Trivia: Possessing a sort of surreal, outlandish, and childish comic persona that is only enhanced by his deceptively straight-laced appearance, comic performer Steve Carell first gained a faithful following thanks to an enduring run as a correspondent on the popular Comedy Central news satire series The Daily Show. Though Carell had been performing on the small screen in such shows as The Dana Carvey Show and Over the Top since the early '90s, it was his grating but hilariously obnoxious reports on The Daily Show that truly made him a talent to watch.A native of Concord, MA, and an alumni of Chicago's famed Second City comedy troupe, Carell gained early experience with stints at the Windy City's Goodman and Wisdom Bridge Theaters. Following his feature debut in the 1991 comedy Curly Sue, Carell made a name for himself in television as a writer/performer on The Dana Carvey Show. In the years that followed, he would frequently alternate between film and television, and he continued to do so after joining the cast of The Daily Show in 1999. Sharp-eared television viewers would recognize Carell as the voice of crime-fighter Gary (a role that he played opposite Daily Show co-star Stephen Colbert) on Saturday Night Live's popular TV Funhouse segment "The Ambiguously Gay Duo." Following roles in such little-seen features as Tomorrow Night and Suits, Carell would return to the small screen for a key supporting role in ex-Seinfeld star Julia Louis-Dreyfus' short-lived sitcom Watching Ellie.In 2003, Carell nearly stole the show from comic megastar Jim Carrey with his role as an obnoxious television newscaster in the heavenly comedy Bruce Almighty, before once again stepping into a faux television studio to portray cerebrally challenged weather forecaster Brick Tamland in the 2004 Will Ferrell vehicle Anchorman. Carell then stepped out of the newsroom and into cubicle-land for the lead in NBC's American remake of the popular British sitcom The Office, for which he won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy Series in 2005. Carell also made a brief but indelible cameo opposite Anchorman co-star Ferrell in the big-screen adaptation of Bewitched.Carell's Anchorman colleagues also aided him in realizing his breakout role, later that same summer: the hapless innocent title character of The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Written by Carell and co-scripted and directed by Anchorman producer Judd Apatow, the raunchy-yet-sweet comedy had an inauspicious August release, yet its bawdy, adult-oriented laughs resonated with much of the same audience that made The Wedding Crashers an R-rated success story just a few weeks prior. Like Ferrell before him, Carell suddenly found himself in the enviable position of being able to pick and choose from a number of high-priced, high-profile comedic starring roles, among them the Bruce Almighty sequel Evan Almighty, as well as Get Smart, Horton Hears a Who!, and Dinner For Schmucks. Carrel would continue to pepper his resume with low-key roles as well, however, appearing in dramedies like Dan in Real Life and Crazy, Stupid, Love.He continued to work steadily in smaller films like The Way Way Back and Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, as well as sequels like Despicable Me 2 and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. In 2014 Carell picked up the first Oscar nomination of his career for playing against type as the billionaire John DuPont in Bennett Miller's true-crime psychological drama Foxcatcher.

Trivia: Actress Andrea Riseborough caused a veritable sensation in her native Britain during the 2000s, with a succession of remarkable portrayals (character and lead roles) that resisted typecasting through their stunning diversity. A native of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Riseborough left school at age 17 and resisted the idea of attending university at first, but ultimately enrolled at London's legendary Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), where she began to specialize in playing virginal innocents. The homogeneity of those assignments was reportedly frustrating for the blossoming thespian, though she had the epiphany that "all virgins are different," and began to excel by locating the psychological and dramatic uniqueness (the core) of each new character. The ability to do so helped the upstart secure a highly regarded agent by her third year at RADA. Following graduation, the then-ingenue spent time waitressing, directed a succession of short films, launched a greeting-card firm, and took Cantonese language lessons, but soon found herself magnetically drawn back to acting. In that sphere, two remarkable tendencies emerged: a chameleon-like ability to adapt her personality and behavior to suit the material at hand, and a proclivity for exhaustively researching parts prior to beginning work. Her research, for example, carried her to Croatia for a lengthy period (as preparation for The Pain and the Itch) and prompted her to read everything she could get her hands on about onetime prime minister Margaret Thatcher (as preparation for her portrayal of a young Thatcher in the English telemovie Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk to Finchley [2008]). Also in 2008, she teamed up with succès d'estime Mike Leigh for a small supporting role, as Dawn, in that director's seriocomedy Happy-Go-Lucky.Significantly, Riseborough remained equally active in other venues, particularly theater, with acclaimed performances in productions of Miss Julie, Dog Days, A Brief History of Helen of Troy, and other plays. She could also be seen on television, where she turned viewers' heads as the sexually voracious Kirsty on the series Party Animals.

