Trivia: An idiosyncratic actor known for both his versatility and sinewy, off-kilter sexiness, Sam Rockwell is one of the stage and screen's most imaginative and least predictable performers. Once dubbed "the male Parker Posey" for his voluminous work in independent films, Rockwell has also earned notice for his work in more mainstream fare, including Frank Darabont's The Green Mile (1999).Born in Daly City, CA, on November 5, 1968, Rockwell enjoyed a steadfastly bohemian upbringing. The son of artists and actors, Rockwell moved to New York City with his parents when he was two. Three years later, his parents divorced, and he spent much of his youth traveling back and forth between them. Raised by his father in San Francisco, he spent his summers in New York with his mother, whose unconventional lifestyle -- replete with sex, drugs, and flamboyant hippies -- introduced Rockwell to some very adult pastimes at an extremely young age. It was through his mother that he became involved in theater, making his stage debut at the age of ten. He later attended San Francisco's High School of the Performing Arts, where, at the age of 18, he was chosen to star in Clown House (1988), an ill-fated thriller revolving around three brothers' fight to the death with a group of maniacal circus entertainers.Following his screen debut, Rockwell moved to New York and proceeded to make 20 more films, including Last Exit to Brooklyn (1990) and Tom Di Cillo's Box of Moonlight (1996). It was the actor's work in the latter film that first won him recognition: as The Kid, a coonskin cap-clad free spirit whose backwoods existence alters the mundane life of a burnt-out engineer (John Turturro), Rockwell gave an engaging performance that sparked industry attention; unfortunately, the independent film disappeared at the box office. The actor next garnered attention for his lead role in John Duigan's Lawn Dogs (1997), a tale about the unconventional friendship between a white trash lawn boy (Rockwell) and a ten year-old girl (Mischa Barton) with a heart problem. Employing a heavy helping of magical realism to tell its story, the film earned fairly positive reviews, and Rockwell drew particular praise for his complex, low-key performance.The actor subsequently appeared in a series of comedies that made good use of his quirky persona, most notably Safe Men (1998), which cast him and Steve Zahn as two singers of dubious quality who find themselves the unwitting targets of the Jewish mafia. In 1999, more mainstream audiences were introduced to Rockwell thanks to his memorable work in three films: A Midsummer Night's Dream, which cast him as the cross-dressing Francis Flute; Galaxy Quest, a comedy spoof in which Rockwell played a cast member of a failing circa-'70s sci-fi TV series; and The Green Mile, in which the actor got to fully exhibit his twisted versatility as Wild Bill, a death-row inmate whom Rockwell himself characterized as "a disgusting, racist, pedophile freak." Switching gears almost as much as humanly possible, Rockwell's following role in Galaxy Quest (1999) found him a quirky cast member of a Star Trek-like television sci-fi series. The contrast between Rockwell's ultra-lightweight Galaxy Quest characterization and his former role as a genuinely revolting criminal was a testament to his versatility, and though he would stick to comedy with Charlie's Angels, a series of small roles would follow before Rockwell teamed with actor George Clooney for Welcome to Collinwood and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (both 2002). Appearing as former host of the cult television sensation The Gong Show in the latter, Rockwell brought Chuck Barris' compellingly quirky (and partially fictionalized) biography to the screen under first-time director George Clooney. In addition to his work onscreen, Rockwell has continued to act on the stage, appearing in such productions as a 1998 off-Broadway run of Mike Leigh's Goosepimples.Over the next several years, Rockwell would remain a constant force on screen, appearing in films like The Assassination of Jesse James, Choke, Frost/Nixon, Choke, Moon, Conviction, Cowboys & Aliens, and The Sitter.

Trivia: The granddaughter of John Barrymore and grandniece of Ethel Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore, Drew Barrymore was born in Culver City, California on February 22, 1975. From there, she didn't waste much time getting in front of the cameras, making her first commercial at nine months and her first television movie, Suddenly Love, at the age of two. Two years later, she made her film debut, appearing as William Hurt's daughter in Altered States (1980). At the advanced age of seven, Barrymore became a true celebrity, thanks to her role as the cherubic Gertie in Steven Spielberg's E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. The huge success of that 1982 film endeared Barrymore to millions of audience members, but following leads in two more films, Irreconcilable Differences and Firestarter (both 1984), the young actress began to succumb to a destructive lifestyle defined by drugs, alcohol, and too much partying. A child expected to behave like an adult, Barrymore began drinking at the age of nine and started taking drugs a short while later.Unsurprisingly, observers began writing Barrymore off as just another failed child star when she was barely into her teens. She made a string of (largely forgettable) movies, many of which only reinforced her image as a has-been. However, in the middle of her teen years, Barrymore entered rehab, cleaned herself up, and wrote an autobiography, Little Girl Lost, which detailed her travails with drugs and alcohol. In the early 1990s, she entered another phase in her career, gaining notoriety for playing a series of vampy, trampy trailer-park Lolitas. In this capacity, she turned in memorable performances in Poison Ivy (1992), the 1993 made-for-TV The Amy Fisher Story, and Batman Forever (1995), all of which featured her pouting seductively and showing more thigh than all the Rockettes combined. Barrymore's on-screen antics were ably complemented by the off-screen reputation she was forming at the time: first she could be seen posing nude with then-boyfriend Jamie Walters on the cover of Interview magazine, then modeling for a series of racy Guess ads, flashing David Letterman during an appearance on The Late Show as a "birthday present" to the host, and finally posing nude for Playboy in 1995.In 1996, Barrymore's image underwent an abrupt and effective transformation from slut to sweetheart. With a brief but memorable role in Wes Craven's Scream and a lead in Woody Allen's Everyone Says I Love You that featured her as a Kelly Girl for the '90s, Barrymore's career received an adrenaline shot to the heart. She began working steadily again, and she reshaped her offscreen persona into that of a delightful and sweet-natured girl trying to mend her ways. This new image was supported by her screen work, much of which featured her as a chaste heroine. Her starring role as the "real" Cinderella in Ever After (1998) was a good example, and it had the added advantage of turning out to be a fairly solid hit. Barrymore's other major 1998 film, The Wedding Singer, was another hit, further enhancing her reputation as America's new sweetheart. The following year, the actress all but put the final nail in the coffin of her wild-child reputation of years past, starring as the nerdy, lovelorn twenty-something reporter who bears the titular condition of Never Been Kissed. That movie not only marked a notable transition in Barrymore's reputation, but an advancement in her cinematic career as well. Expanding her role from actress to producer, Barrymore would continue starring in and producing such efforts as Charlie's Angels (2000), Donnie Darko (2001).Though some may have suspected that her millennial transition from sweetheart to skull-cracker in Charlie's Angels may have signaled a shift towards more action oriented roles -- and despite her return to the role in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003) -- Barrymore once again charmed audiences with another emotional comedy, Riding in Cars With Boys in 2001, while Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002) found Drew in the role of long-suffering girlfriend alongside Sam Rockwell's unlikely CIA operative. Though the film did not fare particularly well critically or otherwise, Barrymore took a nonetheless interesting turn as an apple-pie wife turned sinister in 2003's Duplex, and held her own against scene-chomper Ben Stiller. Barrymore teamed up with fellow Stiller-flick alumni Owen Wilson for 2004's Date School, and once again played Adam Sandler's sugar sweet girlfriend in director Peter Segal's romantic comedy Fifty-First Dates.2005 brought yet another openly fluffy romantic comedy with Fever Pitch, in which she played the straight-girl against Red Sox super-fan Jimmy Fallon, but she soon changed gears, signing on to appear in Lucky You, a gambling drama by Curtis Hanson. She was soon back to romcom terretory, with Music and Lyrics and He's Just Not That Into You, but also took on an extremly meaty character role in the 2009 HBO film Grey Gardens, in which she mimiced the particular speech and mannerisms of infamous shut-in "Little Edie" and met with major critical acclaim. Around this same time, Barrymore took on her first directorial effort, helming the modest, young-adult movie Whip It, which critics deemed a solid debut. Barrymore then took on a starring role alongside sometime boyfriend Justin Long in the 2010 comedy Going the Distance, before signing on to play an environmental activist in the feel-good period movie Big Miracle. She then took a career break in order to focus on her growing family before re-teaming with Adam Sandler in 2014 for the romcom Blended.

