Trivia: Lanky blond and balding actor Anthony Edwards' career reached a pinnacle with his role as the easy-going Dr. Green on the hit NBC television series E.R.. While his rise to fame seems sudden, the actor has been in the business since he was 12 years old. At that young age, Edwards began acting on stage. For the next five years he would act in over 30 plays before going to study at the prestigious Royal Academy of Arts in London in 1980. He also studied drama at USC, Los Angeles. While there he made his feature-film debut in Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982). Unlike many actors who are typecast into certain roles in particular genres, Edwards has remained firmly between genres, having played in everything from teen exploitation flicks (Revenge of the Nerds [1984]), and serious drama (Mr. North [1988]), to actioners (Top Gun [1986]) and thrillers (Downtown [1990]). In 1992, Edwards had a recurring and memorable role as the environmentally-hypersensitive Bubble man on the popular offbeat CBS TV show Northern Exposure. He continued to work on ER until the show's 8th season in 2001, and co-starred Daryl Hannah and Ben Foster in the fantasy drama Northfolk in 2003. Edwards continued to find success as an actor and producer throughout the mid-2000s, and in 2007 took on the role of Inspector William Armstrong in Zodiac, director David Fincher's docudrama chronicling the gruesome story of the serial murderer known as the Zodiac killer. In 2008 he starred in The Dark Lurking, a sci-fi thriller, and starred along with Minnie Driver and Uma Thurman in the independent comedy Motherhood the following year. In 2010 he co-starred in director Rob Reiner's coming-of-age comedy Flipped.

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: Forceful yet smooth actor Eriq La Salle worked on the stage and on television before breaking into films, directing, and producing his own projects. He is perhaps best known for his role of the confident Dr. Peter Benton on the NBC series ER, which has earned him several Emmy nominations. He grew up in New England and got a prestigious education at Juilliard and N.Y.U. Living in New York, he made a living doing Broadway, off-Broadway, and soap operas. He worked intermittently between film and television for a few years, with one of his first movies being the breakdancing drama Rappin' with Mario Van Peebles. During this time, he made numerous TV guest appearances, briefly joined the cast of the NBC soap Another World, and played the role of Jeri-curled Darryl in Coming to America. A couple TV movies later, he strayed away from comedy and got a small part in the drama Jacob's Ladder. In 1991 he moved to L.A. for a part in the series The Human Factor, giving him an introduction to the prolific world of medical dramas. He also played two detectives in a row for the thrillers Empty Cradle and Color of Night, and appeared in the crime series Under Suspicion. In 1994, he joined the cast of ER and got his first starring role in the drama Drop Squad, produced by Spike Lee. In 1996, he made his directorial debut with the HBO movie Rebound, about the life of basketball player Earl "The Goat" Manigault, which he also appeared in. The same year he directed the short film Psalms From the Underground. He moved on to producing for the made-for-TV thriller Mind Prey, which he also starred in. Along with some small roles in Biker Boyz and One Hour Photo, 2002 saw La Salle make his first feature as director, producer, and star with the psychological thriller Crazy as Hell. He appeared in the outrageous action film Biker Boyz in 2003, and went on to have major parts in a variety of projects including Inside Out, Johnny Was, and Megafault.

