Trivia: Equally adept at sober drama and over-the-top comedy, Michael Keaton has a knack for giving ordinary guys an unexpected twist. This trait ultimately made him an ideal casting choice for Tim Burton's 1989 Batman, and it has allowed him to play characters ranging from Mr. Mom's discontented stay-at-home dad to Pacific Heights's raging psychopath.The youngest of seven children, Keaton was born Michael Douglas on September 5th, 1951 in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania on September 9, 1951. After two years of studying speech at Kent State University, he dropped out and moved to Pittsburgh. While working a number of odd jobs--including a stint as an ice cream truck driver--Keaton attempted to build a career as a stand-up comedian, which proved less than successful. He ended up working as a cameraman for the Pittsburgh PBS station, a job that led him to realize he wanted to be in front of the camera, rather than behind it. Following this realization, Keaton duly moved out to Los Angeles, where he joined the L.A. Branch of Second City and began auditioning. When he started getting work he changed his last name to avoid being confused with the better-known actor of the same name, taking the name "Keaton" after seeing a newspaper article about Diane Keaton. He began acting on and writing for a number of television series, and he got his first big break co-starring with old friend Jim Belushi on the sitcom Working Stiffs (1979). Three years later, he made an auspicious film debut as the relentlessly cheerful owner of a morgue/brothel in Night Shift. The raves he won for his performance carried over to his work the following year in Mr. Mom, and it appeared as though Keaton was on a winning streak. Unfortunately, a series of such mediocre films as Johnny Dangerously (1984) and Gung Ho (1985) followed, and by the time Tim Burton cast him as the titular Beetlejuice in 1988, Keaton's career seemed to have betrayed its early promise. Beetlejuice proved Keaton's comeback: one of the year's most popular films, it allowed him to do some of his best work in years as the ghoulish, revolting title character. His all-out comic performance contrasted with his work in that same year's Clean and Sober, in which he played a recovering drug addict. The combined impact of these performances put Keaton back in the Hollywood spotlight, a position solidified in 1989 when he starred in Burton's Batman. Initially thought to be a risky casting choice for the title role, Keaton was ultimately embraced by audiences and critics alike, many of whom felt that his slightly skewed everyman appearance and capacity for dark humor made him perfect for the part. He reprised the role with similar success for the film's 1992 sequel, Batman Returns. Despite the acclaim and commercial profit surrounding Keaton's work in the Batman films, many of his subsequent films during the 1990s proved to be disappointments. My Life (1993), Speechless (1994), and The Paper (1994) were relative failures, despite star casting and name directors, while Multiplicity, a 1996 comedy featuring no less than four clones of the actor, further demonstrated that his name alone couldn't sell a movie. Some of Keaton's most successful work of the 1990s could be found in his roles in two Elmore Leonard adaptations, Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown (1997) and Steven Soderbergh's Out of Sight (1998). An ATF agent in the former and Jennifer Lopez's morally questionable boyfriend in the latter, he turned in solid performances as part of a strong ensemble cast in both critically acclaimed films. In 1999, Keaton went back to his behind-the-camera roots, serving as the executive producer for Body Shots. Keaton continued to act throughout the early 2000s, and starred in Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005) alongside Lindsay Lohan. the actor took on another vehicle-oriented role when he agreed to voice the character of Chris Hicks in Pixar's Cars (2006). In 2010, Keaton voiced the Ken doll in Toy Story 3. Keaton enjoyed an unexpected career renaissance in 2014 playing the lead in Birdman, an older actor trying to stage a comeback by putting on a Broadway production. His work in the film was widely praised, and he earned his first Academy Award nomination when he was given a nod in the Best Actor category.

