Trivia: Mainstream America got its first taste of David Caruso when he appeared in a nationally syndicated mid-'70s coffee commercial as a stock boy in a general store run by Margaret Hamilton. In those days, Caruso would pick up extra cash by appearing in lineups for the New York police department, where his street-urchin style made him fit right in. This same street-tough quality won Caruso his first semi-regular TV series role in 1981, as the Irish-American gang leader "Shamrock" on Hill Street Blues. Building up his resumé, he continued to take supporting roles like the "washout" aviation candidate in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) and assistant to Judd Nelson's quest for revenge in Blue City (1986). 1984 proved a busy year as he divorced wife Cheri Maugans and married Rachel Ticotin, with whom he had a daughter, Greta, later that year. More supporting roles paid Caruso's bills throughout the '80s, as well as a starring TV gig on a short-lived 1990 cop series called H.E.L.P. A much more important law enforcement role still lay ahead, however, in the form of a hot new series called NYPD Blue that premiered in 1993. Playing the role of Detective John Kelly on the series made Caruso an overnight star. The show was produced by his old Hill Street Blues boss Steven Bochco, and Caruso had the groundbreaking drama to thank for his transformation from working actor to sought-after star -- yet he remained with the monumentally successful show for only 26 episodes. After a very public series of disagreements with producers, Caruso left NYPD Blue in 1994, hoping to use his new celebrity to invigorate a film career. He returned to audiences in 1995, starring the crime thriller Kiss of Death. Unfortunately, Kiss of Death was a critical and box-office failure, as were his successive suspense thrillers Jade, Cold Around the Heart, and Body Count. Though he walked down the isle a third time in 1995, the actor's wedding seemed to be the only happy news associated with his name. By the end of the '90s, Caruso's decision to leave NYPD Blue was considered one of the most infamous career blunders in history, landing him on the C-list and making a joke of the inflated ego that some said put him there. In 1997, the first episode of the outrageous animated media satire South Park seemed to summarize the actor's status with a gag in which the two-year-old character Ike is persuaded to jump from a spaceship and fall several feet to the ground when his brother yells "Do your impression of David Caruso's career!" Many actors find themselves remembered as cinematic or TV one-hit wonders, and this was how Caruso was already being recorded in pop-culture history. The new millennium, however, would find the actor defeating the Hollywood laws of physics with a resurrection on a par with that of John Travolta. In 2002, the hit procedural prime-time crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation was launching a spin-off, CSI: Miami, and in the starring role of Lieutenant Horatio Caine was none other than David Caruso. The spin-off proved to be just as successful as its predecessor, and almost ten years after his first shot at fame with NYPD Blue, Caruso was back in the game. While cynics predicted that he would grow too big for his britches and leave the series in a disastrous repetition of history, Caruso remained loyal to the show, even making cameo appearances on the other CSI series. Though 2005 brought a divorce, it also saw the birth of a son with girlfriend Liza Marquez.

Trivia: Born October 08, 1968, actress Emily Procter made her way into the stormy world of acting by forecasting the weather. While a Journalism and Dance major at East Carolina University, she landed a job as a weather anchor for a local CBS affiliate. One thing led to another, and soon she was headed west, travelling the well-travelled route to Los Angeles. Luck greeted Procter shortly after her arrival, when she began landing spots on television sitcoms and dramas. After appearing on such shows as Lois and Clark and Friends, Procter made her film debut with a small role in Leaving Las Vegas in 1995. Work in a number of small films followed, as did parts in Jerry Maguire (1997), the HBO movie Breast Men (1997), and such television movies as The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion! (also 1997). 1999 proved a busy year for the actress, as she had supporting roles in both Guinevere and the Scottish film The Big Tease. She also starred in Body Shots, playing a member of a group of friends looking for love and/or sex in pre-millennial Los Angeles.2002 brought what could effectively be called a "big break" as Procter landed a leading role on the CSI spin-off CSI: Miami. The show proved just as successful as its predecessor and Procter found herself on one of the most watched shows on television, sticking around for season upon season as its popularity seemed to only grow with each passing year.

