Trivia: One of Mexico's most popular actors. Is the Spanish-language voice of Donkey in Shrek and Shrek 2. Has a degree in Film Directing from the Mexican Institute of Cinematography and Theatre, and one in Acting from Televisa's Acting School. Hosted the 2009 and 2010 Latin Grammy Awards. Landed the role of a Mexican gardener in the 2011 Adam Sandler comedy Jack and Jill after Sandler's staff suggested Derbez for the part. Has authored two books on comedy.

Trivia: Widely considered to be the first Mexican actress to become a Hollywood movie star since Dolores Del Rio, Salma Hayek is known for bringing a fiery presence and striking, dark-eyed beauty to the screen. A soap star in her native Mexico, Hayek risked her entire career to come to L.A., where she struggled to be taken seriously. Her discovery by director Robert Rodriguez, who cast her in his 1995 film Desperado, gave Hayek her breakthrough, and she subsequently gained a reputation as one of Hollywood's sexiest and busiest actresses.The daughter of a Spanish mother and Lebanese father, Hayek was born in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico, on September 2, 1966. Raised in a devoutly Catholic family, she was sent to a Louisiana boarding school at the age of 12. After getting into trouble for terrorizing the nuns, Hayek returned to Mexico, but she was eventually sent to Houston, Texas, to live with her aunt, where she stayed until she was 17. She subsequently moved to Mexico City, where she studied International Relations as a university student, but, to the chagrin of her family, decided to drop out in order to pursue a career as an actress. Starting out in local theatre productions, she eventually moved to television and landed a starring role in the popular soap opera Teresa. The show's success made Hayek a celebrity in her native country, but, desiring something more, she shocked her fans by deciding to quit the show in order to pursue a career in L.A.After taking a year to learn English and study acting with Stella Adler, Hayek got her first break when Allison Anders cast her in a supporting role in Mi Vida Loca (1993). The role allowed Hayek to obtain a Screen Actors Guild card, and after doing so, she continued to audition until she appeared on a Spanish-language cable access talk show that happened to count director Robert Rodriguez amongst its viewers. Rodriguez tracked Hayek down and promptly cast her in Desperado, his bigger-budget 1995 sequel to El Mariachi. The film, which also starred Antonio Banderas, succeeded in giving the actress her own plot on the Hollywood map, and Rodriguez again demonstrated his faith in her when he cast her in his next project, the vampire extravaganza From Dusk Till Dawn (1996). Unfortunately for Hayek, the film, which also starred George Clooney, failed to do as well as expected, and Hayek's next few projects were similarly lackluster. The Faculty (1998), a teen thriller that cast Hayek as a teacher who turns into an alien, was an exception, and Kevin Smith's Dogma (1999), which featured her as a celestial muse, was fairly successful with critics and audiences. Also in 1999, Hayek had a starring role in what was to be her biggest film to date, Barry Sonnenfeld's Wild Wild West, which also starred Will Smith and Kevin Kline. Unfortunately for all involved, the film was a turkey. In 2000, Hayek could be seen in smaller, edgier ventures, including the independent comedy Chain of Fools, in which she played a centerfold-turned- cop, and Mike Figgis' experimental Time Code, which cast her as Jeanne Tripplehorn's lover. If these films ultimately didn't provide Hayek with a role that would draw attention to her genuine talent, this would soon change with the long awaited biography of tragic artist Frida Kahlo. With her role as the epnoymous character in Frida (2002), Hayek disappeared into her subject so convincingly that not only would she return to the good graces of critics, but earn an Oscar nomination as well.Hayek would spend the coming years enjoying superstar status with everything from comedic turns on sitcoms like Ugly Betty (which she produced) and 30 Rock, to meaty roles in dramatic thrillers like Savages.

