Trivia: Displaying an off-kilter beauty and an ability to embrace the comically bizarre, Parker Posey has been repeatedly referred to as "The Queen of the Indies." Following her indie debut in Richard Linklater's 1993 Dazed and Confused, Posey went on to star in no less than 15 independent features over the next five years, proving time and again how worthy she was of her royal title.Born in Baltimore on November 8, 1968, Posey was named after '50s model and sometimes-actress Suzy Parker. At the age of 12, she moved with her parents and twin brother to Laurel, MS, where her father owned a Chevrolet dealership. After attending the North Carolina School of the Arts, Posey enrolled at S.U.N.Y. Purchase, where she studied acting and roomed with future ER doctor Sherry Stringfield. She dropped out just three weeks before graduation when opportunity came knocking in the form of a role on As the World Turns. As bad girl Tess Shelby, Posey stayed with the show from 1991 until 1992. The following year, Posey crossed over to celluloid with roles in three movies. Two of these, The Coneheads and Joey Breaker, featured the actress as little more than a glorified extra, but the third, Linklater's Dazed and Confused, allowed Posey to make a distinct impression. As cheerleader Darla, she used her relatively brief screen time to display the nastier side of teen popularity. She played a similar character the same year on the small screen, taking a memorable turn as ex-pep queen turned good-time girl Connie Bradshaw in PBS' Tales of the City (she would later reprise the role for More Tales of the City in 1998).Following secondary to miniscule parts in films like Sleep With Me, Amateur, and Mixed Nuts (all 1994), Posey had her breakthrough role as the titular heroine of Daisy von Scherler Mayer's Party Girl in 1995. She caused an art-house sensation with her portrayal of Mary, a downtown diva forced to take a day job as a librarian and began to ascend the ranks of indie royalty. Appearances in Hal Hartley's Flirt, Gregg Araki's The Doom Generation, and Noah Baumbach's Kicking and Screaming the same year further enhanced her reputation. Posey's work over the next two years reads like a Sundance Film Festival program: in 1996, she could be seen as a Dairy Queen waitress in the ensemble-driven Waiting for Guffman, famed gallery owner Mary Boone in Basquiat, and Hope Davis' sister in The Daytrippers. In 1997, Posey starred in no less than five independent films, including Henry Fool, her third Hartley outing; the temps-in-hell comedy drama Clockwatchers; Linklater's adaptation of Eric Bogosian's SubUrbia; and The House of Yes. For this last film, Posey garnered particular acclaim as the film's fabulously demented focal point. She shined as a young woman obsessed with both Jackie Onassis and her own twin brother (Josh Hamilton). Her performance, which perfectly displayed the hyperkinetic comic energy and sardonic wit that came to characterize many of the actress' portrayals, won her a "special recognition for acting" at Sundance that year.The year 1998 brought more independent work in the form of The Misadventures of Margaret, a romantic comedy in which Posey had the title role and a foray into mainstream features with a turn as Tom Hanks' book-editor girlfriend in Nora Ephron's You've Got Mail. The following year, she took another stab, so to speak, at mainstream fare with a part in Wes Craven's third installment of his Scream series, the aptly titled Scream 3. Though she wasn't necessarily known as a "method" actress to this point, Posey actually had real braces installed for her subsequent role in Waiting for Guffman and director Christopher Guest's popular dog show comedy Best in Show. Cast as the better half of a neurotic, hypertensive couple who will stop at nothing to see their pet win the number-one spot in the Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show, Posey nearly stole the show with her hysterical, shrieking performance. Best in Show was immediately embraced by critics and audiences and went on to live a long and prosperous life on cable and DVD. By this point, Posey had gained quite a reputation for her effortless transitions between indies and blockbusters, and a role as a malicious recording industry boss in Josie and the Pussycats (2001) added much flavor to the energetic, pop-flavored comedy. If Posey was somewhat lost in the cast of the 2001 miniseries Further Tales of the City, she would certainly go on to impress in the popular indies The Anniversary Party (2001) and Personal Velocity: Three Portraits (2002). Her role as a philandering housewife in Personal Velocity in particular gave Posey an opportunity to truly shine.Her profile would fade a bit in the following few years despite a role in the widely released (but ill fated) comedy The Sweetest Thing (2002), and after performing at her bitchy best in the made-for-television Hell on Heels: The Battle of Mary Kay (2003) she was included in Reuters 2003 "What Ever Happened to" list. Ironically, it was that same year that Posey essayed her first lead role in quite some time with the independent drama The Event. Cast as a district attorney who is investigating a mysterious suicide, Posey was backed by a stellar cast that included Sarah Polley and Olympia Dukakis. Though she would once again join Guest for the 2003 mockumentary A Mighty Wind, she was pretty much lost in the shuffle in the divisive effort. With the approach of 2004, audiences were no doubt set to find out "What Ever Happened to" Posey with her roles in the high-profile efforts The Laws of Attraction and Blade: Trinity. Posey continued her work in independent films with large parts in The Oh in Ohio, The Sisters of Mercy, and Adam & Steve, but once again appeared in a Hollywood blockbuster as Lex Luthor's significant other in Bryan Singer's Superman Returns. At the end of 2006 she once again collaborated with Christopher Guest on his Hollywood satire For Your Consideration.Posey continued to build on her affinity for independent films by reteaming with Hal Hartley for 2006's Fay Grim, in which she reprised the self titled role from 1997's Henry Fool. Critical response to the film was mixed, but Posey was balancing her career with other projects, some of which had a broader audience, like the recurring role of Marlene Stanger on the hit show Boston Legal. She balanced her indie side with her Hollywood side once again the next year, appearing both in the Jessica Alba thriller The Eye, and in the indie dramedy Broken English. Posey spent much of 2011 working in television, appearing on the popular NBC series Parks and Recreation, Showtime's The Big C, and CBS' The Good Wife.

