Advanced search

Vincent Anthony Vaughn was born on March 28, 1970, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, and was raised in Lake Forest, Illinois. His parents, Vernon Vaughn (a salesman and character actor), and Sharon Vaughn, née Sharon Eileen DePalmo (a real-estate agent and stockbroker) divorced in 1991. He has two older sisters, Victoria Vaughn and Valeri Vaughn. His recent ancestry includes Lebanese (from his paternal grandmother), Italian (from his maternal grandfather), English, Irish, German, and Scottish. His mother was born in Brantford, Ontario.

Vince was interested in theater early on and grabbed a spot in a Chevy commercial. In 1988 he moved to Hollywood. He managed to hit a few spots on television, but his real goal was to make it to the big screen. He made his first credited role in the film Rudy (1993) where he met his friend Jon Favreau, who was writing a script detailing his life as an out-of-work actor. Vince was written into Swingers (1996) by Jon to play the character of "Trent". He signed on just as a favor to his buddy, not realizing it would be a career changing role. Though not a commercial success, it was a critical success in which Steven Spielberg saw him and cast him in the big budget sequel The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997). This role gave Vince the exposure he needed to become a movie star and, for the first time, choose the roles he wanted to take. A Cool, Dry Place (1998) put him as a loving father, Return to Paradise (1998) cast him as a man having to make a life or death decision to save a friend, and Clay Pigeons (1998) cast him as an interesting serial killer. Since then his roles have been primarily in comedies such as Old School (2003), Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004), Wedding Crashers (2005), and Couples Retreat (2009).

Lio was born in Minnesota, USA, and grew up in Sacramento, California. As a child, they were a competitive ice skater. They gave up competing at age 16, but has taken part in charity skating events.

In 2008, Lio appeared on cycle 11 of America's Next Top Model (2003). They finished third in the competition. In their modeling career, they were signed with Ford Models.

They were very fond of writing and then went on to modeling. They began studying film at Marymount College in Palos Verdes, California. They were writing a zombie movie in their spare time.

Minneapolis native Rachael Leigh Cook began her career as a model at the tender age of 10, gracing Milk-Bone boxes and Target ads nationwide in the USA. She also appeared in a now-famous (in the USA) anti-drug TV spot in which, armed with a frying pan, she bashed her way through a kitchen to show the disastrous effects of heroin. At 14, her modeling agency sent her to read for a short film (26 Summer Street (1996)) and changed the course of her young life--from that moment on, Cook was hooked on acting. When she reached L.A. later that year, Cook bypassed the wannabe stage and nailed her first audition (for the part of a budding entrepreneur in The Baby-Sitters Club (1995)). She returned to theaters three months later in the Jonathan Taylor Thomas vehicle Tom and Huck (1995), then filled her calendar with appearances in independent and made-for-TV movies. She divided her time between Minneapolis and Tinseltown, shuttling from school events to movie shoots with her mother in tow. Cook's starlet status crystallized in 1999, when she starred opposite Freddie Prinze Jr. in the Pygmalion retelling She's All That (1999). Her on-screen transformation from ugly duckling to ravishing beauty scored several teen-oriented awards and made Cook a hot commodity in Hollywood. She signed for a handful of plum follow-up roles, including a troubled adolescent in Sylvester Stallone's Get Carter (2000), a frontier gal in Texas Rangers (2001), and the caterwauling lead in the live-action version of Josie and the Pussycats (2001). Cook now lives primarily in Los Angeles, but she returns home frequently to visit with friends and family. Her father, Tom (a former stand-up comic), is a social worker in the public school system, and her younger brother, Ben, is an aspiring filmmaker.

Actress, Melissa Peterman, is from Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. After graduating from Minnesota State University with theater as one of her majors, she was cast as "Madeline Monroe" in Hey City Theater's production of "Tony & Tina's Wedding". After more than 600 performances, she went on to work as a writer and performer at the improvisational comedy theater, "The Brave New Workshop". While with "The Brave New Workshop", she also performed at the "Chicago Improv Festival" and the "Big Stink Comedy Festival" in Austin, Texas. She made her film debut, with character role, "Hooker #2" in the Coen brothers' Oscar-winning movie, Fargo (1996). On TV, she appeared in the Oxygen sketch comedy show, Running with Scissors (2000) and guest-starred on Just Shoot Me! (1997). Actress, Melissa Peterman lives in Los Angeles, California, with her husband & actor, John Hayden Brady + their son, Riley David Brady. The duo became parents on Thursday, October 20th, 2005. Their parenthood began 2,329 days, (332 weeks & 5 days), after their matrimony occurred on Saturday, June 5th, 1999.

