Trivia: From the mid- to late '80s, slender, carrot-topped, and luscious-lipped Molly Ringwald was the reigning teen queen of mainstream films. At the peak of her popularity, Ringwald was on the cover of Time magazine and even had groups of adolescent girl fans, called "Ringlets," who would emulate her every move.The daughter of jazzman Bob Ringwald, the leader of the Great Pacific Jazz Band, Ringwald was raised in Sacramento, CA, where she was born February 14, 1968. She started performing as a toddler, although not as an actress. She embarked on a very early and brief career as a singer after her parents discovered that she had a remarkable ability to perfectly match the tune and phrasing of almost any song she heard. Ringwald began singing jazz with her father at state fairs, and by the age of six, she already had a jazz album, I Wanna Be Loved By You--Molly Sings. In the meantime, Ringwald began to develop an interest in acting: she was four when she started hanging around the local community theater and five when she started getting small parts, including the role of a preacher's child in Truman Capote's The Grass Harp. At the age of eight, Ringwald appeared on The New Mickey Mouse Club. Encouraged by her talent and driven by her father's desire to get better bookings for his band, Ringwald's family moved to L.A.'s San Fernando Valley. In 1979, the actress won a part on Norman Lear's sitcom The Facts of Life. Ringwald only lasted a season before she was let go, but her television work paved the way for subsequent screen roles.In 1982, Ringwald made an auspicious film debut in Paul Mazursky's acclaimed Tempest, earning a Golden Globe nomination for her portrayal of John Cassavetes' daughter. In order to prepare for the role, Mazursky had Ringwald and her family move to a flat in New York's Greenwich Village to help her develop the necessary New York accent and attitude. Her performance in the film attracted the attention of screenwriter/aspiring director John Hughes who cast her as the protagonist of Sixteen Candles (1984), his wistful chronicle of suburban teenaged angst. The film was a hit, and so was Ringwald. Hughes would cast her in two more teen films, The Breakfast Club (1985) and Pretty in Pink (1986), both of which were hugely popular with teen audiences. In addition to a solid film career, Ringwald -- who had become a household name -- also occasionally appeared in television movies. Despite her continued success through the early '90s, Ringwald felt her life had reached a crossroads; by 1992, she decided to sell her house, put her personal effects in storage, pack up seven suitcases, and exchange life in the L.A. fast lane for a more romantic existence in Paris, where she was busy shooting Seven Sundays (released in 1994). Ringwald, who had learned French while attending a French high school in Los Angeles, remained there, dividing her time between reading (she has been a voracious reader since childhood when she and her siblings would read stories to her blind father), writing short stories and screenplays, cooking, and hanging out with her French husband. She occasionally continued to act in American and internationally produced films and television projects that include George Hickenlooper's Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade (1993), Stephen King's The Stand (1994), and Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999). Ringwald also continued to do stage work, appearing in an acclaimed 1998 off-Broadway production of Paula Vogel's How I Learned to Drive. She spoofed her own iconic persona by appearing in the 2001 comedy Not Another Teen Movie, and in 2008 she was cast as the mother in the Fox Family series The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

Trivia: Anthony Michael Hall was 14 when he essayed his first screen role in the Kenny Rogers vehicle Six Pack. With his cracked voice, skinny frame, and unkempt hair, Hall went on to play nerds and dweebs in such films as Sixteen Candles (1984) and The Breakfast Club (1985), working so well under the direction of John Hughes that there were those who assumed that Hughes was treating the young actor as an alter ego, reliving his own "misfit" high school years. Hall's film career temporary eclipsed in 1985, partly as the result of a disastrous personal-appearance tour during which the actor behaved in a fashion that could charitably be described as bizarre. He showed up as a regular on TV's Saturday Night Live later that year, and as he grew older, became too athletic and self-assured to continue in his previous "clueless" vein. Hall's professional second life as a character actor began with his villainous performance in Edward Scissorhands (1990). He turned to directing with the 1994 theatrical feature Hail Caesar, in which he cast himself as a relentlessly obnoxious rock star. In 2001, he starred as Whitey Ford in Billy Crystal's made-for-TV movie 61*, but his big comeback role would come in 2002, with the starring role on the seires Stephen King's Dead Zone.