Trivia: As the son of broadcast journalist Nick Clooney and the nephew of chanteuse Rosemary Clooney, George Clooney entered the world with show business coursing through his veins. Born May 6, 1961 in Lexington, Kentucky, the future E.R. headliner appeared at the tender age of five on his father's Cincinnati talk program, The Nick Clooney Show. In his youth, Clooney honed a sharp interest in sports - particularly baseball - but by adulthood, Clooney launched himself as an onscreen presence, seemingly without effort. Beginning with a string of television commercials, then signed with Warner Brothers Entertainment as a supporting player. By the time Clooney had paid his dues, he'd appeared in single episodes of The Golden Girls, Riptide, Crazy Like a Fox, Street Hawk and Hunter.After regular gigs on TV shows like The Facts of Life, Roseanne, and Sisters, Clooney scored a role on the NBC medical drama E.R., which proved his breakthrough to superstardom. When that program shot up to #1 in prime time ratings, Clooney carried it (much more, in fact, than a first-billed Anthony Edwards) - his inborn appeal to women and his onscreen grace and charm massive contributing factors. This appeal increased as his character - initially something of a callous womanizer - matured with the show, eventually evolving into a kind and thoroughly decent, if somewhat hotheaded, human being.The performer's newfound star power led to big screen opportunities, like an acid-mouthed, rifle-wielding antihero (one of the Gecko Brothers, alongside Quentin Tarantino) in the Robert Rodriguez-directed, Tarantino-scripted horror comedy From Dusk Till Dawn (1995). Not long after, Clooney shifted gears altogether, co-headlining (with Michelle Pfeiffer) in the charming romcom One Fine Day (1996). Though he would notoriously misstep in accepting the role of Bruce Wayne in the 1997 attempted Batman reboot Batman & Robin, Clooney's honesty about the part being a bad fit was refreshing to audiences, and he took little flack for the movie, moving on to critically acclaimed movies like the action-laced crime comedy Out of Sight, and Terrence Malick's adaptation of The Thin Red Line. Out of Sight represented a massive watershed moment for Clooney: the first of his numerous collaborations with director Steven Soderbergh. In 1999 -- following his much-talked-about departure from E.R. - Clooney continued to work on a number of high-profile projects. He would star alongside Mark Wahlberg and Ice Cube as an American soldier reclaiming Kuwaiti treasure from Saddam Hussein in David O. Russell's Three Kings, and eventually win a 2000 Golden Globe for his portrayal of a pomade-obsessed escaped convict in the Coen brothers' Odyssey update O Brother Where Art Thou?. It was around this time that Clooney, now an established actor equally as comfortable on the big screen as the small, began to branch out as the Executive Producer of such made-for-TV efforts as Killroy (1999) and Fail Safe (2000). Soon producing such features as Rock Star (2001) and Insomnia (2002), Clooney next re-teamed with Soderbergh for a modern take on a classic Rat Pack comedy with Ocean's Eleven (2001). After the dynamic film duo stuck together for yet another remake, the deep-space psychological science-fiction drama Solaris (2002), busy Clooney both produced and appeared in Welcome to Collinwood and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind later the same year.Confessions marked Clooney's behind-the-camera debut, and one of the most promising actor-turned-director outings in memory. Adapted by Charlie Kaufman from Gong Show host Chuck Barris's possibly fictionalized memoir, the picture exhibited Clooney's triple fascinations with politics, media and celebrity; critics did not respond to it with unanimous enthusiasm, but it did show Clooney's promise as a director. He went on to star alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones in the Coen Brothers movie Intolerable Cruelty. The small film was a major sleeper hit among the lucky few who got to see it, and it proved to be a great showcase for Clooney's abilities as a comedian. He moved on to team up with Zeta-Jones again, along with almost the entire cast of Ocean's Eleven, for the sequel, Oceans Twelve, which earned mixed critical reviews, but (like its predecessor) grossed dollar one at the box office. By 2005, Clooney achieved his piece-de-resistance by writing, directing, and acting a sophomore outing: the tense period drama Good Night, and Good Luck.. Shot in black-and-white by ace cinematographer Robert Elswit, the picture followed the epic decision of 1950's television journalist Edward R. Murrow (played by David Strathairn) to confront Senator Joseph McCarthy about his Communist witch hunt. The picture drew raves from critics and received nominations for Best Picture and Best Director.Clooney next appeared in the harshly explicit and openly critical Syriana. He took the lead in this ensemble political thriller about the oil industry, directed by Stephen Gaghan of Traffic and heralded by critics as a disturbingly real look at a hopelessly flawed and corrupt system. Clooney won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a veteran CIA officer. Never one to rest for very long, Clooney then joined the cast of The Good German. Directed by longtime collaborator Steven Soderbergh, German unfolds in post-WWII Berlin, where Clooney plays a war correspondent who helps an ex-lover (Cate Blanchett) search for her missing husband. The actor-director team would pair up again the following year for the third installment in the Ocean's saga, Ocean's Thirteen. Next turning towards a more intimate, individualized project, Clooney earned yet more acclaim playing the title role in Tony Gilroy's Michael Clayton, where his portrayal of a morally compromised legal "fixer" earned him strong reviews and an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.Complications during the pre-production of the period comedy Leatherheads led to Clooney rewriting the script, as well as starring in and directing the picture. Though the movie made few ripples with audiences or critics, Clooney's adeptness continued to impress. In 2009, he gave voice to the lead character in Wes Anderson's thoroughly charming stop-motion animation feature Fantastic Mr. Fox, played a soldier with ESP in the comedy The Men Who Stare at Goats, and earned arguably the best notices of his career as corporate hatchet man Ryan Bingham in Jason Reitman's Up in the Air. His work in that well-reviewed comedy/drama earned him nominations from the Screen Actors Guild, the Golden Globes, and the Academy. In the midst of awards season, Clooney again produced a successful telethon, this time to help earthquake victims in Haiti.In 2011 Clooney would, for the second time in his already impressive career, score Oscar nominations for writing and acting in two different films. His leading role in Alexander Payne's The Descendants earned him a wave of critical praise, as well as Best Actor nods from the Screen Actors Guild and the Academy, as well as capturing the Best Actor award from the Golden Globes. The film he co-wrote and directed that year, the political drama The Ides of March garnered the heartthrob a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination from BAFTA, the Academy, and the Golden Globes. In 2012 he earned his second Oscar as one of the producers of that year's Best Picture winner, the Ben Affleck-directed political thriller/Hollywood satire Argo. The following year, he appeared in the critically-acclaimed, box office smash Gravity, and also produced August: Osage County. In 2014, he co-wrote and co-produced (with Grant Heslov) and starred in The Monuments Men, but the film was delayed from a late-2013 release and didn't score well with critics or at the box office.

