Trivia: Born December 15th, 1949, film and television actor Don Johnson first studied his trade at the University of Kansas and the American Conservatory Theatre. A professional actor by his late teens, Johnson's earliest stage and screen assignments frequently found him cast as a fallen innocent. Johnson first gained national press coverage as the 20-year-old star of the counterculture comedy The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart (1970). His next significant credit was the 1975 cult favorite A Boy and His Dog, based on a trenchant Harlan Ellison yarn. Personal and professional entanglements kept him alternately on and offscreen until 1984, when he staged a comeback as Sonny Crockett, a rough-shod yet impossibly hip, sailboat-dwelling Miami-area vice squad detective assigned to work opposite Detective Ricardo Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas), in Michael Mann's seminal small-screen cop drama Miami Vice (1984-89). To call the program (and Johnson's role in it) "trend-setting" would be a massive understatement; the character of Crockett, with his pastel sports jackets worn atop scoop-neck t-shirts, dark sunglasses, pants without socks, and a two or three-day growth of unshaven beard, rewrote the rules of men's haute-couture for almost a decade and posited Johnson as one of American culture's top male sex symbols for a lengthy duration as well (for a time, it became seemingly impossible to look at the cover of GQ or Esquire without spotting the actor). As the series rolled on, it witnessed Crockett's character undergoing many life changes, including the violent deaths of numerous colleagues on the force and a strange, strange plot point in which he accidentally began to confuse his own identity with that of his drug-pushing alter ego in the Miami crime world. During this second flush of fame, Johnson also distinguished himself as a dependable TV-movie leading man (notably as Ben Quick in the 1985 remake of The Long Hot Summer) and a champion powerboat racer. He also played a series of interesting leading roles in films of extremely variable quality, including Dennis Hopper's post-noir thriller The Hot Spot (1990), Mary Agnes Donoghue's romantic drama Paradise (1991) (opposite longtime partner Melanie Griffith) and Kevin Costner's hard-living buddy in Ron Shelton's gentle sports-themed romantic comedy Tin Cup (1996). During the 1995-96 season, Johnson enjoyed another career renaissance that distinctly mirrored his Vice success, as star of the TV weekly Nash Bridges. On that program, Johnson played the title character, a tough-as-nails San Francisco cop working the beat as an inspector with the municipal police department's Special Investigators Unit. Episodes found him artnered up, from assignment to assignment, with the wiseacre Hispanic detective Joe Dominguez (Cheech Marin). With relentless devotion to the demands of the force and an ere-present jocularity, Bridges worked his way through a series of seemingly impossible criminal investigations over the course of five seasons. He also attempted to balance life on the squad with a difficult personal life that included a strained relationship with his ex (Annette O'Toole) and the provision of much-needed paternal guidance for his teenage daughter (Jodi O'Keefe). No matter where he has stood careerwise, Johnson has always proven good copy for the gossip columns and tabloids thanks to his on-again off-again marriage to actress Melanie Griffith, whom he wed and divorced twice over the course of twenty years; the two ended their union for the second time in 1996. Though he found little in the way of success, Johnson worked steadily through out the late nineties and early 2000s on films including Goodbye Lover (1999), Word of Honor (2003), and Moondance Alexander (2007). The actor also played a small role in the action thriller Machete in 2010.

Trivia: The son of a Los Angeles police officer, American actor/director Richard "Cheech" Marin earned his nickname through his fondness for the Chicano food, specialty cheecharone. An excellent student (if something of a class cutup), Marin entered California State University, only to drop out and hightail it to Canada to avoid the draft. While working as an improvisational comedian with Vancouver's City Work troupe, Marin teamed with Tommy Chong; the Hispanic/Asian duo created the characters of Cheech and Chong, a pair of zoned-out dopers ever in search of the "perfect joint." On the strength of their bestselling record albums, Cheech and Chong were signed for the inexpensive comedy film Up in Smoke (1978), which wound up as one of Warner Bros.' highest-grossing films (not to mention one of its highest, period). As the drug culture lost its momentum, so did the film career of Cheech and Chong, with each of the team's subsequent films making less money than its predecessor. By the time C & C headlined the atrocious The Corsican Brothers (1984), the jig was up. Cheech and Chong split up in 1984 (though they remained friends) and went off to their own projects. While it was Chong who directed many of the team's features, Marin sat in the director's chair for the best of his post-team projects, the 1987 film Born in East L.A, inspired by Cheech's own parody music video. Marin's starring film is Shrimp on the Barbie (1990) contained no drug jokes and fewer laughs (an indication of its quality is the fact that the director had his name removed from the credits in favor of the pseudonymous "Alan Smithee"). Lately regarded as an elder statesman of the counterculture, Marin has kept busy with cameo roles, cartoon voice-overs (Oliver and Company, Ferngully, The Lion King), and a brief stint as a costar of the 1992 TV sitcom "Golden Palace." In 1996, he began co-starring opposite Don Johnson in the television drama Nash Bridges. Around this time he began a fruitful collaboration with independent filmmaker Robert Rodriguez. Marin had a part in Desperado, and played multiple characters in the vampire film From Dusk 'til Dawn for the Austin based maverick. Marin was cast as Kevin Costner's best friend in the golf comedy Tin Cup in 1996. The beginning of the next decade brought Marin an unexpected new audience as he began a series of humorous appearances in family films and lent his vocal talents to a number of animated films. He appeared in all three segments of Rodriguez's Spy Kids series, did vocal work in Good Boy, and voiced one of the Cars in Pixar's film. He also played small parts in John Sayles Silver City, and Bob Dylan's Masked & Anonymous.