Trivia: Many know the square-jawed Michael Schoeffling as the dreamy Jake Ryan from the classic '80s teen movie Sixteen Candles. The model-turned-actor studied liberal arts and competed on the wrestling team at Temple University in Philadelphia before he started modeling for GQ, eventually taking acting classes at the Lee Strausberg Theatre Institute. Schoeffling's first major film role came with Sixteen Candles in 1984, and he would appear in a number of movies over the following years, like Vision Quest and Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken, before starting a family and retiring from acting to design and craft furniture.

Trivia: Paul Dooley is fondly remembered by fans of '80s cinema as the forgetful but well-intending father of a disgruntled Molly Ringwald in the John Hughes teen classic Sixteen Candles (1984). The longtime character actor's droopy, distinctive features and endearing onscreen warmth have kept him a familiar figure in both film and television. A Parkersurg, WV, native who originally aspired to become a cartoonist, Dooley drew comic strips for a local newspaper before entering the navy. Upon discharge, the future actor entered college, where he discovered his passion for the stage. A move to New York found the aspiring actor landing frequent stage work, and after discovering a previously untapped ability for comedy, Dooley tried his hand at standup for about five years. Always looking to expand his skills, he made his film debut in the 1970 comedy The Out-of-Towners. From 1971 to 1972, Dooley was also head writer for the popular children's television series The Electric Company. After showing promise in such late-'70s efforts as Slap Shot (1977) and A Wedding (1978), Dooley made a big impression with his supporting role as the lead character's worrisome father in Breaking Away (1979). Though he was overlooked at Oscar time, he was nominated for a New York Film Critics Circle award and won the National Board of Review award for Best Supporting Actor. He kicked off the most successful decade of his film career with a performance as Wimpy in the much-maligned Robert Altman musical comedy Popeye (1980). Besides his memorable turn in Sixteen Candles, Dooley also delivered hilarious performances in the 1980s films Strange Brew (1983) and John Cassavetes' Big Trouble (1985). Fans of the extraterrestrial comedy series ALF will also remember him as the curiously named Whizzer Deaver.Though his feature roles through the 1990s largely consisted of such B-grade fare as My Boyfriend's Back (1993) and Error in Judgment (1998), Dooley managed to stay on top thanks to parts in such popular television series as Mad About You, Dream On, Grace Under Fire, and The Practice. He also took on occasional roles in more notable films, including Waiting for Guffman (1996), Clockwatchers (1997), Happy, Texas (1999), and Runaway Bride (also 1999), which served to remind movie buffs just how funny the talented comic actor could be when given the opportunity. Dooley's performances in such later efforts as Insomnia (2002) hinted at a darker side rarely explored by the usually jovial actor. In 2003, after re-teaming with Waiting for Guffman cohort Christopher Guest to blow A Mighty Wind, he took a supporting role in former MTV beauty queen Jenny McCarthy's comedy Dirty Love.

Trivia: Some may think that after becoming the youngest actor ever to be nominated for an Academy Award, a solid follow-up may be a near-impossible feat -- and actor Justin Henry would likely agree. Though he was indeed bestowed with this honor as a result of his affecting performance in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), Henry, who had no prior experience as an actor at the time of his film debut, would later retire from the screen to pursue an education. A native of Rye, NY, Henry was chosen for the role in Kramer vs. Kramer by his next-door neighbor, who just happened to be a casting director. Though he would follow up with roles in such films as Sixteen Candles and Martin's Day (both 1984), Henry decided to eschew his film career following Sweet Hearts Dance (1988) in favor of studying at Skidmore College. After returning to his acting career with John Frankenheimer's made-for-television Civil War feature Andersonville (1996), Henry's career slowly began to gain momentum with such films as Locals (1998) and Chasing Destiny (2001). Assuming leading man status in the 2003 drama My Dinner With Jimi, it appeared as if Henry's career was once again on the fast track to success.

Trivia: Liane Curtis, a lead actress, has been on screen since the late '80s.

