Born February 15, 1998 in California, Zachary Adam Gordon is an American film and television actor best known for playinh Greg Heffley in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid films, which are based on Jeff Kinney’s #1 New York Times best seller Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Gordon is the son of Linda and Ken Gordon.  He has two siblings, Josh and Kyle, and was raised in Southern California.  He is Jewish, from a practicing family, and attends a public middle school in Oak Park, California.  Gordon’s résumé includes many television appearances, such as All of Us, and How I Met Your Mother.  He has also appeared in the 2008 opening of Desperate Housewives, and 24, which aired in January 2009.

His film credits (2007–2008) include Sex and Death 101, Lower Learning, the Garry Marshall film Georgia Rule (for which he won the “Young Artist Award” for his portrayal of Ethan), The Brothers Bloom, as Young Bloom, and alongside Nicolas Cage in National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007).  Gordon has been credited with numerous voice-over roles including “Brad Spolyt” in The Chubbchubbs Save Xmas, “Ricky Garcia” in Project Gilroy, “San San” in Nick Jr.’s Ni Hao, Kai-Lan and The Mighty B!  He is a series regular as the voice of Gil, one of the lead roles in the Nickelodeon series, Bubble Guppies.  Gordon has voice acted as Baby Melman in the animated film, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Kotaro in Afro Sumurai: Resurrection, and Young Tony Stark in The Super Hero Squad Show. In 2010, he played Greg Heffley in the film Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and in 2011 appeared as Papi Jr. in Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2.

In June 2010, 20th Century Fox announced a sequel to Diary of a Wimpy Kid; Gordon returned as Greg Heffley and the film, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, was released on March 25, 2011.  He starred, alongside Robert Capron, Steve Zahn, Rachael Harris, Devon Bostick, Connor and Owen Fielding, Peyton List, Laine MacNeil, Karan Brar, Andrew McNee, and Grayson Russell.  In 2011 he did voice acting as Charlie Brown on the comedy show Robot chicken.

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Born Winona Laura Horowitz on October 29, 1971 in Winona, Michigan, Winona Ryder is an American actress.  She made her debut in the drama Lucas (1986).  In many of her early films, she played quirky roles: the eccentric Lydia in 1988′s horror comedy Beetlejuice and a teenager who falls for the title character in Edward Scissorhands.  In 2001, she started making headlines for her trouble with the law, but she has since returned to acting in such films as A Scanner Darkly and The Darwin Awards.

Winona is the daughter of Cynthia Palmer, an author, as well as video producer and editor, and Michael Horowitz, an author, editor, publisher, and antiquarian bookseller.  Her parents named her after the town in which she was born, Winona, Minnesota.  Ryder is Jewish on her father’s side, and has described herself as Jewish.   Her paternal grandparents were immigrants from Russia and Romania; her father’s family was originally named “Tomchin”, but was wrongly assigned the surname “Horowitz” by U.S. immigration officials at Ellis Island.  Ryder’s mother is a Buddhist and her father is an atheist.  Ryder has one full sibling, a younger brother, Uri (named in honor of the first Soviet cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin), an older half-brother, Jubal, and an older half-sister, Sunyata.  Ryder’s family friends included her godfather, LSD guru Timothy Leary, as well as the Beat Movement poets Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and the science fiction novelist Philip K. Dick.

She attended Kenilworth Junior High but was bullied during her first week by a group of her peers who mistook her for an effeminate, scrawny boy.  As a result, she was homeschooled that year.  In 1983, when Ryder was 12, she enrolled at the American Conservatory Theater in nearby San Francisco, where she took her first acting lessons.  Ryder graduated from Petaluma High School with a 4.0 GPA in 1989.

She made her film debut in the coming-of-age drama Lucas (1986).  In many of her early films, she played a variety of roles.  She was the eccentric, gothic Lydia in 1988′s horror comedy Beetlejuice directed by Tim Burton.  Ryder soon appeared as teenager who falls for the unusual title character in Edward Scissorhands (1990) with then-boyfriend Johnny Depp.  In the dark comedy Heathers (1989), she played a high school girl battling for her place in the popularity food chain.  Ryder graduated to more grown-up roles with Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992).  Her work on The Age of Innocence (1993) earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.  Two years later, she received another nod from the academy with a Best Actress nomination for her role as Jo in Little Women (1995).  While she gave a strong performance in Girl, Interrupted (1999) as a young woman in a mental institution, Ryder made several forgettable films around this time, including the box office dud Autumn in New York (2000).