Trivia: Latino actor and heartthrob Adam Rodriguez found a convenient backdoor to Hollywood success. Proving definitively the old adage that "it's all in who you know," Rodriguez's dad, the longtime COO of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, happened to be watching the Emmys in 1996 and recognized an old army buddy accepting a production award. The gentleman in question had graduated from policeman to NYPD Blue consultant to one of the program's producers. The elder Rodriguez impulsively phoned his pal to congratulate him on the award; this led to a renewed friendship, and in time, a small guest spot for Adam on NYPD Blue. At that point, Rodriguez had only just decided on his true calling in life. A stint of seemingly random occupations (including stockbroker and bellhop) followed by a brief theatrical tenure at the Jersey Peppermill Playhouse convinced the young man that his passion lay in acting. The Emmy incident, as it were, happened almost immediately afterward.A recurring role on the brief series drama Brooklyn South ensued, followed by a guest spot on Law & Order, then a bit part in the Gary Fleder movie Impostor. Rodriguez attained his first substantial recognition, however, as Jesse Ramirez, an erudite attorney unknowingly saddled with an extraterrestrial girlfriend, on the sci-fi series Roswell. But his greatest exposure was still yet to come. Beginning in 2002, he played Eric Delko, drug and fingerprint expert at the Miami-Dade crime laboratory, on CSI: Miami, the first successful spin-off to the crime series phenomenon CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Shortly thereafter, Rodriguez also signed for a part in Jessica Kavana Dornbusch's indie coming-of-age drama Thanks to Gravity (2005), about the trials and travails of a young woman of Jewish-Hispanic ancestry enrolled at Harvard. Numerous film roles followed, and on the heels of an appearance in Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself Rodriguez turned up in Ugly Betty as Hilda's on again-off again flame Bobby Talercio. In 2012 the chisled actor could be seen opposite Channing Tatum in Steven Soderbergh's Magic Mike.

Trivia: An artist, a dancer, and a true "actor's actor," hard-working Khandi Alexander began her career on-stage with the first national touring company of Bob Fosse's Dancin' and then on Broadway in Dreamgirls. While the mid-'80s saw Alexander land small roles in movies like Streetwalkin' and Maid to Order, her skills as a dancer earned her a full scholarship at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater School. Her dance career also regularly found her appearing in award shows, which eventually brought her into contact with pop sensation Whitney Houston. Impressed with Alexander's talent and no-nonsense attitude, Houston signed Alexander on to choreograph her sold-out I'm Your Baby Tonight world tour.Music was only part of the picture for the thespian, however, and to pursue her dream of becoming an accomplished actress, Alexander enrolled at the Stella Adler Conservatory. While she would continue to accept supporting roles in projects she was attracted to, two prominent gigs would catapult Alexander's career in 1995 when she accepted a regular part on the prime-time drama ER as sister to Eriq La Salle's Dr. Peter Benton, as well as a starring role in the critically acclaimed ensemble sitcom NewsRadio. While the two strong characters and formats were drastically different, Alexander stayed with NewsRadio until 1998, and continued to reprise her role on ER for seven years. After retiring from both of her TV gigs, Alexander continued to participate in a variety of projects until 2002, when an irresistible character would draw her back into television. The CSI spin-off CSI: Miami offered the part of smart, dignified coroner named Dr. Alexx Woods. The character seemed tailor-made for the charismatic actress, who joined the cast from the show's inception. Alexander would stick with the series for season upon season, as it became one of the most watched shows on TV. Alexander never abandoned the love of dance and stage acting that once dominated her career. In 1998 she played the leading role of Velma Kelly in a nationally touring production of Bob Fosse's Chicago. She has also taken to the stage in productions such as The Tragic and Horrible Life of the Singing Nun, Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?, Legacy, Period of Adjustment, and Color of Blue.

Trivia: U.S. character actor Jonathan Togo is best known for his multi-season portrayal of Ryan Wolfe, the police officer-turned-laboratory geneticist on the blockbuster crime series CSI: Miami. His resumé also includes an appearance in the Clint Eastwood-helmed ensemble feature Mystic River (2003).