Trivia: Born December 1st, 1970, former Saturday Night Live cast member Sarah Silverman made her film debut in the 1997 Who's the Caboose. She then had a supporting role as a friend of Mary in Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly's 1998 comedy smash There's Something About Mary. Following a part in Chris O'Donnell's The Bachelor, which also starred Renee Zelwegger, Brooke Shields, and James Cromwell, Silverman secured a deal with Columbia Tri-Star to create a vehicle for herself based on her one-woman show, Susan Plays Cheese. She received further exposure on various TV talk shows, as well as in the pages of Esquire Magazine's "breasts" issue and a fashion layout in Mirabella. She appeared in the comedies Screwed and Heartbreakers, and had a memorable role as the driven girlfriend in Richard Linklater's School of Rock. 2005 was a stellar year for Silverman on the big screen. In addition to writing and starring in Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic, she was widely considered to have one of the very best appearances in the documentary The Aristocrats. She followed that up the next year with a part in Todd Phillips' School for Scoundrels. From 2007 to 2009, Silverman played herself in The Sarah Silverman Program, and edgy sitcom that earned the comedienne a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award. Despite a devoted fan following, Comedy Central cancelled the show after three seasons. In 2008, Silverman appeared semi-regularly on Jimmy Kimmel Live for a series of raunchy sketches involving Matt Damon, and made several appearances on the USA Network's television series Monk. After making a cameo as herself in The Muppets in 2011, Silverman went a different direction by taking on a dramatic role in Take This Waltz, a film following a married couple whose relationship begins to crumble when one half of the pair forms an emotional bond with a neighbor. She next logged a series of voice roles, including Vanellope, a glitchy video game character in Disney's Wreck-It Ralph (2012) and a recurring role on Bob's Burgers. In 2014, she appeared in A Million Ways to Die in the West and began a guest arc on Masters of Sex.

Trivia: An alumnus of State University of New York and the University of Massachusetts, American actor Bill Pullman excelled in both wacky comedy and intense drama during his stage years, working with such repertory companies as the Folger Theatre Groupe and the Los Angeles Theatre Center. Before college, he attended a technical institute and studied building construction (years later he used those skills to build his own house in California). In films, Pullman could be relied upon to almost invariably lose the girl, as witness his brace of 1993 films, Sleepless in Seattle and Somersby. He almost lost his screen wife Geena Davis to Tom Hanks in A League of Their Own (1992), but this gratuitous plot point was eliminated from the script. Only since 1994 has Pullman won the heroine's hand with any regularity. The summer of 1995 found Bill Pullman with back-to-back leading roles in two of the season's biggest box-office successes: While You Were Sleeping and Casper: The Movie. Pullman gained even more recognition for his heroic portrayal of the self-sacrificing U.S. president in the special effects blockbuster Independence Day. Up to this point, Pullman was pretty well typecast in "nice guy" roles. In David Lynch's Lost Highway (1996), he broke that mold by appearing as a deeply disturbed husband. In 1995, Pullman began a side career as a producer when he founded his own production company Big Town.