Trivia: Founded what would become Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1974 with his high-school friends Gary Sinise and Terry Kinney, and served as its artistic director in the 1980s. Met first wife, Laurie Metcalf, when both were theater students at Illinois State University. Made movie debut in Remember My Name, a 1978 drama produced by Robert Altman; appeared in The Wedding (directed by Altman) later that year. Has appeared on some 40 TV series, including Columbo, Family Ties, thirtysomething, L.A. Law, Frasier, NYPD Blue, ER, The West Wing, Lost, Prison Break, Cold Case, C.S.I: Crime Scene Investigation and CSI: New York. Was a regular on CBS's Nash Bridges (1996-2001) A semiregular on Grey's Anatomy (he plays Meredith Grey's father, Thatcher), he's married to series casting director Linda Lowy.

Trivia: Started modeling at the age of 9. Won a Young Hollywood Award in 2000 in the Best Bad Girl category for her performance in She's All That. Appeared in the 3 Doors Down music video "Let Me Go" alongside fellow actor Jesse Metcalfe in 2005.

Trivia: Actress Wendy Moniz graduated from Siena College in New York in 1991 with a degree in English, but only four years later, she was playing Dinah Marler Thorpe Jessup on the long-running soap opera Guiding Light. She stayed with the show for four years, going on to appear in the TV movie Tuesdays with Morrie on the series Nash Bridges, The Guardian, and Big Shots.

Trivia: Moved to the U.S. from Germany shortly after his birth. Started acting in college, playing the lead in Othello and appearing in The Elephant Man. Played the recurring role of D'Shawn on Beverly Hills, 90210. Appeared as Miranda Bailey's husband Tucker on Grey's Anatomy.

Trivia: Actor Philip Michael Thomas was fond of referring to his family background as "American Gumbo;" his ethnic makeup was a mixture of black, German, Irish, and three different Indian Tribes. A former theology student at Alabama's Oakwood college, Thomas launched his acting career when he won an audition for the Broadway musical Hair. Of his handful of movie appearances in the 1970s, Thomas is best remembered for his portrayal of Stix in the cult-favorite Sparkle (1976). From 1984 through 1989, Thomas was seen on a weekly basis as Detective Ricardo Tubbs on the MTV-influenced TV cop series Miami Vice. During this period, he continued his pre-stardom activities of writing music, poetry, and philosophical essays (in 1983, he'd published a book of aphorisms, Perfect Moment of Truth Sayings); he also managed his own recording label, turning out a well-received album to cash in on his Miami Vice success. Philip Michael Thomas' most recent projects have included a series of made-for-cable adventure specials, released under the blanket title Extralarge.

Trivia: NYU graduate Patrick Fischler began building up his résumé in the late '90s, making appearances on TV shows like Sister, Sister and Nash Bridges. His intense looks and malleable demeanor soon made him a familiar face, and in 2001 he was cast in the David Lynch film Mulholland Drive. By the late 2000s, Fischler was landing recurring roles on major primetime series, playing Jimmy Bartlett on the period drama Mad Men and later taking on the role of Dharma Initiative employee Phil on the hit series Lost. In 2009, he joined the cast of another network drama, portraying Detective Kenny No-Gun on police drama Southland.

Trivia: With the sort of GQ looks that command attention both onscreen and off, longtime actor Steven Bauer has come a long way since making an impression in Brian De Palma's controversial 1983 crime drama Scarface. A native of Cuba whose family fled to Miami shortly after Fidel Castro came to power in 1956, Bauer began his education at Miami-Dade Community College, where a walk-on role in the play Summer and Smoke sparked a lifelong love of acting. He transferred to the University of Miami and continued to hone his craft in such plays as Of Mice and Men, and by the time he moved to New York, Bauer was ready to study under the tutelage of acclaimed acting coach Stella Adler. It was during this time that auditions for Scarface were announced, and with his confidence bolstered by a handful of supporting roles in film and television, Bauer proved that he could hold his own opposite Al Pacino. Cast as the titular character's close friend and partner in crime, the young actor's powerful performance drew a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Although the film's notable violence and profanity ultimately provoked a backlash from both Hollywood and the viewing public, Bauer's career maintained its upward trajectory when, the following year, the handsome rising star took the lead in the romantic thriller Thief of Hearts.Throughout the '80s, roles in such high-profile films as Running Scared (1986) and Gleaming the Cube (1989) helped maintain Bauer's presence on the big screen, but it was a role in the 1990 television miniseries Drug Wars: The Camarena Story that earned him his second Golden Globe nomination and proved he could give a commanding lead performance. Increasingly relegated to low-budget thrillers and forgettable, straight-to-video fare, he had occasional roles in such films as Raising Cain (1992) and Wild Side (1995). In 2000, Bauer shared a Screen Actor's Guild award for Best Ensemble Performance in the acclaimed Steven Soderbergh crime drama Traffic, in which the actor portrayed jailed drug kingpin Carlos Ayala. The roles that immediately followed, however, seemed to offer Bauer little room to expand his talent, though his performance in the popular, but short-lived TV series UC: Undercover at least served to keep him in the spotlight before joining an impressive cast in the 2003 Bob Dylan drama Masked and Anonymous. Married to actress Melanie Griffith for the majority of the '80s, the couple divorced in 1987. Bauer married Ingrid Anderson in 1989.

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