Trivia: Born October 28th, 1967, Georgia native Julia Roberts was raised in a fervently pro-theater environment. Her parents regularly hosted acting and writing workshops, and both of the Roberts children (Julia and her brother Eric) showed an interest in the performing arts at an early age. Ironically enough, Eric was the first to break into film; in 1978, one year after their father died of lung cancer at 47, Eric Roberts starred in director Frank Pierson's psychological drama King of the Gypsies. Though her older brother would go on to have a solid acting career, it was, of course, Julia Roberts who earned a spot among Hollywood's elite.After making her film debut in Blood Red -- which wouldn't be released until 1989, despite having been completed in 1986 -- and appearing in several late '80s television features, Roberts got her first real break in the 1988 made-for-cable drama Satisfaction. That role, consequently, led to her first significant supporting role -- a feisty pizza parlor waitress in 1989's Mystic Pizza with Annabeth Gish, Lili Taylor, and a then 19-year-old Matt Damon. While Mystic Pizza was not a star-making film for Roberts, it certainly helped earn her the credentials she needed to land the part of Shelby, an ill-fated would-be mother in Steel Magnolias. The 1989 tearjerker found her acting alongside Sally Field and Shirley MacLaine, and culminated in an Oscar nomination for Roberts. While the success of Steel Magnolias played no small part in launching Roberts' career, and undoubtedly secured her role in the mediocre Flatliners (1990) with former flame Kiefer Sutherland, it was director Garry Marshall's romantic comedy Pretty Woman with Richard Gere that served as her true breakthrough role. Roberts' part in Pretty Woman (a good-hearted prostitute who falls in love with a millionaire client) made the young actress a household name and cemented what would become a permanent spot in tabloid fodder. Roberts broke off her engagement with Sutherland in 1991, just three days before they were scheduled to be married, and surprised the American public in 1993, when she began her two-year marriage to country singer Lyle Lovett. Roberts' personal life kept her name in the spotlight despite a host of uneven performances throughout the early '90s (neither 1991's Dying Young or Sleeping With the Enemy garnered much acclaim), as did a reputed feud with Steven Spielberg during the filming of Hook (1991). Luckily, Roberts made decidedly less embarrassing headlines in 1993, when her role alongside future Oscar winner Denzel Washington in The Pelican Brief reaffirmed her status as a dramatic actress. Her career, however, took a turn back to the mediocre throughout the following year; both Prêt-à-Porter and I Love Trouble proved commercial flops, and Mary Reilly (1996) fizzled at the box office as well. The downward spiral reversed directions once again with 1996's Michael Collins and Conspiracy Theory with Mel Gibson, and led to several successful comic roles including Notting Hill with Hugh Grant, Runaway Bride, and most notably, My Best Friend's Wedding with Rupert Everett and a then virtually unknown Cameron Diaz. Roberts' biggest success didn't present itself until 2000, though, when she delivered an Oscar-winning performance playing the title role in Steven Soderbergh's Erin Brockovich. The film, based on the true story of Erin Brockovich, a single mother who, against all odds, won a heated battle against corporate environmental offenders, earned Roberts a staggering 20-million-dollar salary. Officially the highest paid actress in Hollywood, Roberts went on to star in 2001's America's Sweethearts with Billy Crystal, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and John Cusack, as well as The Mexican with Brad Pitt. While on the set of The Mexican, Roberts met cameraman Danny Moder, whom she would marry in 2001 almost immediately after ending a four-year relationship with fellow actor Benjamin Bratt. Indeed, 2001 was a banner year for Roberts; in addition to America's Sweethearts and The Mexican, Roberts starred in the crime caper Ocean's Eleven, in which she rejoined former co-stars Brad Pitt and Matt Damon, and acted for the first time with George Clooney and Don Cheadle. Julia Roberts worked with Soderbergh once again in 2002's Full Frontal, which, despite a solid cast including Mary McCormack and Catherine Keener, among others, did not even begin to fare as well as Erin Brockovich. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), which featured Roberts as a femme fatale alongside George Clooney, Sam Rockwell, and Drew Barrymore did much better, and preceded 2003's Mona Lisa Smile with young Hollywood's Julia Stiles, Kirsten Dunst, and Maggie Gyllenhaal. In 2004, Roberts signed on for the sequel to Ocean's Eleven -- the aptly titled Ocean's Twelve. A supporting performance in the animated 2006 feature The Ant Bully marked the glamorous Hollywood beauty's first foray into the world of animation, which she would continue for Christmas of 2006 with the role of everone's favorite selfless spider in Charlotte's Web. In the coming years, Roberts would reteam with Tom Hanks for Charlie Wilson's War in 2007, and then again for Larry Crowne in 2011. In the meantime, the A-lister would keep busy with a critically acclaimed performance in 2010's Eat, Pray, Love, in which she portrayed a divorcee on a journey of self discovery, and 2012's retelling of Snow White, Mirror, Mirror.