Trivia: Popular Sopranos actress Drea de Matteo's unique blend of Italian-American sensuality and unpretentious rock & roll-girl chic has found her ascending the ranks to become one of Hollywood's hottest stars. Though de Matteo's role on The Sopranos was originally intended to be little more than a one-time appearance, her undeniable screen presence soon found her returning to the role of Jersey girl-turned-Mafioso moll Adriana La Cerva in the popular HBO crime drama. Oddly enough, it was stage legend Andrew Lloyd Webber who first sparked showbiz aspirations in the Queens native. When de Matteo was around ten years old, Rum Tum Tugger whisked her on-stage during a performance of Webber's enduring stage musical Cats; the jarring experience proved alternately petrifying and compelling for de Matteo, and the intoxicating glow of the spotlight immediately cast its spell on the young showbiz hopeful. With a mother who worked as a screenwriter, young de Matteo was no stranger to the business, and though she would become something of a wild child during her teens, she never lost sight of her starstruck dreams. When it came time to pursue higher education, she set her sights on N.Y.U.'s Tisch School of the Arts. Though de Matteo initially intended to become a director, her acting talents quickly caught the eyes of casting agents. In 1996, de Matteo made her feature debut in the romantic comedy The "M" Word, and though the film would go largely unseen, her next role provided just the breakthrough needed to boost her career. Though the actress never expected her part in The Sopranos to go beyond one episode, the casting agents were quick to make her a regular player on the Emmy-winning series. Subsequent roles in such independent films as Meet Prince Charming (1999) and Sleepwalk (2000) gained little more attention than The "M" Word had, but de Matteo was able to fulfill a lifelong dream of working with Bad Lieutenant director Abel Ferrara when she appeared in the director's 2001 crime drama 'R Xmas. If de Matteo's feature career had gone virtually unnoticed by mainstream filmgoers to this point, roles in such wide releases as Swordfish (2001) and Deuces Wild (2002) soon found her star rising. In 2003, she was finally given the opportunity to live out her rock-star dreams by strumming the bass in director Alex Steyermark's musical drama Prey for Rock & Roll. An association with actress Jenny McCarthy (whom de Matteo had previously acted alongside in 2001's The Perfect You) next led to an appearance opposite the former MTV girl and Playboy Playmate in the 2003 romantic comedy Dirty Love. In 2004, de Matteo went back in front of the camera for Steyermark in the true-crime drama West Memphis Three (which was inspired by the events covered in the documentary Paradise Lost). The following year, de Matteo could be seen in prominent roles in Ferrara's Go Go Tales and the action remake Assault on Precinct 13. Even with her frequent film roles, de Matteo remained primarily a television actress, playing Joey's sister in the short-lived Friends spin-off Joey, and later joining the casts of Sons of Anarchy and Desperate Housewives.In addition to her film and television career, de Matteo also owns Filth Mart, a popular New York City rock-chic clothing boutique.

