Trivia: Handsome, well-built and able to communicate a rangy sort of charm in front of the camera, Dennis Quaid possesses many star qualities. Despite attaining heartthrob status for his work in such films as The Big Easy, however, Quaid has had a difficult time maintaining this status, thanks in part to work in a number of films that have failed to fully exploit his talent.The son of an electrician and younger brother of actor Randy Quaid, Dennis was born in Houston, Texas on April 9, 1954. He began acting in high school, and in college he enrolled in a drama program. He dropped out at the age of 20 to follow his brother to Hollywood and spent the next year mired in rejection and relative unemployment. He got his first break in 1977 when he was cast in minor roles in I Never Promised You a Rose Garden and 9/30/55, but it was not until 1979, when he starred in the seminal coming-of-age drama Breaking Away, that Quaid gained attention. It was his role as astronaut Gordo Cooper in The Right Stuff four years later that finally gave the actor his Hollywood breakthrough. He subsequently went on to appear in a number of films of widely varying quality. 1987 proved to be a particularly good year for Quaid, as he did acclaimed work in The Big Easy and Suspect. That same year, he also starred in the comedy Innerspace; that experience proved to be an auspicious one, as it provided him with an introduction to co-star Meg Ryan, whom he would marry in 1991. The two also starred together in the 1988 mystery D.O.A. and in the crime drama Flesh and Bone in 1993. Other notable roles for Quaid included that of wild man Jerry Lee Lewis in Great Balls of Fire (1989), a 1930s union organizer in Come See the Paradise (1990), and Meryl Streep's love interest in Postcards From the Edge (1990). During a large part of the '90s, Quaid starred in a string of disappointing films, including the disastrous Wyatt Earp (1994) and the failed medieval fantasy Dragonheart (1996). He made something of a comeback in 1998, appearing in the ensemble film Playing By Heart and the successful remake of The Parent Trap, in which he starred opposite Natasha Richardson. The following year, he had a starring role as a Miami football team's legendary quarterback in Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday, and then starred in the supernatural thriller Frequency (2000) as a dead man who is able to communicate with his son (James Caviezel) over ham radio. Though both films proved moderately successful, it was two-years-later that Quaid would truly return to the good graces of critics with his striking turn in director Todd Haynes' Far From Heaven. As a closeted homosexual husband living a typical suburban dream in 1950s era Connecticut, Quaid's sensitive performance proved integral to convincingly recreating the tone of a Douglas Sirk era melodrama. Quaid portrayed a middle-aged man whose life is turned upside-down by the arrival of a young upstart who takes over his job in 2004's comedy drama Good Company, and appeared in The Alamo and Flight of the Phoenix the same year. Despite Quaid's involvement in several commercial and critical failures throughout the 2000s (The Day After Tomorrow, American Dreamz, Cold Creek Manor), the actor shone as widower Lawrence Wetherhold in Smart People (2008), and again as the stern Reverend Shaw Moore in 2011's Footloose reboot. Quaid appeared in the ensemble film What To Expect When You're Expecting, had a supporting role in the 2012 romcom Playing for Keeps and was in the anthology film Movie 43 (2013).

