Career: Moore made her movie debut in 1981's Choices, and had a regular part in the soap opera General Hospital for a year. Supporting roles in Blame It on Rio and No Small Affair followed before Brat Pack movie St Elmo's Fire made her a star in 1985. Five years later she was propelled onto Hollywood's A-list by Ghost, and became the first actress to be paid $10million. Big movies since include A Few Good Men, Indecent Proposal and Disclosure. She hasn't enjoyed the same level of success for 20 years, although she did produce the Austin Powers movies. More recently she's appeared in Charlie's Angels II: Full Throttle, Mr Brooks and Margin Call.

Career: Following small parts in TV movies, Swayze landed a role in Francis Ford Coppola's drama The Outsiders alongside other then unknowns, including Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon and Emilio Estevez. Its success brought him to the attention of other directors. In 1987 he became an overnight global sensation thanks to Dirty Dancing. Road House, Next of Kin, Ghost and Point Break followed, but by the early 1990s, his career had slowed down. His last films included Donnie Darko, Waking Up in Reno, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, Keeping Mum, and Powder Blue. Swayze was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer in January 2008. A year later, he was hospitalised with pneumonia that was said to be a complication of chemotherapy treatments he had received. He died aged 57 on September 14, 2009.

Career: On moving to California in 1974, Whoopi helped found the San Diego Repertory Company and honed her performance skills doing stand-up comedy. She made her movie debut in 1982's Citizen, but became a huge star in Steven Spielberg's acclaimed drama The Color Purple three years later. She has stuck largely to comedies such as Jumping Jack Flash, Sister Act and Monkeybone since, although she has appeared in such dramas as Girl, Interrupted and Boys on the Side. In 1991 she won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in Ghost. She also had a semi-regular role in Star Trek: The Next Generation and has taken several bit-parts in US sitcoms. She also appears as a regular on American daytime talk show The View. She returned to the stage in 2010 in the musical versions of The Lion King and Sister Act.