Trivia: American actress Elisabeth Shue was first seen on a national basis as Jackie Sarnac, teenaged daughter of Air Force colonel Raynor Sarnac on the 1984 TV series Call to Glory. She spent the next few years concentrating on "best girl" film roles: girlfriend to Ralph Macchio in The Karate Kid (1984), to Tom Cruise in Cocktail (1988), and to Michael J. Fox in the second and third Back to the Future flicks. She gave a marvelous interpretation of resourceful teenager Chris Parker in 1987's Adventures in Babysitting and was the daughter Sally Field never knew in Soapdish (1991). In 1996, Elisabeth Shue was nominated for an Academy award for her starring role opposite Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas. Shue shone again playing Woody Allen's much-younger girlfriend in Deconstructing Harry (1997). Shue is the sister of TV actor Andrew Shue, who played Billy on the popular Fox series Melrose Place.

Trivia: Scottish, versatile, and for a long time underappreciated, Alan Cumming is chameleon-like in both his choice of roles and his ability to inhabit them convincingly. Born January 27, 1965, in Perthshire, Scotland, Cumming studied drama at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama before embarking on a career that would have its roots on the stage. For years, Cumming worked steadily in the theater as a member of repertory companies, such as the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1992 he had his film debut in the largely unheard of Prague, which was essentially a historical overview of the city. In 1994 American audiences were introduced to the sound of Cumming's voice thanks to his role as the narrator of Black Beauty, but it wasn't until 1995 (Cumming's other 1994 film, Second Best notwithstanding) that they actually saw him, this time via his small but memorable role as a Russian computer programmer in Goldeneye.Wider exposure followed, thanks to two successful films. The first, Circle of Friends (1995), featured Cumming as Minnie Driver's slimy, unwelcome suitor, and the second, 1996's Emma, saw Cumming playing yet another unwelcome suitor, this time to Gwyneth Paltrow. More sympathetic roles followed in For My Baby, Buddy, and Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (in which he played a sweetly awkward nerd with a crush on Lisa Kudrow), all released in 1997. Work in Spice World came next in 1998, as did the stage role that was to give Cumming critical acclaim, a host of awards, and the wider respect he deserved. That role was Cabaret's Emcee, and Cumming managed to make the character -- previously the sole territory of Joel Grey -- all his own, giving a wickedly delicious performance that was unabashedly dark, sly, androgynous, and altogether terrifying. His performance won him all three New York theater awards: a Tony, a Drama Desk, and an Outer Critics Circle. This triumph resulted in a new range of opportunities for the actor, one of which was the chance to be a part of what was to be Stanley Kubrick's last film, Eyes Wide Shut (1999). Although Cumming's role as a hotel desk clerk was a small one, the actor turned in a sly and insinuating performance that reflected his ability to make the most out of even the most limited opportunities.Cumming was subsequently given almost unlimited opportunities to showcase his flamboyance in Julie Taymor's Titus, her 1999 adaptation of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus. In his role as the queen's (Jessica Lange) debauched lover, he gave a performance that was as over-the-top and rococo as the film itself, leading some critics to say his portrayal had a little too much in common with a Christmas ham.Fortunately, Cumming surprised critics and audiences alike when he directed, with Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Anniversary Party (2001), a marital comedy-drama that starred him and Leigh as a husband and wife whose anniversary party exposes the many flaws of their fragile marriage. Featuring a cast that included Kevin Kline, Phoebe Cates, Gwyneth Paltrow, John C. Reilly, and Jennifer Beals, the film, which was shot on digital video, earned a fairly warm reception from critics, many of whom praised Cumming for his work both behind and in front of the camera.Cumming took the part of the bad guy in the first Spy Kids movie, a role he would repeat in the film's first two sequels. He also played the evil corporate manipulator in Josie and the Pussycats. He appeared in the musical remake of Reefer Madness in 2004, and that same year voiced a cat in the live action Garfield the movie. He worked steadily in a variety of projects including Gray Matters, Eloise: Eloise in Hollywood, and Dare, but found his biggest critical success on the small screen as part of the cast in the highly-respected CBS drama The Good Wife which began its run in 2009.

