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: 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: 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: Lead actor, onscreen from the '80s.

Trivia: American actress Tyra Ferrell has worked on stage, television and in film. In the latter she gained favorable notice playing opposite John Turturro in Jungle Fever and as the mother who plays favorites in Boyz N the Hood (both 1991).

Trivia: With such television credits as ER and The West Wing, writer/producer John Wells' resumé reads something like a list of the biggest small-screen hits of the 1990s. There's no question that his television ventures served him well in that decade, and with feature production work on such theatrical hits as The Peacemaker (1997), Far From Heaven, and White Oleander (both 2002) following shortly thereafter, the prolific television figure was poised to make his mark on the film world as well. A native of Alexandria, VA, who spent the majority of his childhood in Denver, CO, Wells graduated from Carnegie Melon University and earned his master's degree at the University of Southern California. Early work as co-executive and supervising producer on television's China Beach provided the burgeoning producer with just the taste of show business needed to fuel his creativity; it was during his tenure on the series that China Beach was nominated for both Peabody and Humanatis awards, in addition to three WGA nominations and six Emmy nominations. Subsequent small-screen ventures such as The Nightman and Angel Street may have failed to live up to expectations in the early '90s, but Wells' involvement with the 1994 series ER found his career truly taking off. A runaway hit throughout the decade and into the new millennium, the wildly popular series earned a slew of awards under Wells' production. In 1997, Wells teamed with ER star George Clooney for the high-stakes thriller The Peacemaker, marking Wells' first foray into feature films. In the years that immediately followed, Wells' small-screen success continued to grow, and his name also became attached to numerous critically praised features. When Aaron Sorkin's political drama The West Wing made its television bow in 1999, its sharp dialogue and convincing portrayal of the Washington elite scored a direct hit with audiences, a fact that was, no doubt, aided by Wells' involvement as a producer. The West Wing would eventually rival even ER in terms of popularity, and Wells' next television endeavor, the popular police drama Third Watch, found him once again thriving. Wells' subsequent involvement as producer on such theatrical releases as One Hour Photo, Far From Heaven, Party Monster, and Camp seemed to indicate that he was moving away from small-screen work. He returned to television, though, with the medical drama Presidio Med in 2002, but the series found only moderate success. By this point, Wells was primarily a feature producer, a fact that he would drive home with work on such films as A Home at the End of the World, Shadows, and Daisy Winters (all 2004).

Trivia: Television audiences know award-winning actress Laura Innes as ER's angry Dr. Kerry Weaver. She is also an accomplished stage performer and an Emmy-nominated director with writing credits on some of the most heralded television shows. Innes was born on August 16, 1959, in Pontiac, MI. She was raised in Birmingham with her parents, Laurette and Robert, and five older siblings. When Innes was growing up, her father, a college English professor, insisted that the family attend the heralded Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario, Canada. Innes grew more and more interested in acting with each performance. In 1977, she graduated from Birmingham Seaholm High School and, with her father's encouragement to follow her heart, enrolled in Northwestern University's theater arts program. In 1978, while still in college, Innes made her film debut in Brian De Palma's The Fury with Kirk Douglas and John Cassavetes. After graduation, the actress went straight to the stage. She performed at Chicago's Goodman Theatre for four years, where she played Stella opposite John Malkovich's Mitch in Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire and portrayed Glenna in the original cast of David Mamet's Edmund. Innes also worked at the Body Politic and Widsom Bridge theaters, and then took her theater career on the road. She appeared as Glenna in the traveling production of Edmund, joined Eric Stoltz in Two Shakespearean Actors at Lincoln Center, starred in Our Town with Campbell Scott at the Seattle Repertory Theater, and performed in Three Sisters at the La Jolla Playhouse with Nancy Travis and Phoebe Cates. In 1987, Innes met her future husband, actor David Brisbin, while doing summer stock in Woodstock, NY. Days later, Innes' appendix burst and she was brought to the hospital. Brisbin remained by her side during the episode and the two were engaged shortly afterward. In 1989, Brisbin began work on Nickelodeon's children's comedy Hey Dude, as the owner of the fictional Bar None Dude Ranch. Innes made two guest appearances on the show and wrote one episode before its cancellation in 1990. Also in 1990, Innes gave birth to their son, Cal. Having a child influenced the couple to try and boost their income and they made a permanent move to Los Angeles in 1991. Innes made several television appearances throughout the early '90s. Besides landing a reoccurring role as Thomas Haden Church's flighty ex-wife on Wings, she guest starred on Rugrats, Brooklyn Bridge, Bakersfield, P.D., Party of Five, The Good Life, and My So-Called Life. Innes worked on a host of television movies -- including Desperate Rescue: The Cathy Mahone Story (1992), Telling Secrets (1993), and Torch Song (1993) -- and appeared in HBO's Emmy-winning adaptation And the Band Played On (1993). In 1994, Innes auditioned for a minor speaking role as George Clooney's girlfriend on NBC's top-rated series ER. She did not land the part and, in 1995, signed on to play a Midwest housewife in the Louie Anderson sitcom The Louie Show. Before that series began production, ER's casting directors called Innes back to read for the guest spot of Dr. Kerry Weaver. Producers hired Innes to portray the stern redheaded doctor for six episodes. She appeared in 14, and then became a regular cast member. The Louie Show, which aired in 1996 as a midseason replacement, was canceled. Innes won two Screen Actors Guild Awards as part of the ER ensemble and garnered two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal of Dr. Weaver. Her ER co-star, Anthony Edwards, suggested that Innes try directing an episode. Innes made her television directorial debut during the 1999 May sweeps with the episode "Power," in which an electrical failure compromises the functioning of the ER. Innes' work greatly impressed the show's producer, John Wells. Not only did he hire her to direct additional episodes, but he also invited Innes to direct an installment of his other hit series, The West Wing. Her episode of The West Wing, titled "Shibboleth," earned Innes her first Emmy nomination for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series. While enjoying her success on ER, Innes appeared in several feature films and television movies. In 1998, she worked on Deep Impact with Morgan Freedman and Elijah Wood. In 1999, she performed in Can't Stop Dancing with fellow ER cast member Noah Wyle. She also appeared in television's The Price of a Broken Heart (1999) and Taking Back Our Town (2001). In addition to being a celebrated actress/director, Innes is the first female celebrity Jeopardy champion and was voted one of People magazine's "Ten Most Beautiful People" in its yearly online poll in 2001. The actress left ER after 12 seasons in 2007, though she would return briefly for the series finale. Innes returned to television in 2010 to take on the role of Police Captain Tricia Harper in NBC's Awake.