Trivia: Born February 17th, 1954, former model Rene Russo's first dramatic role of note was on the 1987 TV series Sable, in which she played Eden Kendall, the literary agent to a children's author-turned-crimefighter. Her breakthrough theatrical feature was Major League (1989), wherein the statuesque blonde actress was saddled with portraying the "misguided" heroine who foolishly prefers marriage with a stable, secure lawyer over a relationship with boozing, philandering ballplayer Tom Berenger.Since then, happily, the message conveyed by Russo's characters has been "Don't mess with me: I can cope." In One Good Cop (1991), she played the strongly supportive wife of police officer Michael Keaton, for whom she successfully tackles the sudden responsibility of caring for the surly children of Keaton's late partner. In Lethal Weapon 3 (1993), Russo could be seen as the karate-chopping cop who wins the confidence (and the love) of "loose cannon" Mel Gibson by proudly showing off her line-of-duty wounds and evincing a fascination with the Three Stooges. In In the Line of Fire (1992), Russo was once more partnered on an equal basis with the leading man, in this case Secret Service agent Clint Eastwood; one of her best scenes featured her wired for sound -- despite a most revealing evening gown -- at a Washington social affair. Apparently there are still reviewers out there who can't quite grasp the concept of a leading lady who can match her leading man blow for blow in a tight situation. In 1995, some observers seemed surprised that Russo, playing a biohazard-suited military research operative in Outbreak, was "as good as" her male counterparts Dustin Hoffman and Morgan Freeman. Despite such ill-founded critical misgivings, Russo has continued to do strong work playing strong women: The acclaimed Get Shorty (1995) featured her as a B-movie actress, while she re-teamed with Gibson for Ron Howard's crime thriller Ransom (1996) and Lethal Weapon 4 (1998). She also played a psychologist who puts the swing back into washed-up golfer Kevin Costner's game in the well-received Tin Cup (1996), and generated considerable heat as a crime investigator who hunts and then beds down with art thief Pierce Brosnan in the 1999 remake of The Thomas Crown Affair.Russo continued worked sporadically through early to mid-2000s, her most recognizable role being that of Natasha Fatale in the live-action adaptation of Rocky and Bullwinkle. In 2005, following her supporting performances in Two for the Money and Yours, Mine, and Ours, Russell took a long break from acting. It wasn't until 2012 that she appeared on the big screen again for the mythological fantasy adventure Thor in the role of Frigga, Thor's mother.

Trivia: Though he readily admits that people have commented on his similarity to Hollywood megastar Tom Cruise from the time he was just 12 years old, actor Sean Faris still insists that his high-school life couldn't be more different from that of his character on the critically lauded prime-time comedy drama Life as We Know It. On television playing the "cool kid" that every girl wants to hook up with is easy, but in real life, Faris claims that his high-school career wasn't nearly as glamorous. Unwilling to associate himself exclusively with any one particular clique, Faris instead opted to focus his time on enjoying the company of his friends -- no matter what rung of the social hierarchy they occupied. It was early work as a model instilled the Parma, OH, native with a certain amount of confidence before the cameras, but even into his early teens, Faris still had few concrete ideas about which career path best suited him. Of course it wasn't long before fate found the athletic but somewhat aimless teen cast in a local independent film at the age of 17, and Faris immediately realized that film was his true calling. By the time high-school graduation had come and gone and the obligatory wave of graduation parties had winded down, Faris had his bags already packed and made his way to Los Angeles. As the old proverb goes "timing is everything," and almost immediately after arriving in Hollywood, Faris was cast in a supporting role in director Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor. If the immediate success had gone to Faris' head just a bit, reality would soon sink in when the young hopeful was cast in such forgettable low-budget efforts as Twisted and The Brotherhood II: Young Warlocks. Following a few acting classes and some formal training, however, Faris was soon working his way back to the top with small-screen roles in MTV's Undressed and House Blend -- as well as brief supporting appearances in Smallville and Boston Public -- before making a return to A-list features as Alexa Vega's character's love interest in the 2004 teen comedy Sleepover. Later that same year, Faris made a splash on the small screen as one of a trio of tight-knit teens preoccupied with sex in Life As We Know It. In 2005 he joined the cast of Reunion, a television series from FOX chronicling the aftermath of a murder that took place during a high school reunion. Unfortunately, the show was cancelled after only nine episodes. He had similar luck throughout the late 2000s, much of which he spent working on a series of unremarkable films. He took on a starring role for the action thriller Stash House in 2012 and continues to be active in film and television.

Trivia: Writes, directs and edits his own short films. Made his big-screen debut in the 2005 remake of Yours, Mine & Ours. Appeared alongside real-life pal Logan Lerman on the drama Jack & Bobby and in the 2006 film Hoot. Cites dark dramas Donnie Darko, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Fight Club as some of his favorite films.

Trivia: Appeared in national commercials for Hasbro and Dell Computers. At age eleven, left her father and brother in Texas and moved with her mother to Los Angeles in order to pursue her dream of acting in Hollywood. An ambassador for the 2015 Los Angeles Autoimmune Walk to support her mother, who suffers from Relapsing Polychondritis. Is an ambassador for the Starlight Starpower Foundation for children.