Trivia: Actress Kelly Preston was first seen on a national basis in the last-billed role of a general's daughter on the weekly 1983 TV drama For Love and Honor. She established herself as an agreeable comedienne in such films as Mischief (1985) and Secret Admirer (1985), then became lost in the turgid melodramatics of 52 Pick-Up (1986). Her big movie break was supposed to have been her co-starring stint with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny De Vito in Twins (1988), but the role was too nondescript to engender any enthusiasm. Nonetheless, Preston persevered, delivering great performances in such offbeat fare as the 1993 made-for-cable movie Arthur Miller's The American Clock. In the latter half of the 1990s, Preston's perseverance began to pay off, first with a substantial role in Cameron Crowe's widely acclaimed Jerry Maguire. She continued to do comedy, appearing in Nothing to Lose (1997), Addicted to Love (1997), and Holy Man (1998), before switching back to drama in 1999 as Kevin Costner's girlfriend in For Love of the Game. On April 3, 2000, Preston gave birth to a daughter, her second child while married to Travolta. Her career onscreen barely missing a beat after the bith, Preston appeared opposite husband Travolta in the notorious 2000 bomb Battlefield Earth before taking a turn back to comedy with roles in View from the Top and The Cat in the Hat. Though it had been quite some time since Preston had appeared on television with any frequency, a return to the small screen with roles in both Joey and Fat Actress provided semi-regular work in 2004 and 2005. In 2005 Preston could also be seen as a superpowered mother in the family oriented adventure comedy Sky High, with a role as a grieving sister who returns home to mourn the death of her brother in Broken Bridges serving well to remind audiences of her dramatic abilities after a series of more lighthearted roles. She continued to work steadily in projects such as The Possibility of Fireflies and The Tenth Circle. She appeared in her husband's hit comedy Old Dogs in 2009, and played the wife of a corrupt lobbyist in Casino Jack on year later.

Trivia: After roles on a handful of BBC television shows, British actor Mark Addy made a splash on the international film scene with his turn as a rotund exotic dancer in 1997's surprise hit The Full Monty. With the filmmaking boatloads of cash stateside and garnering a handful of Academy Award nods and Addy's ability to effortlessly adopt an American accent, it took little time before he was working on the U.S. side of the pond. Addy's first high-profile Hollywood role was a supporting gig playing Michael Keaton's pal in Jack Frost (1998), a family flick about a jazz musician who is reincarnated as a snowman. Two years later, Addy took on his first lead in an American film, filling the pelt worn previously by John Goodman, playing Fred Flintstone in the prequel The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas. Unfortunately, the project failed to keep the franchise's flame burning. The next couple years saw Addy in more supporting roles in a series of projects that ranged from barely-profitable (A Knight's Tale) to downright unsuccesful (Down to Earth and The Time Machine), but in 2002 he landed the lead on the CBS sitcom Still Standing. With Addy starring opposite Jami Gertz, the show became a hit as the lead-in to the network's wildly popular Monday-night lineup.In between seasons of Still Standing, Addy continued to make time for the occassional big-screen project, popping up in such films as 2003's The Order and 2004's Around the World in 80 Days, the former of which reunited the actor with Brian Helgeland and Heath Ledger, the writer/director and star of A Knight's Tale. Addy married Kelly Addy in 1996. The couple has one daughter. He appeared as John Piggot in the highly-respected Red Riding trilogy, and followed that up with a role in 2010's Robin Hood as Friar Tuck. In 2011 he was cast in the initial season of HBO's Game of Thrones as King Robert Baratheon.

Trivia: Fresh-faced actor Joseph Cross established himself as an onscreen presence from the late '90s onward, with a series of effective and tightly knit characterizations in consistently interesting (if critically divisive) projects. After a somewhat mawkish start, as the lovelorn preteen son in the family-oriented Michael Keaton movie Jack Frost (1998), Cross ultimately breached more adult-oriented material, much of it offbeat. He landed two of his most prominent roles in the mid-2000s: white trash Jerri Blank's (Amy Sedaris) jockey stepbrother in the satirical comedy Strangers with Candy (2005) and young Augusten Burroughs, a youngster growing up amid a hopelessly dysfunctional and cracked environment, in Ryan Murphy's adaptation of Burroughs' memoir, Running with Scissors (2006). The latter represented Cross' premier lead; most critics commended his efforts and his ambition, even as they panned the film for the incohesiveness of its elements. The following year, Cross also landed a supporting role in the Diane Lane thriller Untraceable (2008).

