Trivia: Arguably the top screen comedian of the 1990s, Canadian-born entertainer Jim Carrey has combined equal parts of his idol Jerry Lewis, his spiritual ancestor Harry Ritz, and the loose-limbed Ray Bolger into a gleefully uninhibited screen image that is uniquely his own.Carrey's life wasn't always a barrel of laughs; he was born on January 17, 1962, into a peripatetic household that regularly ran the gamut from middle-class comfort to abject poverty. Not surprisingly, Carrey became a classic overachiever, excelling in academics while keeping his classmates in stitches with his wild improvisations and elastic facial expressions. His comedy club debut at age 16 was a dismal failure, but Carrey had already resolved not to be beaten down by life's disappointments (as his father, a frustrated musician, had been). By age 22, he was making a good living as a standup comic, and was starring on the short-lived sitcom The Duck Factory -- a series which curiously did little to take advantage of its star's uncanny physical dexterity. Throughout the 1980s, Carrey appeared in supporting roles in such films as Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) and Earth Girls are Easy (1990). Full television stardom came Carrey's way in 1990 as the resident "white guy" on Keenan Ivory Wayans' Fox TV comedy In Living Color. The most popular of the comedian's many characterizations on the program was the grotesquely disfigured Fire Marshal Bill, whose dubious safety tips brought down the wrath of real-life fire prevention groups -- and also earned Carrey the ultimate accolade of being imitated by other comics. 1994 proved to be "The Year of Carrey," with the release of three top-grossing comedy films to his credit: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask, and Dumb and Dumber. By the end of the year, Carrey was commanding seven to ten million dollars per picture. In 1995, the actor/comedian took over for Robin Williams as The Riddler in the blockbuster film Batman Forever, and, in 1996, he tried his hand at a darker and more menacing role as a maniacal cable repairman in The Cable Guy. The film, and Carrey's at-times frightening performance, received decidedly mixed reviews from critics and audiences. Despite the generally negative response to the film, Carrey still retained an interest in branching out into more dramatic roles. Following a return to all-out comedy in Liar, Liar (1997) as a chronically dishonest attorney, Carrey explored new territory with his lead role in the highly acclaimed The Truman Show (1998), Peter Weir's eerie comedy drama about the perils of all-consuming media manipulation. Critical respect in hand, Carrey returned to comedy of a different sort with the lead role in Milos Forman's Man on the Moon (1999), a much-anticipated biopic of the legendary comic Andy Kaufman. Although the film boasted a powerhouse performance from Carrey, it earned less than stellar reviews and did poor business at the box office. Such was the strength of the actor's portrayal, however, that his exclusion from the Best Actor nominations at that year's Academy Awards was a source of protest for a number of industry members. Carrey returned to straight comedy the following year with the Farrelly brothers' Me, Myself & Irene, in which he starred as a cop with a split personality, both of whom are in love with the same woman (Renée Zellweger). Though that film fared the least successful of the Farrellys' efforts to that point, Carrey's anarchic persona was given seemingly free range and the result was his most unhinged role since The Mask. That same year, he assumed the lead role in Ron Howard's Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas, raking in the money at the box-office and receiving a Golden Globe nomination despite widespread critical-contempt for the film. Continuing to seek acceptance as a skilled dramatist, Carrey next appeared in the 2001 box-office bomb The Majestic.Undeterred by the failure of The Majestic, Carrey returned again to both comedy and box-office success with 2003's Bruce Almighty. After handily proving that his power as a big-screen star was very much intact, Carrey wasted no time switching gears once again as he embarked on his most ambitious project to date, the 2004 mind-bending romantic-dramedy Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Scripted by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Michel Gondry, the film garnered rave reviews and featured what was arguably Carrey's most subtly complex and subdued performance to date.Carrey's cartooney presence on screen would make him a natural fit for the kids' movie Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events in 2004, as well as other family films over the coming years like A Christmas Carol and Mr. Popper's Penguins. The actor would continue to explore dramatic roles, however, such as the dark thriller The Number 23 and the critically acclaimed I Love You, Phillip Morris.