Trivia: Rip Torn may qualify as a "character actor" in the broadest sense of the term -- he typically fleshes out variations on the same role again and again, typecast as genially earthy, volatile, and loudmouthed good old boys. But, love him or hate him, Torn's roles over the course of more than half a century are distinct and pronounced enough to have elevated him above many of his contemporaries, into a veritable staple of American cinematic pop culture.Born Elmore Rual Torn, Jr. in Temple, TX, on February 6, 1931, and nicknamed "Rip" by his father, Torn attended Texas A&M as an undergraduate and studied animal husbandry. He intended to establish himself as a rancher after graduation, but first opted to pursue an acting career as a means to buy a ranch, mistakenly believing that he would hit Hollywood and achieve instant stardom. Instead, Torn scrounged around Los Angeles for several years as a dishwasher and short-order cook, but continued to pursue acting in his off time. Torn's persistence paid off, and he eventually landed several bit parts in movies and television series. He moved to Manhattan in the late '50s, where he formally studied acting under Lee Strasberg and danced under the aegis of Martha Graham; a wealth of movie roles followed over the next several decades, beginning with that of Brick in Actors Studio associate Elia Kazan's controversial classic Baby Doll (1956, with a script by Tennessee Williams) and, a few years later, the role of Finley in another Williams drama, the Richard Brooks-directed Sweet Bird of Youth (for which Torn received a great deal of notoriety). Additional supporting roles throughout the late '60s and early '70s included Slade in Norman Jewison's The Cincinnati Kid (1965), I.H. Chanticleer in Francis Ford Coppola's You're a Big Boy Now (1966), and Sgt. Honeywell in Cornel Wilde's Beach Red (1967).In the late '60s, two key (albeit temporary) shifts occurred in Torn's career. First, he went counterculture (and arthouse) with an unofficial trilogy of experimental roles. In the most pronounced -- Joe Glazer in Milton Moses Ginsberg's Coming Apart (1969, opposite Andy Warhol regular Sally Kirkland) -- Torn plays a nutty psychiatrist who specializes in female neuroses and decides to film all of his sessions, then his own mental breakdown. (Ginsberg films all of the action as reflected in a mirror.) The X-rated picture -- which features graphic sequences of Kirkland performing fellatio on Torn -- was (and is still) widely derided as spectacularly bad. Variety hit the proverbial nail on the head in 1969 when it concluded, "The problem with Coming Apart is that while it suggests some interesting ideas, it can't deliver any of them in cogent form....The results are not satisfactory." Neither are the second or third installments in Torn's "experimental" phase: roles in the first and third features directed by literary giant Norman Mailer, Beyond the Law (1967) and Maidstone (1970). Of Law -- an improvisational, comic piece set in a precinct house (with Torn as a character called Popcorn), The Motion Picture Guide sneered, "Barney Miller may have been inspired by this movie," and Roger Ebert declared it unintentionally funny, but those were the kindest reactions. Maidstone -- a fragmented, barely coherent drama -- stars only Mailer, as a politician-cum-film director, and Torn. This partially improvised picture became notorious for an on-camera sequence in which Torn (playing Mailer's half-brother) attacks Mailer with a hammer (allegedly for real), sans forewarning, bloodying up the author's face while the actress playing his wife screams in the background. Some wrote the scene off as a fake, but many others dissented. Variety observed in 1970: "[Torn] states he had to do it to make his character real and for the film. But he claims he pulled the hammer and had never drawn blood before while acting. The Mailer character is furious and vindictive. Mailer would not disclose whether it was real or not, but it did look ferociously authentic...."The second "shift" of Torn's career in the early '70s yielded infinitely greater success: a pair of rare leads in A-list features. He played Henry Miller opposite Ellen Burstyn in Joe Strick's marvelous, picaresque adaptation of that author's novel, Tropic of Cancer, and the abusive, booze and pill-addled country singer Maury Dann in Daryl Duke's harrowing drama Payday (1973). The pictures opened to generally spectacular reviews and raves over Torn's portrayals; Variety, for one, termed his performance in the Duke picture "excellent."While these lead roles showcased limitless dramatic ability, they unfortunately marked exceptions to the rule, and for the remainder of the '70s, '80s, and '90s, Torn contented himself with an endless (albeit impressive) array of colorful supporting turns -- dozens of them. High points include Nathan Bryce in The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976); Dr. George in Coma (1978); the boozing, hell-raising, and philandering Senator Kittner in Jerry Schatzberg's The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979); longhaired record producer Walter Fox in Paul Simon's One Trick Pony (1980); the pirate-like Scully in Carl Reiner's Summer Rental (1985); Buford Pope in Robert Benton's sex farce Nadine (1987); the none-too-gifted afterlife attorney Bob Diamond in Albert Brooks' fantasy Defending Your Life (1991); Zed in Men in Black (1997); acid-mouthed coach Patches O'Houlihan in the Ben Stiller comedy Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004); and King Louis XV in Sofia Coppola's much-ballyhooed tertiary directorial outing, Marie Antoinette (2006). His low point undoubtedly arrived in 2001, when he played Tom Green's father, Jim Brody, in the controversial comedian's yuck-fest Freddy Got Fingered (2001). (A very low point; the film's comic highlight has Torn being showered with fake elephant ejaculate.)In addition to his film work, Torn made a series of critically acclaimed contributions to the small screen throughout the '80s and '90s, most vividly as Artie on HBO's Larry Sanders Show, for which he gleaned two Cable Ace awards, three Emmy nominations, and an Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. Torn did direct one feature, the 1988 Whoopi Goldberg vehicle The Telephone, which opened and immediately closed to devastating critical reviews and dismal box office.Torn was married to actress Ann Wedgeworth from 1956 until their divorce in 1961 and Geraldine Page from 1961 until her death in 1987, and is currently married to actress Amy Wright. He is the cousin of actress Sissy Spacek.