Trivia: As adept at psychological drama as she is at broad physical comedy, Maura Tierney has fashioned one of the more enviable careers in Hollywood, moving with ease between lead and supporting roles on both the big and small screens. The daughter of a prominent Boston politician and a part-time real estate agent, Tierney was born and raised in the city's affluent Hyde Park district. She moved down the coast to attend New York University in the mid-'80s and quit just shy of receiving her diploma in order to join the neighboring Circle in the Square performance school. Despite her love for the city, the burgeoning actress decided to relocate to L.A. in the late '80s to find work. Although her first parts were dead-end bit roles on failed sitcom pilots, Tierney did meet her future husband, actor Billy Morrisette, when they were both fired from the set of a doomed Ralph Macchio series.It was Circle in the Square alumnus Richard Shepard who would give Tierney her first small film role, in his Manhattan-set screwball comedy The Linguini Incident (released in 1992). A lead role in a B-movie parody, Dead Women in Lingerie, did little to advance her career -- the actress has since purged the title from her official CV -- and she continued to toil in minor roles in low-profile TV shows and films before a last-minute casting choice landed her the lead in the sitcom pilot "The Station." Renamed NewsRadio for its March 1995 premiere, the ensemble comedy proved to be Tierney's breakthrough. As the over-achieving news producer Lisa Miller, the actress got a chance to showcase her heretofore unseen comic abilities: sly and ambitious but with a self-deprecating good humor, Tierney evoked a sort of late-millennium Mary Tyler Moore.Her buoyant work in NewsRadio won her meaty supporting roles in the hit comedies Liar Liar (1997) and Forces of Nature (1999); meanwhile, her noteworthy turn in the sleeper Primal Fear (1996) convinced casting directors that she could play heavier roles in films such as Primary Colors (1997) and Instinct (1999). Also during the series' four-year run, Tierney landed the plum role of a single mom who falls for hockey player Bruce Willis in a romantic comedy titled "The Broadway Brawler." After just two weeks' shooting, however, purported "creative differences" brought the project to a permanent halt.A signature leading role still eluding her, Tierney leapt at the opportunity to join the cast of NBC's flagship hour-long drama E.R. in late 1999. As Abby, the OB-GYN nurse working her way through med school, the actress began to nurture what she hoped would be a deeper, more complex character than afforded her in previous vehicles. Meanwhile, Tierney began work on her husband's directorial debut, an independent comedy titled Scotland, P.A. (2001), in which she plays a would-be fast-food matriarch who will stop at nothing to get to the top. Soon after, the actress landed a prime role in Insomnia (2002), director Christopher Nolan's much-anticipated follow-up to his twisty art-house hit Memento (2001). She finished out her run on ER, while still managing to score roles in big-screen fare such as Melvin Goes to Howard, Welcome to Mooseport, Baby Mama, and Semi-Pro.