Trivia: American brothers Rob and Chad Lowe became actors in childhood (Chad would ultimately win an Emmy for his TV work). Rob was acting from the age of eight in 1972; seven years later, he was a regular on the TV series A New Kind of Family, playing the teenaged son of star Eileen Brennan. That series was shot down quickly, but Lowe's film career picked up when newspaper and magazine articles began aligning the handsome, sensitive young actor with the burgeoning Hollywood "brat pack," which included such new talent as Molly Ringwald, Matt Dillon, Charlie Sheen, and Anthony Michael Hall. Along with several fellow "packers" (Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, and Emilio Estevez), Lowe starred in 1985's St. Elmo's Fire; this film and the earlier Hotel New Hampshire (1984) represent the most memorable projects in Lowe's otherwise negligible film output. In 1989, Lowe's already flagging film stardom received a severe setback when he was accused of videotaping his sexual activities with an underage girl (the evidence has since become a choice item on the sub-rosa video cassette circuit). Arrested for his misdeeds, Lowe performed several hours' worth of community service, then tried to reactivate his career. Since then, Lowe has matured into something of a brat-pack George Hamilton, successfully lampooning his previous screen image in such comedies as Wayne's World (1992) and Tommy Boy (1995).Though his comedic endeavors would continue throughout the 1990s in films such as Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) and its sequel, Lowe gained notice for such dramatic roles as that of the mute and strangely plague-immune Nick Andros in the long-anticipated TV miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand (1994). Lowe's roles throughout the '90s may have not been the prominently featured roles in A-list films that his early shooting-star may have suggested, though he did maintain steady work in an interesting variety of small-budget projects. Lowe's casting on the popular political drama The West Wing brought the actor back into the public eye in what many considered to be one of the most intelligently written dramatic series on television. His turn as quick-witted liberal speechwriter Sam Seaborn brought Lowe through the dark days of his scandalous past, back to an audience who may have forgotten his charm as an actor. He would stay with the series until 2005, all while continuing to pick new projects that involved creativity and an open mind. He tested his limits with roles in films like Salem's Lot and Thank You For Smoking, and in 2004, he began starring in his own TV series, playing Dr. Billy Grant on the crime drama Dr. Vegas. The show lasted until 2008, by which time he had already signed on for the prime time dramedy Brothers & Sisters, starring alongside Calista Flockhart. He had a major part in The Invention of Lying in 2009, and that same year he landed a regular gig on the well-reviewed NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation. In 2011 he was the executive producer and one of the leads in the ensemble film I Melt With You.

Trivia: For some actors, success just seems to come naturally. In the case of talented stage and screen beauty Kristen Bell, it wasn't so much a matter of if she was going to be a star after realizing her dream during an early performance as a banana in Raggedy Ann and Andy at the tender age of 12 -- but when she would finally make the big time. Paralyzed with stage fright as she waited for her cue off-stage, Bell was offered a word of encouragement by her supportive mother that would ultimately give her the drive to realize her life's calling. A native of Detroit whose early stage experiences eventually led her to study at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Bell saw early success when she was chosen to portray Becky Thatcher in a Broadway production of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Realizing that she had what it took to find success onscreen as well as on-stage, Bell was soon packing her bags for Los Angeles and landing small supporting roles in such features as Polish Wedding and Pootie Tang. In 2003, Bell impressed television viewers with a solid performance in the made-for-television dramas The King and Queen of Moonlight Bay and Gracie's Choice. She next appeared in David Mamet's 2004 thriller Spartan, before landing the lead as a sort-of new-millennium Nancy Drew on UPN's Veronica Mars. If the show's ravenous cult following wasn't enough to make young Bell a household name, even after its much mourned cancellation in 2007, her subsequent performance in the awesomely successful comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall cinched it for her. Bell would go on to play a recurring role on the landmark TV series Heroes, before appearing in a number of comedies over the next few years, like Fanboys, Couples Retreat, and When in Rome. Bell would even appear in slightly less prestigious movies, like Burlesque and Scream 4, but remained one of the most in-demand young actresses in Hollywood, especially in the realm of comedy. She would play a memorable role on Don Cheadle's comedy series House of Lies, and co-produced and starred in an action-oriented romcom with Bradley Cooper called Hit and Run (which was written and co-directed by Bell's real-life love, Dax Shepard).In 2013, Bell and Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas launched a Kickstater campaign to raise funds for a Veronica Mars movie. The campaign proved to be wildly successful, raising more than was needed to fund the film, which was released in 2014. Bell also voiced Anna in the Disney film Frozen, which significantly raised her profile, and showcased her singing voice, holding her own opposite Broadway heavyweight Idina Menzel.