Ryder appeared in a leading role in the Ron Howard-directed film, The Dilemma, previously called Cheaters and What You Don’t Know.  The film, which also starred Vince Vaughn and Kevin James, began filming in Chicago in May 2010 and was released in January 2011.  It was recently announced that she will be reunited with Tim Burton for a role in his upcoming animated 3D feature film Frankenweenie.  It is scheduled for a March 9, 2012 release date.

Ryder was engaged to actor Johnny Depp for three years beginning in July 1990.  She met Depp at the Great Balls of Fire! premiere in June 1989; two months later they began dating.  During their relationship, Depp had a tattoo placed on his arm reading “Winona Forever”, which he had altered to “Wino Forever” after their separation.

Winona Ryder Photo Gallery

Born Willow Camille Reign Smith on October 31, 2000 in Los Angeles, California, Willow Smith is an American child actress and singer.  She is the daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, and the younger sister of Jaden Smith.  She also has an older half-brother, Trey Smith.  Smith made her acting debut in 2007 in the film I Am Legend and later appeared in Kit Kittredge: An American Girl alongside Abigail Breslin.  She received a Young Artist Award for her performance.

Smith is African-American on her father’s side, and of West Indian, Creole, and Portuguese-Jewish ancestry on her mother’s side.  Smith and her brothers are youth ambassadors for Project Zambia, which provides assistance for Zambian children orphaned by AIDS in conjunction with Hasbro.  In their role as ambassadors for the project, they help raise awareness for children orphaned by the global AIDS epidemic by participating in fundraising and outreach campaigns.

Willow Smith made her acting debut in the blockbuster film I Am Legend at the tender age of seven.  Even though dad Will Smith was the star of the film, she was made to audition like anyone else.  Her budding sense of professionalism and drive shone through on the set of I Am Legend.  Smith’s second foray into the film business came in 2008 when she played the supporting role of Countee in the family-friendly Kitt Kittredge: An American Girl.  The G-rated movie was produced in part by Julia Roberts and based on the Kitt Kittredge stories by Valerie Tripp.  Set in the United States during the Great Depression, the story follows a young girl (played by Abigail Breslin) who sets out to be an investigative reporter and ends up becoming a local hero.  Smith, along with the rest of the cast, won a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film.  In 2008-09, Smith also tried her hand at voice acting in a pair of animated films, playing Baby Gloria in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa and Abby in Merry Madagascar.

In the fall of 2010, Smith leapt into the pop music scene with her hip-hop single “Whip My Hair,” which went platinum in the US and peaked at number 11.  Smith soon announced her next single, “21st Century Girl.”  Smith officially joined the Roc Nation family in September 2010, signed by hip-hop legend Jay-Z, who first heard the smash single without knowing her age or her parentage.  On October 6, 2011, “Fireball,” a collaboration between Smith and rapper Nicki MInaj, was released.  Smith’s producer announced that they are almost finished working on her debut album, Willow, and it should be done soon.  He also said it has a similar style to “Whip My Hair”.  He confirmed that the next single would be “Rock Star”.

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Born Thomas Richard McMillen on June 17, 1960 in Yolo, California, Thomas Haden Church is an American actor.  After co-starring in the 1990s sitcom Wings, Church became well known for his film roles, including his Academy Award-nominated performance in Sideways and his role as the Sandman in Spider-Man 3.

Church, the fourth of six children, was born to an Army officer/health care worker father and a telephone company sales rep mother.  He was raised under his stepfather’s surname, “Quesada”, and later changed his surname to “Haden Church” (both names are in his family tree).  He was raised in Laredo, Texas, and graduated from Harlingen High School, Harlingen, Texas, in 1979, going on to attend the University of North Texas where he earned a degree in Radio, Film and Television.

The first job Church landed after college was as a deejay for KBFM, a local radio station in Brownsville, TX.  Hoping to segue into acting, Church signed with a commercial agent who got him voice-over work. After hawking such products as Icehouse Beer and Merrill Lynch Securities for a couple of years, Church moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting full time.  During the mid-to-late 1980s, Church worked sporadically as a guest star on such popular series as “21 Jump Street” (Fox, 1987-1991), “Booker” (Fox, 1989-1990), “Cheers” (1982-1993) and “China Beach” (ABC, 1988-1991), but the actor’s life forever changed when he won an audition for a new NBC pilot called “Wings.”  Reportedly reduced to tears by Church’s unexpectedly bone-dry, baritone delivery, producers promptly hired Church as their resident handyman- mechanic, Lowell.