Trivia: Since 1980, muscle-bound and tattoo-laden Henry Rollins has taken his status as one of the most distinctive frontmen in alternative rock and parlayed it into a career as a Gen-X Renaissance man, gaining notice as an actor, author, publisher, performance artist, record company executive, and commercial spokesman. Henry Rollins was born Henry Garfield on February 13, 1961, in Washington, D.C. ("Rollins" was a name he used as a joke in high school; it was taken from a friend's T-shirt ). As a teenager, Garfield developed a passionate interest in rock music at its most intense, and while in high school, he formed his first band, a hardcore punk outfit called S.O.A. (aka State of Alert), who released an EP in 1980. Henry was a passionate fan of the pioneering Los Angeles punk band Black Flag, and when Black Flag's vocalist Dez Cadena decided to step down as singer in 1981, the group's guitarist and leader Greg Ginn invited the newly renamed Henry Rollins to join. Black Flag became one of the hardest-working punk bands in America, constantly touring the United States and releasing eight albums and a handful of singles and EPs before calling it a day in 1986. During his tenure with Black Flag, Rollins developed an interest in writing and began publishing fiction, opinion pieces, and stream-of-consciousness rants in a number of magazines and rock journals, as well as distributing his own chapbooks through Black Flag's record label, SST. Rollins also began performing spoken-word shows of his material, as well as staging confrontational "performance art" events with Lydia Lunch. After Black Flag's breakup, Rollins formed a new group simply known as the Rollins Band and began touring heavily, recording with only slightly less frequency than Black Flag. Rollins continued to write and publish regularly and performed frequently as a spoken-word act, becoming one of the most recognizable figures in alternative rock circles. In 1991, Rollins signed with a major label, Imago Records, and toured as part of the first Lollapalooza Festival; Rollins had now won a wider audience than ever before, and he seemed determined to make the most of his new visibility. Rollins launched a publishing company, 2.13.61, which distributed his own work as well as books by fellow rockers-turned-authors Nick Cave and Jeffrey Lee Pierce and iconoclastic authors such as Hubert Selby Jr. and Bill Shields. Rollins later expanded 2.13.61 into a record label, as well as co-founded the reissue label Infinite Zero with producer Rick Rubin. While Rollins appeared in experimental films as early as 1985, his new level of visibility brought Hollywood calling, and in 1994 Rollins appeared in both the independent vampire story Jugular Wine and the action-comedy The Chase, in which he played a highway patrolman. 1995 found Rollins playing a scientist in the cyberpunk thriller Johnny Mnemonic and a brutal prison guard in David Lynch's Lost Highway, and from that point on Rollins began appearing in a variety of character roles when he wasn't occupied with his musical or literary activities. Rollins usually portrayed physically imposing and emotionally intense gentlemen, ranging from an escaped convict in Morgan's Ferry to a children's hockey coach in Jack Frost. A number of Rollins' spoken-word shows have also been released on home video, including Talking From the Box and You Saw Me Up There, and in 2000 Rollins signed on as the host and narrator of the television anthology series Night Visions, though as of this writing the series has yet to find a network.

Trivia: With her flowing golden locks and expressive, curiously mature eyes, young Mika Boorem has gained an impressive acting track record since her television debut at the age of nine in television's popular Touched By an Angel.Born in Tucson, AZ, in August of 1987, Boorem does her best to balance the strenuous schedules that often accompany movie shoots with her education and the valuable time she spends with her friends and family. Nominated twice for a Young Artist Award for her roles in Jack Frost (1998) and The Patriot (2000), Boorem began acting on stage at the age of six before signing with an agent and appearing in commercials and on television. After appearing as a young Ally McBeal in the pilot episode of the popular series, the youngster went on to appear in such features as Along Came a Spider, Hearts in Atlantis, and Riding in Cars With Boys.