Melissa Peterman's date of birth, Thursday, July 1st, 1971, & her motherhood date, Thursday, October 20th, 2005, differs 12,600 days, equaling 1,800 weeks exactly.

Nick Peine was born on 6 December 1990 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. He is an actor, known for A.P. Bio (2018), Office Christmas Party (2016) and Just Getting Started (2017).

Joel Daniel Coen is an American filmmaker who regularly collaborates with his younger brother Ethan. They made Raising Arizona, Barton Fink, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, True Grit, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Burn After Reading, A Serious Man, Inside Llewyn Davis, Hail Caesar and other projects. Joel married actress Frances McDormand in 1984 and had an adopted son.

Molly Hagan was born the seventh child of Jack and Betty Hagan in Minneapolis, Minnesota. At the age of 4 the entire family moved to Ft. Wayne, Indiana. She grew up among cornfields and limestone quarries. Molly always wanted to be an actor. She toiled with her sister, Lucy Hagan, to create the best living room theatre a family could watch. But had her first real break as Glinda the good witch in "The Wizard of Oz" at St. Therese's Elementary School. After crushing it, doing the best Billie Burke she could, Molly went on to be kicked out of High School drama. She then attended Northwestern University.

Terry Gilliam was born near Medicine Lake, Minnesota. When he was 12 his family moved to Los Angeles where he became a fan of MAD magazine. In his early twenties he was often stopped by the police who suspected him of being a drug addict and Gilliam had to explain that he worked in advertising. In the political turmoil in the 60's, Gilliam feared he would become a terrorist and decided to leave the USA. He moved to England and landed a job on the children's television show Do Not Adjust Your Set (1967) as an animator. There he met meet his future collaborators in Monty Python: Terry Jones, Eric Idle and Michael Palin. In 2006 he renounced his American citizenship.

Known to audiences worldwide as spitfire advertising executive "Pete Campbell" on Matthew Weiner's Golden Globe, Emmy, and SAG Award-winning drama series Mad Men (2007), Vincent Kartheiser has actually been acting since he was a teen. Starting with Untamed Heart (1993), alongside Marisa Tomei, Kartheiser accumulated an impressive number of credits during his youth, inclusive of Little Big League (1994), Iron Will (1994), The Indian in the Cupboard (1995), and Alaska (1996). He has since appeared in the likes of Another Day in Paradise (1998) with James Woods and Melanie Griffith; Crime + Punishment in Suburbia (2000); and most recently, the sci-fi thriller In Time (2011), which reunited him with his Alpha Dog (2006) co-star, Justin Timberlake.

During his Mad Men (2007) hiatus, Kartheiser filmed the indie, Beach Pillows (2014), and performed the lead role in "Death of the Novel", which brought him back to his stage roots, that originated at the renown Guthrie theatre.

Kartheiser previously starred on Joss Whedon's Angel (1999), and has guest-starred in numerous other series, including ER (1994), BBC America's Money (2010), and The Cleveland Show (2009). He's also lent his voice to the big screen's Rango (2011) and will next lead the cast of FOX's High School USA! (2013).

A native of Minneapolis, MN, Kartheiser was named after Vincent van Gogh and grew up surrounded by his works.

Mark Webber has appeared in over 40 films as an actor, working with such notable directors as Jim Jarmusch, Todd Solondz, Lynn Shelton, Thomas Vinterberg, Lars Von Trier, Edgar Wright and Gus Van Sant. His first film as a director, "Explicit Ills" won the audience award and best cinematography award at the 2008 SXSW film festival. He followed with his second film, "The End Of Love" which was nominated for the grand jury prize at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. For his third film, "The Ever After" Webber took a big leap into what he sees as the future of independent film and successfully distributed the film himself after it's world premier at the L.A. Film Festival. "Flesh and Blood" marked his return to SXSW in 2017 where the film was nominated for the Adam Yauch Visionary award. His Latest film "The Place Of No Words" premiered at the 2019 Tribeca film festival and was nominated for best picture, then went to the Munich Film festival and was nominated in the Cinemasters section for best picture, and just recently took home the Best Film award at the 49th Giffoni Film Festival in Italy.

