Trivia: Rotund, blonde, and amazingly agile comic actor Chris Farley boasted an energetic, bumbling presence that made him among the few alumni from the long-running Saturday Night Live television series to find a comfortable niche in feature films. He started out working with the Ark Improv theater group after graduating from Marquette University with a degree in theater and communications. After leaving the Ark, he worked at the Improv Olympic Theater where he studied under director Del Close. From there Farley found work at the Second City Theater where he was discovered by SNL producer Lorne Michaels. The portly actor debuted on the series in 1990, and, with such goofy characters as loud motivational speaker Matt Foley (who lived in a van down by the river), quickly became one of the show's favorite players. He remained with the show through the 1994-1995 season and then left to pursue a movie career. Farley made his feature film debut as a security guard in Wayne's World (1992); he had a much larger role in the sequel, Wayne's World 2 (1990). Farley had his first screen hit when he teamed up with fellow SNL actor David Spade and appeared in the sophomoric Tommy Boy, in which Farley played the naïve and socially incompetent son of a recently deceased auto parts manufacturer. Farley then returned to supporting roles before reteaming with Spade again for Black Sheep in 1996. In 1997, he starred in the comedy Beverly Hills Ninja. Farley's manic comedy style has frequently been compared to that of the late John Belushi, whom Farley idolized. Like Belushi, Farley's offscreen life was punctuated by frequent bouts of alcohol and drug abuse; friends and colleagues were concerned as was Farley, but he apparently was unable to stop. On December 18, 1997, Farley was found dead of an apparent heart attack in his luxurious Chicago apartment. He was only 33 years old, the same age as Belushi when he died.

Trivia: Born August 22nd, 1965, the diminutive blond comic David Spade has found success as a professional smart ass. Born in Birmingham, MI, but raised in Scottsdale, AZ, Spade first made a name for himself as a standup comedian. He spent most of the '80s performing in clubs, theaters, and college campuses. He joined the cast of Lorne Michael's long-running television show Saturday Night Live in 1990 as a writer and a performer. On the show, he soon gained popularity for such recurring sketches such as "The Hollywood Minute" in which Spade would sarcastically shred some of Tinseltown's biggest stars with his nasty comments. Spade also proved an able impersonator of celebrities ranging from Jeff Foxworthy to Tom Petty. Spade has appeared on many television talk shows and guest starred on several series. He began his film career in the late '80s playing a small role in Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol. In the '90s, he began playing major supporting roles in such films as Coneheads (1993) and P.C.U. (1994). He and former SNL alumni Chris Farley shared top billing in two popular comedies, Tommy Boy (1995) and Black Sheep (1996). Spade starred opposite Joe Pesci and Dyan Cannon in Eight Heads in a Duffel Bag (1997). In 1997, Spade returned to series television in the sitcom Just Shoot Me. While 2001's Joe Dirt wasn't much of a box office success, it did earn a certain cult status, inspire animated television series, and bring about a surge of ironically-sported mullet hairstyles in the early 2000s. While 2001's Joe Dirt wasn't much of a box office success, it did bring about a resurgence of popularity for the mullet. Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003) featured Spade in the titular role of a one-time child star who tries to make a comeback as an adult. Spade continued to play comedic roles throughout the mid-2000s (The Benchwarners, Grandma's Boy), and once again found small-screen success with a role on the sitcoms 8 Simple Rules, and The Rules of Engagement, in which Spade plays the part of a single man surrounded by friends in various stages of couplehood.