Trivia: The son of actor Richard Cusack and younger brother of comic actress Joan Cusack, John Cusack started his career at the age of eight, under the guidance of his theatrically active mother. He made his stage bow with Evanston's Pivan Theatre Workshop and quickly went on to do commercial work, becoming one of Chicago's busiest commercial voice-over artists.Although Cusack began to emerge as an actor during the heyday of the Brat Pack, and appeared in a number of "teen" movies, he managed to avoid falling into the narrowly defined rut the phenomenon left in its wake. After making his film debut in 1983's Class, he had a brief but painfully memorable appearance as a member of Anthony Michael Hall's nerd posse in Sixteen Candles (1984). Bigger and better opportunities came Cusack's way the following year, when he achieved a measure of stardom with his portrayal of a sexually anxious college freshman in The Sure Thing (1985). The same year, he gained further recognition with his starring roles in Better Off Dead (which also granted him a degree of cult status) and The Journey of Natty Gann.Cusack spent the rest of the 1980s carving out a niche for himself as both a solid performer and something of a lust object for unconventional girls everywhere, a status aided immeasurably by his portrayal of lovable underachiever Lloyd Dobler in Cameron Crowe's 1989 ....Say Anything. He also began winning critical acclaim for his parts in more serious films, notably as a disgraced White Sox third baseman in John Sayles' Eight Men Out (1988) and as a con artist in Stephen Frears' The Grifters (1990).Cusack enjoyed steady work throughout the 1990s, with particularly notable roles in Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway (1994), which featured him as a struggling playwright; Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997), in which he starred as a journalist investigating a murder; Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), which cast him as the film's protagonist, a neurotic hit man; and the impressively cast The Thin Red Line, in which he played a World War II soldier. Just about all of Cusack's roles allowed him to showcase his quirky versatility, and the films he did to close out the century were no exception: in 1999 he first starred as an air-traffic controller in the comedy Pushing Tin and then appeared as Nelson Rockefeller in Cradle Will Rock, Tim Robbins' exploration of art and politics in 1930s America; finally, in perhaps his most unique film to date, he starred in Spike Jonze's Being John Malkovich as a puppeteer who discovers a way to enter the mind of the famous actor. The wildly original film turned out to be one of the year's biggest surprise hits, scoring among both audiences and critics. Cusack had yet another triumph the following year with High Fidelity, Stephen Frears' adaptation of Nick Hornby's novel of the same name. The actor, who co-wrote the script for the film in addition to starring in it, earned some of the best reviews of his career for his heartfelt comic portrayal of Rob, the film's well-meaning but oftentimes emotionally immature protagonist. The next year he played opposite Julia Roberts in the showbiz comedy America's Sweethearts. In 2002 he took a lead part in the controversial Hitler biopic Max, and he did a brief cameo for Spike Jonze in Adaptation.The next year he had a couple of hits with the John Grisham adaptation The Runaway Jury, and the psychological thriller Identity. In 2005 he was the lead in the black comedy The Ice Harvest opposite Billy Bob Thornton, as well as the romantic comedy Must Love Dogs.He earned solid reviews in 2007 for the Iraq War drama Grace Is Gone, playing the husband of a woman who dies while serving in the military., and in that same year he starred in the Stephen King adaptation 1408. In 2008 he appeared in and co-wrote the political satire War, Inc. The next year he was the lead in the disaster film blockbuster 2012.Cashing in on his status as an eighties icon, he had a hit in 2010 with the R rated comedy Hot Tub Time Machine, and in 2012 he portrayed Edgar Allan Poe in The Raven.