The younger brother of Joel, Ethan Coen is an Academy Award and Golden Globe winning writer, producer and director coming from small independent films to big profile Hollywood films. He was born on September 21, 1957 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In some films of the brothers- Ethan & Joel wrote, Joel directed and Ethan produced - with both editing under the name of Roderick Jaynes; but in 2004 they started to share the three main duties plus editing. Each film bring its own quality, creativity, art and with one project more daring the other.

His film debut was in 1984 dark humored thriller Blood Simple (1984) starring Frances McDormand (Joel's wife) and M. Emmet Walsh in a deep story revolving a couple of romantic lovers followed by an insisting private eye. The film received critical acclaim, some award nominations to Ethan (best writing at the Film Independent Spirit Awards) and became a cult following over the years. Their second work was the comedy Raising Arizona (1987) starring Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter as a unusual couple trying to create their family by kidnapping babies from a rich family.

Miller's Crossing (1990) was the third film of the brothers, a mob drama with heavy influences from several criminal dramas and with a stellar cast that included Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, Albert Finney, Steve Buscemi, John Turturro and Jon Polito (the latter three would become regular actors in the Coen's films).

Their views on the Hollywood era of the 1930's was the central theme is the great Barton Fink (1991), created from a writers block both brothers suffered during the making of their previous film. John Turturro stars as a writer who suffers from a breakdown when he's commissioned to a big budget Hollywood project. The film was a breakthrough for the Coens marking their first win at the Cannes Film Festival (Joel got the Palme d'Or) and the first time a film of their received Oscar nominations. The underrated comedy The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) was what followed; but no one could predict their next big and boldest move that would definitely put Ethan and Joel on the spotlight once and for all.

The comedy of errors Fargo (1996) was a huge critical and commercial success. With its crazed story of a man who hires two loonies to kidnap his own wife and a pregnant policewoman tracking the leads to the crime, Ethan and Joel came at their greatest moment that couldn't be missed. The film received several awards during award season and the Coen's got their first Oscar in the Best Original Screenplay category. What came next was the underrated yet hilariously good The Big Lebowski (1998) starring Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, John Turturro and Steve Buscemi. Those masterpieces made their career in the late 1990's cementing the duo as one of the greatest writers and directors of their generation, if not, from all time.

The Odyssey retold for the 1930's in O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000); the intelligent noir The Man Who Wasn't There (2001); the comedy Intolerable Cruelty (2003) and a remake The Ladykillers (2004) marked their way into the early 2000's. Certaintly of period of minor hits and some downer moments.

The big return was with the highly acclaimed No Country for Old Men (2007), where the brothers swooped at the Oscars with three wins: Best Picture, Screenplay and Writing, an adaptation from the Cormac McCarthy's novel.

A Serious Man (2009), Burn After Reading (2008), True Grit (2010), Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), Hail, Caesar! (2016) and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018) were the subsequent films, all well received by audiences or got awards recognition, mostly nominations.

A shift from tone and career move was writing with other writers and for another directors: for Angelina Jolie's Unbroken (2014), for Spielberg in Bridge of Spies (2015) and George Clooney in Suburbicon (2017).

As for personal life, Ethan has been married to Tricia Cooke since 1990. Tricia works as an assistant editor in several of the Coen brothers films.

Sofia Vassilieva was born on 22 October 1992 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. She is an actress, known for The Little Things (2021), Looking for Alaska (2019) and My Sister's Keeper (2009).

Originally from Bloomington, Minnesota, Kelly attended school in Richfield, Minnesota at the Academy of Holy Angels. She is the daughter of a hair dresser mother and a late father who was a high school basketball coach. Kelly went on to start acting in theater before making the step into screen performances. She first appeared in 3000 Miles to Graceland (2001) in a minor role. She got her first notable television role on the series Nip/Tuck (2003) and gained quick popularity for her character eventually becoming a regular cast member. Her feature film roles include supporting cast work in the direct-to-video sequel Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation (2004) and the WWE-produced action film The Marine (2006) as the kidnapped wife of wrestling star John Cena. Kelly has established an obvious and noticeable collection of work in television across several series including Everwood (2002), Monk (2002), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000), Melrose Place (2009), CSI: Miami (2002), Castle (2009), Supernatural (2005) and Ghostfacers (2008). Outside of acting, Kelly is a member of the Smile Network, a humanitarian organization based in her home state that provides reconstructive surgeries and related health care services to impoverished children and young adults in developing countries. In 2010, in keeping with her love of horses, Kelly lobbied for a bill to prevent the inhumane transport of American horses to slaughterhouses in Mexico and Canada as well as roundups of wild horses by government authorities. Kelly also has been a model, working in company ad projects with Miller Lite, Rembrandt, and Oliver Peoples sunglasses. She has appeared in magazine publications including the August 2004 issue of Maxim and the October issue cover of Stuff.