Trivia: Tall, strikingly handsome Dutch actor Rutger Hauer, the son of drama teachers, ran away from his Amsterdam home at age 15 and spent a year aboard a freighter. After coming home, he took a variety of odd jobs while attending night classes to study acting. Afterwards he joined an experimental theater troupe, remaining with them for five years. He then landed a role in a Dutch TV series in which he played a swashbuckler. He debuted onscreen as the lead in Paul Verhoeven's erotically graphic film Turkish Delight (1973); his English-speaking debut came two years later in Ralph Nelson's The Wilby Conspiracy (1975), but it failed to establish him in Hollywood and he returned to making European films. He finally broke through in America as the sociopathic cold-blooded terrorist in the Sylvester Stallone vehicle Nighthawks (1981), after which he was frequently cast as steel-cold heavies in American films. However, his range extends beyond bad guys, as shown (for example) in his role oppposite Michelle Pfeiffer in the medieval romance Ladyhawke (1985). Most of his films since 1981 have been made in America.

Trivia: The daughter of director Stephen Gyllenhaal (Waterland [1992]) and screenwriter Naomi Foner (Running on Empty [1988]), and the sister of hot young Hollywood heartthrob Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko [2001], The Good Girl [2002], Moonlight Mile [2002]), Maggie Gyllenhaal seems to have all the makings of a successful young starlet with her Tinseltown background and curiously unique beauty. Born in November 16th, 1977, Gyllenhaal got some early screen breaks thanks to roles in such Stephen Gyllenhaal films as Waterland (1992) and Homegrown (1998). Soon graduating from Columbia University with an English degree, pretty Gyllenhaal continued to refine her acting skills on the stages of New York and London theaters in such productions as The Tempest and The Butterfly Project. Her ascent into the collective film conscience continued with a humorous turn in director John Waters' anarchic Cecil B. Demented and alongside younger brother Jake in the surreal teen fantasy Donnie Darko (2001). Soon gaining more prominent roles alongside such hot Hollywood actors as Drew Barrymore (Riding in Cars With Boys [2001]) and Josh Hartnett (40 Days and 40 Nights [2002]), Gyllenhaal would turn up later in 2002 in eccentric director Spike Jonze's sophomore effort, Adaptation. Her supporting roles offering but a glimpse into her engagingly offbeat talent, Gyllenhaal truly came into her own with her breakthrough performance as a mentally unstable secretary in director Steven Shainberg's 2002 dark comedy Secretary. Cast opposite former '80s wonder boy James Spader, Gyllenhaal displayed a careful balance of unshielded vulnerability and mild sadomasochism as the film's troubled lead. Nominated for numerous awards including a Golden Globe and Independent Spirit for Best Actress, Secretary found the disarming actress branded the "it" girl to watch for in the coming years. While subsequent supporting performances in such films as Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Casa de Los Babys, and Mona Lisa Smile may not have offered fans the large dose of Gyllenhall that they sought after Secretary, audiences could see her in a starring role opposite John C. Reilly in the 2004 George Clooney/Steven Soderbergh-produced remake Criminal. Gyllenhaal kept up her status as an independent film icon in 2005 with major parts in The Great New Wonderful and earning praise for her work in Don Roos' Happy Endings where she got to show off her vocal talents performing a selection of Billy Joel songs. 2006 would be a very busy year for the actress. She co-starred in Oliver Stone's 9/11 film World Trade Center, gave an award winning performance as a drug addict in SherryBaby, played opposite Will Ferrell in the comedy Stranger Than Fiction, and lent her voice to the Steven Spielberg produced animated film Monster House. That same year she announced that she was expecting her first child with her longtime boyfriend actor Peter Sarsgaard. In 2008, Gyllenhaal appeared in the record-breaking box-office smash sequel The Dark Knight, taking over the role played by Katie Holmes in Batman Begins. She followed that up in 2009 with a hilarious supporting turn in Away We Go as an overly-involved mother. But it was her appearance that same year in the low-key drama Crazy Heart opposite Jeff Bridges that earned her some of the best reviews of her career as well as a Best Supporting Actress nominations from the Academy.

Trivia: One of the first independent producers to be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Jerry Weintraub, the son of a gem salesman, began his career as a talent agent for MCA in the 1950s. He was to represent such clients as Jack Paar and singer Jane Morgan who became his second wife. He formed Management III in 1965, and from a quite modest beginning (two partners, three clients, a small backing), became a leading concert promoter. With the founding of Concerts West, he was to handle such clients as Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, and the Beach Boys.Robert Altman's groundbreaking Nashville (1975) was Weintraub's first production venture. This was soon followed with the successful comedy Oh, God! starring the legendary George Burns and 9/30/55 (aka 24 Hours of the Rebel [1977]), the controversial Cruising (1980), and All Night Long (1981). In 1982, he produced Barry Levinson's Diner, which premiered a new generation of actors including Kevin Bacon, Paul Reiser, Mickey Rourke, Tim Daly, Ellen Barkin, and Steve Guttenberg. In 1984, he became involved with the first film in the Karate Kid series (1984, 1986, 1989, 1994, 2010).In 1984, Weintraub helped deliver the Olympic Gala and the ABC telecast preceding the opening of the Los Angeles Olympic Games. There are over 100 television specials, such as Sinatra: The Main Event and An Evening With John Denver, with which Weintraub has been involved. In 1986, Weintraub was named Producer of the Year by the National Association of Theater Owners, and in March 1991, President George Bush appointed Weintraub to the Board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. In 1987, Weintraub produced Happy New Year and in 1992 Pure Country. He made his first acting foray as the character Sonny Capps in Sydney Pollack's The Firm released in 1993. 1994 saw the creation of The Specialist, a thriller vehicle for Sylvester Stallone and Sharon Stone, released in Spanish as El Especialista. Weintraub again appeared in a bit part as Jilly in National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation (1997) which he also produced. After establishing Jerry Weintraub Productions, he generated a film remake of the modish British TV series The Avengers (1998), a sci-fi-thriller with Kurt Russell entitled Soldier (1998), The Independent (2000), Ocean's Eleven (2001), in which Weintraub acted the part of High Roller, and Dino (2002). Weintraub has also appeared as the character of Jerry for Full Frontal (2002), and as Larry Goldberg in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002). He later returned as a producer on Ocean sequels Twelve (2004) and Thirteen (2007). In 2015, his new series The Brink premiered on HBO; three weeks later, Weintraub died of cardiac arrest, at age 77.Weintraub's many philanthropic activities included the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Music Center, and the Children's Museum. In 1988, the esteemed Scopus Award from the American Friends of the Hebrew University was given to Weintraub and his wife in gratitude for their continuous support.