Trivia: Raven-haired Julianna Margulies may have become an award-winning TV star on NBC's phenomenally successful ER in the 1990s, but she was ready to exit the series to pursue movies and theater full time by decade's end. Born in Spring Valley, NY, Margulies spent part of her childhood living abroad before settling back in her hometown for a bohemian life with her free-spirit mother. Though she earned a B.A. in art history from Sarah Lawrence College, Margulies performed in college plays and decided to pursue an acting career. Margulies landed her first movie role in 1991, playing a prostitute in the Steven Seagal flick Out for Justice. With no more movie roles forthcoming, Margulies made a living with theater work and TV guest star stints on Law and Order and Homicide in the early '90s. Margulies subsequently landed a role in the pilot for Michael Crichton's new hospital drama ER in 1994, but her character was slated for death after that single episode. Due to a positive audience response, however, Margulies' compassionate Nurse Hathaway survived the pilot. During her six seasons on the most popular TV drama of the 1990s, Margulies won the Emmy and the SAG Award and became a perennial nominee. Buoyed by her TV fame, Margulies returned to films during her hiatuses, starring as the would-be victim of Bill Paxton's Irish con in Traveler (1996), a POW alongside Glenn Close and Cate Blanchett in the ensemble drama Paradise Road (1997), and as Matthew McConaughey's girlfriend in Richard Linklater's Western-esque bank robber saga The Newton Boys (1998). Continuing to avoid glossy big budget Hollywood fare in favor of a more independent sensibility, Margulies also appeared in Boaz Yakin's A Price Above Rubies (1998) and Gurinder Chadha's multiethnic Thanksgiving tale What's Cooking? (2000). Margulies finally took on a blockbuster of sorts when she voiced one of the pre-historic reptiles in the animated Dinosaur (2000). Despite an offer that would have made her one of the highest paid actresses on TV, Margulies announced in 2000 that six years of ER was enough. While Hathaway departed to a future with George Clooney's Dr. Ross, Margulies moved back to New York to hit the off-Broadway stage with Donald Sutherland in Ten Unknowns (2001). Margulies returned to the small-screen for the female-centric version of the King Arthur legend The Mists of Avalon, before appearing in The Man from Elysian Fields, and opposite Pierce Brosnan in the drama Evelyn. After an appearance in the horror film Ghost Ship, Margulies would not appear in another widely released motion picture until she landed one of the main parts in the 2006 summer phenomenon known simply as Snakes on a Plane. Three years later, the veteran actress was back on the small screen as the lead in The Good Wife -- a popular CBS series about a former litigator who returns to work following a public scandal involving her state attorney husband. Though her performance in the series earned Margulies a Best Lead Actress Emmy in 2010, the award that year went to Kyra Sedgwick for The Closer instead. But fans of the actress had good reason to hold out hope that she'd be a strong contender the next year as well, and indeed when the 2001 Emmy winners were announced Margulies emerged the victor.

Trivia: Best known in the mid-'90s for playing the earnest but often fumbling Dr. John Carter on the hit television drama ER, Noah Wyle has also appeared in a few feature films, notably Swing Kids in which he played a chillingly ardent member of the Hitler Youth. The son of an electrical engineer and an orthopedic nurse, Wyle was raised in Hollywood. He attended a boarding school and, while growing up, dreamed of becoming a basketball player. Lacking the height and the necessary skill, he turned toward acting. After graduation, he had the opportunity to go to college, but turned it down in favor of studying acting with Larry Moss. Wyle supported himself by working as a busboy and gained experience on stage, a venue he dearly loves. In 1990, he landed his first television role, albeit a very small one, in the NBC miniseries Blind Faith. In 1991, he made his feature film debut as the contented son Ask in the family drama Crooked Hearts (1992). More supporting roles followed, including a turn as Sir Lancelot in Guinevere, a made-for-cable look at the famed Arthurian queen as told from a feminist perspective. In 1997, Wyle starred in the independent drama The Myth of Fingerprints as a 23-year-old who has trouble getting over a breakup with his girlfriend. He had a memorable turn as Steve Jobs in the made-for-TV docudrama Pirates of Silicon Valley in 1999, and two years later he was in the cult favorite Donnie Darko. In 2004 he finished his work as a regular on ER after 11 years on the hit program, though he would return for the series finale three years later. Though he worked steadily, he returned to episodic TV for the scci-fi series Falling Skies.

Trivia: American actor Red Buttons, born Aaron Schwatt and raised on New York's Lower East Side, won an amateur night contest at age 12. By age 16 he was working in a Bronx tavern as a bellboy-singer; here he took the name "Red Buttons", in reference to his uniform. He went on to work the Catskills Mountains "Borscht Belt" and to perform as a burlesque comedian. He debuted on Broadway as a supporting player in Vickie in 1942. He served in the Army during World War II, appearing in the play Winged Victory; he played the same role in the film version (1944), marking his big-screen debut. After briefly starring in his own TV show in 1953 he had a weak career until he landed the role of Sargeant Joe Kelly in the film Sayonara (1957), his second movie role; for his work in that film he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, going on from there to appear frequently in films, usually as a comedy actor.