Trivia: With his bald head and beefy exterior, Hollywood character player Rex Linn quickly built up an acting resumé replete with many portrayals of toughs, feds, cops, thugs, and -- occasionally -- unremarkable, beleaguered everymen. Born in the panhandle of the Lone Star State, Linn came of age in the small Texas town of Spearman. He discovered a lingering interest in drama during his teenage years, but buckled under the weight of discouragement from an acting coach, and put acting on the shelf to focus on career pursuits in banking and the oil industry. Dissatisfied with these fields, Linn convinced an Oklahoma talent agent to sign him, and made the leap from commercials to feature roles with his portrayal of serial murderer Fred Epps in the Peter Masterson-directed thriller Night Game (1989), opposite Roy Scheider. The pleasure of this experience prompted Linn to head to the West Coast, where he worked construction, landed intermittent acting assignments, and studied the craft under the tutelage of Silvana Gallardo in Studio City, CA. Linn was memorable as the rogue treasury agent who assists terrorist John Lithgow in the Sylvester Stallone vehicle Cliffhanger (1993), which brought the actor the recognition he so persistently sought and led to a series of supporting roles in dozens of feature films. Linn's portrayal of Frank McLaury in Wyatt Earp (1994) marked the first in a series of several onscreen collaborations with Kevin Costner that also included the romantic comedy Tin Cup (1996) and the laborious sci-fi epic The Postman (1997). Linn also landed guest appearances on such series as JAG and 3rd Rock From the Sun. He is best known, however, for his fine portrayal of Miami-Dade Police Department detective Frank Tripp on the hit crime series CSI: Miami.

Trivia: Sexy and talented, with a memorably exotic look (due to a multiethnic ancestry), model-turned-actress Eva La Rue (also occasionally billed by her married name, Eva LaRue Callahan) launched her career in print work, with a heavy emphasis on covers for such periodicals as Woman's World, Latina, and Cosmopolitan en Español. La Rue segued into acting in the late '80s and early '90s, and landed a number of nonfiction television assignments, first as cohost, with the legendary Dom DeLuise, of the gag-laden series revival The New Candid Camera (1991), then as hostess of the Miss America Pageant and the Lifetime network special Weddings of a Lifetime. The ever-versatile La Rue concurrently tackled scripted roles as well. After supporting parts in many a Hollywood programmer (Robocop 3, Ghoulies III: Ghoulies Go to College, Mirror Images 2) and several years as a regular on the soap All My Children, she earned stellar notices for her portrayal of Mouseketeer-turned-beach bunny Annette Funicello in the telemovie A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story. She went on to perform in recurring roles on the popular series Third Watch and Soul Food. La Rue culled her broadest fan base, however, for her portrayal of lab specialist and grant writer Natalia Boa Vista on the crime series phenomenon CSI: Miami.

Trivia: Possessing the kind of blonde, hard-bodied looks that make him ideal fodder for both straight women and gay men, Brad Rowe has inspired repeated comparisons to Brad Pitt. Audiences first waxed poetic over the photogenic actor when he appeared in the arthouse hit Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss in 1998. A romantic comedy with Rowe as the sexually ambiguous object of the title character (Sean P. Hayes)'s affections, it was equal parts "Doris Day" comedy, campy musical revue, and heartfelt search for love. It had the added attraction of a scene that allowed Rowe to showcase his more physical attributes with the aid of a very small swimsuit.Rowe got his start in acting with a mail room job at the United Talent Agency, where he began working after a stint as a finance manager in Washington, D.C. A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he was born May 15, 1970, he attended the University of Wisconsin. After graduating with a degree in Economics, he headed to Spain, where, in addition to working and studying, he also played in a blues band. After returning to the States, he worked in Washington, where he decided he wanted to pursue screenwriting. He took some writing classes at Northwestern and then headed to Los Angeles. After securing his mail room job at UTA, he began taking acting classes, and, with the help of various UTA co-workers, started landing auditions. Rowe's first real acting job was on the TV sitcom NewsRadio, on which he played an intern for a few episodes. After starring in Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss in 1998, he began finding more steady work: in 1999, he could be seen on screens big and small. On television, he starred in Wasteland, Kevin Williamson's latest offering, and in the miniseries Purgatory, a Western that also featured Sam Shepard, Randy Quaid, and Peter Stormare. On the big screen, Rowe could be seen in Body Shots, an ensemble film in which he starred as one of a group of L.A. twentysomethings searching for love, or, failing that, plain old sex.