He worked in television for two more seasons with a lead role on Ned and Stacey opposite Debra Messing. He has had supporting roles in films such as Tombstone, George of the Jungle, and The Specials. Church often plays villains or comic relief in films, most evident by turns in Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight and Over the Hedge.  After having small roles in films such as Monkeybone and 3000 Miles to Graceland, he made his directorial debut with Rolling Kansas in 2003.  Church later took a break from films and relocated back to his native Texas.

However, he did go on the occasional casting call.  He nearly landed the lead in Alexander Payne’s drama About Schmidt (the role went to Jack Nicholson), but Payne was so impressed with Church that he cast him as an aging, commitment-phobic playboy in the critically acclaimed indie Sideways.  Church’s seriocomic turn earned him Oscar and Golden Globe nods and an Independent Spirit Award, and completely revitalized his career.

He has since appeared in films such as Idiocracy, done voice-over work on films such as Over the Hedge and starred in one of AMC’s highest rated television productions, Broken Trail, with Robert Duvall, in 2006, for which he won an Emmy. In 2007, he appeared as the villain Sandman in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 starring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst.

Church resides on his large ranch in Bandera County, Texas, which he bought in 1998.

Thomas Haden Church Photo Gallery

Born December 11, 1947 in Lakewood, Ohio, Terry Ann “Teri” Garr is an American film and television actress best known for her 1980s film roles, most notably as the neurotic girlfriend in Tootsie (earning an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress).  In 2002, she publicly announced she was battling multiple sclerosis.  She is a leading advocate for the condition.

Teri Garr is the daughter Eddie Garr (born Edward Leo Gonnoud), who was a vaudeville performer, comedian and actor whose career peaked when he briefly took over the lead role in the Broadway drama Tobacco Road, and Phyllis Lind, a dancer, Rockette, wardrobe mistress, and model.  Her father was of Irish descent and her maternal grandparents were Austrian immigrants.  At the age of 16, she made her professional debut with the San Francisco Ballet.  Garr attended North Hollywood High School followed by California State University at Northridge, where she excelled at stage acting and dancing.  While still a teenager, Garr relocated to New York City and enrolled at the famed Actors’ Studio.

Early in her career, she was credited, variously, as Terri Garr, Terry Garr, Teri Hope, or Terry Carr.  Garr’s movie debut was as an extra in 1963′s A Swingin’ Affair.  At the end of her senior year, Garr auditioned for the cast of the Los Angeles Road Company production of West Side Story, where she met one of the most important people in her early career David Winters, who became her friend, her dance teacher and her mentor and who cast her in many of his early movies and projects.  In the early1960s, Garr worked steadily as a dancer in a series of Elvis Presley films, most notably Fun in Acapulco (1963), Kissin?? Cousins, and Viva Las Vegas (both 1964).

Her first speaking role in a motion picture was a one-line appearance as a damsel in distress in the 1968 Monkees film Head written by Jack Nicholson.  In 1974, she got her first significant motion-picture role in Francis Ford Coppola’s critically acclaimed film The Conversation.  Her career breakthrough came in Mel Brooks comedy Young Frankenstein (1974) as Inga.  She went on to appear in a string of highly successful films, often playing a housewife.  Her most popular films include Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Oh, God! (1977), The Black Stallion (1979), One From The Heart (1982), Mr. Mom (1983) and After Hours (1985).  In 1982, she was nominated for an Academy Award for her supporting role as Dustin Hoffman’s actress friend in Tootsie.

Throughout the early 1970s, Garr showcased her flair for comedy with regular performances on the television variety shows The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, The Ken Berry “Wow” Show, and The Burns and Schreiber Comedy Hour.  Her first substantial film role came in 1974 when director Francis Ford Coppola cast her opposite Gene Hackman in the critically acclaimed psychological thriller The Conversation.  In her role as the voluptuous Inga, Garr joined a brilliant comedic ensemble that included Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, and Madeline Kahn in Mel Brook’s hilarious farce Young Frankenstein (1974), which is widely considered to be one of the funniest films of all time.