Trivia: The youngest of three brothers.As a kid, used to take trips with his father to watch the New York Yankees play.Played baseball and football in high school, but an injury during his junior year ended his athletic career.Discovered his love of acting after his friends encouraged him to audition for the school's production of You Can't Take It with You.Started his acting career performing with the Connecticut Repertory Theatre.

Trivia: Whether burning-up the ice as an all-star high school hockey player, studying pre-med at Pepperdine, singing in the all-state chorus or essaying one of many roles on stage, screen, or television, multi-faceted actor Eric Christian Olsen has worn many hats on his way to celebrity stardom. Born in Eugene, OR, and raised in Bettendorf, IA, Olsen spent most of his early years playing hockey and writing for his high school newspaper, not discovering his love for acting until after graduation, when he landed a commercial role in a television spot for Whitey's Ice Cream Parlor. Olsen was soon actively seeking out both stage and screen roles, and, following his television series debut in Millennium, he had a memorable performance as a burn victim on ER and made his feature debut in Arthur's Quest (1999). Soon drawn in to the millennial teen movie boom, Olsen's career continued to flourish in such films as Pearl Harbor and Not Another Teen Movie (both 2001). Following a starring turn in the 2002 drama Local Boys, the burgeoning actor appeared the same year in the Rob Schneider comedy The Hot Chick. In addition to his film work, Olsen was also the youngest improvisation comedian in the nation for Comedy Sportz, a live comedy show suitable for the entire family. He played the role of the younger Lloyd Christmas in the Dumb and Dumber prequel, and in 2004 he starred in the horror film Cellular. He continued to work in a variety of projects including Beerfest, License to Wed, Fired Up, The Back-Up Plan, and Celeste and Jesse Forever.

Trivia: Grew up performing in local musical theatre productions with her siblings. Decided to pursue acting after taking a drama class in her final year of high school. Competed on season 9 of the Australian Dancing with the Stars. Became an ambassador for The Fred Hollows Foundation in 2010.

Trivia: Unlike many actresses who pay their dues with supporting roles and bit parts for years, the pretty and lithe brunette Martha MacIsaac scored a lead remarkably early in her career, as the title character of the Canadian series Emily of New Moon. That program, like the seminal Anne of Green Gables, constituted an adaptation of novels by Lucy Maud Montgomery, and enabled MacIsaac to make a significant impression in her native country, where the series found a substantial audience. The actress followed it up with bit parts in features such as the 2003 This Time Around and the 2005 Ice Princess, then joined the cast of Greg Mottola's Superbad (2007), a frat-boy comedy about a couple of high-school losers who try to join the "in club" by catering alcohol for a local party.

Trivia: HBO enthusiasts will invariably remember character actor Wallace Langham for his winning multi-season portrayal of Phil, the conceited head writer of Larry Sanders' late-night talk show, on the Garry Shandling-headlined sitcom The Larry Sanders Show. Langham (who first received billing in projects as Wally Ward) grew up in Los Angeles; his parents divorced at an early age and his mother, Sunni, designed costumes for the musical variety series Donny and Marie. Langham was, by all accounts, drawn magnetically to showbusiness; he enrolled in acting classes, signed with an agent, and landed a string of television commercials beginning at age 16 (in 1981). After high school, Langham enrolled briefly in Cal State Northridge, but dropped out after snagging a bit part in John Hughes' teenage sci-fi comedy Weird Science (1985). Scattered appearances on such series as Murder, She Wrote and Star Trek: Voyager followed -- as well as the recurring role of Josh, smart-alecky assistant to lingerie proprietor Veronica on the Kirstie Alley sitcom Veronica's Closet. It was the Shandling turn, however, that put Langham on top of his game. He made occasional feature appearances in such pictures as the Nora Ephron comedy-fantasy Michael (1996) opposite John Travolta, the Eddie Murphy vehicle Daddy Day Care (2003), the ensemble comedy drama Little Miss Sunshine (2006), the award-winning The Social Network and 2012's Ruby Sparks but -- outside of Larry Sanders -- he is probably best known for his fine work on the series drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. On that program, Langham sustained a multi-season portrayal as lab technician David Hodges.