Trivia: As both an actor and producer, Griffin Dunne was among the most notable figures in contemporary independent filmmaking. Born June 8, 1955, in New York City, he is the son of novelist Dominick Dunne and the nephew of author and screenwriter John Gregory Dunne. Dominique, his younger sister, was also an actress, appearing in the hit movie Poltergeist before her violent 1982 murder. Trained by Uta Hagen at the Neighborhood Playhouse, Dunne made his film debut in 1975's The Other Side of the Mountain, which he followed with work on-stage and in television. Small roles in the 1979 feature Chilly Scenes of Winter and 1981's The Fan marked his next film appearances, but the first of his roles to garner significant notice was in 1981's cult-classic An American Werewolf in London. With John Sayles' 1982 film Baby, It's You, Dunne made his debut as a producer, a venture he furthered by establishing his own company, Double Play Productions.After 1983's Cold Feet, Dunne co-produced and starred in Martin Scorsese's 1985 comedy After Hours, perhaps his best-known performance. His leading role in 1987's Me and Him, on the other hand, was arguably the most infamous turn of his career, as he portrayed an architect whose penis begins to speak. A role opposite Madonna in the disastrous 1987 comedy Who's That Girl? further dimmed Dunne's star, and after appearing in Luc Besson's 1988 epic Le Grand Bleu he spent the next two years away from the screen, instead producing work including the acclaimed Running on Empty. Supporting turns in 1991's My Girl and Once Around proved to foreshadow Dunne's move away from leading roles throughout the decade, and apart from starring in 1995's Search and Destroy the majority of his film appearances (including the acclaimed Quiz Show and I Like It Like That) were smaller character parts. Continuing his work behind the camera, in 1997 Dunne made his directorial debut with the hit romantic comedy Addicted to Love. He would go on to direct more romantic comedies, like Practical Magic and The Accidental Husband. Over the next several years, Dunne would also appear on many successful TV shows, like Trust Me and House of Lies,

Trivia: British model and actress Lucy Gordon began her career on screen in the early 2000s, beginning with supporting roles in movies like Four Feathers and Serendipity. Gordon's fame grew considerably in 2007, when she played Jennifer Dugan in Spider-Man 3, and she later appeared in the French films Cineman and Serge Gainsbourg, vie heroique. Tragically, Gordon was found dead in her Paris apartment in 2009. She was 28 years old.

Trivia: Met his wife, Daisy Foote, when they acted together in an adaptation of Lily Dale, a play written by her father, Horton Foote. Keeps bees as a hobby. Shot his role as a priest in John Carpenter's Vampires at the same time he was playing a vampire in Blade. Is a volunteer fireman.

Trivia: A founding member of the Malaparte Theater Company, where he spent two years alongside such actors as Ethan Hawke and Robert Sean Leonard, Josh Hamilton has performed on the stage, screen, and television. His notable stage work includes roles in Pirandello's The Joke and in Eric Bogosian's SubUrbia. In 1991, Hamilton earned acclaim for his starring role in the CBS Schoolbreak Special "Abby, My Love," and he subsequently appeared in American Playhouse teleplays and in two CBS Hallmark Hall of Fame specials, including the highly praised "O Pioneers!" Hamilton entered feature films playing small roles in Old Enough and Firstborn (both 1984), but did not appear in any other films until Alive (1993), in which he portrayed a plane crash survivor stranded in the Andes with Ethan Hawke. In 1995, the actor earned greater recognition as one of the stars of Noah Baumbach's Generation X ensemble comedy Kicking and Screaming. Two years later, he earned additional recognition for his starring role as the wacko brother of sociopathic Parker Posey in The House of Yes; he subsequently continued to work largely on television and in various independent films.