In the early 1990s, Garr starred in the failed TV sitcoms Good and Evil (1991), Good Advice (1993), and Women of the House (1995).  In the ensuing years many of her dramatic performances proved to be disappointing, however, she continued to excel in comedic roles, most notably in the low-brow Jim Carrey vehicle Dumb and Dumber (1994) and the political satire Dick (1999).  Recently, Garr had a brief stint playing Lisa Kudrow’s mother on the wildly popular NBC sitcom Friends.  She also filmed the romantic comedy Life Without Dick (2001), which costars Harry Connick Jr. and Sarah Jessica Parker.

In 1993, Garr married John O’Neil; they had one child before divorcing in 1996.

Teri Garr Photo Gallery

Born July 22, 1938 in Stepney, London, Terence Henry Stamp is an English actor who has appeared in over 60 films.  His title role as Billy Budd in his film debut earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor and a BAFTA nomination for Best Newcomer.  He is also an accomplished writer and author.

Stamp is the eldest among the five children of Ethel Esther and Thomas Stamp, who was a tugboat captain.  His early years were spent in Canal Road, Bow, in the East End of London, but later in his childhood the family moved to Plaistow, West Ham, London (now Greater London).  His brother, Chris, is a rock n’ roll impresario credited with helping to bring The Who to prominence during the 1960s.  As his father was away for long periods with his job in the Merchant Navy, the young Stamp was mostly raised by his mother, grandmother and aunts.  On leaving school, Stamp worked in a variety of advertising agencies in London, working his way up to a very respectable wage.  In the mid-1950s, he also worked for a time as an assistant to professional golfer Reg Knight at Wanstead Golf Club in East London. He describes this period of his life very positively in his autobiography (Stamp, 1987).  Deep down he wanted to be an actor, a realization that came when Stamp found he no longer had to serve two years National Service after being rejected for once having had treatment for his feet.

Stamp won a scholarship to train at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, then performed in various provincial repertory theatres, most notably in a national tour of Willis Hall’s play The Long the Short and the Tall alongside another young actor Michael Caine.  He made his film debut in Peter Ustinov’s film version of Herman Melville’s Billy Budd in 1962.  His portrayal of the title character brought him not only an Academy Award nomination, but also international recognition.  He then acted with Laurence Olivier in Term of Trial in 1962.

He then teamed up with some of the cinema’s most venerated filmmakers. He acted in William Wyler’s version of John Fowles’ The Collector in 1965, with Samantha Eggar, and in Modesty Blaise in 1966, for director Joseph Losey and producer Joe Janni.  He later joined up with producer Janni for two more projects: John Schlesinger’s version of Thomas Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd in 1967 starring Julie Christie, and Ken Loach’s first feature film Poor Cow 1967.  He later traveled to Italy to star in Federico Fellini’s Toby Dammit, a 50-minute portion of the Edgar Allan Poe film version Histoires extraordinaires in 1968, aka Spirits of the Dead.

His subsequent film credits included The Mind of Mr. Soames (1970), Meetings with Remarkable Men (1979), and The Hit (1984).  Also in 1984, he had the opportunity to play the Devil in a cameo in The Company of Wolves.  He also appeared in Link (1986), Legal Eagles (1986), The Sicilian (1987), and Wall Street (1987).  His 1992 film, Beltenebros (aka Prince of Shadows), was awarded the Silver Bear at the 42nd Berlin International Film Festival.  Stamp began his fourth decade as an actor wearing some of the choicest of Tim Chappel’s Academy Award-winning costumes for the comedy The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) which co-starred Guy Pearce and Hugo Weaving.

Stamp portrayed the Kryptonian supervillain General Zod in Richard Donner’s Superman (1978), in which he appeared in a scene with Marlon Brando.  Stamp went on to reprise his role as General Zod in the sequel, Superman II (1980), directed by Richard Lester.  In 2003, Stamp returned to the Superman franchise in a new role, by portraying the voice of Clark Kent’s biological father Jor-El in the WB/CW television series Smallville.  He also provided the scream of Zod (being exorcised from the body of Lex Luthor) in the sixth season premiere episode “Zod”.  In 2006, he appeared as Zod once again in Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (a re-tooled version of the 1980 film which predominantly features footage shot by Donner, the film’s original director).

In recent years, Stamp has appeared in the films Ma femme est une actrice (aka My Wife Is An Actress, 2001), My Boss’s Daughter (2003), Disney’s The Haunted Mansion (2003), and the superhero fantasy Elektra (2005). In 2008, he appeared in the film remake of the spy comedy Get Smart, and with Tom Cruise in Valkyrie, based on the true story of Col. Claus von Stauffenberg’s failed attempt to assassinate Hitler.