Trivia: A comedic actor whose legacy is deeply intertwined with his long-standing involvement as a performer on NBC's Saturday Night Live, Fred Armisen graduated to on-camera work via an unlikely and wholly circuitous route. He studied film production at New York City's School of Visual Arts, then enjoyed a stint as a drummer in several punk bands including Trenchmouth and Those Bastard Souls, and performed with the Chicago production of the Blue Man Group. Shortly thereafter, Armisen authored a comedic short, Fred Armisen's Guide to Music and SXSW, which found him tooling through the South by Southwest Music Festival and conducting Sacha Baron Cohen-style parodistic interviews with legitimate musicians (most fully unaware of the joke being played). Upon playing at underground film festivals, that short turned the heads of HBO executives and prompted the network not only to sign Armisen as a regular correspondent on their music seires Reverb (a look at blossoming talent in the world of music), but to give him comedic interstitial segues in between regular programs, entitled Fred.From there, it was only a short leap to SNL stardom, and executive producer/creator Lorne Michaels brought Armisen in for a multi-season tenure beginning in 2002. On that program, as in his comedy shorts and standup acts, Armisen displayed a proclivity for sinking so completely into character that it became frequently difficult to separate the actor from the role; recurring characterizations included Martin Scorsese, Liberace, Tony Danza, Vicente Fox, and others. Armisen also landed supporting roles and cameo appearances in big-screen comedies; these included Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), the same year's Eurotrip (in a memorable bit as a creepy gay Italian), Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny (2006), and Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters (2007). In 2008, Armisen tackled a supporting role in the workplace comedy The Promotion, starring Seann William Scott, John C. Reilly, and Jenna Fischer.He continued to land small roles in big-screen comedies such as Easy A, Cop Out, and Confessions of a Shopoholic, but his first big success outside of SNL came when he teamed up with longtime friend and musician Carrie Brownstein to create, write, and star in Portlandia, a sketch-comedy show about Portland that aired on IFC. The series earned critical raves, and enough buzz to earn a second season.Though he married Mad Men actress Elizabeth Moss in 2009, their union lasted just ten months, and his next high-profile relationship was with his fellow SNL castmate Abby Elliot.

Trivia: A Saturday Night Live cast member who received his grooming in the familiar Groundlings comedy breeding ground, a few of funnyman Chris Parnell's favorite parody subjects include Tom Brokow in addition to his frightfully funny Eminem impression.Born and raised in Memphis, TN, Parnell took to acting and comedy after his family relocated to nearby Germantown and he got involved with the Poplar Pike Playhouse. Constantly auditioning for nearly every production while taking multiple acting and music classes, Parnell attended the North Carolina School of Arts after graduation and later worked at Houston's Alley Theater after obtaining his B.F.A. Later teaching acting, film, and video back at Germantown High before moving to Los Angeles, the future SNL star worked at FAO Schwartz while taking classes at the Groundlings theater and acting in small roles in commercials and television sitcoms. Parnell was flown to New York for an SNL audition after he was spotted by a talent scout from the show, joining the cast in the fall of 1999 alongside fellow freshmen Jimmy Fallon and Horatio Sanz. After his feature debut in 1996's Jingle All the Way, Parnell could be seen on the big screen in fellow SNL cast member Tim Meadows' The Ladies Man in 2000. He had a part in Anchorman, but he became part of SNL history when he starred along with Andy Samberg in the digital short Lazy Sunday, often cited as the first bit from the show to go viral. He had a recurring role as the seriously demented Dr. Spaceman on 30 Rock, and teamed with Samberg again for the comedy Hot Rod.He appeared in the music biopic spoof Walk Hard, and was in the comedy Labor Pains. In 2010 he was cast in the animated series Archer, providing the voice for Cyril Figgis, and two years later he appeared in three of the biggest comedies of the year including The Dictator, 21 Jump Street, and The Five-Year Engagement.