Tim Bagley was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and grew up in Madison and Trempealeau (Wisconsin) and in Niles, Michigan, with his parents, Carol and Elwyn, and four siblings (Anne, Patrick, Kit and Dan). After high school Tim moved to southern California to perform with the singing group "The Young Americans," while majoring in Art with a minor in Psychology at California State University Fullerton.

After college came a string of picaresque odd jobs: butler at the Playboy Mansion, a Mitzi Gaynor dancer, a Page at Paramount Studios, and a reader at a court reporting college. He began taking acting classes with Gordon Hunt, Nina Foch, Howard Fine and The Groundlings, for whom he wrote and performed from 1989-95.

Fern Champion and Mark Paladini cast him in his first feature film role as Irv, the mechanic, in The Mask (1994). His first series regular role was on Howie Mandel's Sunny Skies (1995), for Showtime. He went on to become one of the foremost character actors in films, television, and theatre.

Alice Wetterlund was born on 16 May 1981 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. She is an actress and writer, known for Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016), Resident Alien (2021) and Close to You (2011). She was previously married to Andy Haynes.

James Hong was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. He studied civil engineering at the University of Minnesota, but at some point along the way became interested in acting. He graduated from the University of Southern California and practiced for 1½ years as a road engineer with the County of Los Angeles. He took sick leaves and vacation time to do films. He finally quit engineering to focus on acting full time.

He is one of the founders of the East-West Players, the oldest Asian American theater in Los Angeles. He served as president and charter member of the Association of Asian Pacific American Artists.

Hong is one of the most prolific and well-recognized Asian-American character actors of movies and television. He currently lives in Los Angeles and is planning to produce and direct his own films.

T.R. Knight was a member of the acting company of Minneapolis' Guthrie Theater. Roles there included Richard Miller in Eugene O'Neill's "Ah, Wilderness!" and Amadeus in Peter Shaffer's "Amadeus".

On the New York stage, he portrayed Tim Allgood in "Noises Off", Damis in "Tartuffe", Joe in "This Lime Tree Bower" and Brendan Hilliard in "Anto Scattergood".

He received a Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in "Scattergood".

His first role was as a five year old when he played Tiny Tim in the Guthrie Theater's annual production of A Christmas Carol.

Mo was born Maureen Anne Collins and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she started her improv and sketch career with Dudley Riggs BNW in Minneapolis. In 1998 she moved to Los Angeles, where she landed "MadTV", giving birth to many unforgettable characters, such as Lorraine, Stuart's Mother, and Trina. She has since built up her credits with hit shows such as "Arrested Development", "Curb Your Enthusiasm", and "Parks and Recreation" as scandal-wrangler Joan Callamezzo; and in "40-Year-Old Virgin" as Gyna, and seasons 4-7 of "Fear the Walking Dead" as Sarah Rabinowitz. She is a woman of many voice in animation, notably on Netflix's "F is For Family," for which she earned her first Emmy nomination in 2017. Mo is married to actor Alex Skuby and has one son. She enjoys doing stand-up/improvisation and is an avid animal advocate.

Breckin Meyer was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Dorothy, a travel agent, and Christopher Meyer, a management consultant. He was raised in Los Angeles, went to grade school with Drew Barrymore, and attended Beverly Hills High School with Joshua John Miller and Branden Williams. It was Barrymore who introduced Breckin to her agent, after which he started doing commercials and the game show Child's Play (1982).

After being accepted to California State University at Northridge, Breckin decided to put school on hold and pursue acting. He has always wanted to be a kindergarten teacher and may still do that in the future. Breckin was the drummer in the Streetwalking Cheetahs with his brother, Frank, which recorded a demo in 1995. He was the lead vocal on two songs, "Carnival" and "Dave". During 1995-1996, the band played about 10 gigs around Los Angeles. The Streetwalking Cheetahs' second album, "Overdrive" and their new album, "Live on KXLU", feature songs written when Breckin was still in the band. These songs include "None of Your Business", "All I Want", "Peppermint", "Thought that Crosses My Mind" and "Turn Me Down". After the Streetwalking Cheetahs, he started his own band, Bellyroom, with Seth Green and Alexander Martin, Dean Martin's grandson. They played a few gigs around Los Angeles in 1996.

