Career: Coltrane first captured the public's attention as a member of the Comic Strip team in 1982, co-writing and co-directing the series as well as starring. He'd done the rounds as a stand-up comedian, but realised he wanted to pursue a career in acting. He has proven himself to be capable of doing straight roles and comedy, winning three Best Actor Bafta Awards for crime drama series Cracker. He has also won roles in big-budget movies, including two outings as a Bond villain in Goldeneye and The World Is Not Enough, and more recently as Hagrid in the Harry Potter films as well as voicing roles in several children's animations. Robbie received an OBE for services to drama in 2006.

Career: Grant gained good reviews for a performance in short film Honest, Decent and True in 1985, alongside Gary Oldman and Arabella Weir. His big break came when Daniel Day-Lewis dropped out of Withnail and I, and Grant took his place. The film was a cult smash. Since then, he's appeared in various films and TV shows, including Bram Stoker's Dracula, The Age of Innocence, LA Story, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Gosford Park, and The Hound of the Baskervilles. His film diary, With Nails, was a best-seller, but a novel, By Design, was disappointing. In 2005, he made his directing debut with the critically acclaimed, semi-autobiographical Wah-Wah. His recent work includes roles in Colour Me Kubrick, Penelope, Cuckoo and The Iron Lady, in which he played Tory politician Michael Heseltine.

Career: Determined to become a serious actor, Grammer spent two years at New York's Juilliard School. He then worked in theatre before making his TV debut in 1983 miniseries Kennedy. He had a stint in soap Another World, and in 1984 began playing Dr Frasier Crane in Cheers. After Cheers ended in 1993, he launched the hugely popular spin-off series Frasier. In addition to starring in 264 editions of the sitcom, he directed more than 30 episodes. Grammer has also starred in X-Men: The Last Stand, short-lived sitcoms Back to You and Hank, and the dramas Boss and Partners. He is also the voice of Sideshow Bob in The Simpsons.

Career: David worked steadily on the stage throughout the 1980s and made his film debut in Bright Lights, Big City in 1988. He was later offered a role in Little Man Tate by former Yale classmate Jodie Foster, who remembered him from a student play. In 1992, he was in short-lived sitcom The Powers That Be and caught the eye of Frasier's creators, who noticed his resemblance to Kelsey Grammer and wrote the role of Niles especially for him. His performance in the long-running sitcom earned him four Emmy awards and a reported salary of $1million per episode for the last few seasons. Frasier came to an end in 2003 and David has since been seen in the film Down With Love and in various stage productions on Broadway and the West End. He won a Tony Award in 2007 for his performance in Kander and Ebb musical Curtains.

Career: After moving to Los Angeles, Leeves appeared in a series called Throb and made guest appearances in a number of shows, including Seinfeld and the miniseries Pandora's Clock. Her big break came in 1993 when she was cast as Daphne Moon in Cheers spin-off Frasier. Leeves has starred on Broadway as Sally Bowles in Cabaret and played parts in a variety of films, including Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983), To Live and Die in LA (1985), Miracle on 34th Street (1994) and Music of the Heart (1999). Since 2010, she has starred in the sitcom Hot in Cleveland.

Career: In the US, Gilpin struggled to get decent roles, so worked as a make-up artist and radio producer. Later, she became an apprentice at the acclaimed Williamstown Theatre Festival, and had small parts in TV shows Cheers, Matlock, 21 Jump Street and Wings. Actress Blythe Danner liked her work and helped her gain roles, although the Frasier job only came about when original choice Lisa Kudrow (of Friends) dropped out. Gilpin's other projects include How to Kill Your Neighbour's Dog and Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. She also runs production company Bristol Cities with former Frasier co-star Jane Leeves. Since Frasier ended in 2004, Gilpin has appeared in Medium, Desperate Housewives, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Make It or Break It, and Hot in Cleveland.

Career: Linney's professional career began on Broadway, where she was acclaimed for her work in several productions. She started appearing in small roles in films and on TV in the early 1990s, but began landing bigger parts after the first instalment of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City was broadcast. Movies Primal Fear, The Truman Show and Absolute Power followed. She reunited with the director of Absolute Power, Clint Eastwood, for Mystic River, and bagged Oscar nominations for Kinsey, You Can Count on Me and The Savages. Other notable work includes Love Actually, Frasier, and The Squid and the Whale, while her extraordinary turns in miniseries John Adams and comedy drama The Big C have been widely acclaimed.

Career: At the age of 13, Biggs starred in short-lived sitcom Drexell's Class and made his Broadway debut opposite Judd Hirsch in Conversations with My Father. He went on to star in daytime soap opera As the World Turns. His big break came in 1999 when he landed the lead role in teen comedy American Pie (1999). He went on to star in three hugely successful American Pie sequels. Other films include Boys and Girls (2000), Loser (2000), Prozac Nation (2001), Anything Else (2003) and My Best Friend's Girl (2008). On the small screen, he has appeared in Frazier, Will & Grace, Mad Love, The Good Wife, and Orange Is the New Black, a Netflix original drama. He also provides the voice of Leonardo in an animated version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Career: In 1980, Beals had her first big-screen appearance, with an uncredited minor role in My Bodyguard, but she was catapulted into the spotlight when Flashdance became a smash hit in 1983. She played the lead role of Alex, a no-nonsense, single-minded dancer determined to make it to the top - strong, independent roles like these would go on to become Beals' bread and butter. After achieving stardom as a college freshman, she continued to exhibit expert multi-tasking skills to appear opposite Sting in The Bride (1985). She then took a brief break before bursting back onto screens with a flurry of outings in 1988, including Vampire's Kiss, which also featured Nicholas Cage. During the 90s and the early noughties, Beals continued to work steadily in both TV and film, forging a solid reputation with Devil in a Blue Dress (1995) and Runaway Jury (2003). But The L Word became her next iconic project in 2004: Bette Porter's mix of smarts and sexiness was a marriage made in heaven for the Chicago-born actress. Since the lust-fuelled series ended, she has appeared alongside Tim Roth in Lie to Me, and was part of the stellar cast that brought The Book of Eli to the big screen in 2010.

Career: LaPaglia moved to the US in 1980, and was a teacher before making his professional acting debut on stage. He claims he will only appear in films and on TV if the scripts are outstanding. LaPaglia's first small-screen appearance came in a 1985 episode of Amazing Stories. Small parts in Magnum PI and The Twilight Zone followed before his film debut in 1987's Cold Steel. Memorable projects since include Betsy's Wedding, So I Married an Axe Murderer, Murder One, Summer of Sam, and Sweet and Lowdown. He had an Emmy-winning cameo in Frasier before picking up a Golden Globe for Without a Trace.