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: An alumnus of London's Central School of Speech and Drama, English actress Amanda Donohoe's first film role was a supporting one in the door-slamming sex farce Foreign Body (1986). She then starred in a handful of British TV movies, usually cast as the slinky femme fatale. Briefly a member of director Ken Russell's informal stock company, Donohoe was stunning as the wicked snake woman in Russell's Lair of the White Worm (1988); in the same director's The Rainbow (1989), she played the worldly seductress to whom sexual naif Judy Davis turns to for advice. Donohoe was also starred as the alluring desert-island companion of Oliver Reed in director Nicholas Roeg's Castaway (1987), and was seen in a rare sympathetic role in 1990's Paper Mask. It was back to "black widows" again in 1993's made-for-cable The Substitute--one of several recent TV appearances for Donohoe, the most well-publicized of which was her weekly assignment as attorney C. J. Lamb on the popular TV series LA Law.

Trivia: The handsome blonde actor Cary Elwes (pronounced El-Ways) was born in London to a portrait painter and an interior designer. He moved to the U.S. to study at Sarah Lawrence College, but made his film debut in the U.K. with the coming-of-age drama Another Country (1984), co-starring alongside fellow handsome young actors Rupert Everett and Colin Firth. He soon started a pattern of appearing in historical dramas and other period pieces, first with Lady Jane (1985), opposite Helena Bonham Carter, and then as the lead role in Maschenka (1986), based on the book by Vladimir Nabokov. However, he didn't make his international film breakthrough until 1987 with Rob Reiner's classic adventure fairy tale The Princess Bride. He seemed to possess a timeless quality essential for the role of Westley, the sensitive-yet-daring farm boy who becomes the swashbuckling Dred Pirate Roberts and gallantly fights for his love. Continuing with historical films, he capably handled a Southern accent for the Civil War drama Glory and then tried a one-time stint as associate producer for the little-seen drama Leather Jackets. Next, he made a successful jump to broad comedy with lead roles in Hot Shots! (1991) and Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993). Switching to darker themes, he played Lord Arthur Holmwood in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) and Alicia Silverstone's object of obsession in The Crush (1993). The following year, he briefly returned to adventures for The Jungle Book before moving on to playing authority figures in the thrillers Twister and Kiss the Girls. In the late '90s, he voiced cartoons and appeared in a few made-for-TV movies and miniseries until 1999, when he transformed his usually slender frame for the role of portly producer John Houseman (Orson Welles' colleague) in Tim Robbins' Cradle Will Rock. He continued portraying cinematic legends in his next few films, including the German cinematographer Fritz Arno Wagner in Shadow of the Vampire and pioneering producer Thomas H. Ince in The Cat's Meow. In 2001,he played a reoccurring role on The X-Files as FBI Assistant Brad Follmer and returned to romantic comedy adventures as Prince Regent Edgar in Ella Enchanted (2003).He was the lead in the infamous 2004 slasher movie Saw, and had a lead part in the 2006 National Lampoon comedy Pucked. In 2007 he appeared in the ill-fated Lindsay Lohan movie Georgia Rule. He came back for Saw: The Final Chapter in 2010. 2011 turned out to be a busy year for Elwes with parts in the comedy No Strings Attached, the Spielberg-directed The Adventures of Tintin, and the ensemble romantic comedy New Year's Eve.

Trivia: Though she got her start in the film industry late in life, actress Anne Haney would go on to become a dependable character actress with a strong reputation and a healthy sense of humor.Born in March of 1934 in Memphis, TN, Haney studied radio, drama, and television at the University of North Carolina before marrying Georgia Public Television executive John Haley. Soon raising a daughter and devoting herself to family life, Haney began to seek work in the local theater in the 1970s, touring with Noel Coward's Fallen Angels and joining the Screen Actors Guild in preparation for her family's post-retirement move to Southern California. Her plans sadly stifled by her husband's death in 1980, with her daughter in college Haney was on her own for her Westward voyage, though soon after arriving she got an agent and a role in the Walter Matthau vehicle Hopscotch (1980). Alternating between stage and screen for the duration of her Hollywood career, Haney gained over 50 credits with her frequent appearances in television and film. With memorable roles in such films as Liar Liar and Mrs. Doubtfire, in addition to her appearances on Matlock, L.A. Law, The Geena Davis Show, and Ally McBeal, Haney's likeable personality proved both enduring and endearing.On May 26, 2001, Anne Haney died of natural causes in her Studio City, CA, home. She was 67.