Trivia: John McGinley, often credited as John C. McGinley, has become one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood since he first got noticed in Oliver Stone's Platoon (1986). The intense, unblinking actor specializes in sarcasm, cynicism, and a used car dealer's unctuous insincerity, meaning he can play either wacky or sinister in both comedies and dramas. Although he has appeared in six Stone films, his breakout performance came in a very different format, as the acerbic and piercingly straightforward Dr. Perry Cox on the hit NBC sitcom Scrubs (2001).McGinley was born on August 3, 1959, in New York City. Growing up in Millburn, NJ, he was more involved in sports than theater. He began studying acting at Syracuse University, continuing at N.Y.U.'s Tisch School of the Arts. McGinley then toiled both on and off-Broadway, as well as two years on the soap opera Another World, scoring his first film role in the Alan Alda-directed Sweet Liberty (1986). It was while he was serving as John Turturro's understudy on the play Danny and the Deep Blue Sea that a casting scout in Stone's employ spotted him and got him an audition for Platoon. McGinley was cast as the sycophantic Sgt. Red O'Neill in the eventual Oscar winner.McGinley followed up Platoon with another one-two punch of Stone movies, Wall Street (1987) and Talk Radio (1988). In interviews, McGinley has described theirs as a "strong working relationship," not a friendship per se with the demanding director. He appeared in a handful of other films before his fourth Stone collaboration, Born on the Fourth of July (1989), which was quickly followed by his first screenwriting effort. McGinley co-scripted and co-starred in the 1990 film Suffering Bastards, alongside Talk Radio's Eric Bogosian.The 1990s were a period of intense work for the actor, who appeared in an average of three movies a year, sometimes as many as seven -- a necessary but no less tricky feat for a character actor earning modest paychecks. The most heralded of these were David Fincher's Seven and Stone's Nixon (both 1995); the most forgettable were Highlander II: The Quickening (1991) and the Steven Seagal starrer On Deadly Ground (1994). For most moviegoers, he remained under the radar.Two showy roles in 1999 ably demonstrated McGinley's facility for comedy. As a callous efficiency expert brought aboard to reorganize (i.e., downsize) the tech firm at the heart of Office Space, McGinley grinned and joked his way through a round of heartless layoffs. A similar oiliness informed his loud, obnoxious, kiss-ass portrayal of a Jim Rome-type sports interviewer in Stone's Any Given Sunday. It was soon after, in 2001, that McGinley was brought aboard for the role destined to identify him beyond any single film. As the default mentor on Scrubs, McGinley alternated hard-knocks frankness, biting wit, and a genuine desire to be left alone, in turn creating a hilarious persona and sealing his fate as an unwitting cult figure to the young surgeons. The sitcom work schedule has given him the necessary stability to spend time with his young son, Max, who has Down's syndrome.

Trivia: Has worked extensively in episodic TV and movies; is best known for her roles on Madison, Sue Thomas: F.B. Eye and 24. Nominated for Gemini Awards in 1995 and '96 for Madison, and in 1999 for Traders. Honored at the 1999 Vancouver Film Festival for her performance in Daydrift. Joined the cast of ABC's Canadian police drama Rookie Blue in 2010. Is of Nigerian descent, and her name means "gift from heaven."

