Career: De Niro made a handful of films in the 1960s and early 1970s, but it wasn't until 1973's Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets (his first collaboration with Martin Scorsese) that his career took off. He received an Oscar for The Godfather Part II a year later and was nominated Academy Awards for Taxi Driver and The Deer Hunter, and took home his second Oscar for Raging Bull. The King of Comedy, Once Upon A Time in America, Brazil, The Mission, Angel Heart and The Untouchables followed. Over the past few decades, De Niro has made crowd pleasers such as Cape Fear, Casino, Heat, Meet the Parents and Analyze This, as well as directing A Bronx Tale and The Good Shepherd. He gave a fabulous comic performance in the fantasy movie Stardust, before starring alongside fellow big-screen icon Al Pacino in cop thriller Righteous Kill. His more recent films have included Silver Linings Playbook and The Family.

Career: While appearing in the award-winning play The House of Blue Leaves in 1989, he made a spoof version of The Color of Money. It was so funny that US satire revue Saturday Night Live bought it and offered Stiller a regular spot. But when he was given his own show it flopped. He then made ends meet with a series of guest roles on TV and saved enough money to make the film Reality Bites, which he both directed and starred in. He also directed Jim Carrey in The Cable Guy, but got his big acting break in 1998's There's Something About Mary. Since then, he's starred in films such as Meet the Parents, The Royal Tenenbaums, Zoolander and Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. He has also appeared in Night at the Museum, its sequels and seemingly endless comedy hits.

Career: Bottle Rocket was so well-received, the writers were asked to turn it into a full-length feature. Although it wasn't a hit, it launched Wilson's acting career - his frequent collaborator Ben Stiller offered him a small role in The Cable Guy after seeing the movie. He went on to star in films including Armageddon, The Haunting, Shanghai Noon, Meet the Parents and Zoolander, although he gained more critical acclaim for co-writing Anderson's films Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Since then, he's taken starring roles in Starsky and Hutch, Wedding Crashers, Drillbit Taylor, Marley and Me, Midnight in Paris and Hall Pass, as well as reuniting with Anderson for The Grand Budapest Hotel, Fantastic Mr Fox, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and The Darjeeling Limited.

Career: Hoffman spent 10 years trying to get decent roles, making ends meet by teaching and appearing in commercials and TV series. In 1967 he landed the lead role in The Graduate which made him a star and secured his first Oscar nomination. He gained further nods from the Academy for Midnight Cowboy, Lenny, Tootsie and Wag the Dog, and has won twice for Kramer vs Kramer and Rain Man. Other notable films include Straw Dogs, Little Big Man, Sleepers, Runaway Jury, Finding Neverland, I Heart Huckabees, Meet the Fockers and Stranger Than Fiction. More recent projects include Last Chance Harvey, Little Fockers, the short-lived TV series Luck and Esio Trot. He also directed the BBC-backed film Quartet.

Career: At 17, Streisand landed her first acting job in the play Driftwood, co-starring Joan Rivers. She sang in clubs before winning a Tony award for her performance in Broadway's I Can Get It for You Wholesale. She won an Oscar for her first film, Funny Girl, in 1968, and another for co-writing the theme for A Star Is Born. Since then, she's become one of the best-selling recording artists in US history. She's starred in and directed several films, including Yentl (which she also produced and co-wrote).

Career: Danner's professional career started on stage with the Boston Repertory Company. Broadway soon followed. In 1970 she won a Tony Award for her performance in Butterflies Are Free. She began cropping up in a string of TV movies, and made her film debut in 1972's To Kill a Clown. Among her most memorable movies are Futureworld, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Another Woman, Mr and Mrs Bridge, Alice, The Prince of Tides, Husbands and Wives, and The X Files. Her more recent appearances have been in hit comedy Meet the Parents and its sequels Meet the Fockers and Little Fockers. She appeared alongside her daughter in Sylvia, and graced acclaimed TV series Huff.

Career: Made her film debut in 1994's Camp Nowhere. Originally cast in a minor role, she was offered a bigger part when another actress dropped out, and the film gave her a chance to make her mark. Her part in children's TV series Flipper and The Secret World of Alex Mack won her fans, who also became hooked on Dark Angel when it first aired in the US in 2000. She became a sex symbol and was voted No 1 on Maxim's Hot 100 Babe List in 2001. Recently she starred on the big screen in Sin City and The Fantastic Four, as well as its follow-up.