Trivia: Tall, chiseled-face character actor Robert John Burke has been acting since the 1970s, but he is best known to art house audiences as a regular member of New York-based director Hal Hartley's stock company of decidedly non-Hollywood actors. Born on Long Island, Burke studied acting at S.U.N.Y. Purchase in the early '70s. After he graduated from college, Burke began acting in TV, appearing on such shows as As the World Turns and Happy Days. Though he made his feature film debut in The Chosen (1981), Burke devoted his energies in the early '80s to an experimental teaching program designed to involve students directly in the arts. Burke returned to movies and TV in the latter half of the 1980s with roles in actioner Wanted Dead or Alive (1986), TV movie comedy Pass the Ammo (1989), and late-'80s dance trend vehicle Lambada (1989). Burke's fortunes began to change when he was cast in the lead role of an enigmatic ex-con who returns to his Long Island hometown in the then-unknown Hartley's first feature, The Unbelievable Truth (1990). Shot on a shoestring budget in 11 days, The Unbelievable Truth garnered positive notice for Hartley's distinctly offbeat, dark comic sensibility and his stars' deadpan, wry performances. Burke followed The Unbelievable Truth with a supporting part in the Oscar-nominated 1930s coming of age film Rambling Rose (1991) and a high-profile starring role replacing Peter Weller as the imposing eponymous cyborg law enforcer in Robocop 3 (1992). Burke stayed busy from then on, alternating between independent movies and Hollywood projects. Working with Hartley again, Burke starred as one of a pair of brothers searching for their ballplayer-turned-anarchist father in the quirky yet appealing Simple Men (1992); he played a smaller role in Hartley's troubled romance triad Flirt (1995). Burke also acted more than once with the far less celebrated independent filmmaker Eric Schaeffer, appearing in Schaeffer's industry insider comedy My Life's in Turnaround (1993) and self-indulgent romantic comedy If Lucy Fell (1996). Outside of the New York independent scene, Burke played Reese Witherspoon's African gamekeeper father in the children's adventure A Far Off Place (1993), joined the distinguished cast populating Tombstone (1993) (the Kurt Russell version of the Wyatt Earp Western legend), appeared in Oliver Stone's third Vietnam movie, Heaven and Earth (1993), and starred as the cursed obese lawyer in Stephen King's horror yarn Thinner (1996). Continuing to show his versatility in both comedy and drama, Burke joined the supporting cast of the light-hearted buddy chase movie Fled (1996) and starred as Natasha Gregson Wagner's father in the bayou love story First Love, Last Rites (1997). Burke returned to TV in the late '90s in two acclaimed HBO productions, the ambitious miniseries From the Earth to the Moon (1998) and the wrenching Vietnam War docudrama A Bright Shining Lie (1998). At the start of the 2000s, Burke reunited with Hal Hartley for the Cannes Film Festival entry No Such Thing (2001). Drawing upon his varied experience, not to mention his formidable mien, Burke played the mammal/lizard Beast to Sarah Polley's Beauty in Hartley's singular reworking of the fairy tale romance.

Trivia: Majored in criminology in college and had aspirations of a career in law. Made TV debut as an extra in an episode of the 1993 FOX drama series Class of '96. Took classes at the Lee Strasberg Theater & Film Institute in New York, NY. Worked as a personal bartender for fashion designer Calvin Klein. Was an original cast member in the 2000 Off-Broadway production of Love In A Thirsty Land. Had the starring role in the Canadian comedy-drama series Naked Josh, which first aired in 2003. Coproduced, cowrote and costarred in Camp Hollywood, a 2004 made-for-TV documentary that won a Gemini Award, Canada's highest honor for excellence on the small screen. Appeared on CBS' drama CSI: NY in 2005 in a regular series role, but that same year decided to leave show to concentrate on the third season of the Naked Josh. Instrumental in forming an advanced-training acting program for Canadian thespians through the Canadian Film Centre.

Trivia: When fiery-haired Canadian actress Rachelle Lefevre discovered her love of acting, she made a point of learning about her chosen craft. She studied at McGill University, as well as at Dawson College, both near her family home in Quebec, Canada, and additionally traveled to Walnut Hill School in Massachusetts to study theater. Eventually, while working at a sushi restaurant in Montreal, Lefevre got a tip about an upcoming audition for a television series, eventually leading to a number of roles on Canadian TV. The actress traveled south to appear in Hollywood films like Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and on TV series like Charmed, Boston Legal, and Life on Mars. It wouldn't be until 2008, however, that she experienced a major jolt of fame, as she took on the role of the gorgeous and malicious vampire Victoria in the highly anticipated film adaptation of the young adult novel Twilight. Television roles in Off the Map and A Gifted Man followed.

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: A former San Francisco Giants baseball player turned character actor, Daniel Zacapa has worked steadily from the 1970s to the 1990s, amassing a series of television credits, as well as roles in Up Close and Personal and Seven.

Trivia: Credited as Michael Fipowich for voicing the character Chris Redfield in the video game Resident Evil: Code: Veronica.Best known for playing Nick Coughlin in the television series 24.

Trivia: Was adopted. Is a trained dancer. For four years, performed with the Boston Ballet. During her junior year in college, took some time off to perform in a national tour of West Side Story. Moved to New York in 1995.

