Multi-talented Jean Louisa Kelly began her career in musical theater before moving to TV and film. Born in March 9, 1972 in Worcester, Massachusetts, Kelly began performing as a child. Though she made her Broadway debut at age 14 in the Stephen Sondheim Broadway musical Into the Woods and her film debut in the John Candy hit Uncle Buck (1989), Kelly opted to go to college rather than diving headfirst into a ...

Lena Meyer-Landrut, who bills herself simply as Lena, is a pop singer from Germany who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2010 at age 19 with the song "Satellite." Born on May 23, 1991, in Hanover, Germany, she was one of 20 contestants selected to compete on the television program Unser Star für Oslo, the winner of which is chosen to represent Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest. Over the course of eigh ...

Before she began composing and performing her own quirky, intricate pop songs, Annie Clark proved her musical prowess as part of Glenn Branca's 100 Guitar Orchestra, as guitarist and background vocalist for the Polyphonic Spree (on their third album, Fragile Army), and as a member of Sufjan Stevens' touring band. Synthesizing a blend of Regina Spektor, My Brightest Diamond, Joan as Police Woman, and Feist, ...

Perhaps the actress most widely identified with corsets and men named Cecil, Helena Bonham Carter was for a long time typecast as an antiquated heroine, no doubt helped by her own brand of Pre-Raphaelite beauty. With a tumble of brown curls (which were, in fact, hair extensions), huge dark eyes, and translucent pale skin, Bonham Carter's looks made her a natural for movies that took place when the sun still ...

One of Broadway's most celebrated actresses, Donna Murphy is a commanding, versatile performer whose credits also encompass film and television. A native of New York, Murphy was born in Queens on March 3, 1958, and grew up on Long Island as the oldest of seven children. She attended New York University briefly, dropping out at the age of 20 to try her luck on the New York stage. Work on and off Broadway fol ...

A star of several West End productions, Laura Michelle Kelly made that rare leap from theater into pop music with the release of her debut album in 2006. Born in Totton near Southampton in 1981, Kelly moved to a farm on the Isle of Wight with her family when she was nine years old. After putting on shows for her friends, she made her first musical appearance in a middle-school production of Bugsy Malone. Fo ...

A contestant on American Idol's second season, Kimberly Caldwell ended up placing seventh in that year's competition, but parlayed her exposure into other opportunities. Born in Katy, TX, in 1982, Caldwell started singing at age five, performing in pageants and working her way up to the Grand Ole Opry and Star Search (where she was a five-time junior vocalist winner) while still a young teen. After taking a ...

Actress Isabelle Fuhrman began her acting career before she'd even reached double digits, appearing in TV commercials in the early 2000s. In 2007, the 10-year-old was cast in the controversial movie Hounddog, and by 2009, she accepted the terrifying starring role in the horror film Orphan. ...

Jimmy Buffett's Caribbean-tinged single "Margaritaville" (1977) established him as a cheerful musical advocate for beaches, bars and laid-back living. Never exactly a dominant figure in pop music, Buffett instead proved to be an enduring star in his own tropical niche, strumming wistful, boozy tunes about sailors, dreamers and lowlifes with titles like "Weather is Here, Wish You Were Beautiful" and "Cheeseb ...

Fair-haired, blue-eyed American actress Bonnie Somerville seemed tailor-made for on-camera work, and fell into her niche as supporting actress, beginning in her mid-twenties -- typically in the casts of Hollywood A-list features and hit television programs. In an unusual feat for an ingenue, the Brooklyn-born Somerville took one of her first bows as a lead -- with a starring role in the epic-length TV minis ...