Trivia: While most rising stars would be reluctant to tarnish their all-American image by appearing in films that demand they morph into another gender or in television roles that call for them to be as prickly as possible, handsome theater veteran Taylor Handley is always willing to throw the viewing audience the kind of curveballs that set him well apart from the pack. Born and raised in Santa Barbara, CA, Handley took to acting at the tender age of eight and cut his teeth in summer stock. While few of the aspiring actor's early television appearances -- including bit roles in Frasier, Touched By an Angel, and CSI -- would call for anything out of the ordinary, more substantial roles in Dawson's Creek and The O.C. began to reveal an actor of unusual complexity and ambition. It was his role as bad-boy Oliver Trask on The O.C., in particular, that first brought Handley to the attention of many television viewers, yet even with that edgy performance on his resumé, few could have foreseen something as strange as his role in the decidedly off-kilter romantic comedy Zerophilia a couple years later. Cast as an insecure teen boy who realizes he is gradually morphing into a female in writer/director Martin Curland's gender-bending film, Handley went places that few rising stars would be bold enough to venture. Handley next appeared in the period drama September Dawn, which detailed the historic confrontation between a traveling band of peaceful settlers and a renegade Mormon group. He could also be seen in the rip-roaring horror sequel Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, which pitted him against one of the most notorious madmen in screen history. Back on the small screen, following an appearance on CSI: Miami, Handley scored the lead role of Johnny Miller on the weekly guilty pleasure Hidden Palms. Scripted by Dawson's Creek mastermind Kevin Williamson, Hidden Palms told the tale of a troubled teen (Handley) doing his best to recover from his father's recent suicide and a stint in rehab by connecting with the angst-ridden kids who inhabit his new Palm Springs neighborhood.

Trivia: With a father like the legendary Frank Zappa, one might assume that it may be difficult to gain recognition for your own independent accomplishments outside of the larger-than-life legendary status built in the family name. Not so for guitarist virtuoso/actor Dweezil Zappa. After winning a Grammy at the age of 18 and topping the charts in 1988 with the humorously rebellious "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama," the younger Zappa found popularity not only in the music scene, but in movies and television as well.Born September 5, 1969, in Hollywood, CA, Dweezil took to the guitar from an early age. With teachers like his father, Eddie Van Halen, and Steve Vai, Dweezil quickly gained musical footing and mastered the instrument. Occasionally playing on his father's recordings and with sibling Ahmet, it wasn't long before Dweezil opted for a solo career and released his first album, Havin' a Bad Day, in 1986. Following with My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama two years later, Dweezil proved that his talents on the guitar were no fluke and scored a big hit with the title single. Dweezil's musical talents would later be employed with his brother, Ahmet, as they formed Z and released their debut album, Shampoohorn, in 1994. Aside from their musical partnership, Dweezil and Ahmet got big laughs with numerous talk show appearances and eventually filtered their unique and wacky chemistry into a USA Networkvariety show called Happy Hour in 1999. With it's no-holds-barred, anything-goes format and a pension for inviting wild guests, it wasn't unusual to see such luminaries as Danny Bonaduce drop his pants and do a table dance. Often spotted in small roles and cameos, Dweezil may also be a familiar face to moviegoers and TV addicts with his roles in Pretty in Pink (1986) and Jack Frost, as well as his voice work on Duckman and appearances on Hollywood Squares. Pitching in as a composer for the theme of The Ben Stiller Show, among others, Dweezil's love for music never trailed too far behind his movie and television appearances. Frequently seen in the company of singer Lisa Loeb, Dweezil released Automatic, his first album in nearly a decade, in 2000.