Trivia: Onscreen performer Michael Kelly specialized in slightly rough-hewn, working-class character roles. Kelly premiered on the big screen with occasional bit parts in the late '90s, but achieved much greater prominence by playing a security guard in the 2004 supernatural horror remake Dawn of the Dead, and by essaying one of the supporting roles in the Ericson Core-directed inspirational sports drama Invincible (2006), starring Mark Wahlberg and Greg Kinnear. Kelly also acted regularly on the small screen, with numerous guest roles as well as a longer stint on The Sopranos as FBI agent Ron Goddard. In 2007, Kelly signed to appear in Tooth & Nail, a post-apocalyptic thriller about a courageous band of holocaust survivors who hole up in a hospital and try valiantly to defend themselves from invading cannibals. He had a major part in Clint Eastwood's period drama Changeling as well as a small part in the thriller Law Abiding Citizen. In 2010 he appeared in the political biopic Fair Game, and the next year he had a major part opposite Matt Damon in The Adjustment Bureau. He was in the sci-fi hit Chronicle in 2012.

Trivia: One of those screen performers whose genial off-center quality practically predestined him to a career as a character actor, Michael Panes graduated from Brown University with a music degree before moving into film. He made one of his earliest impressions as Levi, a violin-toting, self-professed doppelgänger of Peter Sellers (with horn-rimmed glasses) who turns up for a Hollywood get-together in the star-studded ensemble comedy The Anniversary Party (2001). The performer then shifted genres ad extremis to play an oddball analyst -- and the object of a sick patient's delusions -- in Ari Kirschenbaum's mind-bending psycho thriller Fabled. Panes further unveiled his proclivity for offbeat assignments with a seriocomic portrayal of a dorky loser who graduates to the jet set after winning a pile of money on a reality game show, in indie helmer Greg Pritikin's Surviving Eden (2004) (a film he also co-produced), and evoked an early Gore Vidal in Douglas McGrath's Truman Capote biopic Infamous (2005) before re-teaming with that film's co-star, Peter Bogdanovich, for a small supporting turn in the Zoe Cassavetes-directed romantic comedy Broken English (2007).

Trivia: An alumnus of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Wisconsin-born actress Gena Rowlands entered the Broadway talent pool in 1952. From 1955 through 1957, the blonde, frosty-eyed actress co-starred with Edward G. Robinson in the original Broadway production of Middle of the Night. She also did plenty of Manhattan-based television during this period, including a recurring role on the forgotten syndicated series Top Secret U.S.A. Rowlands made her first film, The High Cost of Loving, in 1958, the same year that she married legendary actor/director John Cassavetes. The excellent response to her performance as the deaf-mute wife of a detective on the 1961 TV series 87th Precinct sparked a grass-roots campaign to have Rowlands appear on the series on a weekly basis, but her film commitments were such that she couldn't be confined to any one part for very long. Always a capable leading lady, Rowlands blossomed into full stardom in the films directed by her husband. She first collaborated with him on A Child Is Waiting (1963) and then starred as a prostitute in his 1968 film Faces. Rowlands went on to earn Oscar nominations for her work in two of her husband's other films, A Woman Under the Influence (1974) and Gloria (1980).After Cassavetes' death in 1989, Rowlands took a two-year sabbatical from films, returning to play Holly Hunter's mother -- and Richard Dreyfuss' mother-in-law -- in Once Around (1991). That same year, she appeared as a casting agent in Jim Jarmusch's Night on Earth. After starring in such films as 1995's The Neon Bible and Something to Talk About (the latter of which featured her as the "steel magnolia" wife of Robert Duvall and mother of Julia Roberts), Rowlands stepped in front the camera for her son Nick Cassavetes' 1996 directorial debut, Unhook the Stars. The actress turned in a strong performance as a matriarch experiencing various life upheavals, and the following year again collaborated with her son in his romantic comedy She's So Lovely. Rowlands continued to stay busy with work for other directors, appearing in no less than three films in 1998. Particularly notable appearances included her role as Sean Connery's estranged wife in Playing by Heart and her portrayal of the grandmother of a disabled boy in The Mighty. In addition to her film work, Rowlands has earned considerable acclaim for her television roles. In 1985, she earned an Emmy nomination for her role in the powerful AIDS drama An Early Frost, and has won Emmys for her performances in The Betty Ford Story (1987) and Face of a Stranger (1991).At the beginning of the 21st century Rowlands continued to work steadily racking up credits in a variety of projects including Wild Iris, Hysterical Blindness, and Taking Lives. IN 2004 she acted again for her son in the cult hit The Notebook, and she followed that up with a role in the supernatural thriller The Skeleton Key. In 2007 she provided one of the voices in the well-reviewed Persepolis, and after a five-year hiatus from screens she returned in yet another project directed by her son, the quirky psychological drama Yellow.