Trivia: Son of writer-director Howard Franklin, he began working on film sets at the age of 17. Worked as an assistant to magician-actor Ricky Jay and producer Stuart Cornfeld. Received an award for excellence from the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. Had recurring roles on New Girl, Veep and black-ish at the same time in 2016.

Trivia: Voice actor Tom Kenny was born in New York and worked as a standup comedian. After brief roles in the comedy features How I Got Into College and Shakes the Clown, he started doing sketch comedy on the FOX series The Edge. One of his first voice acting gigs was the cow on Rocko's Modern Life. In 1995, he starting writing and acting on the HBO sketch comedy series Mr. Show with Bob Odenkirk and David Cross. It was there that he met his future wife, fellow cast member Jill Talley. After Mr. Show ended, Kenny turned to voice acting full-time with popular Cartoon Network series like Dexter's Laboratory. On The Powerpuff Girls, he provided colorful narration as well as several character voices. Grown-up audiences heard him on Dilbert, Futurama, The Animatrix, or Adam Sandler's Eight Crazy Nights. Though he has dozens of credits to his name, Kenny is probably most well known as the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants. First aired in 1999 on Nickelodeon, SpongeBob SquarePants is an animated series about a fry cook who lives at the bottom of the sea. Popular with both young and old audiences, the show became one of the most highly-rated cartoons on TV. Kenny was also the narrator and various other characters on the show, and reprised his role for The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie in 2004. The always-in-demand vocal talent performed multiple roles in The Ant Bully, took over the duty of voicing Rabbit in 2011's Winnie the Pooh, and gave Wheelie a voice in Transformers: Dark of the Moon. In 2012 he could be heard in Tim Burton feature length adaptation of his short film Frankenweenie.

Trivia: Character actor Jamey Sheridan has had a prolific acting career in theater, television, and film productions. Born in California to a family of actors, he made it to Broadway and earned a Tony nomination in 1987 for his performance in the revival of Arthur Miller's All My Sons. After several TV movie appearances, he landed a reoccurring role as lawyer Jack Shannon on Shannon's Deal, which ran for one season in 1990. His later television roles include Dr. John Sutton on Chicago Hope (from 1995-1996) and Captain Deakins on Law & Order: Criminal Intent (since 2001). Sheridan started his film career in the late '80s with small roles, and by the '90s he was playing the token family man, a role he would continue in both film and television. He was also capable of playing villains, as he did in the 1994 miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand. Other interesting roles include Marty Stouffer in Wild America and the psychotic neighbor in Video Voyeur: The Susan Wilson Story. After a long history of performing Shakespeare on the stage, Sheridan appeared in Campbell Scott's production of Hamlet in 2000 as well as the Hamlet-inspired modern noir film Let the Devil Wear Black in 1999. He's also given fine supporting performances in The Ice Storm, Cradle Will Rock, Life as a House, and numerous TV movies. In teh early 2000s Sheriden frequently alternated between film and television, though it was his role on the popular detective series Law and Order: Criminal Intent that offered him the most exposure. It was during his five year run on that show that he was diagnosed with Bell's palsy, a nerve disorder that temporarily causes partial facial paralysis, and the writers ultimately incorporated that condition into the show. In 2011 Sheridan joined the cast of the Showtime drama Homeland, which centered on a Marine sergeant and war hero who returns home to the U.S. after eight years missing in Iraq, only to be pursued by a CIA officer who's convinced he's been turned into a terrosit by Al-Qaeda.Sheridan and his wife, actress Colette Kilroy, have two children.

Trivia: Made his TV debut in Robert Altman's 1988 political satire Tanner '88, co-starring Sex and the City's Cynthia Nixon. First feature-film appearance was a small role in 1989 dramedy The Unbelievable Truth, which also featured The Sopranos' Edie Falco in a bit part. Has appeared on numerous police-themed shows, including Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, NCIS, NYPD Blue, Third Watch and Without a Trace. Wife Cas is an assistant director; the two have worked on several films together.