Trivia: Balding, deceptively bland-looking British actor Donald Pleasence was first seen on the London stage in a 1939 production of Wuthering Heights. He then served in the RAF, spending the last years of World War II in a German POW camp. Resuming his career after the war, Pleasence eventually came to New York in the company of Laurence Olivier in 1950, appearing in Caesar and Cleopatra. And although he began appearing in films in 1954, Pleasence's British fame during the '50s was the result of his television work, notably a recurring role as Prince John in The Adventures of Robin Hood from 1955-1958. He also co-starred in TV productions of The Millionairess, Man in a Moon, and Call Me Daddy. Voted British television actor of the year in 1958, Pleasence produced and hosted the 1960 series Armchair Mystery Theatre, before creating the stage role for which he was best remembered: Davies, the menacing tramp in Harold Pinter's The Caretaker. The actor revived the character throughout his career, appearing as Davies for the last time in 1991. Pleasence was fortunate enough to be associated with the success of The Great Escape in 1963, which led to a wealth of American film offers. Four years later, the actor portrayed arch criminal Ernst Blofeld in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice -- the first time that the scarred face of the secretive character was seen onscreen in the Bond series. Firmly established as a villain, Pleasence gradually eased into horror films such as Halloween (1978), The Devonsville Terror (1979), and Buried Alive (1990); commenting on this phase of his career, Pleasence once mused "I only appear in odd films." One of his few "mainstream" appearances during this period was virtually invisible. Pleasence is seen and prominently billed as a rabbi in Carl Reiner's Oh, God! (1977), but the role was deemed dispensable and all the actor's lines were cut. Pleasence continued to work steadily in the 1980s and early '90s -- making 17 pictures alone in 1987-1989 -- before undergoing heart surgery in 1994; he died from complications two months later. Married four times, the actor was the father of six daughters, among them actress Angela Pleasence.

Trivia: Displaying the type of understated, dark-eyed good looks that make him a natural candidate for an art house pinup, Paul Rudd impressed filmgoers throughout the latter half of the 1990s with his talent for turning in performances marked by thoughtful insight and an unassuming charisma. Since his turn as Alicia Silverstone's endearingly self-righteous stepbrother in the 1995 film Clueless, Rudd has enjoyed a sort of low-key fame that has allowed him to branch out both in film and on the stage.The son of British-born parents, Rudd came into the world via Passaic, NJ, on April 6, 1969. Because of his father's job in the airline industry, Rudd and his family traveled a great deal, eventually settling in Kansas City, KS. After graduating from high school, Rudd attended the University of Kansas, where he majored in theater. Following his graduation, he was accepted as a student at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts/West in Los Angeles. His studies there led to a three-month theater workshop at Oxford University's British Drama Academy, where he was tutored by the producer and editor Michael Kahn. During his time in England, Rudd also co-produced the Globe Theatre's Bloody Poetry, in which he starred as the poet Percy Shelley, and then performed the title role of Hamlet, in a production directed by Ben Kingsley. Back in the States, Rudd made his television debut in 1992, in the series Sisters. As Ashley Judd's boyfriend Kirbie Philby, Rudd stayed with the show until 1995. During this time, he also appeared in other television productions, including the short-lived series Wild Oats (1994). In 1995, he made his big-screen debut in Amy Heckerling's Clueless, a film that met with a lavish dose of unanticipated success. Although much of the limelight was reserved for the film's star Alicia Silverstone, Rudd also received a fair amount of press, as well as the adulation of a new generation of fans who warmed to the actor's unconventional appeal. The same year, he played the lead in the sixth Halloween installment, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers. The year 1996 proved to be one of hits and misses, as it included his leading part in the straight-to-video Overnight Delivery, co-starring Reese Witherspoon, and the highly successful William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, in which he played against type as the arrogant Dave Paris. The same year, Rudd starred in the obscure but critically praised Canadian independent The Size of Watermelons, before going on to make the equally obscure, critically trashed The Locusts (1997). Theatrically, however, 1997 provided positive experience in the form of a Broadway production of Alfred Uhry's The Last Night of Ballyhoo, in which Rudd had a lead role. There were further positive experiences for Rudd in 1998, as in addition to his principal role in the well-received The Object of My Affection, he starred in the high-profile Lincoln Center production of Twelfth Night, which co-starred Helen Hunt and was directed by Nicholas Hytner, his Object director. Rudd continued his theater work the following year, with Neil LaBute's Bash, an off-Broadway show that also featured Calista Flockhart and Ron Eldard. In addition, he had a starring role in 200 Cigarettes, a film remarkable for both its enviable ensemble cast (including Christina Ricci, Ben Affleck, and Martha Plimpton) and the overwhelmingly desultory reviews it received. However, even the most savage of critics were able to single out Rudd for praise, further reflecting the actor's ability to make a favorable impression in even the most unfavorable of films.After a turn as Nick Caraway in a made-for-television adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Rudd showed off his ability pull off broad-comedy in the largely improvised 2001 parody film Wet Hot American Summer. He changed gears considerably for his next project, The Shape of Things which saw him reteam with director LaBute.In 2004, Rudd again flexed his skills as a comedic scene-stealer with a supporting role in the 70s-era Will Ferrell vehicle Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. Keenly aware that he was very much on to a good thing, Rudd kept the laughs coming in Tennis, Anyone...? and The Baxter before hitting yet another comedy homerun in the 2005 Steve Carrell comedy The 40 Year Old Virgin. The movie moved Rudd several notches up on the radar of comedy fans, and he followed it up with memorable turns in many more laugh-fests over the coming years, including Knocked Up in 2007, Forgetting Sarah Marshall in 2008, Role Models in 2009, and I Love You, Man in 2009. Having made himself a favorite comic actor in the industry, Rudd was soon able to pick and choose increasingly perfect roles for his style, starring in 2010's Dinner for Schmucks with Steve Carrell in 2010, and Our Idiot Brother with Zooey Deschanel in 2011. The following year, on the heels of the big screen comedy Wanderlust and a recurring role on television's Parks and Recreation, Rudd reprised his role from Knocked Up in writer/director Judd Apatow's semi-sequel This is 40.

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: Kim Darby's assertive acting style was likened by one film historian to "a 1938 Judy Garland forever waiting to burst into song." The daughter of "The Dancing Zerbies," Kim was a stage performer from childhood, when she was billed as Derby Zerby. Her short stature and cherubic face enabled Kim to play teenagers well into her twenties. After several TV appearances, she began her film career in 1965, reaching a peak with the role of Maddie Ross in True Grit (1968). Forever feisty, Kim earned one of the biggest laughs in 1977's The One and Only when she decked Henry Winkler with a one-two punch. Kim Darby has continued in secondary roles into the 1990s, recently making a guest appearance on that crowded way-station for former celebrities, TV's Murder She Wrote.