Trivia: Perhaps Croatia's most recognizable actor, Goran Visnjic became known to an American audience in the late 1990s, thanks to his work in American films and television. The darkly handsome actor, whom Vogue dubbed "the Tom Cruise of Croatia," was born in Sibenik on September 9, 1972, to a bus driver and a food market worker. Like just about all of his compatriots, Visnjic was indelibly affected by the Bosnian War. Although he decided at an early age that he wanted to be an actor and trained at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb, his country's terrible conflict resulted in Visnjic's joining the Croatian army when he was 18. He trained as a paratrooper, ultimately extending his service by three months in order to better defend his country.After Visnjic finished his time with the military, he returned to acting. He began gaining popularity in his country when, at the age of 21, he was cast as Hamlet in a production of the play at the prestigious Dubrovnik Summer Festival. The production earned wide acclaim, and Visnjic himself was the recipient of three national Best Actor awards, including an Orlando, the Croatian equivalent of a Tony.In addition to his work on the stage (he went on to portray Hamlet six years in a row), Visnjic also began appearing in Croatian feature films, and he made his American screen debut in Michael Winterbottom's Welcome to Sarajevo (1997). In 1998, he earned greater international recognition with his role in Practical Magic; although the film itself was a disappointment, Visnjic managed to make a sizable impression on audience members in his role as Nicole Kidman's ne'er-do-well boyfriend. The following year, the actor landed a recurring role on the popular TV medical drama E.R.; his profile further ascended with his casting in a number of feature films, including Committed (2000), a road trip comedy starring Heather Graham and Luke Wilson.

Trivia: A classically trained British stage actress, Alex Kingston earned a following amongst American television audiences with her portrayal of the bold and outspoken Dr. Elizabeth Corday on NBC's E.R. The role was Kingston's best known since she portrayed the lusty title character of The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders (1996) on British television; her work on the often-steamy miniseries earned the curly haired actress both acclaim and a certain measure of notoriety in her native country, two things that virtually ensured her crossover to transatlantic engagements.The daughter of a butcher, Kingston was born in London on March 11, 1963. She first became interested in the theatre during a family trip to her mother's native Germany, where her uncle, an actor, was performing on the stage. After making her own stage debut at the age of five as the Angel Gabriel in a Nativity play, Kingston went on to appear in a number of school productions and got her first professional job at 15, when she had a stint as a school bully on the popular TV series Grange Hill. Following her schooling, she trained at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, where she met and fell in love with fellow actor Ralph Fiennes, whom she would marry in 1993 and divorce four years later. After completing her training, Kingston performed in repertory theatre across England and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. While she portrayed numerous classical characters on the stage, Kingston took on more contemporary characters on television and made her film debut in Peter Greenaway's 1989 The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover. Following her 1996 casting on E.R., Kingston's fan base began to grow, as did her screen appearances. In 1999, she had a leading role as a South African gambler in Mike Hodges' acclaimed Croupier and that same year appeared as a flighty rich woman in the romantic comedy This Space Between Us. Over the next several years, Kingston would find ongoing success in TV, starring on Hope Springs, Marchlands, Upstairs Downstairs, and Doctor Who.

Trivia: Dreadlocked character actor Glenn Plummer began his acting career on television during the late '80s. He appeared in the TV movies The Women of Brewster Place, Heat Wave, and Deadlock. On the big screen, he played thug High Top in Dennis Hopper's crime drama Colors and rookie pitcher Tyrone in the baseball movie Pastime. In 1992, he landed his first starring role as an ex-convict father who wants the best for his son in Steve Anderson's compelling drama South Central. After supporting roles in Trespass, Menace II Society, and Speed, he made a brief return to television to play staff member Timmy Rawlins during the first season of ER. Back on the big screen, he played a choreographer in Showgirls, a musician/activist in Strange Days, and drama teacher in The Substitute More feature films followed, he landed a spot on the HBO miniseries The Corner, and he tried producing with Love Beat the Hell Outta Me. In addition to several straight-to-video action thrillers, Plummer appeared in the feature film The Salton Sea. He also had starring roles in the independent drama 100 Kilos and the motorcycle movie Road Kings.

Trivia: Though he can be spotted in a variety of made-for-TV movies, sitcoms, and prime-time dramas (Seinfeld, NYPD Blue, The X-Files, and The Sopranos are among his many television credits), New York native Tobin Bell is known best for his role as Jigsaw, a serial killer with a penchant for torturing his victims -- physically and psychologically -- in the gruesome Saw film series. The performance was good enough to secure a nomination for "Best Villain" two years in a row at the MTV Movie Awards, and won Bell the coveted "Best Butcher" award at the Fuse/Fangoria Chainsaw Awards. In addition to his roles as fictional villains, the actor played the real-life bad guy, Unabomber John Kaczynski, in the made-for-TV movie Unabomber: The True Story (1996).