Trivia: While still a child, Linda Hunt decided to become an actress, and began taking drama lessons at age 13. As she was quite small (4'9") and not a great beauty, she also studied directing, in case she never landed any acting roles. Hunt majored in directing at the prestigious Goodman Theater School in Chicago, and went on to spend several years in New York, working as a stage manager, director, and occasionally as an actress; during some of that time she worked in alternative theater with companies such as La Mama and the Open Theater. Following years of getting bit parts and directing for a children's theater, Hunt finally started landing good roles and ultimately won two Obie awards and a Tony nomination. She debuted onscreen in Robert Altman's Popeye (1980), but it was her second film, The Year of Living Dangerously (1983), that made her internationally known; for her portrayal of a male Indonesian dwarf, she won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar. She followed that up with a part in David Lynch's infamous adaptation of the sci-fi classic Dune, and immediately segued into the part of a beloved saloon owner in Lawrence Kasdan's throwback western Silverado. She maintained a steady career appearing in various projects including She-Devil, Kindergarten Cop, Maverick and Stranger Than Fiction. Her distinctive voice led to steady gigs in animated films and as a narrator of documentary films.

Trivia: Like Henry Thomas and a few others of the same generation, Jerry O'Connell proves that second acts are far from impossible for Hollywood actors who began their careers as children. O'Connell first gained recognition among film fans as "that fat kid from Stand By Me," when he starred in the 1986 Rob Reiner film at the age of eleven - then experienced a massive physical transformation. Several years and many lost pounds later, O'Connell emerged as a tall, handsome screen lothario, a development that provoked substantial commentary from both film critics and any number of lay viewers.Born in New York City on February 17, 1974, O'Connell enrolled in acting classes at the age of six. He obtained his first professional assignments acting in commercials when he was ten, and a year later made his film debut in the critically acclaimed Stand By Me. Though somewhat overshadowed by the presence of teen idol co-stars River Phoenix and Corey Feldman, O'Connell still managed to win a place in the coming-of-age pantheon. After Stand By Me, he appeared in the memorable syndicated television series My Secret Identity (as a high schooler with superpowers) and enrolled at Manhattan's Professional Children's School. Following his graduation, he attended New York University, where he attained a B.A. in Film and Television in 1995. While still an NYU student, O'Connell appeared in the eminently forgettable Jason Priestley vehicle Calendar Girl (1993).After his college graduation, O'Connell began to pursue thesping full-time. He soon landed a starring role on the sci-fi series Sliders, which, despite low ratings, had a very loyal viewership. In 1996, the actor's popularity grew beyond the confines of television when he starred in both Joe's Apartment and Jerry Maguire. The latter film was a particular success, and O'Connell began to land steady film assignments once again. Next up was the slasher movie Scream 2 (1997), in which he played Neve Campbell's boyfriend. After an uncredited role in the Jennifer Love Hewitt vehicle Can't Hardly Wait (1998), O'Connell returned to television to star as a young Vietnam War soldier in the miniseries The '60s in 1999. That same year, he starred as a neanderthal-like jock in Body Shots, a film about the search for love and/or a lay amongst a group of Los Angeles twentysomethings.At this point, if O'Connell still carried a full resume, he often seemed to alternate between respectable A-list material - such as the disappointing but ambitious Brian De Palma sci-fi'er Mission to Mars (2000) and the generally pleasant family comedy Yours, Mine and Ours (2005) - and ridiculous studio dreck, such as the misogynistic sex comedy Tomcats (2001) and the awful 2002 "family" picture Kangaroo Jack (where the actor co-starred alongside a wisecracking CG-animated marsupial). In fall 2007, O'Connell trekked back to the small screen for one of the three lead roles in the sitcom Carpoolers - about a cadre of male buddies who share rides to and from work each day. O'Connell would spend the next few years appearing in movies like Obsessed and Piranha, in addition to successful TV runs like Do Not Disturb and The Defenders.O'Connell married supermodel and actress Rebecca Romijn in 2007. The two have two children.