Trivia: More a sex goddess than an actress, the statuesque Raquel Welch was one of the most popular celebrities of the 1960s and 1970s. While she appeared in dozens of films, they earned little notice, her success depending almost exclusively on her stature as a buxom pin-up. Born Raquel Tejada on September 5, 1940, in Chicago, she began taking dancing lessons as a child and by her teens was already winning beauty contests. At the age of 18, she married high school sweetheart James Welch; the couple had two children before divorcing in 1961. After working in Dallas, TX, as a waitress and model, Welch relocated to Hollywood in 1963; within three days, she had already landed a manager, Patrick Curtis, and soon they formed a promotions company, Curtwell Enterprises. After appearing in Life magazine in a revealing bikini, she began working on the ABC series Hollywood Palace, and in 1964 made her feature debut with an unbilled appearance in the Elvis Presley vehicle Roustabout. Welch next appeared as a prostitute in 1964's A House Is Not a Home, followed by another uncredited appearance a year later in Do Not Disturb. In 1965, she scored her first lead role in the pop musical A Swingin' Summer, resulting in a contract with 20th Century Fox, which cast her in the sci-fi hit Fantastic Voyage before loaning her to the British horror studio Hammer. There she starred in a 1967 remake of One Million Years B.C.; clad in little more than strategically placed strips of fur, Welch's publicity stills appeared everywhere, and she became a major sex symbol -- still, few went to actually see the movie itself. Despite the publicity, Fox was clearly wary of her talents, and did not ask her to return to Hollywood; instead she remained in Europe, starring with Edward G. Robinson and Vittorio de Sica in 1968's The Biggest Bundle of Them All and with Monica Vitti and Claudia Cardinale in Le Fate. While in Paris, Welch and manager Curtis married, issuing a series of provocative wedding night publicity photos.After appearing as Lust incarnate in Stanley Donen's seven-deadly-sins comedy Bedazzled, Welch finally returned to the U.S. Fox used her judiciously in pictures like the 1968 James Stewart Western Bandolero! and the Frank Sinatra mystery Lady in Cement. Following in 1969 was 100 Rifles, a controversial Western which paired Welch with Jim Brown, and a year later she earned her first real starring role in the disastrous Myra Breckenridge. Her situation was unusual; she was certainly a star and a household name, yet few people ever went to see her movies -- neither 1971's Hannie Caulder nor the following year's Fuzz did anything to alter the dilemma, and when the 1973 roller-derby melodrama Kansas City Bomber also tanked at the box office, Welch divorced Curtis and returned to Europe to appear in Bluebeard. While both 1973's The Three Musketeers and its sequel The Four Musketeers were well received, she earned little credit for their success, and when the 1976 black comedy Mother, Jugs and Speed failed, Hollywood largely washed their hands of her.Welch instead turned to nightclubs, concert stages, and television; she also continued making films in Europe, including 1977's The Prince and the Pauper and L' Animal, co-starring Jean-Paul Belmondo. In 1980, she was tapped to star in Cannery Row, but was fired a month into production; she filed suit against MGM for damages, and was awarded 11 million dollars. Welch spent the entirety of the 1980s away from theaters, focusing primarily on television productions like 1982's The Legend of Walks Far Woman and 1987's Right to Die, in which she delivered one of her strongest performances as a woman suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease. After an absence of over a decade, in 1994 Welch returned to cinema in the comedy The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult. Throughout the decade, she also made a number of infomercials and exercise videos, and in 1995 also starred in the short-lived nighttime soap opera CPW. In 1997, she took over for Julie Andrews in the troubled Broadway musical Victor/Victoria, which closed less than a month after Welch's debut performance. In the years to come, Welch would remain active on screen, playing Aunt Dora on the massively popular sitcom American Family.

Trivia: As the correspondent of the popular Comedy Central tongue-in-cheek reportage series The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, acid-mouthed comic Rob Corddry developed a schtick that involved interviewing newsmakers and gleefully poking fun of them on live camera -- recalling the early days of series host Craig Kilborn (in Daily's pre-1999 incarnation). Corddry also took over Stephen Colbert's "This Week in God" segment and would frequently slip into character as a "take no prisoners" interviewer called Dino Ironbody when interrogating his subjects.Corddry hails from the Boston area. He was born in Weymouth, MA, in 1971 and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst. After graduation, he joined the comic ensemble Third Rail Comedy for a few years, then formed (with three others) the four-man comedic ensemble Naked Babies. In time, Corddry's antics secured a spot for him on Comedy Central -- initially on The Upright Citizens Brigade. As a comedic actor in feature films, Corddry debuted with a portrayal of Warren in the Will Ferrell-Luke Wilson frat-boy comedy Old School (2003), and his performance as a cracked gun salesman was one of the only saving graces of the awful Matthew McConaughey movie Failure to Launch (2006). The comic-turned-actor re-teamed with Ferrell and Wilson for the 2007 skating farce Blades of Glory, then signed for roles in such films as the Farrelly Brothers remake of The Heartbreak Kid (2007) and the 2008 sequel Harold and Kumar 2.Corrdry went on to play a supporting role in Operation: Endgame, a 2010 action comedy following the rivalry between two groups of government assassins, and won laughs, if not critical success, for his turn in Hot Tub Time Machine (2010). Corrdry reunited with fellow Daily Show alumni Ed Helms to play a small supporting role in Cedar Rapids (2011). The comedian solidified his cult following with Children's Hospital, a satirical medical comedy that relishes in the clichés of more traditional medical dramas. In addition to a starring role, Corrdry also came up with the show's concept. In 2012, Corrdry joined Steve Carrell (yet another former Daily Show co-star) for a supporting role in Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, a comedy drama following a couple on their final road trip before an asteroid destroys mankind.