An icon of the 1960s, he dated the likes of Julie Christie, Brigitte Bardot, and Jean Shrimpton.  On New Year’s Eve 2002, at the age of 64, Stamp married for the first time.  His 29-year-old bride was Elizabeth O’Rourke, whom Stamp first met in the mid-1990s at a pharmacy in Bondi, New South Wales.  The couple divorced on the grounds of his “unreasonable behaviour” in April 2008.

Terence Stamp Photo Gallery

Born November 5, 1958 in Marietta, Georgia, Robert Hammond Patrick Jr. is an American actor, known for his leading and supporting roles in a number of films and television shows.

The eldest of five children, Robert was raised in Ohio.  He is the son of Nadine and Robert Patrick Sr., a banker.  His siblings are Richard (who is the lead singer for the rock band, Filter), Cheri, Karen, and Lewis.  He spent his early life in Bay Village, a small suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, while he moved around the country.  Patrick graduated from Farmington High School in Farmington, Michigan in 1977.  In 1979, he attended the Bowling Green State University in Ohio but dropped out after he took a drama course and became interested in acting.  He took a job as a house painter before moving to Los Angeles.  It took more than a few sacrifices — a then 26-year-old Patrick lived in his car and tended bar for his major source of income — but the young actor found himself playing small roles in various low-budget films, which he credited to his tough-looking exterior and motorcycle-riding abilities.

It would not be long before he landed a role as a beatnik in the play “Go”.  From there it was on to a string of no-budget Roger Corman-produced cheapies that allowed Patrick to earn his Screen Actors Guild card.  In “Warlords from Hell” (1987) he made his debut as a psychotic biker, following that with a turn as another madman in the “Mad Max” rip-off, “Equalizer 2000″ (1987), and Vietnam-era soldiers in “Eye of the Eagle” (1987) and “Behind Enemy Lines” (1988).  When action-helmer Renny Harlin put him in a small role as a terrorist in the sequel to the Bruce Willis blockbuster “Die Hard 2: Die Harder” (1990), it seemed Patrick was finally poised to get some recognition.

In 1990, he was cast in the role of T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.  James Cameron, the director of the film, said he chose Patrick for the role because of his physical appearance, which was needed for the role.  The mega-hit film broke Patrick into fame.  After Terminator, Patrick landed roles in various films such as Last Action Hero, Fire in the Sky (both 1993) and Striptease (1996).  Because of his fondness for martial arts, Patrick starred in two martial arts films titled Double Dragon and Hong Kong 97, both released in 1994. His performance in Fire in the Sky caught the attention of The X-Files creator, Chris Carter.  Patrick was cast as John Doggett in 2000, and to the surprise of many, his portrayal was met with much positive response from critics and fans alike.  Because of the success of The X-Files, Patrick made several appearances on many genre magazines, with TV Guide going so far as to label him one of the Ten Sexiest Men of Sci-Fi.

Patrick also appeared in several high-profile features, including the neo-western “All the Pretty Horses” (2000) as Matt Damon’s father, Robert Rodriguez’s family adventure “Spy Kids” (2001), and the mind-numbing “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” (2003).  Patrick also managed to land a meatier role as a firefighter in the film “Ladder 49″ (2003) opposite Joaquin Phoenix and John Travolta.  Patrick played Johnny Cash’s father, Ray Cash in the Academy Award-winning film Walk the Line and Elvis’s father, Vernon Presley in the Golden Globe and Emmy Award winning TV miniseries Elvis.

In October 2006, he starred in the WWE Films production The Marine as Rome, the villain of the story.  He also appeared in We Are Marshall as Marshall University head coach Rick Tolley, who lost his life when Southern Airways Flight 932 crashed 4,219 feet short of Huntington Tri-State Airport’s runway in 1970.  His credits also include a guest-starring role in a single episode of Lost, as well as a recurring role as the voice of Master Piandao in the third season of the Nickelodeon animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender.

It was a busy year for Patrick when he next joined the top-notch ensemble cast of “Flags of Our Fathers” (2006), a World War II epic directed by Clint Eastwood, focusing on the three surviving U.S. servicemen who raised the American flag during the brutal battle for Iwo Jima. From there Patrick moved on to roles in the critically praised fantasy adventure “Bridge to Terabithia” (2007), and the not-so-critically praised ping-pong comedy, “Balls of Fury” (2007). He had an odd cameo in the truly bizarre George Clooney comedy “The Men Who Start at Goats” (2009), in addition to a part in yet another low-budget horror movie, “The Black Waters of Echo’s Pond” (2010). However, in 2010 he was once again given a recurring role on an acclaimed cable series, this time playing Bud Mayberry on the Mormon melodrama, “Big Love” (HBO, 2005- ).