Trivia: Though he would remain one of the comedy world's best-kept secrets through the later half of the 1990s, improvisational comic-turned-actor David Koechner, (born August 24, 1962) later made a successful transition from SNL and Late Night With Conan O'Brien funnyman to supporting feature player roles when word of his talent spread, thanks to stellar supporting parts in such wide-release films as A Guy Thing and Anchorman. The Tipton, MO, native studied political science at the University of Missouri, with a subsequent career in the family business (manufacturing turkey coops) narrowly averted by a post-college move to Chicago. It was there that Koechner attempted to master his comic skills under the tutelage of improv master Del Close, with further studies at the Windy City's ImprovOlympic cementing the skills of the up-and-coming talent. A subsequent stint at Chicago's Second City Theater led to Koechner's lucky break when he was whisked away by SNL creator Lorne Michaels to become a player in the long-running weekly comedy mainstay. Though he would remain with SNL for merely one season, Koechner continued to impress on the small screen as a performer on Late Night with Conan O'Brien in the 1996-1997 season. As his reputation continued to grow due to appearances on such popular shows as Mad About You and Dharma & Greg, Koechner also made an impression in features thanks to small but memorable roles in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Man on the Moon, and My Boss's Daughter. Though he would continue to work in minor capacity on the small screen, Koechner seemed to be focusing on features at this point in his career, with a turn as a chauvinistic sportscaster in the 2004 Will Ferrell comedy Anchorman offering what was perhaps his most substantial feature performance to date. Koechner played a tobacco lobbyist in 2005's media satire Thankyou for Smoking, and reunited with Will Ferrell to for a supporting role in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby in 2006. In 2008 he joined the cast of Get Smart, the big-screen adaptation of Mel Brooks' popular 1960s-era comedy series, and proved himself no stranger to camp in Final Destination 5 (2011) and Piranha 3DD (2012).

Trivia: American actress Danielle Panabaker launched her career as a teenage ingenue in the late '90s, first with bit parts in such series as The Bernie Mac Show, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and The Division, then with a string of well-received feature roles on the big and small screens. These included parts in Stuck in the Suburbs (2004), Yours, Mine & Ours (2005), and Mr. Brooks (2007). In the latter, a psychological thriller helmed by Bruce A. Evans, Panabaker plays Jane Brooks, the daughter of a seemingly normal man (Kevin Costner) who just happens to be a serial murderer -- the notorious "Thumbprint Killer."By all accounts a child prodigy, Panabaker graduated from high school about four years early (at age 14!) as valedictorian of her class; she then attended UCLA. In addition to the aforementioned roles, Panabaker was among the cast of the Fred Schepisi-directed HBO miniseries Empire Falls (2005), adapted from the acclaimed novel by Richard Russo and starring Paul Newman, Ed Harris, Aidan Quinn, and Helen Hunt. She also portrayed James Woods's daughter on the prime-time series Shark (2006), a drama about a ruthless celebrity attorney (Woods). Up on the big screen, Panabaker earned genre cred with roles in Friday the 13th, The Crazies, John Carpenter's The Ward, and Piranha 3DD, though it was small screen work on shows like Medium, Law and Order: LA, Necessarry Roughness and Grimm that served as the bread and butter of her career. In 2014, she originated the role of Dr. Caitlin Snow on the CW series Arrow, which led to her regular role playing the character on The Flash.