Trivia: Comedian Rob Riggle earned his chops in the theater and film program at the University of Kansas. Also, perhaps surprisingly, the successful comic cut his teeth in the military, joining the Marines in 1990 and eventually earning the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Marine Corps Reserve. Riggle would go on to forge a creative partnership with fellow comedian Rob Huebel, working together in the sketch comedy troupe Upright Citizens Brigade, projects for VH1, and more. Riggle would go on to be a featured player on Saturday Night Live, and become an extremely popular member of the staff on The Daily Show, in addition to appearing in movies like The Hangover, Step Brothers, Talladega Nights, and Pushing Tom.

Trivia: Baby-faced Michael Cera first gained fame as the hilariously named George Michael Bluth, son of Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman), and the youngest member of a dysfunctional family of land-tract developers, on the riotous Fox sitcom Arrested Development (2003-2006). No stranger to "difficult" or "awkward" roles, Cera made one of his first marks in 2002, as the sexually overactive "younger version" of game show host Chuck Barris, in George Clooney's biopic Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. A short time after that, he signed for the Arrested part -- which required him to project a deep-seated amorous yen for his character's cousin. Cera's mostly comedic resumé also includes a multi-season turn as the voice of Josh Spitz in the animated series Braceface. In 2007, he co-starred in two highly successful big-screen comedies: SuperBad, opposite Jonah Hill, and Juno (which re-teamed him with Jason Bateman), alongside fellow rising star Ellen Page. In 2008 he starred in the indie-minded romantic comedy Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist opposite Kat Dennings. 2009 found him in the lead of two comedies, Youth in Revolt and Year One, both of which fell far short of the box office total taken in by his previous work. He took the title role in Edgar Wright's adaptation of the graphic novel Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.

Trivia: Irreverent sketch comic Rob Huebel gained recognition for producing episodes of several of television's most popular comedy showcases during the 1990s, including Michael Moore's politically charged The Awful Truth and Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Huebel also appeared in guest roles on the sitcoms Arrested Development and Curb Your Enthusiasm. In 2007, Huebel, Aziz Ansari, and Paul Scheer signed with MTV as the lead players in Human Giant, a weekly compendium of offbeat and humorous short films.

Trivia: Moved to California when she was 7.The 8-month audition process for the role of Mary Adler in Gifted (2017) included more than 600 girls.Learned how to ice-skate to prepare for her role as young Tonya Harding in the film I, Tonya (2017).Played young versions of many older characters, including Sabrina Spellman in The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina; Tonya Harding in I, Tonya (2017); Carol in Captain Marvel (2019); Theo in The Haunting of Hill House; and Emma in Once Upon a Time.Supports PETA and Farm Sanctuary.