Trivia: For decades, actress Phyllis Somerville checked in as one of Hollywood's most popular character actresses when filling roles for matronly types. Somerville did much of her early work on the theatrical stage, prior to moving into features and television in the early '80s. Some cinematic contributions included small roles in Arthur (1981) and Leap of Faith (1992), while on the small screen, the actress enjoyed multi-episode roles on NYPD Blue and Law & Order. She received heightened exposure with a turn as the mother of a beleaguered sexual predator (Jackie Earle Haley) in Todd Field's Little Children (2006), and in 2008 joined stars Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett in David Fincher's epic-scaled fantasy opus The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Trivia: With his handsome looks and playful demeanor, Justin Theroux made a memorable feature debut as a determined revolutionary in the successful indie film I Shot Andy Warhol.A graduate of Bennington College who was born and raised in Washington, D.C., Theroux later relocated to New York to pursue a career in the visual arts before stumbling across acting and immersing himself in the stage. Gaining momentum in off-Broadway plays before making the leap to features, Theroux made appearances in such popular television shows as Sex and the City and Ally McBeal while gravitating toward the big screen in Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion (1997), American Psycho, and eccentric director David Lynch's Mullholland Drive. After appearing in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and the dud Duplex, Theroux appeared in a couple of episodes of the critically respected HBO series Six Feet Under. Over the next couple of years he combined little independent projects like The Baxter and Strangers with Candy with more high-profile films like Michael Mann's Miami Vice. He reteamed with David Lynch for Inland Empire alongside other former Lynch collaborators Laura Dern, and Hayy Dean Stanton. He played Jesus in the religious-themed comedy The Ten, and in 2008 he co-wrote Ben Stiller's Hollywood satire Tropic Thunder, which led to an assignment writing the hit sequel Iron Man 2. In 2012 he co-starred in Wanderlust opposite Jennifer Aniston who he ended up in a high-profile relationship with. That same year he had a screenwriting credit on the hair-metal musical Rock of Ages. Theroux next starred in the bleak HBO drama The Leftovers and wrote the screenplay for Zoolander 2.