Patrick married actress Barbara Patrick during the filming of Terminator 2: Judgment Day.  He has two children, a son, Samuel, and a daughter, Austin (named after the police officer the T-1000 impersonates in “Terminator 2).

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Born April 4, 1965 in Manhattan, New York, Robert Downey Jr. is an American actor who began acting as a young child.  He made his first film appearances and was a cast member on Saturday Night Live In the 1980s, but his growing success was marred by years of struggles with drug abuse.  Eventually turning his life around, he’s earned a resurgence of critical and popular acclaim and is considered one of Hollywood’s A-list actors.

Downey was the younger of two children of Robert Downey, Sr., an actor, writer, producer, cinematographer, and director of underground films, and Elsie Downey, who is also an actress and appeared in Downey Sr.’s films.  His father is of half Russian Jewish and half Irish ancestry, and his mother is of German and Scottish descent.  His father was born “Robert Elias” but changed his last name to “Downey” (after his stepfather James Downey) when he was a minor and wanted to enlist in the Army.  He and his older sister, Allyson, grew up in Greenwich Village.

As a child, Downey was “surrounded by drugs”.  His father, a drug addict, allowed Downey to use marijuana at age six, an incident that his father has said that he now regrets.  Downey stated that drug use became an emotional bond between him and his father.  Eventually, Downey began spending every night abusing alcohol and “making a thousand phone calls in pursuit of drugs.”  Downey’s parents divorced when he was 13, and the young actor ended up living in Los Angeles with his father.  At the age of 16, however, he dropped out of high school and was on the move again, relocating to New York to live with his mother.

During his childhood, Downey had minor roles in his father’s projects.  He made his acting debut at the age of five playing a sick puppy in the absurdist comedy Pound (1970), and then at age seven he appeared in the surrealist Greaser’s Palace (1972).  Downey made his earliest feature film appearances in such films as Baby, It’s You (1983), Firstborn (1984), Weird Science (1985), and Back to School (1986).  From 1985 to 1986, he was a regular cast member of the popular sketch-comedy program, Saturday Night Live.  Downey’s first leading role on the big screen was a charming womanizer in The Pick-up Artist (1987), a romantic comedy co-starring Molly Ringwald that was written and directed by James Toback.  His breakthrough performance came in 1987 with the film Less Than Zero (1987), which co-starred Andrew McCarthy.  Downey played the party loving, cocaine addicted Julian Wells in the movie.

From 1996 through 2001, Downey was arrested numerous times on drug-related charges including cocaine, heroin and marijuana and went several times through drug treatment programs unsuccessfully.  In 1999 He explained his relapses to a judge by claiming he have been addicted to drugs since the age of eight, due to the fact that his father, also an addict, had been giving them to him.

After five years of substance abuse, arrest, rehab, and relapse, Robert Downey, Jr. was finally ready to work toward a full recovery from drugs and a return to his career.  Downey got his first post-rehab acting job in August 2001, lip-syncing in the video for the Elton John’s single “I Want Love”.   Video director Sam Taylor-Wood shot 16 takes of the video and used the last one because, according to John, Downey looked completely relaxed, and, “The way he underplays it is fantastic.”  Downey was able to return to the big screen only after Mel Gibson, who had been a close friend to Downey since both had co-starred in Air America, paid Downey’s insurance bond for the 2003 film The Singing Detective.

Gibson’s gamble paved the way for Downey’s comeback and Downey returned to mainstream films in the mid 2000s with Gothika.  After Gothika, Downey was cast in a number of leading and supporting roles including well-received work in a number of semi-independent films:  A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, Good Night, and Good Luck, A Scanner Darkly, and Steven Shainberg’s fictional biopic of Diane Arbus, Fur, where Downey’s character represented the two biggest influences on Arbus’ professional life, Lisette Model and Marvin Israel.  Downey also received great notice for his roles in more mainstream fare such as Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Disney’s poorly received The Shaggy Dog, and David Fincher’s 2007 take on one of the most famous unsolved serial killing cases ever, Zodiac.