Trivia: After majoring in history at Columbia University, brawny Brian Dennehy (born July 9, 1938) took a string of odd jobs to pay his way through Yale Drama School, and to afford private acting lessons. His first professional break came with the Broadway production Streamers. In films and TV from 1977, Dennehy is a most versatile actor, at home playing Western baddies (Silverado), ulcerated big-city cops (F/X), serial killers (John Wayne Gacy in the made-for-TV To Catch a Killer), by-the-book military types (General Groves in Day One, another TV movie), and vacillating politicos (Presumed Innocent). One of his most rewarding film assignments was as dying architectural genius Stourley Kracklite in Peter Greenaway's The Belly of an Architect (1987).In addition to his many TV-movie roles (one of which, good-old-boy Chuck Munson in 1993's Foreign Affairs, won him a Cable Ace Award), Dennehy has starred in the weekly series Big Shamus, Little Shamus (1977), Star of the Family (1981), and Birdland (1994), as well as the sporadically produced Jack Reed feature-length mysteries. It was in one of the last-mentioned projects, Jack Reed: A Search for Justice (1994), that Dennehy made his directorial debut. Aside from his work in film and television, Dennehy has also had considerable success on the stage, particularly with his Tony-winning portrayal of Willy Loman in the 1998 Broadway revival of Death of a Salesman.The actor continued to show his range in the 1995 comedy Tommy Boy (starring David Spade and the late comedian Chris Farley), in which he became well known for his role as Big Tom Callahan, and for a voice role in Ratatouille (2007) as Django, the father of rat and aspiring chef Remy.Dennehy joined Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino in Righteous Kill, a 2008 police drama, and worked alongisde Russell Crowe in the 2010 suspense film The Next Three Days. In 2011, Dennehy played the pivotal role of Clarence Darrow in Alleged, a romantic drama set during the infamous Scopes Monkey Trial.

Trivia: An aspiring model, 16-year-old Bo Derek was introduced to actor/director/cinematographer John Derek in 1971. Just as he'd done with previous "protegés" Ursula Andress and Linda Evans, Derek literally molded her into a highly desirable superstar. In 1974, the 48-year-old Derek capped his makeover by marrying the 18-year-old Bo. In her first film, the Jaws rip-off Orca, Bo showed up long enough to have her lovely leg chewed off by a killer whale. Her next film was far more rewarding: Blake Edwards' 10 (1979), in which, bouncing along the beach in slow motion to the pulsating rhythms of Ravel's Bolero, the scantily clad, cornrow-coifed Bo became the instant object of star Dudley Moore's affections. An overnight pinup favorite, Bo followed her 10 triumph with a brace of adventure films directed by her husband: Tarzan the Ape Man (1981) and Bolero (1984). After six years away from films, she returned before the cameras in another Derek/Derek co-production, the unsuccessful Ghosts Can't Do It (1990). Bo Derek has since occasionally appeared in such films as the Italian Sognando La California (1991) and the American Woman of Desire (1994). Derek also appeared in Tommy Boy the 1995 comedy starring David Spade and Chris Farley.In 2003, Derek played the mother of a sheltered wannabe named B-Rad (Jamie Kennedy), and joined the Miss Universe 2004 pageant as a judge. The actress appeared in several television series including 7th Heaven, Lucky, and Queen of Swords. In 2006, she took a leading role as a ruthless businesswoman in Fashion House, a telenovela drama series following the scandals and passions found within an elite corporation.When not acting, Bo Derek participates in a number of political and social causes, including working on the behalves of disabeled veterans, serving as a spokeswoman for the Animal Welfare Institute's campaign to put an end to the slaughter of horses. Derek is an avid equestrian and published an autobiography titled Everything That Matters in Life I Learned from Horses.