Trivia: One of Hollywood's funniest and most underappreciated actresses, Joan Cusack was for years relegated to playing the buddy sidekicks of her more glamorous co-stars and known primarily as John Cusack's older sister. Thanks to a couple of Oscar nominations and strong roles in a number of movies, Cusack finally began getting her due in the late 1990s, earning both recognition and respect for her singular talent.Born in New York City on October 11, 1962, Cusack grew up in the Chicago suburb of Evanston. The daughter of actor and filmmaker Richard Cusack, she and her siblings were encouraged to perform from an early age. As a result, Cusack grew up acting on the stage and training with the Piven Theatre Workshop. She broke into film while still in her teens, getting her start - -and often acting alongside her brother -- in such teen comedies as My Bodyguard (1980) and Sixteen Candles (1984). In 1985 she was offered a part on the Saturday Night Live roster, but felt constrained by the lack of quality material offered to women, and left the show after one season. Gradually getting better supporting work in such films as Broadcast News (1987) and Married to the Mob (1988), Cusack had her screen breakthrough in Working Girl (1988), earning a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her role as Melanie Griffith's street-smart best friend. More strong notices followed in 1989 for Cusack's work in the drama Men Don't Leave, in which she played a nurse who helps get Jessica Lange's life back on track after her husband's death. Though Cusack would move to Chicago for much of the 90's to focus on her family, she would appear in a handful of memorable titles, like My Blue Heaven (1990), Addams Family Values, Corrina, Corrina, Nine Months, and In & Out. Cusack would amp it up in the coming years, however, with appearances in a slew of popular films like Grosse Point Blank, Runaway Bride, High Fidelity, and Cradle will Rock. As the 2000's rolled onward, Cusack would continue to maintain her status as a go-to character actor, appearing in fims like Friends with Money, My Sister's Keeper and Mars Needs Moms, and on the critically acclaimed series Shameless.

Trivia: New Jersey native Haviland Morris is best known to many audiences as Caroline in the '80s teen classic Sixteen Candles. An accomplished Broadway actress, Morris' forays into screen acting were intermittent, appearing in films like Gremlins 2 and Home Alone 3 and on shows like Sex and the City and Law & Order between stage roles.

Trivia: The character that Gedde Watanabe is most remembered for is no doubt Long Duk Dong, the spastic foreign exchange student in Sixteen Candles (1984) whose drunken fall from a tree and laughable bastardization of the English language had ninth graders of the day rolling in theater aisles. Though a few major roles followed soon after, Watanabe ultimately fell victim to the comic typecasting machine, rendering his talents muted in favor of the stereotypical "humorous foreign-guy" roles in which he would repeatedly stumble through the cursed paces of his former footprints.It seems ironic that the actor who is remembered for these roles is a native not of Japan or some far away shore, but of Ogden, UT. Though his roles have expanded in their nature somewhat in recent years, Watanabe, a fine comic actor with a certain warm sincerity, has appeared frequently in major releases, though usually a little further down the credit list. Studying acting at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, CA, Watanabe also possesses a notable talent for crooning, appearing early on as an original cast member of Sondheim's Pacific Overtures in the 1970s.After his breakout role in Candles, Watanabe continued to riff on his likeable but mechanical Japanese-guy persona with humorous roles in UHF (1989) and, perhaps most notably, Gung-Ho (1986) and the short-lived television series of the same name that followed. Bit parts in television and film followed fairly frequently, often appearing in such television series as ER and doing voice-over work for such animated series as The Simpsons and Batman: Beyond. The late '90s showed promise for Watanabe with a couple of small yet stereotype-busting roles in Guinevere and EdTV (both 1999).

Trivia: Supporting actress Carlin Glynn made her film debut in Sydney Pollack's taut thriller Three Days of the Condor (1975). The wife of director/actor Peter Masterson, she is also the mother of actress Mary Stuart Masterson.

Trivia: The son of a clergyman, round-faced character actor Edward Andrews took to the stage at age twelve. He made his Broadway debut in 1935's How Beautiful With Shoes; three years later he co-starred in the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Time of Your Life. Sporting spectacles from the early 1950s onward, Andrews was ideally cast as pompous, overly ambitious military officers, politicians and attorneys. His screen persona was malleable enough to allow for villainy (he played a viciously racist small-town politico in his first film, 1955's The Phenix City Story), though he preferred comedy, taking pride in a particular "finger-waggling" gesture of his that always resulted in loud audience laughter. In 1964, he co-starred with Kathy Nolan in the distaff McHale's Navy rip-off TV sitcom Broadside. Edward Andrews joined several fellow acting veterans in Gremlins (1985), his last film.