Trivia: Born October 4th, 1969, Abraham Benrubi first became beloved to Gen-Xers when he played misunderstood high schooler "Koob" on the cult-hit comedy series Parker Lewis Can't Lose. His 6'7" linebacker stature combined with his soft-spoken voice made him unforgettable in his long-running portrayal of Jerry Markovic on ER, though his contributions to the Cartoon Network series Robot Chicken feature his voice only, and are just as memorable. In 2006, Benrubi joined the cast of the one-hour dramedy Men in Trees, playing the intriguing, peculiar character of bartender/millionaire Ben Tomasson. After returning for the final season of ER in 2008, Benrubi starred in ABC's short-lived television series Happy Town, and played the role of Detective Sgt. JC Lightfoot in TNT's Memphis Beat. Benrubi continues to be active in film and television.

Trivia: CCNY and Columbia University alumnus John Randolph was first seen on Broadway in the 1937 opus Revolt of the Beavers. Randolph served in the Air Force in World War II, then resumed what seemed at the time to be an increasingly successful, near-unstoppable acting career. But in 1951, Randolph found himself on a specious "Commie sympathizers" list. After appearing as a hostile witness before the House UnAmerican Activities Committee, Randolph was effectively blacklisted from movies, TV and radio commercials for the next twelve years. Fortunately, he could always rely upon the theatre to provide him an income, though it was touch-and-go for a while when a Broadway show in which he was appearing was picketed by anti-Red zealots. Throughout the 1950s, Randolph was featured in such major stage productions as Come Back Little Sheba, The Visit, Sound of Music and Case of Libel. In 1963, he was at long last permitted to guest-star on a network TV program, The Defenders. Appropriately, it was in an episode titled "Blacklist," which condemned the knee-jerk policy of banning artists because of their political views; ironically, Randolph was very nearly denied the part when the network complained that he hadn't been "cleared." Though he'd played a small part in 1948's The Naked City, Randolph's movie career began in earnest in 1965. In John Frankenheimer's Seconds, he was cast as aging businessman Arthur Hamilton, who through the magic of plastic surgery is given a fresh new identity (he emerges from the bandages as Rock Hudson)! Since his career renaissance, Hamilton hasn't stopped working before the cameras. He has been featured in films like Gaily Gaily (1969), Little Murders (1971), King Kong (1976), Heaven Can Wait (1978) Prizzi's Honor (1985; as Pop Prizzi); in TV movies like Wings of Kitty Hawk (1978; as Alexander Graham Bell) and The American Clock (1993); and as a regular in the TV series Angie (1979) Annie McGuire (1988) and Grand (1990). Though he'd probably rather you not mention it, Randolph is a dead ringer for former attorney general John Mitchell; accordingly, he played Mitchell in the TV miniseries Blind Ambition, and was heard but not seen in the same role in the 1976 theatrical feature All the President's Men. Despite the upsurge in his film and TV activities, Randolph has never abandoned the theatre: in 1986, he won a Tony Award for his work in Neil Simon's Broadway Bound. As if to slap the faces of those self-styled patriots who denied him work in the 1950s, Randolph has in recent years accepted the German Democratic Republic's Paul Robeson Award, and has served on the National Council for US-Soviet friendship. John Randolph has also served on the board of directors of all three major performing guilds: SAG, AFTRA and Equity. After taking on a variety of grandfatherly roles, including Jack Nicholson's father in Prizzi's Honor and Tom Hanks' grandfather in You've Got Mail), Randloph passed away at 88-years-old in April of 2004.

Trivia: Character actress, onscreen from the '80s. She was married to actor Will Geer.

Trivia: North Carolina native Liz Vassey began acting on-stage when she was just nine years old, studying acting at a number of universities over the coming years before beginning her onscreen acting career. She appeared on the soap opera All My Children beginning in 1988 and would make guest appearances on numerous TV series, including Murphy Brown, Quantum Leap, and others. Soon, Vassey would be snagging staring roles on TV shows, playing roles like Captain Liberty on the cult favorite The Tick and Wendy Simms on the procedural drama CSI. Among her other credits are the supernatural series Tru Calling and the Elmore Leonard adaptation Maximum Bob.

Trivia: Acting career began on stage in Hamlet and Henry IV. Appeared in numerous Broadway productions, including Applause and Born Yesterday. Made history playing the husband in the first interracial married couple featured on a network primetime show (Tom Willis on The Jeffersons). Son, Bradford Cover, is also an actor.

Trivia: Of Polish, Italian, German and Irish descent.Her name means winter in Polish.Drowning in L.A., a short story she wrote at age 15, was published in AIM Magazine.Wrote a novel at the age of 16.