Trivia: One of the most vibrant comic personalities of the 1970s and '80s, as well as a noted actor and screenwriter, Dan Aykroyd got his professional start in his native Canada. Before working as a standup comedian in various Canadian nightclubs, Aykroyd studied at a Catholic seminary from which he was later expelled. He then worked as a train brakeman, a surveyor, and studied Sociology at Carleton University in Ottawa, where he began writing and performing comedy sketches. His success as a comic in school led him to work with the Toronto branch of the famed Second City improvisational troupe. During this time -- while he was also managing the hot nightspot Club 505 on the side -- Aykroyd met comedian and writer John Belushi, who had come to Toronto to scout new talent for "The National Lampoon Radio Hour." In 1975, both Aykroyd and Belushi were chosen to appear in the first season of Canadian producer Lorne Michaels' innovative comedy television series Saturday Night Live. It was as part of the show that Aykroyd gained notoriety for his dead-on impersonations of presidents Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter. He also won fame for his other characters, such as Beldar, the patriarch of the Conehead clan of suburban aliens, and Elwood, the second half of the Blues Brothers (Jake Blues was played by Belushi). Aykroyd made his feature-film debut in 1977 in the Canadian comedy Love at First Sight, but neither it nor his subsequent film, Mr. Mike's Mondo Video, were successful. His first major Hollywood screen venture was as a co-lead in Steven Spielberg's 1941 (1979). But Aykroyd still did not earn much recognition until 1980, when he and Belushi reprised their popular SNL characters in The Blues Brothers, a terrifically successful venture that managed to become both one of the most often-quoted films of the decade and a true cult classic. Aykroyd and Belushi went on to team up one more time for Neighbors (1981) before Belushi's death in 1982. Aykroyd's subsequent films in the '80s ranged from the forgettable to the wildly successful, with all-out comedies such as Ghostbusters (1984) and Dragnet (1987) falling into the latter category. Many of these films allowed him to collaborate with some of Hollywood's foremost comedians, including fellow SNL alumni Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, and Eddie Murphy, as well as Tom Hanks and the late John Candy. In such pairings, Aykroyd usually played the straight man -- typically an uptight intellectual or a latent psycho. He tried his hand at drama in 1989 as Jessica Tandy's son in Driving Miss Daisy and received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. During the '90s, Aykroyd's career faltered just a bit as he appeared in one disappointment after another. Despite scattered successes like My Girl (1991), Chaplin (1992), Casper (1995), Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), and Antz (1998), the all-out flops -- The Coneheads (1993), Exit to Eden (1994), Sgt. Bilko (1996) -- were plentiful. Likewise, the long-awaited Blues Brothers sequel, Blues Brothers 2000 (1998), proved a great disappointment. Aykroyd, however, continued to maintain a screen profile, starring as Kirk Douglas' son in the family drama Diamonds in 1999. During the next few years, he found greater success in supporting roles, with turns as a shifty businessman in the period drama The House of Mirth (2000), Woody Allen's boss in The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001), pop star Britney Spears' father in her screen debut, Crossroads (2002), and (in a particularly amusing turn) as Dr. Keats in the Adam Sandler/Drew Barrymore comedy 50 First Dates. Aykroyd also appeared in the 2005 Christmas with the Kranks, alongside Tim Allen and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry with Adam Sandler in 2006. He also provided the voice of Yogi Bear in the big screen adaptation of the titular cartoon -- but none of these projects did particularly well with fans. Aykroyd soon planned to revive the smashing success of the Ghostbusters franchise, collaborating with Harold Ramis to create a script and reunite the original four stars. However, ongoing hold-ups, including the public refusal of pivotal member Bill Murray to participate, continued to push the project back. In the meantime, Akroyd played a recurring role on TV shows like According to Jim, The Defenders, and Happily Divorced.Since 1983, Aykroyd has been married to the radiant Donna Dixon, a model who holds the twin titles of Miss Virginia 1976, and Miss District of Columbia 1977; the two co-starred in the 1983 Michael Pressman comedy Doctor Detroit. In Aykroyd's off time, he claims a varied number of interests, including UFOs and supernatural phenomena (his brother Peter works as a psychic researcher), blues music (he co-owns the House of Blues chain of nightclubs/restaurants), and police detective work.