Trivia: Making her stage bow at age five in a community production of Alice in Wonderland, Linda Lavin spent the next ten years studying piano under the watchful eye of her stage mother. After majoring in theater arts at William and Mary College, Lavin appeared in stock in New Jersey, then weathered the chorus-audition rounds in New York, making her off-Broadway debut in a 1960 revival of Oh, Kay (1960). Two years later, she reached Broadway in A Family Affair. She went on to play Lois Lane (a la Ethel Merman) in the short-lived 1965 Broadway musical It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman, and when that show folded she starred in the off-Broadway production Wet Paint, which earned her a Theatre World Award. The musicomedy review The Mad Show followed, then Lavin was selected by director Alan Arkin to play Patsy Newquist (one of her favorite roles, and one that earned her the New York Critics' Outer Circle Award) in Jules Feiffer's Little Murders (1968). She subsequently played all the female roles in 1969's Cop-Out (another of her favorites) and Elaine Navazio in Neil Simon's Last of the Red Hot Lovers. From 1968 onward, Lavin made periodic trips to Hollywood. Her work as detective Janice Wentworth during the 1975-76 season of TV's Barney Miller led to a supporting role in the pilot episode of the proposed series Jerry. CBS nixed Jerry but signed Lavin to a development deal, which of course developed into her ten-season (1976-85) hitch as waitress Alice Hyatt in the popular sitcom Alice. Recalling that her counterpart in the 1975 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore was an aspiring singer, Lavin inked her Alice contract on the assumption that the producers would permit her to sing--which they did, on practically every other network program except Alice. Returning to Broadway after her series folded, Lavin won a Tony award for her performance in Neil Simon's Broadway Bound, and also starred in Gypsy and The Sisters Rosensweig. She also made a brief return to TV as Edie Kurland in the one-season comedy Room for Two (1992). Linda Lavin was at one time married to actor Ron Leibman.

Trivia: Habitues of the late-night Jack Paar Program first became aware of the offbeat comic talents of Renee Taylor during her semi-regular appearances in the years 1959 through 1962. In films, Taylor has usually been seen in such small but distinctive roles as whispering dress extra in Jerry Lewis' The Errand Boy and Eva Braun (yes, Eva Braun) in Mel Brooks' The Producers. In 1965, she married actor/writer Joseph Bologna, becoming his partner both professionally and in life. In 1969, Taylor and Bologna wrote and starred in the Broadway comedy Lovers and Other Strangers; the play was transferred to the screen in 1970, minus the authors' on-screen presence but with all their comic insights and witticisms intact. Taylor and Bologna went on to create the 1973 TV series Calucci's Department, co-direct such films as 1989's It Had to Be You, and co-star in such projects as the 1976 TV-movie remake of Woman of the Year. In 1972, they shared an Emmy Award for their scriptwork on the 1972 television special Acts of Love-And Other Comedies. On her own, Renee Taylor has been a TV-series regular on 1977's Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (as Annabelle) and 1993's Daddy Dearest (as Helen Mitchell, the mother of Richard Lewis and estranged wife of Don Rickles).

Trivia: Lived in Portland from 1996 to 2000. Starred in productions of The Misanthrope and How I Learned to Drive at the Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland. Acted with the Circle X Theatre of Los Angeles. Appeared at an event for the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles called the Day of Jewish Learning & Culture. Is a member of the Groundlings company of Los Angeles.

Trivia: Born in Washington, D.C., but raised in Mexico. Acted with local theater groups as a youngster. Decided he wanted to be a professional actor when he was 16 and made his TV debut in the Mexican sitcom La Otra Cosa. Studied acting in Los Angeles, supporting himself by working as a waiter. Had a small role alongside Kevin Costner in the 1999 film Message in a Bottle. His stage work has included playing the leads in Equus and The Graduate.

Trivia: Though he proved adept at drama (evident via his straight-faced evocation of a young Bill Murray in the 2002 telemovie It's Always Something: The Gilda Radner Story), actor Mather Zickel specialized in comedic portrayals in madcap, off-the-wall material. Projects included the zany Christopher Walken farce Balls of Fury (2007), the raunchy religious spoof-sex comedy The Ten (2007), and Jonathan Demme's ensemble drama Rachel Getting Married (2008). Zickel is perhaps best known, however, for his ongoing portrayal of Carter on the pitch-black Internet-based soap opera spoof Horrible People.

Trivia: Actor and veteran of the Upright Citizen's Brigade comedy troupe Ben Schwartz began making his way into the world of television by appearing on shows like Parks and Recreation and in sketches on CollegeHumor.com. He eventually began making appearances in feature films, like 2009's Everybody's Fine and 2010's The Other Guys, before moving on to more prominent roles, like in the 2011 comedy Peep World.

Trivia: Lanky comedian "Weird Al" Yankovic is best known for his goofy but dead-on send-ups of pop hits and their videos. He attempted to translate his popularity to feature films with UHF (1989) with little success. He has made cameo appearances in feature films as well. In 1997, he launched a children's television show in which he showed his video parodies and played different characters. It was canceled after a single season, not because the show was bad, but because the network, CBS, canceled all of its live-action children's Saturday morning programming due to consistently low ratings.