Trivia: Held in warm regard by Xena-philes for her role as the vulnerable villain Najara in the popular fantasy adventure series Xena: Warrior Princess, actress Kathy Morris sports an impressively eclectic resumé, appearing in everything from television's creepy Poltergeist: The Legacy to such dramatic roles as The Contender (2000).Morris was born in Cincinnati, but grew up traveling constantly and living a Partridge Family-esque existence with her close-knit family/bandmates from the age of five. Though she would spend time in such geographically diverse climates as Brooklyn, TX, and the cold of Connecticut, it was with her early experiences in the spotlight that Morris found the most fulfillment. Seguing into theater after her youthful experiences on the stage, she began to refine her acting skills and soon made the decision to pursue a professional career as an actress. Laboring through countless hours of free work and waitressing in the years she spent launching her career, Morris finally got her break when cast alongside Mark Harmon in the made-for-television film The Long Road Home in 1991. Making her feature debut opposite 15-minute rap sensation Vanilla Ice in Cool as Ice the same year, Morris appeared in more made-for-TV movies (Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All [1994]) and low-budget thrillers (Sleepstalker [1995] and The Prophecy II [1998]) in the following years, Morris began to truly gain momentum in 1997 when she was cast in television's Pensacola: Wings of Gold and the aforementioned Xena: Warrior Princess. Never having been the athletic type, Morris left most of the fantastic swashbuckling of her sympathetic villainess in the physically demanding Xena to stunt doubles. After appearances in The Contender and the nuclear war thriller Deterrence (2000), Morris leapt into her biggest film yet with her role in Steven Spielberg's A.I. (2001). Spielberg also cast her in his next film, 2002's Minority Report, playing Tom Cruise's estranged wife.In 2003, Morris returned to television in the CBS series Cold Case. Playing Philadelphia Detective Lilly Rush, Morris was the lead in the show, which ran for seven seasons. After Cold Case wrapped in 2010, she played the small role of Billy Beane's (Brad Pitt) wife in the Oscar-nominated film Moneyball (2011), but her scenes were ultimately cut from the movie. In 2013, Morris appeared in the Hallmark Channel's TV Movie The Sweeter Side of Life.

Trivia: With a countenance that can effortlessly suggest a beleaguered everyman or a no-nonsense tough, American character actor John Finn has sustained a prolonged and impressively varied career. A New York City native, Finn received one of his earliest assignments under the aegis of Stuart Rosenberg, as Ginty in the ethnic drama (and cult hit) The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984). The actor's resumé over the following ten years packed in a series of key Hollywood films of varying quality -- from the wonderful Ed Zwick drama Glory (1989) and the fine Alan Pakula political thriller The Pelican Brief (1993) to the Bob Clark buddy comedy Loose Cannons (1990). Finn also appeared in occasional telemovies, notably the 1991 Posing: Inspired by Three Real Stories, as Jimmy Lanahan, the husband of homemaker-turned-Playmate Meredith Lanahan (Lynda Carter). After appearances on such hit series as The X-Files, Frasier, and NYPD Blue, and parts in the major studio releases Catch Me If You Can and Analyze That (2002), Finn landed one of his first regular series roles, playing Lieutenant John Stillman on the popular detective program Cold Case.

Trivia: With his distinct appearance, the bald and imposing African-American player Thom Barry made a seemingly perfect character actor, and thus found himself frequently cast as guards, police detectives, and heavies in mainstream Hollywood features, from the early '90s on. He landed a bit part as a guard in Rob Reiner's The American President (1995), appeared as Samahani in Congo (1995), and played Sgt. Marcus in the Shaquille O'Neal-headlined superhero picture Steel (1997). Barry maintained a higher profile as Agent Bilkins in two Jerry Bruckheimer-produced action pictures, The Fast and the Furious (2001) and its sequel 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003). Additionally, after years of guest-acting work on the small screen, he signed for his first regular role -- that of homicide investigator Will Jeffries -- on the popular detective series Cold Case (2006).

Trivia: After a series of very brief appearances in low-rent Hollywood films and studio products including Junior (1986), Short Circuit 2 (1988), and Welcome Home (1989), Canadian character actor Jeremy Ratchford revealed a predilection for slightly dark, crime-themed material, even as he occasionally branched off into other genres. Career highlights include a portrayal of Deputy Andy Russell in Clint Eastwood's 1992 Oscar winner Unforgiven, Harvey Sanders in the made-for-television docudrama Getting Gotti (1994), and Darryl Marquette in a guest appearance on NYPD Blue. In 2006, Ratchford accepted the regular role of investigator Nick Vera on the detective series Cold Case.

Trivia: Is the son of Cuban immigrants. In his youth, aspired to become a baseball player or a lawyer, or join the Coast Guard. Was a lifeguard in Miami as a teen. Met his future wife, Lilly, during a middle-school theater class when they were just 13. They continued their education together through junior high, high school, college and graduate school. Off-camera pursuits include writing; received writing credits on the Cold Case episodes "Stealing Home" (2009) and "Metamorphosis" (2010).

Trivia: African-American supporting actress Tracie Thoms first arrived on the Hollywood scene in the early 2000s, and worked steadily thereafter, landing a covetous string of roles in many of Hollywood's most hotly anticipated films. She played Andrea in the riotous Tribeca-produced frat-boy comedy Porn 'n Chicken (2002), then tackled the role of Mahandra, the acerbic best friend of the even more acerbic Jaye Tyler (Caroline Dhavernas), on the short-lived cult fantasy series Wonderfalls (2004). In 2005 and 2006, respectively, Thoms tackled sizeable roles in the Chris Columbus-directed musical Rent and the David Frankel-helmed box-office smash The Devil Wears Prada. Additionally, in 2006, Thoms got promoted from a previously recurring role to a regular character -- Kat Miller -- on the hit detective series Cold Case. She then geared up for Death Proof, Quentin Tarantino's half of the Grindhouse double-bill, as the garrulous Kim, one of three no-nonsense female vigilantes who take on Kurt Russell's psychopath Stuntman Mike.