With all of the critical success Robert Downey, Jr., had experienced throughout his career, he had never appeared in a “blockbuster” film.  That changed in the summer of 2008 when Downey starred in two critically and commercially successful films, Iron Man and Tropic Thunder.  The first role Downey accepted after Iron Man was the title character in Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes. Warner Bros. released on December 25, 2009.  The film set several box office records in the United States for a Christmas Day release, beating the previous record holder, 2008′s Marley & Me, by nearly $10M, and finished second only to Avatar in a record-setting Christmas weekend release at the films.  In 2010, Robert Downey, Jr. signed on to reprise his role as Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (due for release Christmas 2011).  In addition, Downey has signed on to reprise his role as Tony Stark in The Avengers (to be released in 2012) and Iron Man 3 (to be released in 2013).

Aside from acting, Downey also ventured into showcasing his vocal skills.  He has sung on several soundtracks in his films such as Chaplin, Too Much Sun, Two Girls and a Guy, Friends and Lovers, The Singing Detective and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.  He released a CD in 2004 called The Futurist, and while promoting his film Tropic Thunder, he and his co-stars Ben Stiller and Jack Black were backup singers “The Pips” to Gladys Knight singing “Midnight Train to Georgia”.  On June 14, 2010, Robert Downey, Jr. and his wife Susan opened their own production company called Team Downey.  Their first project will be the Steve McQueen script, Yucatan, which is a heist film.

Downey started dating actress Sarah Jessica Parker after meeting her on the set of Firstborn.  They separated in 1991 because of his drug addiction, according to Downey.  In May 1992, Downey married actress Deborah Falconer.  Two years later, the couple had a son, Indio, naming friend and actor, Anthony Michael Hall, as the boy’s godfather.  Falconer divorced him in 2004.

Robert Downey Jr. Photo Gallery

Born March 21, 1974 in New Zealand, Rhys Montague is an actor and stand-up comedian known for his energetic physical comedy routines, telling stories accompanied with mime and sound effects of things such as machinery and animals.  Darby was nominated for the Billy T Award in 2001 and 2002.  Darby is probably best known for playing Murray Hewitt the band manager of Flight of the Conchords in the HBO television series, a role he originally played in the BBC radio series under the name Brian Nesbit.

Rhys Darby used to be a soldier (signaler trained in Morse code), but left the NZ army in 1994 to study at the University of Canterbury.  In 1996, he formed a comedy duo, Rhysently Granted, with Grant Lobban.  Rhysently Granted performed at two international comedy festivals, which led to Darby moving up to Auckland to seek more solo stand-up experience.  After performing his first solo show at the 2002 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Darby moved to the UK to pursue his career further.   At the same time, fellow Kiwis and friends Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement were dipping their toes in the waters at the Edinburgh Fringe.

In 2004, he appeared in the Flight of the Conchords BBC radio series as the band’s manager Brian Nesbit alongside comedy stars such as Rob Brydon, Andy Parsons and Jimmy Carr.  Darby plays Murray, the band’s manager, on Flight of the Conchords TV show.  He also provided vocals for the track Leggy Blonde on their self-titled first album and also in the second series of the show on the track “Rejected” during the episode “A Good Opportunity”.  Next, Darby was asked to act alongside his idol Jim Carrey.  He played a nerdish variation on his Conchords character in Carrey’s 2008 comedy Yes Man, and also released a DVD documenting a stand-up gig in Los Angeles.  In July 2008 he appeared in a Nike advertisement featuring Roger Federer, he played an impostor posing as Federer’s coach.

Darby also crossed the Atlantic and joined the ensemble cast playing 60s radio DJs on The Boat that Rocked (or Pirate Radio, as it was later retitled in America).  Back in New Zealand, Darby hosted pop culture compilation show Rocked the Nation 2, and cameoed as star Terence Ben’et in an episode of The Jaquie Brown Diaries (series two, episode three).  Darby joined his Conchords cohorts with a small role in feature-length ghost story Diagnosis: Death.  He also co-wrote and added his voice talents to animated short Fot: The Next Big Thing.  In 2009 Darby became a part of the NewZealand TV ONE series Intrepid Journeys Season 5, touring the African country of Rwanda.  From March 2010, Darby is helming in a recurring character role as an enthusiastic interviewer in a series of ads by Hewlett-Packard Company.

On 10 August 2010, Entertainment Weekly claimed that Darby was in consideration to have a part in the television series The Office replacing Steve Carell’s character when the actor left at the end of the 2011 season.  Darby confirmed on The Kevin and Bean Show that NBC did not negotiate further for the role and he is now involved in a pilot for CBS.  In May 2011, he also filmed a pilot for a Channel 4 sitcom in the UK, The Fun Police.  This was broadcast on September 16.