Breckin's friends include Ryan Phillippe, Josh Holland (USA High (1997)) and Seth Green. His best friend is Ryan Phillippe, with whom he starred in 54 (1998). Breckin was married to Deborah Kaplan, who wrote and directed Can't Hardly Wait (1998), in which Breckin had a cameo.

Breckin's hobbies include playing drums, video games and sometimes sports. He's a big fan of Sean Penn, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Richard Dreyfuss.

From his breakout role in "The Boy Who Could Fly to 'Sonny Bono' in "The Sonny and Cher Story" to appearances at the Sundance Film Festival, Jay Underwood has enjoyed a career of much diversity both in the parts he's played and the mediums he's played in.

Underwood began his theatrical pursuits while growing up in the San Francisco Bay area and then went to a performing arts high school in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was there that Underwood received his "big break" into the movie business when he was chosen from a national casting search to play opposite Annabeth Gish, and Jon Voight in executive producer Robert Redford's "Desert Bloom." From there he moved to 'tinseltown' where, for over 20 years, he made his living as a working actor.

Underwood's film credits include three Sundance Film Festival participants "Dancing in September", "Valerie Flake", and "Possums." Other highlights are Billy Graham's "Road to Redemption", Alan Rudolph's "Afterglow", the Roger Corman cult classic "The Fantastic Four" (as Johnny Storm, The Human Torch), 'Bug' in "Uncle Buck," with John Candy, and Underwood's personal favorite, the title character in "The Boy Who Could Fly."

On the small screen Underwood had the incredible opportunity of portraying 'Sonny Bono' in "The Sonny and Cher Story" for ABC. He also is remembered for that lovable android 'Chip' in the Disney Channel trilogy "Not Quite Human". Other favorites would include young 'Ernest Hemingway' in "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles," the mini-series "Blind Faith" with Robert Urich and "Wyatt Earp: Return to Tombstone" with the original marshal himself, Hugh O'Brien. Notable guest appearances include "Miracles", "X-Files," "E.R.," "The West Wing," "Star Trek Voyager" and "Millennium." And finally, (but certainly not least), the voice of 'Chester' the Goat in the classic animated Christmas special "The Legend of the Candy Cane."

His theater highlights include studying and performing at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco as well as the Minneapolis Children's Theater Company. In Los Angeles he was seen in "Grand Junction" and "Fortune in Men's Eyes" both at the Coast Playhouse and had a devilish good time playing 'Geoffrey' in the Pasadena Playhouse production of "The Lion in Winter."

More recently, Underwood felt God's call on his life to pursue full time Christian ministry. After starting seminary in 2003, he became a youth pastor and then after graduation in 2007, a full time pastor in a small northern California mountain town. He now lives in "God's country" with his wife, six children and a menagerie of pets. Says Underwood, "I imagine someday standing before the Lord and if He were to ask me what I did with the life that He gave me, I don't want to merely list off my acting credits which are things that really don't have a lot of eternal value, but I want to hear those words from Jesus, "Well done good and faithful servant" because I used the gifts that He gave me to serve Him." That being said, Underwood was convinced to come out of "retirement" to participate in the Christian movie "No Greater Love," produced by Coram Deo Studios, of which he is particularly proud to be a part of. To God be the glory!

Barrett Doss was born on 20 March 1989 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. She is an actress, known for The Noel Diary (2022), Iron Fist (2017) and Marshall (2017).

The original MacGyver (1985) and Stargate SG-1 (1997) star was born on January 23, 1950, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His father, Stuart Anderson, was a teacher at a local high school and his mother, Jocelyn, was an artist who was talented in both sculpting and painting. He and his three younger brothers (Jeffrey, Thomas, and James) grew up in Roseville, a suburb of Minneapolis. He developed a love for sports, music (especially jazz) and acting.