Trivia: African-American character actor Jason Bernard is one of those performers who seems to have never been out of work. Bernard's cinematic stock-in-trade has been stern authority figures: the parole officer in Car Wash (1976), the Mayor in Blue Thunder (1983), Judge Bochco in The Star Chamber (1983), Major Donovan in No Way Out (1987), and so forth. Bernard has appeared numerous times on television as a guest star and as a recurring character. Some of his most famous TV roles include Preston Wade in the daytime drama Days of Our Lives, mechanical whiz Fletch in the 1983 prime-timer High Performance, and the chronically humorless publishing executive Mr. Paul Bracken in the 1991 Fox sitcom Herman's Head. For his supporting role in the Lifetime network movie Sophie and the Moonhanger (1995), Bernard received a Cable Ace nomination. His last feature-film role was that of a judge in the Jim Carrey comedy Liar, Liar (1997). On October 16, 1996, the 58-year-old Bernard was driving in Hollywood when he suffered a fatal heart attack.

Trivia: A raven-haired actress with an unmistakable voice, Jennifer Tilly was born in Los Angeles, CA, in 1958. Following her parents' divorce when she was five, Tilly relocated with her mother and siblings to the rural setting of Texada Island, British Columbia, where she'd spend most of her childhood. Tilly's acting career began in the early '80s with small roles on shows like Hill Street Blues and Cheers. Her big break came with the part of Monica the singing waitress in 1989's The Fabulous Baker Boys -- a part that was written for her specifically. Though she divorced Simpsons producer Sam Simon in 1984, she continued to show up in films like The Doors and Body Snatchers throughout the '90s, and in 1994 she was nominated for an Oscar for her role in Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway. Another memorable role came in 1996, when she acted opposite Gina Gershon in the erotically charged Bound.In 1998, Tilly delighted horror fans with a tongue-in-cheek turn in Bride of Chucky, voicing the title role and helping to bring a comic twist to the franchise. She soon found another avenue for her comedic voice talents by joining the cast of the animated series Family Guy as the show's perpetually pregnant neighbor, Bonnie. She then went on to lend her voice talent to such titles as Monsters, Inc., Stuart Little, and The Haunted Mansion. In 2005, Tilly won a World Series of Poker bracelet and a cash prize of 158,625 dollars in the Ladies' No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em event. She went on to win the third World Poker Tour Ladies Invitational Tournament and subsequently become a popular and formidable competitor in the world of high-stakes poker as well as the wife of professional poker player Phil Laak.She continued to work steadily in a variety of projects including Tideland, Deal, and Empire of Silver.

Trivia: Stage, screen, and TV actress Swoosie Kurtz's father was a colonel in the U.S. Air Force, and she was named after a plane he flew in World War II. After college she attended a drama school in London, and debuted onstage in a series of regional theater plays in the late '60s. In 1970 she appeared in an off-Broadway production of The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, for which she won an Obie Award; she went on to a successful stage career, winning two Tony Awards, a Drama Desk Award, and an Outer Critics' Circle Award. Eventually Hollywood took an interest, and she became a regular on the TV sitcom Love, Sydney, winning an Emmy for her work. She debuted onscreen in a small role in Slap Shot (1977) then appeared in two successive flops; it was four years before her next screen role. Since 1982 she has had an intermittently busy film career, mostly in well-respected but not particularly successful productions. In the '90s she has co-starred in the TV series Sisters.

Trivia: Square-jawed American actor Mitchell Ryan was born in Cincinnati and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. During a 1951 Navy hitch, Ryan was assigned to a special services entertainment unit; he liked the experience so much that he decided to pursue acting as a civilian. He went to New York, accepting bit roles in over two dozen plays; he then moved on to leading roles at the Barter Theatre in Abington, Virginia. More New York work (under the direction of Joseph Papp) followed, and finally Ryan attained a small recurring role on the TV serial Dark Shadows (1966-70). A stage appearance with Irene Papas in Euripedes attracted critical attention and better jobs, including a supporting part in Monte Walsh (1970), Ryan's first film. Jack Webb utilized Ryan quite often in the '70s in his series O'Hara United States Treasury, then hired the actor as one of the four leads of the 1973 series Chase. In 1976 producers top-billed Ryan on the TV series Executive Suite. While the series didn't last, Mitchell Ryan subsequently received solid roles on such TV series as The Chisholms (1980) and High Performance (1983) and in such made-for-TV films as Flesh & Blood (1979) and Margaret Bourke-White (1989).