Rhys Darby Photo Gallery

Born as Raymond Andrew Winstone on Februaru 19, 1957 in Hackney Hospital, London, Ray Winstone is an English film and television actor mostly known for his “tough guy” roles, beginning with that of Carlin in the 1979 film Scum and as Will Scarlet in the cult television adventure series Robin of Sherwood.  He has also become well known as a voice over actor.  More recently, he has branched out into film production.  His film resume includes Cold Mountain, King Arthur, The Proposition, The Departed, Beowulf, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Edge of darkness.  He is known for starring in very profane and violent films such as Nil By Mouth, Sexy Beast and 44 Inch Chest.

Ray Winstone was an only child raised by his father, Raymond Sr., who ran a fruit vegetable business, and mother, Margaret.  At the time he attended Edmonton County School, Winstone began boxing for the Repton Amateur Boxing Club at 12, winning 80 out of 88 fights and becoming London schoolboy champion three times as a welterweight.  However, it was acting that truly occupied the lad’s fascination – he began formal training at the Corona School in Hammersmith, but was duly expelled after a year for puncturing the tires on an instructor’s car.  His misfortune, however, quickly turned to favor when he was discovered by famed British television director Alan Clark while accompanying a friend to an audition.  Clarke saw something in his swagger and tapped Winstone to play a reform school inmate in Bleak prison drama, Scum (1977).

Frequently cast as a tough or violent man, Winstone had a comedic part in Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence, and played the romantic lead in Fanny and Elvis.  His favorite role was in the television biopic on the life of England’s most notorious monarch, King Henry VIII.  Helena Bonham Carter co-starred as Henry’s most well-known queen, Anne Boleyn.  He has appeared in numerous TV series over the past 20 years including “Robin Hood” (1984), Palmer (1991) (TV), “Birds of a Feather” (1989), “Between the Lines” (1992), “Ghostbusters of East Finchley” (1995) and, most recently, “Births, Marriages and Deaths” (1999).  His film career has burgeoned since his award-winning role in Gary Oldman’s Nil by Mouth (1997), and he recently starred in Fanny and Elvis (1999), and The War Zone (1999) (directed by Tim Roth).

After a notable performance as a London crime boss in “Love, Honour and Obey” (2000), he essayed the role of Gal Dove, a former safecracker enjoying retirement in southern Spain with his ex-porn star wife (Amanda Redman) in “Sexy Beast” (2001).  After appearing as Michael Caine’s foster son in “Last Orders” (2001), Winstone co-starred in “Ripley’s Game” (2003), an unofficial sequel to “The Talented Mr. Ripley” (1999), playing an associate to the older, successful Tom Ripley (John Malkovich) who calls on his old friend for some homicidal help.

Winstone made his action movie debut in King Arthur, starring Clive Owen, directed by Antoine Fuqua, and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. In that film, Fuqua proclaimed him as “the British De Niro.” He then provided the voice of Soldier Sam in the screen version of The Magic Roundabout.  He next appeared in “The Proposition” (2005), a brutal western set in late-19th century Australia in which he portrayed a ruthless lawman who pits three notorious outlaw brothers against each other.  In another rare turn for the actor, Winstone provided the voice of Mr. Beaver, one of several all-CGI characters in “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” (2005), the hugely successful big budget fantasy based on the C.S. Lewis novel series.

Winstone appeared in Martin Scorsese’s 2006 film The Departed as Mr. French, an enforcer to Jack Nicholson’s mob boss.  He provided motion capture movements and voice for the title character in the Robert Zemeckis’ film Beowulf.  He then co-starred in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which was released on 22 May 2008.  He returned to television drama in The Changeling inspired Compulsion, originally shown in May 2009.  He next stars in 44 Inch Chest, alongside John Hurt and Ian McShane.  He also had a role as CIA agent Darius Jedburgh in the Edge of Darkness remake, replacing Robert De Niro.  He is set to play the role of Detective Inspector Jack Regan in a remake of The Sweeney.  Winstone stars also in the slasher-thriller film Red Snow, directed by Stuart St. Paul and based on a short film by Adam Mason.

Winstone currently lives with his wife, Elaine in Roydon, Essex.  He met his wife while filming That Summer in 1979.  They have three daughters; the eldest two, Lois and Jaime, are both actors.

Ray Winstone Photo Gallery