Trivia: Anointed as one of New Hollywood's golden boys with his neo-classical homages to John Ford and Howard Hawks, Peter Bogdanovich's personal and professional lives crashed and burned in the late '70s. Though he was redeemed somewhat with Mask (1985), his directorial career never fully recovered. By the late '90s, however, Bogdanovich returned to his original training as an actor and found success as a supporting player in films and on HBO's acclaimed series The Sopranos.Raised in Manhattan, the precocious Bogdanovich began studying acting with Stella Adler at age 15 and spent his teens at the movies, developing a devotion to Hollywood. Though he acted in and directed several off-Broadway plays, Bogdanovich decided movies were his calling. While working as a film programmer in his early twenties, Bogdanovich began writing about cinema, publishing articles in Esquire and monographs on Orson Welles, Howard Hawks, and Alfred Hitchcock; he married aspiring production designer Polly Platt in 1962. Inspired by the French critics-turned-New Wave directors, Bogdanovich headed to Hollywood in 1964, where he and Platt met both their graying heroes and a generation of unruly newcomers. Like fellow gatecrashers Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola, Bogdanovich's directorial career was jump-started by B-movie giant Roger Corman. Familiar with his Esquire writing, Corman hired Bogdanovich to work on his Peter Fonda motorcycle flick The Wild Angels (1966). Bogdanovich's experience encompassed rewrites, second unit direction, editing, and dubbing; Corman also cast Bogdanovich alongside Fonda and Dennis Hopper in The Trip (1967). Corman subsequently gave Bogdanovich a cheapie feature to write and direct, with the stipulation that he use Boris Karloff. With an assist from Platt, Bogdanovich came up with Targets (1968), a skillful thriller about an aging star and a nihilistic assassin. Cross-cutting between the two stories on the way to a suspenseful drive-in climax, Targets proved that Bogdanovich could make a movie as well as worship them, even if the assassination-weary 1968 audience stayed away. While he got his movie-making career off the ground, Bogdanovich continued to write, publishing books on John Ford and Fritz Lang. After Targets, Bogdanovich spent several weeks locking horns with producer Sergio Leone on pre-production for Duck, You Sucker! (1971) in Rome before pulling out and returning to the states. Back in Hollywood, Bogdanovich put together the lauded AFI documentary Directed by John Ford (1971) and wrote a book on Allen Dwan. Bogdanovich's second fiction feature came together when BBS Films (home of Fonda and Hopper's Easy Rider [1969]) enlisted Bogdanovich to write and direct a project of his choice. On Platt's advice, Bogdanovich adapted Larry McMurtrey's coming-of-age novel The Last Picture Show. Working closely with Platt, Bogdanovich crafted The Last Picture Show (1971) as a nostalgic look back to 1950s small town America and Hollywood tradition combined with a more clear-eyed, "European" view of the period's sexual mores and personal weaknesses. Starring Ford stalwart Ben Johnson as the town patriarch alongside newcomers Jeff Bridges, Timothy Bottoms, and Cybill Shepherd as the troubled youth, and shot in crisp Ford-ian deep focus black-and-white, The Last Picture Show was hailed as one of the best films by a neophyte since Citizen Kane (1941) and earned eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Director. A popular success as well, The Last Picture Show was still playing when Bogdanovich's next film, What's Up, Doc?, opened in 1972. An update of Howard Hawks' screwball classic Bringing Up Baby (1938), starring Barbra Streisand as the dizzy dame and Ryan O'Neal as the uptight, bespectacled object of her affection, What's Up Doc? was a funny enough facsimile of Hawks to become one of the year's top hits. An A-list phenom, Bogdanovich signed on to form the creatively autonomous (and potentially lucrative) Directors Company with fellow wunderkind Coppola and William Friedkin. His first film for the company, Paper Moon (1973), lived up to the hype. A Depression-era story about a grifter and his foul-mouthed daughter shot once again in Ford-esque monochrome, Paper Moon earned an Oscar for child actress Tatum O'Neal's performance opposite her father Ryan O'Neal, as well as big box office. Bogdanovich's personal life, however, began to intrude on his professional fortunes after Paper Moon. Though he left her for Shepherd in 1970, Platt had continued to work with Bogdanovich on What's Up Doc? and Paper Moon; after Platt severed their professional relationship, Bogdanovich's work floundered.That relationship with Shepherd dealt a more visible blow to Bogdanovich's career when he decided to showcase her in his next two films. While she had been ideally cast as Picture Show's thoughtless beauty, the meticulous period design and strong supporting cast couldn't disguise Shepherd's failings in the title role of Bogdanovich's adaptation of Henry James' Daisy Miller (1974). Bogdanovich's homage to lavish 1930s musicals, At Long Last Love (1975), was a disaster; Shepherd's companion record, unfortunately titled Cybill Does It to Cole Porter, didn't help. The Directors Company (and his relationship with Shepherd) dissolved shortly thereafter. Bogdanovich's stylish silent movie tribute, Nickelodeon (1976), became his third consecutive flop.Though Saint Jack (1979) was a succès d'estime, the troubled history of They All Laughed (1981) sent Bogdanovich into a tailspin. Reeling after one of the movie's stars and his new girlfriend, Dorothy Stratten, were murdered by her estranged husband, Bogdanovich then went bankrupt when he had to distribute the movie himself and it flopped. Retreating from Hollywood, Bogdanovich spent the early '80s revising his early books and writing a biography of Stratten; he raised eyebrows when he married Stratten's younger sister, Louise, in 1988. They split in 2001.Working as a director for hire, Bogdanovich returned to favor with Mask (1985). A compelling study of a disfigured teen and his forceful mother, Mask won Cher Cannes' Best Actress prize and sterling reviews. The wretched comedy Illegally Yours (1988) and the poorly received Picture Show sequel Texasville (1990) squandered the professional goodwill; the barely released The Thing Called Love (1993) was better known as one of River Phoenix's last movies. Relegated to directing TV-movies, straight-to-videos, and contributing to documentaries, Bogdanovich declared bankruptcy again in the 1990s. He remained visible, though, as an actor in such films as Mr. Jealousy (1997). By 2000, Bogdanovich landed a part on the award-winning series The Sopranos as Lorraine Bracco's quizzical psychiatrist and returned to subjects close to his heart with the independent feature The Cat's Meow (2001), about the mystery surrounding Hollywood pioneer Thomas Ince's death.