Trivia: The son of a trucking company manager, Brad Pitt was born December 18, 1963, in Shawnee, OK. Raised in Missouri as the oldest of three children, and brought up in a strict Baptist household, Pitt enrolled at the University of Missouri, following high school graduation, studying journalism and advertising. However, after discovering his love of acting, he dropped out of college two credit hours before he could graduate and moved to Hollywood. Once in California, Pitt took acting classes and supported himself with a variety of odd jobs that included chauffeuring strippers to private parties, waiting tables, and wearing a giant chicken suit for a local restaurant chain. His first break came when he landed a small recurring role on Dallas, and a part in a teenage-slasher movie, Cutting Class (1989) (opposite Roddy McDowall), marked his inauspicious entrance into the world of feature films. The previous year, Pitt's acting experience had been limited to the TV movie A Stoning in Fulgham County (1988). 1991 marked the end of Pitt's obscurity, as it was the year he made his appearance in Thelma & Louise (1991) as the wickedly charming drifter who seduces Geena Davis and then robs her blind. After becoming famous practically overnight, Pitt unfortunately chose to channel his newfound celebrity into Ralph Bakshi's disastrous animation/live action combo Cool World (1992). Following this misstep, Pitt took a starring role in director Tom Di Cillo's independent film Johnny Suede. The film failed to score with critics or at the box office and Pitt's documented clashes with the director allegedly inspired Di Cillo to pattern the character of the vain and egotistical Chad Palomino, in his 1995 Living in Oblivion, after the actor. Pitt's next venture, Robert Redford's lyrical fly-fishing drama A River Runs Through It (2002), gave the actor a much-needed chance to prove that he had talent in addition to physical appeal.Following his performance in Redford's film, Pitt appeared in Kalifornia and True Romance (both 1993), two road movies featuring fallen women and violent sociopaths. Pitt's next major role did not arrive until early 1994, when he was cast as the lead of the gorgeously photographed Legends of the Fall. As he did in A River Runs Through It, Pitt portrayed a free-spirited, strong-willed brother, but this time had greater opportunity to further develop his enigmatic character. Later that same year, fans watched in anticipation as Pitt exchanged his outdoorsy persona for the brooding, gothic posturing of Anne Rice's tortured vampire Louis in the film adaptation of Interview With the Vampire. Pitt next starred in the forgettable romantic comedy The Favor (1994) before going on to play a rookie detective investigating a series of gruesome crimes opposite Morgan Freeman in Seven (1995). In 1997, Pitt received a Golden Globe award and an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of a visionary mental patient in Terry Gilliam's 12 Monkeys; the same year, Pitt attempted an Austrian accent and put on a backpack to play mountaineer Heinrich Harrar in Seven Years in Tibet. The film met with mixed reviews and generated a fair amount of controversy, thanks in part to the revelation that the real-life Harrar had in fact been a Nazi. Following Tibet, Pitt traveled in a less inflammatory direction with Alan J. Pakula's The Devil's Own, in which he starred with fellow screen icon Harrison Ford. Despite this seemingly faultless pairing, the film was a relative critical and box-office failure. In 1998, Pitt tried his hand at romantic drama, portraying Death in Meet Joe Black, the most expensive non-special effects film ever made. Pitt's penchant for quirk was prevalent with his cameo in the surreal comic fantasy Being John Malkovich (1999) and carried over into his role as Tyler Durden, the mysterious and anti-materialistic soap salesman in David Fincher's controversial Fight Club the same year. The odd characterizations didn't let up with his appearance as the audibly indecipherable pugilist in Guy Ritchie's eagerly anticipated follow-up to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch (2000).In July of 2000, the man voted "Most Sexy Actor Alive" by virtually every entertainment publication currently in circulation crushed the hearts of millions of adoring female fans when he wed popular film and television actress Jennifer Aniston in a relatively modest (at least by Hollywood standards) and intimate service.Pitt's next turn on the big screen found him re-teamed with Robert Redford, this time sharing the screen with the A River Runs Through It director in the espionage thriller Spy Game (2001). A fairly retro-straight-laced role for an actor who had become identified with his increasingly eccentric roles, he was soon cast in Steven Soderbergh's remake of the Rat Pack classic Ocean's 11 (2001), the tale of a group of criminals who plot to rob a string of casinos. Following a decidedly busy 2001 that also included a lead role opposite Julia Roberts in the romantic crime-comedy The Mexican, Pitt was virtually absent from the big-screen over the next three years. After walking away from the ambitious and troubled Darren Aronofsky production The Fountain, he popped up for a very brief cameo in pal George Clooney's 2002 directorial debut Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and lent his voice to the animated adventure Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, but spent the majority of his time working on the historical epic Troy (2004). Directed by Wolfgang Peterson, the film employed a huge cast, crew and budget.The media engulfed Pitt's next screen role with tabloid fervor, as it cast him opposite bombshell Angelina Jolie. While the comedic actioner Mr. and Mrs. Smith grossed dollar one at the box office, the stars' off-camera relationship that made some of 2005's biggest headlines. Before long, Pitt had split from his wife Jennifer Aniston and adopted Jolie's two children. The family expanded to three in 2006 with the birth of the couple's first child, to four in 2007 with the adoption of a Vietnamese boy, and finally to six in 2008, with the birth of fraternal twins.In addition to increasing his family in 2006, Pitt also padded his filmography as a producer on a number of projects, including Martin Scorsese's The Departed, the Best Picture Winner for 2006. He also acted opposite Cate Blanchett in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's drama Babel. Interestingly, that film hit theaters the same year as The Fountain, a film that was originally set to star the duo. Pitt also stayed busy as an actor, reteaming with many familiar on-screen pals for Ocean's Thirteen. At about the same time, Pitt teamed up with Ridley Scott to co-produce a period western, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford; Pitt also stars in the film, as James. The year 2007 found Pitt involved, simultaneously, in a number of increasingly intelligent and distinguished projects. He signed on to reteam with David Fincher for the first occasion since Fight Club, with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - a bittersweet fantasy, adapted by Forrest Gump scribe Eric Roth from an F. Scott Fitzgerald story, about a man who falls in love while he is aging in reverse. When the special effects heavy film hit theaters in time for awards season in 2008, Pitt garnered a Best Actor nomination from both the Academy and the Screen Actors Guild. Also in 2007, Pitt produced an adaptation of Marianne Pearl's memoir A Mighty Heart that starred Angelina Jolie. In the years that followed, Pitt remained supremely busy. He delivered a funny lead performance as Lt. Aldo Raine in Quentin Tarantino's blistering World War II saga Inglourious Basterds (2009), then did some of the most highly-praised work of his career as a disciplinarian father in Terence Malick's The Tree of Life (2011) - a sprawling, cerebral phantasmorgia on the meaning of life and death that became one of the critical sensations of the year. He also won a great deal of praise for his turn as Billy Beane in Bennett Miller's adaptation of the non-fiction book Moneyball, a role that not only earned him critical raves but Best Actor nominations from the Academy, BAFTA, the Broadcast Film Association, the Golden Globes, and won him the New York Film Critics Circle award (though the institution also recognized his work in Tree of Life as figuring into their decision).In 2013, Pitt's Plan B production company produced 12 Years a Slave (he also appeared in the film, in a small supporting role), which earned Pitt an Academy Award when the film won Best Picture. The next year, Pitt won an Emmy as part of the producing team of the HBO tv movie The Normal Heart.