Trivia: A vaudeville and burlesque comedienne who went on to essay numerous film roles after being discovered at an orphanage at the age of eight, actress Billie Bird would later use her stage experience to entertain troops on 12 USO tours in the 1960s and '70s. Born Bird Berniece Sellen in Pocatello, ID, in February 1908, her chance discovery came when a traveling road show stopped to entertain the children at the orphanage in which she resided and immediately recognized her talent. Subsequently traveling with the troupe and studying with a tutor in her downtime, Bird went on to form a sister act and later appeared in such "light opera" works as Show Boat and New Moon. A move to Los Angeles in 1943 found Bird performing at such hot spots as Club Moderne and The Colony Club, and, from 1947 to 1955, she showed off her skills on the guitar, clarinet, vibraphone, and bagpipes in burlesque shows. Although Bird made her screen debut in the 1921 comedy Grass Widowers, it was the 1950s that found her edging away from the stage and toward television and film. Particularly active in movies in the '50s, Bird appeared in more than a dozen films, including Somebody Loves Me (1952) and The Joker Is Wild (1957). The actress remained relatively active in the '60s, as well, although her career slowed to a notable pace in the '70s with the exception of a featured role in the popular late-'70s sitcom Benson. However, her screen career later picked up momentum with such notable '80s comedies as Sixteen Candles (1984), One Crazy Summer (1986), and Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987), and Bird made a successful return to the world of sitcom television as an aged, but feisty, support-group member in Dear John. Roles in such films as Home Alone (1990) and Dennis the Menace (1993) followed. In 1995, she made her final screen appearance in the Pauly Shore comedy Jury Duty. Stricken with Alzheimer's disease in the '90s, Bird died in November 2002. She was 92.

Trivia: Actress Carole Cook showed a knack for comic timing from early on, so much so that the legendary Lucille Ball took her on as a protégé. Cook would make many appearances on Ball's TV shows, The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy, as well as other shows like Magnum, P.I., Dynasty, and Grey's Anatomy. She would also appear in several movies, like Sixteen Candles and The Incredibles, while maintaining an active stage career and supporting many AIDS charities.

Trivia: Actor Max Showalter learned his craft at the Pasadena Playhouse. An adroit, quick-witted comic performer, Showalter was one of the earliest participants in the infant medium known as television. He was an ensemble player on 1949's The Swift Show, and that same year was a panelist on the "charades" quiz show Hold It Please. 20th Century-Fox chieftan Darryl F. Zanuck was a fan of Showalter's work; the producer hired Showalter as a Fox featured player, but not before changing his name to the more "box-office" Casey Adams. While there were a few leading roles, notably as Jean Peter's obtuse husband in Niagara (1953), for the most part Showalter/Adams' film career was confined to brief character parts (e.g. Return to Peyton Place [1958] and The Music Man [1962]). While still travelling under the alias of Casey Adams, Showalter appeared in a half-hour pilot film titled It's a Small World (1956); on this one-shot, the actor originated the role of Ward Cleaver, a role that would ultimately be assumed by Hugh Beaumont when Small World matriculated into Leave It to Beaver. Shedding the Casey Adams alias in the mid '60s, Max Showalter remained a busy character player into the '80s, appearing as a regular on the 1980 sitcom The Stockard Channing Show.

Trivia: Many know Deborah Pollack as the "new style American girlfriend" of Long Duck Dong in the '80s teen classic Sixteen Candles. Pollack also made many guest appearances on TV series like Newhart and Matlock before taking a break from the spotlight during the '90s and early 2000s. Then in 2008, the bright-eyed actress returned to the screen with the movie Pathology.

Trivia: American actor/writer Brian Doyle-Murray began his professional performing career at Chicago's Second City comedy troupe. Once established, Brian was instrumental in bringing his younger brother Bill into Second City. While Bill Murray's star ascended, Brian stayed busy as a writer and comic character actor. He co-wrote the 1980 comedy hit Caddyshack and had choice supporting roles in such films as Modern Problems (1981), Club Paradise (1986) and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989). Brian has also appeared to excellent effect in several of his brother Bill's starring features, most recently in the hilarious role of the lugubrious mayor of Punxsutawney in Groundhog Day (1993). One of the staff writers of the earliest years of Saturday Night Live, Brian Doyle-Murray has remained active on television as a guest actor, as a regular on the 1991 sitcom Good Sports, and in such made for TV movies as Babe Ruth (1991).

