The Walking Dead (1995), in which he played a deeply religious marine, and Lone Star (1996), another John Sayles film. By this stage in his career, Morton had developed a reputation for playing scientists and government officials, and his role as an explosives expert in Executive Decision (1996) was no exception. However, Morton was certainly not incapable of more emotional fare, as demonstrated in his performance in HBO's Miss Evers' Boys, which won three Emmy awards in 1997. In 1998, Morton further avoided typecasting with his role in Blues Brothers 2000 as Cabel Chamberlain, the son of music man Curtis (Cab Calloway) from the original film.The early 2000s proved an equally busy time for Morton, who, aside from participating in numerous documentaries and made-for-television features, continued his role as Leon Chiles in NBC's Law & Order, and began regularly appearing as Dr. Steve Hamilton on the WB's Smallville. During this time, he could also be seen in supporting performances for What Lies Beneath (2000), Bounce (2000), and Ali (2001). 2003 found Morton playing another government agent in Paycheck, while 2004 brought another opportunity altogether -- Morton took the director's seat for Sunday on the Rocks. Also that year, Morton joined director Rob Cohen to film Stealth. A recurring role on the Pentagon television drama E-Ring found the actor continuing on his impressive television run, with a supporting role in the 2006 feature The Night Listener serving well to keep Morton's feature credits expanding as well.A contributing narrator of the long-running PBS series The American Experience, Morton became a familiar voice to television viewers who refused to switch their brains off for prime-time viewing. But it was recurring roles in both The Good Wife and Eureka that helped to keep him a familar face to more casual TV fans.

Trivia: Known mostly for portraying Agatha Christie's Belgian detective Hercule Poirot for more than a decade, the short and stocky character actor David Suchet has also enjoyed a lengthy career on stage, screen, and television. Born in London, he studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts and eventually joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. Throughout the 1970s, Suchet appeared in numerous stage productions and crime dramas on British television. His did his first film in 1980 with A Tale of Two Cities, but didn't play his first detective until the crime comedy Trenchcoat in 1983. For the rest of the '80s, the British actor played a Middle Eastern terrorist in The Little Drummer Girl, a Russian operative in The Falcon and the Snowman, and a French hunter in Harry and the Hendersons. He also occasionally portrayed real-life figures, including Sigmund Freud in the miniseries Freud, news reporter William L. Shirer in the HBO docudrama Murrow, and movie legend Louis B. Mayer in RKO 281. While the Poirot mysteries would dominate his career in the '90s, Suchet also played some other leading roles: double agent Verloc in miniseries The Secret Agent, based on the novel by Joseph Conrad; Aaron in the TNT television special Moses; and downsized New Yorker Oliver in the American independent film Sunday. Some standard Hollywood action thrillers followed with Executive Decision, Deadly Voyage, and A Perfect Murder being just a few. After 2000, he turned to costume dramas to play Napoleon in Sabotage!, Baron von Stockmar in Victoria & Albert, and upper-crust Augustus Melmotte in The Way We Live Now. He resumed the role of Poirot (after a short break from 1998-1999) just as he started up another detective character, DI John Borne of NCS: Manhunt and NCS 2. In 2003, he played gangster Leo Gillette in the action thriller Foolproof.

Trivia: For his role in the Broadway production of M. Butterfly, talented stage and screen actor B.D. Wong (born Bradley Darryl Wong) would enter into history as the only actor ever to be honored with a Tony, a Drama Desk Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, a Clarence Derwent Award, and a Theater World Award for a single performance. Proving equally adept onscreen, Wong's memorable early roles in The Freshman (1990) and Father of the Bride (1991) found him simultaneously attempting to break out of the Asian-American cinema stereotype while seeking out roles that would expand his dramatic capabilities. A native of San Francisco whose musical experimentation during his childhood eventually lead to the discovery of acting, Wong's parents were consistently supportive in nurturing his creative energy. Wong worked his way into Bay Area community theater while still a student at Lincoln High School, and his association with the San Francisco Unified School District proved an essential component in developing his skills as an actor. Following his subsequent graduation from San Francisco State University Wong moved to New York City, where he performed in dinner theater and off-Broadway productions. After making his professional bow in a New York Town Hall production of Androcles and the Lion, Wong began to essay small television roles on such series as Simon & Simon and Sesame Street about the time of his feature debut in The Karate Kid II (1986). Soon thereafter, Wong received coaching from Donald Hotton to prepare for his role in M. Butterfly, and following much critical acclaim, Wong slowly gained onscreen momentum with roles in Jurassic Park (1993) and the HBO AIDS-drama And the Band Played On (both 1993). In his constant search to portray original and diverse characters, Wong had a recurring role as Father Ray Makuda on the HBO series Oz. Subsequent performances included roles in Seven Years in Tibet (1997), voice work in the animated Disney film Mulan (1998), and the crime thriller The Salton Sea (2002). Television viewers became acquainted with Wong through his role on Law and Order: Special Victim's Unit.

