Career: While working in Hartford, Falk joined a local theatre group called the Mark Twain Masquers. He also took acting classes at the White Barn Theatre in Westport, Connecticut. In 1956, he moved to New York to pursue an acting career. He made his professional stage debut in an Off-Broadway production of Moliere's Dom Juan - it closed after just one performance. He had better luck with other Broadway roles. After a number of small film parts, Falk was praised for his supporting role in Murder, Inc. (1960), for which he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award. In 1961, he starred in Frank Capra's final film, Pocketful of Miracles and earned his second Academy Award nomination. Falk continued to make films and make guest appearances on TV shows. He is best known as the star of the TV detective series Columbo, which he first played in the 1968 TV movie Prescription: Murder. He went on to play the crumpled detective on and off on TV between 1971 until 2003. Falk died at his Beverly Hills home on June 23, 2011 at the age of 83.

Career: Her movie debut came alongside Peter O'Toole in Rosebud, directed by Otto Preminger, in 1975. After that she became one of the last stars to have a contract with a major studio when Universal signed her. A string of TV jobs followed, including a Columbo whodunit, The Incredible Hulk and miniseries Scruples. In 1982 Porky's made her a minor star, and paved the way for her appearance in 1984's Police Academy. She then appeared in Big Trouble in Little China, Mannequin, Masquerade and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, but it was Sex and the City in 1998 which made her a household name. She won a Golden Globe for her role. Played Britney Spears' mother in the film Crossroads in 2002. The two Sex and the City movies were major hits, and she was praised for her role in political thriller The Ghost. More recently she's enjoyed success on stage in productions of Private Lives and Sweet Bird of Youth.