Trivia: Adopted at six weeks old. Legal name is Amy Maria Young; there was another Amy Young registered in the Screen Actors Guild, so she adapted her first name to Bellamy. Was North Carolina's Junior Miss in 1987 (the national scholarship program changed its name to Distinguished Young Women in 2010). Made her Broadway debut in 1997 in the original production of The Life, a musical by Cy Coleman (music, book), Ira Gasman (lyrics, book) and David Newman (book) that was nominated for a Tony Award and won a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Musical. Other stage work includes a 1994 off-Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's musical Merrily We Roll Along; and Randy Newman's Faust at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego and the Goodman Theatre in Chicago in 1995. In addition to a starring role, has an associate-producer credit for the family drama Country Remedy (2007), aka Simple Things and Mountain Time, which was filmed in her native Asheville, NC.

Trivia: Stocky and heavyset African-American supporting player Omar Benson Miller (whose looks recalled a young Forest Whitaker) debuted onscreen in the early 2000s. Miller appeared in a host of films of varying quality, including 8 Mile (2002), the Richard Gere remake Shall We Dance? (2004), and the direct-to-video sexploitation comedy American Pie Presents: Band Camp (2005). In 2007, Miller tackled slightly more somber material with a key role in the Halle Berry-Benicio Del Toro psychological drama Things We Lost in the Fire, about the relationship between a grieving widow and a heroin addict. Miller would continue to find success on screen for years to come, appearing in movies like Miracle at St. Anna and The Sorcerer's Apprentice, as well as on the TV series CSI: Miami.

Trivia: Though her family would ultimately settle in Italy, Sofia Milos was born to a Greek father and Italian mother in Zurich, Switzerland. By the time she reached adolescence, Milos had demonstrated a clear knack for the liberal arts, and, in addition to proving herself a skilled painter, had become fluent in Italian, French, German, Greek, Suisse, Spanish, and English. Though she wouldn't begin acting until later in life, Milos nonetheless got used to public scrutiny when she won a beauty contest at the age of 14, beginning a successful modeling career a year later -- so successful, in fact, that the money she earned modeling throughout France, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the United States paid for her education at the School of Business and Economics in Switzerland.In 1990, Milos decided to take up residence in the United States, where she spent time living in New York before settling down in Los Angeles. Shortly after her arrival, Milos began attending acting classes at the Beverly Hills Playhouse, which is led by renowned acting coach and director Milton Katselas. Milos worked primarily in theater circles until 1993, when she was cast in Café Americain, NBC's short-lived sitcom co-starring Valerie Bertinelli and Maurice Godin. Though the show wasn't a hit, the right people noticed her potential, and Milos began racking up an impressive television resumé. She appeared on Friends in 1995, made a guest appearance on Mad About You in 1996, and landed a reoccurring role on Caroline in the City from 1997-1998. Though she made her feature film debut in 1999 -- she played one of Tim Meadows' voluptuous love interests in The Ladies Man -- it wasn't until her performance as mob boss Annalisa Zucca on HBO's The Sopranos that she would achieve mainstream recognition.HBO continued to showcase Milos' talents in Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm, for which she played an entirely improvised role as the girlfriend of Richard Lewis. After several more unsuccessful television pilots and a guest spot on ER, Milos starred as a long-suffering widow opposite Jason Isaacs and Lupe Ontiveros in Passionada (2003). Following the film, Milos landed a regular role as detective Yelina Salas in the hit television drama CSI: Miami.