Trivia: An earthy brunette whose small-town beauty made her ideal for roles in such features as Doc Hollywood (1991) and Indian Summer (1993), actress Julie Warner has moved from memorable television appearances in Star Trek: The Next Generation and 21 Jump Street to headlining roles in such films as Wedding Bell Blues and White Lies (both 1996); and though her feature career appears to be gaining considerable steam, Warner's star still shines bright on such popular television series as Family Law and Baseball Wives. Julie Warner was born in New York City in 1965; her father was a musical arranger who penned jingles for such products as Tic-Tacs, and her mother a freelance booking agent. Attending the prestigious Dalton School at age 12, it was there that Warner would form a longtime friendship with fellow actress Mary Stuart Masterson. Though Warner may not have gotten the role in Pretty Baby that her manager had encouraged her to read for, Warner would make a lasting impression a few years later when she was cast in the enduring soap opera Guiding Light. After graduating from Brown University with a theater arts degree in 1987, Warner would essay numerous television roles before moving into feature films with such efforts as Flatliners (1990) and Doc Hollywood (1991). Warner's burgeoning talent and natural beauty found her slowly climbing the credits in the mid-'90s, and with roles in such efforts as The Puppet Masters she was gaining positive critical attention as well. Alternating between film and television on the cusp of the new millennium, Warner had yet to find her true breakout role, though a part in the series Baseball Wives ensured she would remain a familiar face to television viewers in the meantime.

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: An actor whom you've probably seen in more films than you realize, Zach Grenier possesses the rare ability to take the smallest of roles and transform them into memorable appearances that stick with audiences long after the credits have finished -- even if his frequently unsympathetic characters have often met an unpleasant demise. It was this ability and skill that found Grenier steadily building a career with appearances in such blockbusters as Cliffhanger (1993), Donnie Brasco (1997), Shaft (2000), and Swordfish (2001). Born in February 1954, Grenier's family lived a somewhat nomadic existence in his early years, moving 18 times before the worldly teen graduated from high school, where, in his junior year, the young man discovered his love of the stage while performing in a production of Shakespeare's Henry V. Continuing to hone his acting skills and frequently appearing on-stage following graduation, Grenier appeared in such other plays as Talk Radio and A Question of Mercy, and made his film debut in the 1987 drama The Kid Brother (aka Kenny). Soon appearing in such films as Working Girl and Talk Radio in 1988, and See No Evil, Hear No Evil the following year. The actor's parts may have been small, but his talent was growing and appearances memorable; his roles continued to expand throughout the '90s, and viewers saw the rising star in Twister and Maximum Risk (both 1996), among several other movies. A turn as Joseph Goebbels in that year's Mother Night gave him a chance to prove his dramatic skills in front of the camera, and a subsequent role in David Fincher's cult hit Fight Club (1999) found him holding his own well against the film's talented leads. Alternating between television and movies in subsequent work, Grenier starred in the little-seen thriller Chasing Sleep (2000) and joined the cast of the popular weekly suspense series 24 in 2001.

Trivia: Studied economics in college before pursuing acting. Sang and played guitar for the band Redchair. Has appeared in many TV series of the sci-fi genre, including Earth: Final Conflict, The Outer Limits, and Stargate Atlantis. Attended The William Davis Centre for Actors' Study in Vancouver, which was founded by William B. Davis, the "cigarette-smoking man on The X-Files. Michael also appeared on The X-Files. Is an avid reader.

Trivia: Weiss is an American director specializing in comedy and satire, responsible for The Compleat Al (1985), about "Weird Al" Yankovich. He also co-directed Amazon Women on the Moon (1987).

Trivia: Character actor Colin R. Fox has performed in wide variety of venues. In addition to his performances on stage, screen, and television, he has done audio books, radio, and documentary narration for the Discovery Channel. He has also provided voice characterizations for numerous cartoons. Fox made his film debut in The Reincarnate (1971), the story of a cat that really does have more than one life. Since then, Fox has appeared in many films, including Silence of the North (1981), On My Own (1991), Tommy Boy (1995), and The End of Summer (1997).