Trivia: A precocious youngster who is equally adept in the realms of stage, film, and television, Eli Marienthal has turned in stand-out performances in all arenas since dedicating himself to acting at the age of nine. A Santa Monica, CA, native, Marienthal received his primary education at the East Bay French-American Ecoile Bilingue school where he sharpened his French skills from the age of four. Refining his acting abilities at the prestigious American Conservatory Theater's Young Conservatory, Marienthal also attended part-time schooling in Paris in the third and fourth grades. His early stage performances in such Bay Area productions as the Berkeley Repertory Theater's Missing Persons and The Life of Galileo, and in San Francisco's Magic Theater production of Cryptogram, earned the young thespian both positive recognition and a Black Box award for the latter. Making his television debut alongside Dolly Parton in Unlikely Angel (1996) and his film debut the following year (First Love, Last Rites), Marienthal continued his rapid rise to recognition with roles in such popular films as Jack Frost (1998), American Pie (1999), and some voice work in the animated The Iron Giant (also 1999). Marienthal's early role as the youngest member of the nomadic Abromowitz clan in The Slums of Beverly Hills (1998) also caught some laughs, giving audiences a hint of things to come from the gifted youngster. Taking the title role on television's Tucker (2000) and providing more voice work for The Zeta Project, the next year saw Marienthal's star beginning to grow legs, and a return to the role of Stifler's younger brother in the sequel American Pie 2 found him humorously following in his cocky older celluloid sibling's footsteps.

Trivia: A handsome and talented young actor who cut his thespian chops on-stage, young Will Rothhaar was bitten by the acting bug early in life, making his feature debut at the age of nine in the gross-out kings Farrelly brothers' homage to the sleazy side of bowling, Kingpin (1996).Born in the Big Apple in January of 1987, Rothaar is a dedicated scholar in addition to an actor, attaining honor student status and becoming fluent in Spanish despite the young actor's hectic schedule. Nominated twice for a Young Star award and once for a Young Artist award, the tireless young actor has appeared in features ranging from Jack Frost (1998) to Hearts in Atlantis (2001). Additionally appearing in such made-for-television efforts as Fail Safe and An American Daughter (both 2001), Rothaar has also made frequent appearances in television's JAG.

Trivia: Comedian Paul F. Tompkins began his career in the mid-'80s, appearing as a stand-up comedian in his hometown of Philadelphia, often with partner-in-comedy Rick Roman. After moving to L.A. in the mid-'90s, Tompkins found an outlet for his mix of silliness and sarcasm working as a writer and contributor for the sketch comedy series Mr. Show and Real Time With Bill Maher. He would also find success as a media personality, appearing on Countdown with Keith Olbermann and The Daily Show with Craig Kilborn.Tompkins would continue to do stand-up, with his act often appearing on Comedy Central. He would also work as a comedic actor, appearing in movies like Anchorman and on thecomedy series Tenacious D, The Sarah Silverman Program, and Pushing Daisies. In 2008, Tompkins became the host of the VH1 pop culture clip show Best Week Ever.

Trivia: Whether appearing on camera or simply stepping in front of the microphone to voice one of countless animated characters, actor/writer/producer and director Jay Johnston had a way of bringing the laughs to every project he worked on. While Johnston's career got off to a respectable start thanks to walk-on roles in Ellen and Just Shoot Me, it was the multi-faceted funnyman's involvement with Mr. Show that truly served to launch his career. Later, in between roles in such features as Jack Frost, Bicentennial Man, Not Another Teen Movie, and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Johnston kept busy with appearances on Curb Your Enthusiasm and Malcolm in the Middle. By the time Johnston assumed the role of Officer Taylor on Arrested Development, he was widely considered one of the comedy world's best-kept secrets. A role in the 2006 comedy Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny found Johnston helping to bring the self-proclaimed "Greatest Band in the World" to the big screen, with a recurring role on The Sarah Silverman Program following in quick succession. In 2007, Johnston signed on as writer/producer/voice star of the cynical, clay-animated religious satire Moral Orel -- which took direct aim at such kitchy religious propaganda as Davey and Goliath.

Trivia: New York native Scott Colomby relocated to the Los Angeles area when he was still a child, putting him considerably closer to the bright lights of Hollywood. He began making guest appearances on TV shows like Ironside and Charlie's Angels in the mid-'70s, and soon found a few steady gigs with recurring roles on One Day at a Time and Szysznyk. The '80s and '90s would offer a similar stream of TV appearances on shows like Walker, Texas Ranger and Silk Stalkings, while the 2000s would find Colomby acting in the independent drama The Seekers.