As a teenager, Anderson dreamed of becoming a professional hockey player as a teenager. But, at age sixteen, he broke both of his arms in separate incidents, the second of which was so bad that he had to be hospitalized for three months, putting paid to the dream of becoming a hockey player. He went hitchhiking on the open road via a 5,641-mile bicycle trip from Minnesota to Alaska. Although accompanied by several friends at the beginning of this trip, he traveled the last thirty-three days alone. This experience gave him a more centered sense of direction in his life.

After studying drama at St. Cloud State University and at Ohio University (without completing his degree), he briefly moved to New York before settling in Los Angeles, where he worked as a juggler and a street mime and in a Renaissance-style cabaret. He worked briefly in Marineland, where his jobs included holding fish in his mouth for killer whales to leap up and snatch. Subsequently, he appeared in plays and formed a rock band called "Rick Dean and the Dante" with his friend Carl Dante in which he sang and played the guitar.

His big break came in 1976, when he was cast in the popular daytime drama General Hospital (1963) as Dr. Jeff Webber. He continued to play the role for five years until he felt it was time to move on to prime-time drama. He made numerous guest appearances in series such as The Facts of Life (1979) and The Love Boat (1977) and was cast as the star in two CBS series, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1982) and Emerald Point N.A.S. (1983), but both lasted just one season.

His next big success came in 1985, when he won the role as the title character in the ABC adventure series MacGyver (1985). He was cast because the producers were impressed by the lack of pretension he showed at his audition. As he is nearsighted, it was necessary for him to wear his glasses for the reading. The series lasted seven seasons and ran for 139 episodes. It was hugely successful throughout its run and has continued to be popular all over the world. He reprised his role in two TV movies, MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis (1994) and MacGyver: Trail to Doomsday (1994), both produced by his own production company, Gekko Film Corp, which he co-founded with Michael Greenburg.

Having made a huge impression in Ordinary Heroes (1986) as a blind Vietnam veteran struggling to rebuild his life in the United States. After "MacGyver" ended he moved on to such made-for-television movies as In the Eyes of a Stranger (1992), Through the Eyes of a Killer (1992), Beyond Betrayal (1994), Past the Bleachers (1995) and Pandora's Clock (1996). He returned to series television in 1995, when he was cast as Ernest Pratt/Nicodemus Legend in Legend (1995), an adventure series that aired on UPN. He served as executive producer of the series, in which one of his co-stars was his close friend John de Lancie. His character was a dime novelist (Pratt) who took on the persona of the protagonist in his novels (Legend). The series was primarily a comedy, a blend of the western and science fiction.

He found major success again when cast as Colonel (later Brigadier General) Jack O'Neill in Stargate SG-1 (1997), an adventure/science fiction series based on the blockbuster Stargate (1994) starring Kurt Russell and James Spader. The series began filming in Vancouver on February 19, 1997, and premiered on Showtime on July 27, 1997 and on Fox Friday nights. The series has remained extremely successful since then, eventually resulting in the creation of a spin-off series, Stargate: Atlantis (2004), in 2004, and the now-canceled video game "Stargate SG-1: The Alliance" in 2005. Both series aired on the Sci-Fi Channel. He appeared, sporadically, in the latest spin-off series, Stargate Universe (2009). His role in the SG-1 series was substantially reduced in its seventh and eighth seasons, which culminated in his departure from the series in 2005.

Never married, he had dated many women including such actresses as Teri Hatcher, Lara Flynn Boyle, and Sela Ward as well as German ice-skater Katarina Witt. Since 1996, his partner has been Apryl A. Prose, mother of his only child, Wylie Quinn Annarose Anderson (born August 2, 1998).

It isn't hard to make James Le Gros bust a gut laughing. Just call him Brad Pitt. Okay, so he doesn't get $6 million a film or have his photo air-kissed by legions of swooning schoolgirls during recess. But if you've caught Le Gros' quirky personality, you may wonder why he's still toiling away. But this Minnesota native, despite being tight-lipped on Pitt, Le Gros will happily chitchat about his career. Le Gros says he isn't very "LA", although he did live there for a short while.

American leading man famed as the star of one of the longest-running shows in U.S. television history, Gunsmoke (1955). Born of Norwegian heritage (the family name, Aurness, had formerly been Aursness) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Rolf and Ruth Duesler Aurness. His father was a traveling salesman of medical supplies and his mother later became a newspaper columnist. James attended West High School in Minneapolis. Although he appeared in school plays, he had no interest in performing, and dreamed instead of going to sea. After high school, he attended one semester at Beloit College before receiving his draft notice in 1943. He entered the army and trained at Camp Wheeler, Georgia, before shipping out for North Africa. At Casablanca, Arness joined the 3rd Infantry Division in time for the invasion of Anzio. Ten days after the invasion, Arness was severely wounded in the leg and foot by German machine-gun fire. His wounds, which plagued him the rest of his life, resulted in his medical discharge from the army.