Trivia: One who graduated from obscure actor to Hollywood icon in just a few years, Matt Damon became an instant sensation when he co-wrote and starred in Good Will Hunting with longtime buddy and collaborator Ben Affleck. A native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he was born on October 8, 1970, Damon grew up in prosperous surroundings with his tax preparer father, college professor mother, and older brother. At the age of ten, he befriended Affleck, a boy two years his junior who lived down the street. Educated at Cambridge's Rindge and Latin School, Damon landed his first role in a Hollywood production before the age of 18, with a one-scene turn in Mystic Pizza (1988). Not long after, Damon gained acceptance to Harvard University, where he studied for three years before dropping out to pursue his acting career. During his time there, he had to write a screenplay for an English class, that served as the genesis of Good Will Hunting. Arriving in Hollywood, Damon scored his first big break with a plum role in School Ties opposite Affleck. As the film was a relative flop, Damon's substantial role failed to win him notice, and he was back to laboring in obscurity. It was around this time, fed up with his Hollywood struggles, that Damon contacted Affleck, and the two finished writing the former's Harvard screenplay and began trying to get it made into a film. It was eventually picked up by Miramax, with Gus Van Sant slated to direct and Robin Williams secured in a major role, opposite Damon as the lead. Before Good Will Hunting was released in late 1997, Damon won some measure of recognition for his role as a drug-addicted soldier in Courage Under Fire; various industry observers praised his performance and his dedication to the part, for which he lost forty pounds and suffered resulting health problems. Any praise Damon may have received, however, was overshadowed the following year by the accolades he garnered for Good Will Hunting. His Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, Best Screenplay win alongside Damon, and strong performance in the film virtually guaranteed industry adulation and steady employment, a development that became readily apparent the following year with lead roles in two major films. The first, John Dahl's Rounders, cast Damon as a card shark with a serious gambling addiction, who risks his own personal safety when he becomes entangled with a reckless loser buddy (Edward Norton). Damon's second film in 1998, Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, brought him even greater recognition. As Ryan's title character, Damon headlined an all-star line-up and received part of the lavish praise heaped on the film and its strong ensemble cast. The following year, Damon signed for leads in two more highly anticipated films, Anthony Minghella's The Talented Mr. Ripley and Kevin Smith's Dogma. The former cast the actor against type as the title character, a psychotic bisexual murderer, with a supporting cast that included Cate Blanchett, Jude Law, and Gwyneth Paltrow. Dogma also allowed Damon to cut against the grain of his nice-guy persona by casting him as a fallen angel. One of the year's more controversial films, the religious comedy reunited him with Affleck, as well as Smith, who had cast Damon in a bit role in his 1997 film, Chasing Amy. Damon next delivered noteworthy performances in a pair of low-grossing, low-key dramas, The Legend of Bagger Vance and All the Pretty Horses (both 2000), before appearing in director Steven Soderbergh's blockbuster remake of the Rat Pack classic Ocean's Eleven the following year. 2002 found the actor vacillating between earnest indie projects and major Hollywood releases. Behind the camera, Damon joined forces with filmmaker Chris Smith for the Miramax-sponsored Project Greenlight, a screenplay sweepstakes that gave the winner the opportunity to make a feature film and have the process recorded for all to see on an HBO reality series of the same name. Toward the end of 2001, Damon scored a box office triumph with director Doug Liman's jet-setting espionage thriller The Bourne Identity. With this effort, Damon proved once again that he could open a film with just as much star power as his best friend and colleague. Better yet, Bourne reinforced Damon's standings with the critics, who found his performance understated and believable. The press responded less favorably, however, to Damon's reunion project with Van Sant, the experimental arthouse drama Gerry (2003). Also in 2003, Damon starred opposite Greg Kinnear in the Farrelly Brothers' broad comedy Stuck On You, as the shy half of a set of conjoined twins.In 2004, Damon reprised the role of Jason Bourne in The Bourne Supremacy. As the actor's biggest leading-man success to date, it reinforced Damon's continued clout with audiences. Staying on the high-powered sequel bandwagon, he reunited with Brad Pitt and George Clooney for the big-budget neo-rat pack sequel Ocean's Twelve later that year. 2005 was somewhat lower-key for the actor, as he toplined Terry Gilliam's disappointing The Brothers Grimm and joined the sprawling ensemble of Syriana. After working seemingly non-stop for a few years, Damon claimed only a call from Martin Scorsese would get him to give up his resolve to take some time off. Sure enough, that call came. The Departed, an American remake of the Hong Kong mob-mole thriller Infernal Affairs, co-starred Jack Nicholson and Leonardo DiCaprio. Playing the squirmy, opportunistic cop to DiCaprio's moral, tormented mobster, Damon underplayed his part to perfection while holding his own opposite his two co-stars. Damon then took the lead role in the Robert De Niro-directed CIA drama The Good Shepherd. In 2007, the actor once again returned to box office franchises for the sequels Ocean's Thirteen and The Bourne Ultimatum, the latter of which netted him -- by far -- the largest opening-weekend take of his career to that point. 2009 was another great year for the hard-working star. His turn as the unstable federal informant in Steven Soderbergh's wicked comedy The Informant! earned him rave reviews, and his supporting work in Clint Eastwood's Invicus, as the leader of the South African rugby team, earned Damon nominations from the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild, and the Academy. In 2010 he reteamed with Eastwood for the supernatural drama Hereafter, and continued working with the best filmmakers of his time by landing a supporting role in the Coen brothers remake of True Grit. Meanwhile, Damon tried his hand at small screen work with a memorable recurring role as Carol, an airline pilot and sometime boyfriend of Liz Lemon, on the NBC situation comedy 30 Rock and a lauded turn opposite Michael Douglas' Liberace in the TV movie Behind the Candelabra. Damon had long since established himself as an A-list movie star, however, and would continue to star in big screen projects for years to come, including notable titles like Contagion, The Adjustment Bureau, and We Bought a Zoo. Damon next turned in performances in three films set in outer space: Neill Blomkamp's Elysium (2013), a supporting role in Christopher Nolan's Interstellar (2014) and an Oscar-nominated spin in Ridley Scott's The Martian (2015).