Trivia: A performer who carries equal weight in the twin arenas of pop recording and film and television acting, Drake Bell first staked out a career as an actor, signing for his premiere small-screen commercial at age five, in the early '90s. Bell commenced A-list film roles by 1996, when he made a memorable impression as a sports figure's son who bitterly curses agent Tom Cruise in Cameron Crowe's drama Jerry Maguire. Following small guest turns on such blockbuster series as The Drew Carey Show (1997) and Seinfeld (1998), Bell joined the cast of the Nickelodeon variety series The Amanda Show (1999-2002), as a regular member of the program's resident sketch comedy ensemble. In 2002, the show took its final bow, but Bell and co-star Josh Peck received their own spin-off sitcom, also on Nickelodeon: Drake & Josh (2004). Meanwhile, Bell began to pursue musical interests, and established himself as a pop-rock star, thanks in no small part to the tutelage of the Who's Roger Daltrey, whom he met on the set of the 2001 telemovie Chasing Destiny, and who reportedly gave Drake his first music lessons. As a performer, Drake bore self-professed (and unmissable) stylistic ties to the Beatles, as well as echoes of the Beach Boys and Elvis Presley. Bell's recording career in fact neatly dovetailed with the debut of Drake & Josh on two levels: he both recorded the theme song and played a slightly exaggerated version of his guitarist self on the program. The up-and-comer self-produced his first album, Telegraph, in 2005, and its success prompted Universal Records to sign him for a sophomore release, the 2006 It's Only Time. Alongside these efforts, Bell's acting efforts continued unabated, and he geared up for big-screen leads in the 2008 comedies College and Superhero -- the latter an Airplane!-style farce skewering the clichés of superhero movies.

Trivia: Was a fervent animal lover growing up, much like his character Mick in 2005's Yours, Mine & Ours.First major role in a television series was Sam Daniels in the ABC series October Road.Was nominated for a Young Artist Award in 2006 and earned the award two years later in 2008 for his work in October Road.

Trivia: After taking one of her first bows as the outspoken, assertive manager of an elementary school band in the Jack Black comedy School of Rock (2003), and playing one of the ten children of a fashion designer (Rene Russo) in the family comedy remake Yours, Mine and Ours (2005), actress Miranda Cosgrove landed a starring role on her own television series. She signed with The Disney Channel to play Carly Shay in iCarly (2007), a sitcom about a teenage girl who launches and runs an Internet webcast with two of her best friends. She voiced the part of Margo, one of the three children adopted by an evil mastermind in the animated film Despicable Me, and that film's sequel. Her debut album Sparks Fly dropped in April of 2010.

Trivia: A Hollywood mainstay in the mid- to late 2000s for playing handsome, genial everymen, screen performer Josh Henderson revealed himself to be equally at home in numerous genres -- from female-oriented romantic dramas to full-throttle horror. Like many tyros, Henderson kick-started his career with supporting roles, rose to lead billing over the course of numerous projects, and entered the mainstream only gradually; he made one of his earliest feature appearances in the direct-to-video natural horror schlock-fest Leeches! (2003), then embarked down a more earnest dramatic road as Bo Rider, a football player-turned-amputee (and Iraqi War soldier) in Steven Bochco's critically praised but short-lived prime-time series Over There (2005). Following a pivotal supporting role in director Anne Fletcher's inspirational dance-themed drama Step Up, and a multi-season portrayal of wild rebel Austin McCann on Desperate Housewives, Henderson joined Taylor Cole, Scout Taylor-Compton, and others for a lead role in the Butcher Brothers' direct-to-video slasher comedy remake April Fool's Day (2008). In 2011 he appeared in Dragonslayer.