While recuperating in a hospital in Clinton, Iowa, Arness was visited by his younger brother Peter (later to gain fame as actor Peter Graves), who suggested he take a radio course at the University of Minnesota. James did so, and a teacher recommended him for a job as an announcer at a Minneapolis radio station. Though seemingly headed for success in radio, he followed a boyhood friend's suggestion and went with the friend to Hollywood to find work as a film extra. Arness studied at the Bliss-Hayden Theatre School under actor Harry Hayden, and while appearing in a play there was spotted by agent Leon Lance. Lance got the actor a role as Loretta Young's brother in The Farmer's Daughter (1947). The director of that film, H.C. Potter, recommended that he drop the "u" from his last name and soon thereafter the actor was officially known as James Arness.

Little work followed this break, and Arness became sort of beach bum, living on the shore at San Onofre and spending his days surfing. He began taking his acting career more seriously when he began to receive fan mail following the release of the Young picture. He appeared in a production of "Candida" at the Pasadena Community Playhouse, and married his leading lady, Virginia Chapman. She pressed him to study acting and to work harder in pursuit of a career, but Arness has been consistent in ascribing his success to luck. He began to act small roles with frequency, often due to his size, and mostly villainous characters. Most notable among these was that of the space alien in The Thing from Another World (1951).

While playing a Greek warrior in a play, Arness was spotted by agent Charles K. Feldman, who represented John Wayne. Feldman introduced Arness to Wayne, who put the self-described 6', 6" actor under personal contract. Arness played several roles over the next few years for and with Wayne, whom he considered a mentor. In 1955, Wayne recommended Arness for the lead role of Matt Dillon in the TV series Gunsmoke (1955). (Contrary to urban legend, Wayne himself was never offered the role.) Arness at first declined, thinking a TV series could derail his growing film career, but Wayne argued for the show, and Arness accepted. His portrayal of stalwart Marshal Dillon became an iconic figure in American television and the series, aired for 20 seasons, is, as of 2008, the longest-running dramatic series in U.S. television history. Arness became world-famous and years later reprized the character in a series of TV movies.

After the surprising cancellation of "Gunsmoke" in 1975, Arness jumped immediately into another successful (though much shorter-lived) Western project, a TV-movie-miniseries-series combination known as "How The West Was Won." A brief modern police drama, McClain's Law (1981), followed, and Arness played his mentor John Wayne's role in Red River (1988), a remake of the Wayne classic.

Following the aforementioned "Gunsmoke" TV movies (the last in 1994, when Arness was 71), Arness basically retired. His marriage to Virginia Chapman ended in divorce in 1960. They had three children, one of whom, Jenny Lee, committed suicide in 1975. Arness subsequently married Janet Surtrees in 1978.

Lew Ayres was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and raised in San Diego, California. A college dropout, he was found by a talent scout in the Coconut Grove nightclub in Los Angeles and entered Hollywood as a bit player. He was leading man to Greta Garbo in The Kiss (1929), but it was the role of Paul Baumer in All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) that was his big break. He was profoundly affected by the anti-war message of that film, and when, in 1942, the popular star of Young Dr. Kildare (1938) and subsequent Dr. Kildare films was drafted, he was a conscientious objector. America was outraged, and theaters vowed never to show his films again, but quietly he achieved the Medical Corps status he had requested, serving as a medic under fire in the South Pacific and as a chaplain's aid in New Guinea and the Phillipines. His return to film after the war was undistinguished until Johnny Belinda (1948) - his role as the sympathetic physician treating the deaf-mute Jane Wyman won him an Academy Award nomination as Best Actor. Subsequent movie roles were scarce; an opportunity to play Dr. Kildare in television was aborted when the network refused to honor his request for no cigarette sponsorship. He continued to act, but in the 1970s put his long experience into a project to bring to the west the philosophy of the East - the resulting film, Altars of the World (1976), while not a box-office success, won critical acclaim and a Golden Globe Award. Lew Ayres died in Los Angeles, California on December 30, 1996, just two days after his 88th birthday.