Trivia: Character actor Richard Kind has done most of his work on television and on stage, but he also occasionally appears in feature films. Fans of the NBC sitcom Mad About You will recognize him for playing Fran's ex-husband Mark. Kind grew up in Bucks County, PA (he was born in Trenton, NJ), and has had a lifelong interest in acting. But despite his interest, he enrolled at Northwestern University as a pre-law major. He had planned on attending law school immediately after graduation, but instead heeded a family friend's advice and decided to pursue drama for a while. Kind moved to New York, but despite occasional work in commercials and showcases, got no breaks. He did much better in Chicago, where he found employment and gained valuable experience working first with the comedic actors at the Practical Theatre Company and then with those at Second City. Eventually, he moved to L.A. to perform with that city's division of the illustrious satirical theater. Since his arrival in Southern California, Kind has been a regular and a guest star on various series. He made his feature film debut in Vice Versa (1988). He would go on to appear in many feature films, from the Station Agent to Argo. He would also star on several TV series, like Spin City and Luck.

Trivia: Raised in Houston,TX, Krista Allen began her acting career by wearing bikinis in beauty pageants and advertising campaigns. She appeared on the covers of several men's magazines, calendars, and beer commercials, leading straight to her national identity as "the Budweiser girl." In 1994, she made the natural progression to softcore movies on Cinemax, playing the titular lead seductress in the infamous Emmanuelle series. The following year she moved on to soap operas, with reoccurring roles on The Bold and the Beautiful and Days of Our Lives. Her most recognizable television role may be as Jenna on Baywatch, though she has also made few appearances on the popular CBS series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Mostly getting walk-on roles in feature films, Allen was in Raven with Burt Reynolds, Liar Liar with Jim Carrey, and Anger Management with Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler.Though Allen continued to work in television throughout the early two thousands, it wasn't until 2005 that she would make a splash with mainstream audiences, when she played herself in a starring role on HBO's Unscripted. Allen took on a recurring role on ABC's What About Brian? (2006), and joined the cast of the reality television show Fast Cars and Superstars: The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race in 2007. In 2009 the actress could be seen briefly in The Final Destination. Allen landed several television roles in the late 2000s and early 2010s; among them include Dirty Sexy Money (2009), Love Bites (2011), and The L.A. complex (2012).

Trivia: Tall, dark, and scarecrow-thin, James Urbaniak is probably best known to art house audiences for his work in Hal Hartley's Henry Fool (1997) and The Book of Life (1998). Urbaniak, who met Hartley in the mid-1990s, made his film debut courtesy of the director, who cast the actor in his short Comedy Central film Opera No. 1 (1994), which also featured Adrienne Shelly and future Henry Fool co-star Parker Posey.A product of New Jersey, where he was born in 1963, Urbaniak graduated from high school in 1981. Following a brief stint at community college, he spent the next several years "bumming around" (in his own words) New Jersey, working odd jobs, and doing community theatre. A 1987 introduction to theatre director Karin Coonrod led to the creation of the Arden Party theatre company, which had its debut on the Jersey shore that same year. The company moved to New York the following year and eventually became something of a downtown theatre institution with productions of such works as The Importance of Being Earnest and Romeo and Juliet. In addition to his work as the co-founder of the Arden Party, Urbaniak also performed with a number of other off-off-Broadway theatre companies, and in 1996, he won a Village Voice Obie award for his performance in avant-garde director and playwright Richard Forman's The Universe.After becoming acquainted with director Hartley, who cast him in his aforementioned 1994 film debut, Urbaniak starred in Henry Fool as Simon Grim, an unassuming and oft-abused garbage man who turns out to be a Nobel Prize-winning literary genius. The film, and Urbaniak's performance, earned a number of positive reviews and a strong art house showing, and the following year the actor could be seen in Hartley's Book of Life, a comedy about Christ's Second Coming that premiered at the Cannes Festival. In addition to his work for Hartley, Urbaniak began appearing in the films of other directors, most notably Hilary Brougher's The Sticky Fingers of Time (1997), which cast him as a 1950s science editor who travels across time; and Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown (1999), which featured the actor in a small role as a musician in Sean Penn's band.

Trivia: Was hired as a page by NBC in 1955 and put into the sales program, selling TelePrompTers. Worked backstage at American Bandstand (which filmed in his hometown of Philadelphia) as a network watchdog to ensure Dick Clark wasn't receiving any payola. First wife Lyn Levy was the daughter of one of the founders of CBS and the niece of CBS president William S. Paley. Wrote "Palisades Park," recorded by Freddy Cannon, which hit the top 10 in 1962. Formed Chuck Barris Productions in 1965, creating shows like The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game. Released his supposed autobiography, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, in 1984, which detailed his alleged secret life as a CIA assassin. Had part of a lung removed after being diagnosed with lung cancer in 2000. Published Della: A Memoir of My Daughter in 2010 to help cope with the loss of his only child, who died in 1998.

Trivia: Once known as "America's oldest living teenager," emcee, occasional actor, television producer, commercial pitchman, restaurateur, and entrepreneur Dick Clark was one of Hollywood's powerhouses, but became most famous for hosting the longest-running series on the ABC television network, American Bandstand, which aired from 1957 to 1987 and then was resurrected for a year on the USA network in 1989. This show played a vital role in promoting rock music and gave many important acts their first national exposure. Clark began his career as a radio announcer. The first episodes of American Bandstand were broadcast from Philadelphia and were quite innovative. Each show featured popular artists who lip-synched their latest hits, interviews, autograph sessions, and lots of teen dancing. Though playing rock & roll music -- which was still regarded with trepidation and suspicion among conservatives -- the shows were reassuringly wholesome, an image in large part projected by the clean-cut, friendly, and honest-faced Clark himself. Through the years, the canny host secured the rights to each episode, many of which contain the only available clips of popular performers and one-hit wonders alike. Therefore, his collection provided a priceless archive to the history of rock music. Clark at one time was an aspiring actor and has appeared in a few feature films playing someone other than himself. He made his feature-film debut in 1960's Because They're Young. As an emcee, he hosted game shows and the ABC New Year's Eve telecast from Times Square in New York for many years. He also hosted numerous television compilation shows, often in the company of Ed McMahon with whom he represented the Publisher's Clearing House sweepstakes on television. As a producer, Clark's Dick Clark Productions was responsible for numerous series, television movies, game shows, specials, and compilations as well as television commercials and awards specials. As a restaurant owner, Clark founded a small chain of Dick Clark's American Bandstand Grills, rock & roll-themed restaurants decorated with memorabilia from Clark's enormous personal collection.In 2004, Clark suffered a stroke that nearly ended his broadcasting career. Though he managed to sporadically come back for his annual New Years Eve specials, Clark eventually passed away at the age of 82 from a heart attack in 2012, leaving behind a legacy unlike any other.

Trivia: Singer/actress, onscreen from 1973.

Trivia: Comic lead actor, onscreen from the '80s; he has also produced.