Trivia: After beefing up his bank account as a sales clerk (handling everything from men's clothing to farm machinery), Canadian actor Len Cariou began his formal theatrical training at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre. Cariou's first professional appearance was in the chorus of the Canadian company of Damn Yankees. On Broadway from 1968, Cariou was prominently featured in such long-running musicals as Applause and A Little Night Music. In 1972, he was appointed artistic director of his old stomping grounds, the Tyrone Guthrie; and in 1979 he won a Tony award for his portrayal of the title character in the Stephen Sondheim musical drama Sweeney Todd. His film roles include Frederick in A Little Night Music (1978) and Nick Callan in The Four Seasons (1981). On television, Len Cariou was perhaps never busier than during the 1993-1994 season, when he appeared in five made-for-TV movies, including Charles Bronson's remake of The Sea Wolf. Over the coming years, Cariou would remain active on screen, appearing in movies like The Greatest Game Ever Played and on TV shows like Brotherhood, Damages, and Blue Bloods.

Trivia: Supporting and occasional lead actor Whip Hubley (born Grant Hubley) made his film debut in St. Elmo's Fire (1985). He has gone on to appear in feature films and television films. His sister, Season Hubley, is an actress.

Trivia: Considered the very embodiment of a character actor, and one of the best of his kind, J.T. Walsh filled a need for hospital corner-executive types and glowering villains throughout a busy 15-year career. His penetrating, unblinking eyes brought a deadly seriousness to a spectrum of supporting characters, both white and blue collar. James Patrick Walsh -- who decided to adopt the initials J.T. after his name was misprinted -- was born on September 28, 1943 in San Francisco, then raised in Rhode Island and Europe. He worked in a variety of career fields, from social worker to salesman, during his young adulthood. It wasn't until age 30 that he focused on stage acting, and ten more years that he began popping up regularly on the big screen. His rave reviews for a 1984 stage production of David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross finally translated into the beginning of a film career. It took Walsh little time to become a character-actor mainstay. Woody Allen cast him in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), and a year later he gained notice as the sergeant who puts the clamps on Robin Williams' fast-talking DJ in Good Morning, Vietnam (1987). He hooked up with Mamet again on House of Games that same year. The first of several collaborations with friend Kurt Russell came with Tequila Sunrise in 1988. Walsh earned kudos as the prototypical shady studio exec in Christopher Guest's The Big Picture (1989). By this point he had begun appearing in an average of four or five films per year. His portrayals in the early '90s included Annette Bening's sleazy mentor in The Grifters (1990) and another villainous military officer in A Few Good Men (1992). The mid-'90s brought such films as Red Rock West (1993), The Client (1994), The Last Seduction (1994), and Oliver Stone's Nixon (1995), the last of which cast him as Watergate figure John Ehrlichman. In the final few years of his life, Walsh etched some of his most haunting portrayals, including the predatory sex offender who bends the ear of Karl Childers in Billy Bob Thornton's Sling Blade (1996), reprising his role from the little-seen short Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade (1993), also written by Thornton. Walsh burned with a menacing intensity as a malicious trucker in the Duel-inspired thriller Breakdown (1997), also starring Russell. Walsh already had Pleasantville and The Negotiator (both 1998) in the can when he suffered a fatal heart attack on February 27, 1998, in San Diego. Both films were dedicated to him, as was Jack Nicholson's Oscar for As Good As It Gets (1997).

Trivia: Supporting player, onscreen from the '80s.

Trivia: Played on the varsity basketball team in high school. In 1983, was the first winner of the Miss Resaca Beach Poster Girl contest, and a runner-up in the Miss Georgia USA Pageant. Made her Broadway debut in The Will Rogers Follies in 1992. Was the coexecutive producer of the 2005 documentary on Native Americans, Whispers in the Wind. Started her own production company, Angel Fire Productions. Released the One World of Love Benefit Album in 2011. Hosts the radio show Awakening With Marla on Contact Talk Radio. Supports the Nu Skin Force for Good Foundation and the Spirituality for Kids Foundation.

Trivia: American character actor Nicholas Pryor has played his share of weak or ineffectual characters, but can exert authority and strength if the need arises. One of the busiest actors on the daytime-drama scene, Pryor has been a regular on such soapers as All My Children (he was the third of four actors to play Link Tyler) Young Dr. Malone, The Nurses, Another World, The Edge of Night, Love is a Many Splendored Thing and The Nurses. His prime-time TV roles include John Quincy Adams II in The Adams Chronicles (1976), vice principal Jack Felspar in Bronx Zoo (1987), and chancellor Arnold in Beverly Hills 90210 (1990- ). Among Nicholas Pryor's best film assignments were the roles of beauty-contest organizer Barbara Feldon's long-suffering husband in Smile (1975) and Tom Cruise's clueless dad in Risky Business (1983).

Trivia: In another era, American actor Eugene Roche might have been a perfect next-door neighbor on Ozzie and Harriet; balding, slightly paunchy, with an open, jovial Midwestern face. Following theatrical work, Roche made a name for himself in a project which gave him no on-screen billing: the friendly kitchen employee who sang the brief "Ajax for dishes" ditty in a series of detergent commercials. Roche's breakthrough film was Slaughterhouse Five (1971), in which he played the likeable POW Edgar Derby, whose fascination with war souvenirs results in his perfunctory execution at the hands of his German captors. Not all of Roche's film roles were this benign: in Foul Play (1978), he is a professional assassin who impersonates his murdered archbishop brother, the better to draw a bead on the Pope during an American visit. A reassuringly familiar presence on TV, Eugene Roche also had regular roles on several series, including The Corner Bar (1972), Good Time Harry (1980), Webster (1984), Take Five (1987) and Lenny (1990).

