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: In the 1980s, Rock hit the comedy circuit and his cutting quips and clever observations soon saw him step onto TV in Miami Vice, and catch Eddie Murphy's attention. The celebrated comic saw huge potential in Rock and befriended the aspiring star, securing him a role in Beverley Hills Cop II. In the early 1990s he became an integral part of the American sketch show Saturday Night Live, where his brand of humour complemented Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider and Chris Farley. After a succession of bit-part roles in films such as Sgt Bilko, a show-stealing performance in Lethal Weapon 4 gave Rock a springboard to future success. In 2001, he was given his first film lead in Down to Earth, where he played a comedian given a second chance at life. In 2005, Rock returned to TV with a show based loosely around his upbringing called Everybody Hates Chris, which the dry comic narrated and produced. It received widespread critical acclaim and ran for four seasons. In 2005 Rock's status was catapulted into the stratosphere when he was entrusted to host the Oscars, with event organisers hoping he would add edginess to the proceedings. The uproarious actor once again united with SNL co-star Adam Sandler in 2010's Grown Ups and its 2013 sequel.

Career: He made his TV debut in The Wonder Years, and went on to appear in various TV shows and movies, including Blossom, LA Law and Wolf before landing the role of Ross Geller in Friends in 1994 - he was the first member of the cast to be picked. The comedy became a huge global success, making him a household name. Despite this, his big-screen career has struggled, with The Pallbearer, Kissing a Fool and Hotel all largely forgettable. He had success with small roles in Apt Pupil, Six Days and Seven Nights and TV's Band of Brothers, but has had arguably his biggest non-Friends success voicing Melman the giraffe in the animated Madagascar series of films. Schwimmer has also appeared on stage in various projects and directed two films, including the Simon Pegg vehicle Run Fatboy Run.

Career: Family friend and producer LaVern Whitt helped Jada find an acting agent. In 1990, Jada starred in an episode of True Colors and went on to have guest roles in Doogie Howser, MD, 21 Jump Street and A Different World. Jada started to get noticed after appearing alongside Eddie Murphy in The Nutty Professor (1996). Since then, she has starred in Scream 2 (1997), The Matrix Reloaded (2003), The Matrix Revolutions (2003) and Collateral (2004), and voiced the character of Gloria in Madagascar (2005), Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008) and Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012). For three seasons from 2009, she played the lead role in medical drama Hawthorne.

Career: Cohen worked as a model for a while, and then for a Swindon-based TV company during the mid-1990s, but shot to fame in 1998 thanks to his guest slots as Ali G on Channel 4's The 11 O'Clock Show. His popularity led to his own programme, Da Ali G Show, in 2000, which featured other characters, including Borat, a fictional TV reporter from Kazakhstan. Cohen made his big-screen debut in 2003 in Ali G Indahouse, but it was 2006's Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan which made him a massive star on both sides of the Atlantic. Since then he's appeared in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Bruno, The Dictator and Les Miserables.

Career: Cedric made his TV debut on talent show It's Showtime at the Apollo, and shortly after on HBO's Def Comedy Jam. In 1994, he won BET's Richard Pryor Comic of the Year Award. In 1996, he moved into acting with a role on the sitcom The Steve Harvey Show, which ran for six seasons until 2002. He made the move into films and his big-screen credits include Barbershop (2002) and its 2004 sequel, Johnson Family Vacation (2004) and The Honeymooners (2005). He has also voiced characters in Ice Age (2002) and the Madagascar films. In 2013, he began hosting the American version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. He continues to perform stand-up.

Career: Mac made his film debut with a small role in Mo' Money (1992). This led to a string of minor parts. Short-lived HBO talk show Midnight Mac was followed by a breakthrough role as Pastor Clever in Ice Cube's movie Friday (1995). This led to Mac's first starring role, in The Players Club (1998). He went on to appear in Ocean's Eleven (2001) and its two sequels, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003), Bad Santa (2003), Mr 3000 (2004), Transformers (2007) and Soul Men (2008). In 2001, he landed his own sitcom called The Bernie Mac Show. The series ran for five seasons, clocking up 104 editions. Bernie's life was cut short on August 9, 2008, at the age of 50 when he died from sarcoidosis complicated by pneumonia.