Trivia: Actress and comedian Cheri Oteri emerged from obscurity into the proverbial limelight in the mid-'90s. 1995 brought with it the performer's definitive breakthrough; that year, Oteri -- then a member of the L.A. comedy troupe The Groundlings -- was tapped by Saturday Night Live to join its regular cast of players. She remained with SNL for five years, and cultivated an enthusiastic response for such recurring bits as impersonations of Ross Perot and Debbie Reynolds. Oteri transitioned to film roles around 2000, coincident with her Saturday Night Live departure; as a cinematic performer, she specialized in richly comic characterizations in gag-laden farces such as Scary Movie (2000), Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (2003), and Shrek the Third (2007). In 2006, Oteri teamed up with Donnie Darko wunderkind Richard Kelly for that helmer's epic dystopian comedy Southland Tales.

Trivia: Raised in Houston,TX, Krista Allen began her acting career by wearing bikinis in beauty pageants and advertising campaigns. She appeared on the covers of several men's magazines, calendars, and beer commercials, leading straight to her national identity as "the Budweiser girl." In 1994, she made the natural progression to softcore movies on Cinemax, playing the titular lead seductress in the infamous Emmanuelle series. The following year she moved on to soap operas, with reoccurring roles on The Bold and the Beautiful and Days of Our Lives. Her most recognizable television role may be as Jenna on Baywatch, though she has also made few appearances on the popular CBS series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Mostly getting walk-on roles in feature films, Allen was in Raven with Burt Reynolds, Liar Liar with Jim Carrey, and Anger Management with Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler.Though Allen continued to work in television throughout the early two thousands, it wasn't until 2005 that she would make a splash with mainstream audiences, when she played herself in a starring role on HBO's Unscripted. Allen took on a recurring role on ABC's What About Brian? (2006), and joined the cast of the reality television show Fast Cars and Superstars: The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race in 2007. In 2009 the actress could be seen briefly in The Final Destination. Allen landed several television roles in the late 2000s and early 2010s; among them include Dirty Sexy Money (2009), Love Bites (2011), and The L.A. complex (2012).

Trivia: Pennsylvania-born actor Don Keefer enjoyed a 60-year-plus career on stage and screen that saw him range freely across character parts and leading roles in both fields. An actor from his youth, he started early playing leads, portraying the title role in The Adventures of Marco Polo for a production of the Child Study Association. He won the Clarence Derwent Award for his early work on Broadway, and spent his early career working alongside the likes of Ethel Barrymore, Helen Hayes, and José Ferrer, and under such directors as Moss Hart, Elia Kazan, and Margaret Webster (including the famed production of Othello starring Paul Robeson). Keefer was a charter member of the Actors' Studio, and originated the role of Bernard, the studious neighbor son-turned-lawyer in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. He was the only actor to remain with the production for its entire Broadway run, and subsequently made his screen debut in 1951 in the movie adaptation of the play produced by Stanley Kramer and directed by Laslo Benedek. From that beginning, he went on to appear in more than 130 movie and television productions, in between theatrical work on both coasts (including a stint at the Theatre Group at UCLA under John Houseman). Highlights of his stage career include a highly acclaimed touring production of Anton Chekhov: The Human Comedy, focusing on the lighter side of Chekhov's work. On screen as on stage, Keefer played a wide variety of parts -- he made a fine villain-turned-neutral in "Winchester Quarantine," an early (and very powerful) episode of Have Gun Will Travel, but was equally good as Ensign Twitchell, the comically (yet tragically) over-eager and officious junior officer in Joseph Pevney's Away All Boats, during this same period. Don Keefer was still working in the late '90s, in movies such as Liar Liar and an episode of Profiler. But amid hundreds of portrayals, Keefer's single most memorable role for most viewers -- other than Bernard in Death of a Salesman -- is almost certainly that of Dan Hollis, the doomed neighbor whose birthday celebration comes to a hideous end (his head popping out of a giant jack-in-the-box) in the 1961 Twilight Zone show "It's a Good Life."