Trivia: Trained at Juilliard, actor Michael Beach worked in regional theater and off-Broadway productions before moving to Los Angeles to work on television and film. His stage credits include Much Ado About Nothing and Ascension Day. Though he appeared on television a lot in the late '80s, his film breakthrough came in Carl Franklin's 1991 crime thriller One False Move. He played the ex-con Pluto opposite Billy Bob Thornton, who also co-wrote the script. Thornton later wrote the role of Virgil for Beach in the 1996 drama A Family Thing, starring James Earl Jones. In 1993, he was a part of the ensemble cast in Robert Altman's award-winning feature Short Cuts. After playing opposite Laurence Fishburne in the crime thriller Bad Company (1995), Beach went on to play several unfaithful husbands. He cheated on Angela Bassett in Waiting to Exhale (1995), Vanessa Williams in Soul Food (1997), and Gloria Reuben on ER. Fellow ER cast member Eriq La Salle cast Beach in his sports drama Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault (1996) for HBO. Back on television, Beach earned an Image Award for his role of Monte 'Doc' Parker on the NBC dramatic series Third Watch. In 2002, he re-teamed with actor/director La Salle for the lead role of Dr. Ty Adams in the thriller Crazy as Hell.

Trivia: At times bearing a resemblance to a slightly stockier Tim Roth, former Golden Gloves contender Ron Eldard first became familiar to television audiences with his standout role as the love interest of Julianna Margulies on the hit television drama ER. Though Eldard had been appearing in film and television since the late '80s, it was the dawn of the new millennium that found Eldard's career reborn with roles in such acclaimed films as Barry Levinson's Sleepers (1996), Mystery, Alaska (1999), and Black Hawk Down (2001). Eldard was born into a large family of six siblings in New York City in 1965; his mother died when he was very young, forcing the siblings apart in order to live with various relatives. The second youngest of his siblings, Eldard sought a boxing career in the Golden Gloves after discovering his remarkable strength early in life. Following his graduation from New York's renowned High School of the Performing Arts, Eldard's passion for drama was ignited, and he went on to appear on One Life to Live before he made his feature debut in 1989's True Love. After competing for the love of Phoebe Cates in Drop Dead Fred, Eldard would subsequently appear in numerous roles in film (Scent of a Woman [1992] and The Last Supper [1995]) and television (Arresting Behavior and Men Behaving Badly). Eldard's onscreen romance with Margulies blossomed into true-life romance shortly after the two were paired up on ER, and the couple became an offscreen item as well. Though subsequent feature roles increased Eldard's recognition factor, he had yet to parlay his acting career into leading-man territory. The new millennium, however, found the now-established actor edging ever closer to headline status with roles in Just a Kiss (2002), Ghost Ship (also 2002), and House of Sand and Fog (2003). As a stage actor, Eldard has impressed Broadway audiences with roles in Biloxi Blues, On the Waterfront, and Death of a Salesman. In 2006 he took a supporting role in Freedomland, a crime drama starring Samuel L. Jackson, and starred alongside Paul Rudd and Lauren Ambrose for the independent comedy Diggers the same year. He continued to work steadily through the late 2000s, and received mainstream and critical success for his role in director J.J. Abram's Super 8. His talent was recognized again in Roadie (2011), wherein he played a middle aged man who doesn't know what to do with himself after spending the last two decades of his life as a roadie for the band Blue Oyster Cult.

Trivia: Roomed with Parker Posey in college. Took a year off in 1992 to travel in Europe. Appeared in a 1997 "Got Milk" ad that stated she was lactose intolerant, but still was able to drink a little milk each day. When she decided to leave ER in the third season of her five-year contract, she had to sign a no-work agreement that stipulated she could not appear on television until the termination of the original contract. During her first hiatus from ER, she taught a script-analysis class and directed several plays at her alma mater.