Trivia: After building a career as a character actor playing dozens of military men and cops, Ken Jenkins founds steady work and notoriety in 2001 when he was cast as Chief of Medicine Dr. Bob Kelso on NBC's Scrubs. Born in New Boston, OH, Jenkins began acting on the stage in the 1960s and continued to be a presence in the theater world throughout the '70s and into the '80s before transitioning to a screen career. His film roles included such varying and prominent features as Matewan and The Abyss, and his TV work included work on everything from Newhart to Star Trek: The Next Generation. In 1991, Jenkins got his first taste of regular series work when he was cast on the acclaimed family drama Homefront, which lasted two seasons. More supporting work followed before the creators of Scrubs came knocking and offered the role for which he would come to be best known. He would appear on the show until 2010, after which he took on a recurring role on the series Cougar Town.

Trivia: Supporting actor Charles Hallahan played character roles on stage, television and in feature films. Fans of the Stephen J. Cannell police drama Hunter will know Hallahan for playing Captain Charlie Devane between 1986 and 1991. A Philadelphia native, Hallahan earned an undergraduate degree at Rutgers and a master's from Temple University six years before heading to Los Angeles in 1977. Hallahan had little trouble finding acting jobs. His stage credits include playing the lead in a long-running San Francisco production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest during the late '90s, roles in plays ranging from Equus to The Threepenny Opera. In 1976, Hallahan toured the Soviet Union in two classic plays. On television, Hallahan guest-starred on over 200 episodes of shows ranging from Lou Grant to The Paper Chase. He made his feature film debut in Nightwing (1979). He made his last film appearance playing Paul Dreyfuss in Dante's Peak (1997). Hallahan died during a car crash in which he apparently suffered a heart attack on November 25, 1997. He was 54.

Trivia: Supporting and occasional leading actress Dey Young made her screen debut playing Kate in the rollicking Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979). Her sister Leigh Taylor-Young is also an actress.

Trivia: A Windy City native, distinguished character actor Richard Riehle earned his undergraduate degree from Notre Dame and his master's from the University of Minnesota, then took his first cinematic bow with a bit part in 1975's Western Rooster Cogburn -- opposite John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn. After Rooster, Riehle abandoned screen work for over a decade to hit the East Coast and focus almost exclusively on Broadway and regional theater. Ed Zwick's acclaimed Civil War opus Glory (1989) marked Riehle's Hollywood comeback; he subsequently increased his screen time dramatically, and chalked up a resumé playing everymen -- usually heavyset and unpolished working stiffs such as policemen, detectives, judges, and bartenders -- in literally dozens of films. Riehle's credits include Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), Mercury Rising (1998), Office Space (1999), Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999), and National Lampoon's Dorm Daze 2 (2006). The actor is also known for his regular presence on two television series: the 1990 Ferris Bueller (as Principal Ed Rooney) and the 2001-2005 Grounded for Life (as Walt Finnerty). Riehle subsequently returned to National Lampoon work with the 2007 frat-boy comedy National Lampoon Presents The Beach Party at the Threshold of Hell.

Trivia: Started acting when he was 10 years old. First became known for his role as Antonio on the television series Moesha. Spent eight years in the military and participated in Operations Just Cause and Desert Storm. Finished a college degree in theater while in the Air Force. Nominated for a 2000 ALMA Award for his role on ABC's Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Has worked closely with several charities that help veterans, including the Wounded Warrior Fund and Puppies Behind Bars.

Trivia: Of Polish, Italian, German and Irish descent.Her name means winter in Polish.Drowning in L.A., a short story she wrote at age 15, was published in AIM Magazine.Wrote a novel at the age of 16.

Trivia: Distinguished character actor Tim Kelleher built his career out of playing everymen with a rough-cut and slightly somber demeanor, which lent him perfectly to portrayals of such types as NARCs, urban cops, military lieutenants, and slightly shady corporate flunkies. A Bronx native, Kelleher moved to Staten Island at the age of four, where he attended primary and secondary school (playing and excelling at football), but moved to New Jersey not long after and finished high school in that locale. Kelleher attended Villanova University in Pennsylvania, then enrolled in a religious order known as the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) and did work for it before returning to New York City and founding his own theatrical troupe, the Colony, primarily devoted to putting on its own original plays (including several authored by Kelleher). An experience playing a role in a non-Colony production helped Kelleher secure an agent, and soon after he moved to Hollywood (in the late '80s), landing roles in a myriad of features, including Black Rain (1989), Malcolm X (1992), Clockers (1995), Matchstick Men (2003), and Flash of Genius (2008). He was particularly memorable in Flash, as a Ford employee sent out on multiple occasions to attempt to buy off Robert Kearns (Greg Kinnear) with an out-of-court settlement.