Trivia: Founded what would become Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1974 with his high-school friends Gary Sinise and Terry Kinney, and served as its artistic director in the 1980s. Met first wife, Laurie Metcalf, when both were theater students at Illinois State University. Made movie debut in Remember My Name, a 1978 drama produced by Robert Altman; appeared in The Wedding (directed by Altman) later that year. Has appeared on some 40 TV series, including Columbo, Family Ties, thirtysomething, L.A. Law, Frasier, NYPD Blue, ER, The West Wing, Lost, Prison Break, Cold Case, C.S.I: Crime Scene Investigation and CSI: New York. Was a regular on CBS's Nash Bridges (1996-2001) A semiregular on Grey's Anatomy (he plays Meredith Grey's father, Thatcher), he's married to series casting director Linda Lowy.

Trivia: Starred in the 1963 musical Money at the New York theater Upstairs at the Downstairs. Appeared in the original Broadway productions of Mame (1966) and Company (1970). Was an original cast member of Saturday Night Live, though only for the first three episodes. His Oscar-nominated short, The Dove, is a parody of Ingmar Bergman films. Served on the Screen Actors Guild's National Board of Directors.

Trivia: Lead actor John Getz first appeared onscreen in the '80s.

Trivia: In an era of Mandy Patinkin and Glenn Close, one shouldn't be surprised that one of the loveliest and classiest leading ladies on TV in the 1980s was named Mel Harris. After several years on the fringes of big success, things began to click all at once for Harris in 1987, beginning with a good part in the Rutger Hauer film Wanted Dead or Alive. More importantly, 1987 was the year Harris landed the role of wife/mother/free-lance writer Hope Murdoch on the popular TV series thirtysomething. Harris' subsequent projects have not been as rewarding: there wasn't much she could do with her leading-lady stint in the Jim Belushi opus K-9 (1989), while such melodramas as Raising Caine (1992) and the made-for-TV Women of Spring Break (1995) were beneath not only her talents, but also those of everyone else involved. Hopefully, Mel Harris enjoyed working on the loopy hospital comedy Suture (1993), if for no other reason than her character name was Renee Descartes. In 1996 Harris co-starred with Jere Burns in the TV sitcom Something So Right.

Trivia: Performed in Scott Caan's stage production of Two Wrongs at the Lounge 2 Theater in Los Angeles in 2010. In 2012, played the role of Rachel opposite Melanie Griffith in the world premiere of Scott Caan's Broadway production of No Way Around But Through. Starred in the 1995 film adaptation of the popular book series The Baby-Sitters Club and reunited with cast mates Rachael Leigh Cook, Marla Sokoloff and Larisa Oleynik 20 years after the movie's release. Is an active supporter of My Life My Power, a youth empowerment and anti-bullying program.

Trivia: Born into a Polish Chicagoan family, blonde-haired and baby-faced actress Nina Siemaszko began life as Antonina Jadwiga Siemaszko in 1970. Though she initially harbored no definite plans to pursue acting professionally, Nina -- the sister of actor Casey Siemaszko (Stand by Me, Young Guns) --unexpectedly broke into show business by goofing off in front of her sibling's agent (and reportedly poking fun at Casey); it so impressed the agent that he signed her not long after. She landed her first significant role as the onscreen sister of teen heartthrob Corey Haim in 1988's License to Drive, then acted for the eminent Francis Ford Coppola in that helmer's 1988 pet project, Tucker: The Man and His Dream (as Preston Tucker's teenage daughter). For better or worse, Siemaszko subsequently had to endure a string of less-than-prestigious projects, including the 1992 softcore melodrama Wild Orchid 2: Two Shades of Blue (as the lascivious title character) and the 1994 telemovie Baby Brokers, as a sleazy con-woman who joins her husband in luring childless victims into a phony adoption scheme. Siemaszko took a massive step up (in prestige and visibility) with a key supporting role in the Rob Reiner/Aaron Sorkin comedy-drama The American President (1995), played Mona Ramsey in the acclaimed miniseries More Tales of the City (1998), and, around the middle of the following decade, played a recurring role as an amateur detective's (Kellie Martin) close friend, in the "Mystery Woman" series of telemovies. In 2008, Siemaszko signed on for a supporting turn in the teen-oriented shocker The Haunting of Molly Hartley. Siemaszko's resumé also includes guest spots on series such as Judging Amy, The West Wing, and Red Shoe Diaries (which reunited her with Orchid director Zalman King).

Trivia: Thomas F. Wilson studied international politics at Arizona State University, then switched his career focus by becoming a summer stock actor. In 1979, the 20-year-old Wilson returned to his native Philadelphia to begin his career as a standup comic, studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts between nightclub gigs. While on the bumpy road to fame, he shared an apartment with two other aspiring funnymen, Yakov Smirnoff and Andrew Dice Clay. He finally struck paydirt in the role of thick-eared, thick-skulled high school bully Biff ("Why don't you make like a tree...and go away?) in the first two Back to the Future films. In Back to the Future Pt. 3 (1988), he offered a fascinating variation of this character in the role of Biff's splendidly stupid great-grandfather, gunslinger Buford Tannen. What could have been a one-note characterization -- Biff/Buford wound up covered in manure in all three films -- was enlivened by Wilson's comic nuances and split-second timing. Computer game fans know Thomas F. Wilson best as Major Todd "Maniac" Marshall, star of the interactive CD-ROM Wing Commander series.