Trivia: Was the second youngest of six children born to a white father and black mother. Studied classical music and dance as a child. Started modeling at 16. Was crowned Miss Black Ontario in 1986. For a time, hosted the Canadian children's show Polka Dot Door. Toured with Tina Turner as a backup singer in 2000 after leaving her gig as Jeanie Boulet on ER. Released a solo album, Just for You, in 2004. In 2006, portrayed Condoleezza Rice in David Hare's play Stuff Happens at New York City's Public Theater. Served as executive producer of the Sundance Film Festival winner Padre Nuestro (2007). Supports many causes and speaks publicly on women's issues, HIV/AIDS, the environment and more.

Trivia: Hamilton Camp was evacuated from his native London to the U.S. during World War II. A stage actor from childhood, Camp reportedly made his film debut in RKO's Bedlam (1945) The slight-statured comic actor flourished on American TV from the early 1960s onward, guesting on such series as The Mary Tyler Moore Show and appearing as a regular on He and She (1967), Paul Sills' Story Theatre (1971) and Just Our Luck (1983). He also would have been one of the comedy troupers on the anything-goes revue series Turn-On (1969), had this notorious bomb survived past its first episode. Camp has shown up in only a handful of feature films, notably the 1967 spoof The Perils of Pauline. More recently, Hamilton Camp has been a prolific cartoon voiceover artist, providing a limitless array of characterizations on such TV animated series as The Smurfs, The Flintstone Kids, and DuckTales.

Trivia: New York native Ron Rifkin made his Broadway debut in the original 1960 production of Neil Simon's Come Blow Your Horn. He made his film debut in the chain-gang adventure film The Devil's 8 in 1969, followed by the sci-fi actioner Silent Running (1971). Rifkin was much more prolific on the stage throughout his career, in some cases leading to film adaptations (as in The Sunshine Boys [1975]). But he sure had a knack for showing up on television's most popular shows over a period of three decades. During the '70s, he appeared on Soap, The Bob Newhart Show, and Mary Tyler Moore. During the '80s, he appeared on Falcon Crest, Knots Landing, and Hill Street Blues. During the '90s, he appeared on ER, Law & Order, and The Outer Limits. He also had parts in the Woody Allen films Husbands and Wives and Manhattan Murder Mystery. After winning an Obie and Drama Desk award for his portrayal of Holocaust survivor Issac Geldhart in the Jon Robin Baitz play Substance of Fire, Rifkin reprised his role in the 1996 feature film version. The next year, he earned a starring role on the short-lived ABC drama Leaving L.A. On the big screen, he appeared in Curtis Hanson's crime drama L.A. Confidential followed by F. Gary Gray's action thriller The Negotiator. In 1998, he earned his first Tony award for Best Supporting Actor in the Broadway revival of Cabaret. Some of his TV movies from this time include Norma Jean and Marilyn and Flowers for Algernon. In 2001, Rifkin was cast on the ABC spy drama Alias as the calculating and sinister commanding officer Arvin Sloane. Transitioning to the Emmy-winning ABC crama series Brothers and Sisters after Alias went off the air in 2006, Rifkin stuck with the show for 5 years, and later landed a recurring role on NBC in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Trivia: Lead actor Nicholas Cascone appeared on screen beginning in the late '80s.

Trivia: Supporting actor Carlos Gomez has found success on television and in feature films. As his career has progressed, he has become increasingly active as a writer and producer. A first-generation American of Cuban heritage, Gomez made his feature film debut in 1989, appearing in two movies, Dance to Win and Hard to Kill. He would go on to become well known for his roles on ER and The Glades.

Trivia: Jake Lloyd became the screen's most prominent wee moppet when he was cast as the young Darth Vader in George Lucas' Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. The first of the long-awaited Star Wars prequels, the 1999 film proved to be extremely popular, duly thrusting its hitherto-unknown young star into the celebrity stratosphere. Hailing from Fort Collins, Colorado, where he was born March 5, 1989, Lloyd got his big break when he was cast as Arnold Schwarzenegger's son in Jingle All the Way (1996). More recognition followed when he appeared as Marisa Tomei's son in Nick Cassavetes' Unhook the Stars (also 1996). Thanks to the success of The Phantom Menace, Lloyd's face soon became visible everywhere, adorning products ranging from action figures to thermoses.