Trivia: Brown-eyed, would-be Brat Packer Jami Gertz was discovered in a nationwide talent search by Norman Lear and she studied drama at N.Y.U. She got a tiny part in Franco Zeffirelli's Endless Love in 1981, making her film debut along with Tom Cruise. The next year she starred on the high school TV series Square Pegs along with Sarah Jessica Parker, and made several guest appearances on The Facts of Life. Supporting roles followed in Alphabet City, Quicksilver, Crossroads, and Solarbabies. In 1987 she played shy vampire girl Star in The Lost Boys, which may remain her most recognizable role. In the same year, she played the girl caught between Andrew McCarthy and Robert Downey Jr. in Less Than Zero and she got to romance teen idol Kirk Cameron in Listen to Me. The '90s marked the decline of her leading roles in teen dramas and she turned to comedies, off-Broadway theater, and mainstream dramas. She played Kirstie Alley's sister in Sibling Rivalry, Dylan McDermott's love interest in Jersey Girl, and Bill Paxton's girlfriend in Twister. Working back in television, she had recurring roles on Sibs, ER, Dream On, and Ally McBeal. After making several TV movies, she portrayed legendary comedienne Gilda Radner in the ABC special It's Always Something: The Gilda Radner Story. Living in L.A. with her husband and children, Gertz was cast as blue-collar wife and mother Judy Miller on the CBS sitcom Still Standing in 2002. In 2006 Gertz co-starred in director Scott Marshall's coming-of-age comedy Keeping Up With the Steins.

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

Trivia: An actor of imposing stature, Tony Longo has played many roles that utilized his substantial frame. Born in New Jersey, Longo began his acting career by making appearances on TV shows like Laverne & Shirley and CHiPS, a plan that would prove extremely fruitful as the actor would wrack up countless such appearances over the coming decades. Additionally, Longo extended his efforts toward movies, as well, playing roles in films like The Cooler and The Violent Kind.

Trivia: Standing 4'3", and possessed of a nails-on-the-blackboard speaking voice, actress Zelda Rubinstein specialized in eccentric characterizations. She was appropriately cast as one of the Little People in her first film, Under the Rainbow (1981). Her best-remembered screen role was Tangina, the disastrously self-assured exorcist in the first two Poltergeist films. Zelda's declaration that "This house is clean" has to be the most famous speaking-too-soon miscalculations in movie history. She was later seen in oddball minor roles as domineering mamas, witches, snoops and gamblers. TV fans know Zelda Rubinstein best as Ginny Weedon on the weekly cult favorite Picket Fences (1992-95). In January of 2010, after a long run-in with health issues, Rubinstein passed away at a respiratory hospital in Los Angeles.

Trivia: Frail-looking but iron-willed American actor Henry B. Walthall set out to become a lawyer, but was drawn to the stage instead. After several seasons appearing opposite such luminaries as Henry Miller and Margaret Anglin, Walthall was firmly established in New York's theatrical circles by the time he entered films in 1909 at the invitation of director D.W. Griffith. Clearly, both men benefited from the association: Griffith was able to exploit Walthall's expertise and versatility, while Walthall learned to harness his tendency to overact. The best of the Griffith/Walthall collaborations was Birth of a Nation (1915), in which Walthall portrayed the sensitive Little Colonel. Walthall left Griffith in 1915, a move that did little to advance his career. A string of mediocre productions spelled finis to Walthall's stardom, though he continued to prosper in character parts into the 1930s. One of his best showings in the talkie era was a virtual replay of his Little Colonel characterization in the closing scenes of the 1934 Will Rogers vehicle Judge Priest. Henry B. Walthall died while filming the 1936 Warner Bros. film China Clipper; ironically, he passed away just before he was scheduled to film his character's death scene.