Trivia: During his formative years, Roy Thinnes had wanted to become a doctor or football player--or, if one wants to believe his early press releases, both. Having made his professional acting debut as a teen-aged firebug in a 1957 pilot for the never-sold TV series Chicago 212, Thinnes spent several lean years "between engagements," working as a hotel clerk, vitamin salesman and copy boy to Chicago Sun Times columnist Irv Kupcinet. His first regular TV work was as Phil Brewer on the daytime soap opera General Hospital; during this period, the young actor became the television equivalent of a matinee idol, sparking a barrage of protest mail when he briefly left GH in pursuit of other acting jobs. Aggressively campaigning for the starring role of Ben Quick on the 1965 weekly-TV version of the 1958 film Long Hot Summer, Thinnes won the part, as well as a whole new crop of adoring female fans. While Summer was unsuccessful, Thinnes enjoyed a longer run as David Vincent on the Fugitive-like sci-fi series The Invaders (1967-68). Though he'd occasionally show up in such theatrical features as Hindenburg (1975), Airport 75 (1975) and Blue Bayou (1990), Thinnes would remain essentially a TV star for the rest of his career. Among Roy Thinnes' post-Invaders TV-series roles was Dr. James Whitman on The Psychiatrist (1971), Capt (and later Major) Holms on From Here to Eternity (1979-80), Nick Hogan on Falcon Crest (who, in 1983, married Victoria Gioberti [Jamie Rose] in a highly-rated ceremony) and the dual role of Roger Collins and Reverend Trask in the 1991 prime-time revival of Dark Shadows.

Trivia: A gifted and prolific character actor noted for often essaying roughshod roles that set him apart by virtue of their quirky charm, James McCaffrey appeared onscreen from the late '80s onward. He did fine work as Roy in The Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996), held his own (as Fred) opposite Paul Giamatti and Hope Davis in American Splendor (2003), and -- in a truly show-stopping bit -- kept the dead alive as the spirit of Tommy Gavin's (Denis Leary) dead firefighter cousin on the envelope-pushing, psychologically tinged comedy drama series Rescue Me. In 2007, McCaffrey appeared in two major theatrical releases that were (to say the least) very different from one another: the romantic comedy Broken English and the musical drama Feel the Noise.

Trivia: Her name may not ring any bells, but talented actress Dana Ivey has a face familiar to audiences thanks to countless supporting roles in such high-profile films as The Color Purple (1985), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Sabrina (1995), and Legally Blonde 2 (2003). And though she was almost always at least halfway down the credits list, Ivey consistently added dimension and personality to even the most minor roles. A Georgia native who got her start on-stage, Ivey appeared in numerous American and Canadian theater productions before making her home in New York during the 1980s. It wasn't long before she rose through the ranks of the New York stage scene and made her Broadway debut in Noël Coward's Present Laughter. Roles in Quartermaine's Terms and Driving Miss Daisy (as the eponymous character) earned Ivey two Obies and found her reputation as an actress growing. Subsequent work in the Broadway production of Heartbreak Hotel earned her two supporting actress Tony nominations in the mid-'80s. In 1978, Ivey made her television debut in the daytime soap opera Search for Tomorrow, and soon her small-screen career blossomed in such efforts as the NBC miniseries Little Gloria... Happy at Last. Though Ivey simultaneously nurtured a feature career with supporting roles in Explorers and The Color Purple, it was her performance in the 1986 sitcom Easy Street that truly found her coming into her own on the television. After recalling her previous stage exploits with Heartbreak House and Sunday in the Park With George in 1986, Ivey joined the cast of All My Children in 1989 and spent the majority of the following decade in such features as The Addams Family (1991), Sabrina (1995), and Simon Birch (1998). Although her career leaned increasingly toward feature work, Ivey also remained true to her stage roots, appearing in such plays as The Glass Menagerie in 1998 and Major Barbara in 2001.