Trivia: Arguably the preeminent Hispanic comedian of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, and one of the most influential Latino entertainers of all time, George Lopez broke new ground for Mexican-Americans by scoring many firsts. Most significantly, he clocked in as the first Hispanic comic since Freddie Prinze Sr. (whom he idolized) to headline his own blockbuster sitcom, thus providing Latinos with a much-needed television voice and role model to boot. Born in 1961 in Mission Hills, CA, Lopez was abandoned by his father at two months old; not long after his tenth birthday, his mother delivered him permanently into the hands of his working-class grandparents, a couple singularly lacking in parental skills, affection, and financial resources. Ingeniously, Lopez took the angst, desperation, impoverishment, and overwhelming dysfunction of these preadolescent and adolescent years and spun it into behind-the-mike fodder -- in other words, using his hard-hitting experiences as building blocks for exceptionally droll, inventive standup routines. Lopez foresaw standup comedy as his only desired option after high school, and thus reportedly worked the club circuit for almost two decades -- his exclusive gig until the late '80s and early '90s. At that point, Lopez tackled a few bit roles in junky comedies such as Ski Patrol (1989) and Fatal Instinct (1993), but turned a much-needed corner, and upped the prestige quotient, by signing on to work for the esteemed Ken Loach in that director's Bread and Roses (2000), a muckraking drama about Hispanic-American janitors. The finished film divided critics but unveiled new dimensions in the actor's ability. Lopez's eponymous sitcom commenced in 2002, with the schtickmeister cast as a variant of himself, George Lopez, who worked in an airplane-parts factory. The ABC program maintained high ratings well into its sixth season. In the meantime, Lopez branched out into feature-film roles -- this time with a more respectable cinematic pedigree -- in such pictures as The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl (2005), Yours, Mine & Ours (2005), Balls of Fury (2007), and Tortilla Heaven (2007).Following a two year run as a late night talk show host on Lopez Tonight, Lopez continued to appear in a number of movies, including Swing Vote, Valentine's Day, and Balls of Fury.

Trivia: As the daughter of American child star-turned-cult favorite Russ Tamblyn (Peyton Place, Twin Peaks), Hollywood heartthrob and ingenue Amber Tamblyn inherited the stunning red hair, fair complexion, and acting chops of her famous dad. Born in the early '80s to Russ and wife Bonnie Murray, Tamblyn was discovered by an agent at her school during her preteen years, and soon landed a prominent role as the maniacal tot Emily Quartermaine on General Hospital -- a turn she sustained from 1995 to 2001.Tamblyn guested on such series as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Boston Public in the early 2000s, and tackled a small role in Gore Verbinski's 2002 shocker The Ring (as one of Samara's unfortunate victims), but the actress failed to generate a sizeable fan base prior to the advent of the fantasy-tinged drama series Joan of Arcadia in 2003. Tamblyn received first billing in that program as Joan Girardi, a seemingly average high school teenager who is tapped by the Almighty to perform various assignments. Joan drew a substantial cult following and outstanding critical assessments (USA Today pegged it as the most promising dramatic series of 2003), but unfortunately, its popularity failed to spread beyond a small enthusiastic band of adherents and it folded within two years.Tamblyn then segued back into film work, with first billing in Ken Kwapis' coming-of-age comedy drama The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants in 2005, as one of four teenage girlfriends (alongside America Ferrera, Blake Lively, and Alexis Bledel) who make a good-luck pact; the picture received outstanding reviews and ensured continued stardom for Tamblyn. In 2006, the young actress essayed the title role in Hilary Brougher's fine psychological drama Stephanie Daley, about a troubled teenager accused of killing her newborn child. Tamblyn also traveled the programmer route that year with a turn in the horror sequel The Grudge 2. The following year, the actress starred in Beth Schacter's teen comedy Normal Adolescent Behavior and Rigoberto Castaneda's indie thriller Blackout. In the latter -- a high-wire suspense picture about a bunch of people trapped in a hospital elevator -- Tamblyn played a young woman desperate to reach her grandmother before the elderly woman dies. In 2008, she reprised her Traveling Pants role in the sequel, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.Amber Tamblyn is also a prolific poet and runs her own website, The Rebel Asylum, with postings of her work. Her volume of poetry Free Stallion was published by Simon & Schuster in 2005.