Bio Specials

Born Kevin Knipfing, James first planned on a career in sports, but those plans changed when he joined a community theater to alleviate a bad case of the summertime blues. He never looked back.

He was the breakout star of Saturday Night Live, winning over audiences with his cool, laidback persona and razor sharp wit. He went on to star in some of the biggest comedy hits of the 80's--including Caddyshack, National Lampoon's Vacation, and Fletch.

He captured the hearts of millions, as a result of his starring as highway patrol officer Frank Poncherello in the highly successful television series, CHiP's. He also appeared in numerous television and motion pictures, but after being labeled a troublemaker during a contract dispute with TV executives, Erik Estrada was blacklisted in the entrainment industry in the US.

Already a music star in Australia, Kiwi Keith Urban made the move to Nashville, Tennessee in 1992 to further his career in country music. The gamble paid off, and today he's one of the biggest names in music, with multiple chart-toppers and Grammy Awards under his belt.

In the mid-nineties, Boyz II Men's silky smooth voices lifted them to superstardom. Their record-breaking stints atop the music charts placed them alongside industry icons like Elvis Presley and the Beatles.

Portrait of the actor best known for one of the most remarkable comebacks in entertainment history. In 1994, Caruso was the popular star of NBC's NYPD Blue.

Born out of a concept--a counterpoint to the 1990s "boy bands"--and a single trade industry ad, the five "Spice Girls" rocketed to the top of the pop music world. The only British group to taste "Beatles" level commercial success, The Spice Girls produced two world-wide top-selling albums and performed at sold out venues everywhere.

At 38 years old, Rachael Ray seems to have burst out of nowhere to be everywhere. But Ray struggled at first.

Actress, singer, partier, she's barely into her twenties, and Lindsay Lohan has already gone from screen tests to rehab stints. She was acting in a soap opera by the age of ten and made her film debut in The Parent Trap a year later.

Their films were box office gold. Their performances were magic. And when they went out on the town, they were legends. At a time when everything was cool and style was king, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop were the ultimate playboys. The Rat Pack goes where no other documentary has been: to the exact moment when Sinatra, the leader of the pack, met every other member, and the dynamics behind his relationship with each of them. Then, the BIO profile takes an intimate look at the carnivorous alpha-males who, on the outside, were simply the hippest guys in America, but privately struggled with love, loss, = jealousy, racism and the mob. With the help of insiders like Angie Dickinson, Tony Curtis, Jerry Lewis and Milton Berle, The Rat Pack explores the lives and legacies of five men who once capitvated an entire generation of Americans, and continue to fascinate an entirely new generation today.

She began her acting career when she was just 10 years old, but Shannen Doherty is best known as "the bad girl of the 90's" starring on the hit show Beverly Hills 90210. She left the show after four years, but later reunited with long-time producer Aaron Spelling when she was cast in another hit show Charmed.

Aretha Franklin is arguably the greatest female singer of the 20th century, but obtaining the crown of `The Queen of Soul' did not come easy. Aretha Louise Franklin was born on March 25, 1942 in Memphis, Tennessee.

Profile of the Grammy Award-winning rapper, singer, model, and actress who's been hip-hop's first lady, the face of Cover Girl, and an Oscar nominee. Born Dana Elaine Owens, she was nicknamed Latifah, which means "delicate and sensitive" in Arabic.

Hollywood is obsessed with its celebrity couples. They're regular fixtures in tabloids, blogs, and entertainment news shows.

Although she's set to marry England's Prince William in "the wedding of the century," Kate Middleton is an unlikely choice for royal bride since a commoner hasn't married an heir to the throne for 350 years. But while she may lack royal blood, she has another advantage -- a family history of ambition and determination that has propelled the Middletons from the depths of a British coal mine to Windsor Castle.

After his very public firing from the CBS hit series Two and a Half Men, Charlie Sheen went on the offensive, and the public was given a front-row seat to a career and lifestyle that seemed to teeter on the edge of oblivion. In what to many seemed like a bizarre new chapter in the actor's life, to those who know him, these recent events are just part of the logical progression of a rock-star lifestyle pushed to its limit by celebrity marriages, substance abuse, innumerable controversies and scrapes with the law.

Viewed by some as one of Tinsletown's brightest stars, and by others as a pariah. He's managed to stay on top despite public scandals and outspoken views.

Matthew McConaughey was on the way to becoming a lawyer when he picked up the inspirational book, The Greatest Salesman in the World, and decided his real future lay in screen acting. A chance meeting with a casting director in an Austin bar secured his first real film role.

When he called himself "a skinny kid with a funny name" at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, his political star was already on the rise. By the time he decimated the competition in 2004 race for the Illinois Senate, he was the bona fide golden child of a Democratic party desperately in need of a winner.

This profile of the young comic traces Chappelle's story from his hometown of Yellow Springs, Ohio to his 2005 escape to South Africa. Find out how the young boy who once idolized the comedy of Bill Cosby became famous for racially provocative and envelope-pushing comedy.

Patrick Dempsey grew up in a small town in Maine and wanted to be an Olympic ski racer. After a bad crash ended his Olympic dream, Patrick took off for California to pursue an acting career.

A modern renaissance man, Jamie Foxx is one of the most spectacularly versatile performers in show business today. This portrait of Foxx looks at his triumphs in comedy (he starred in the hit TV show, In Living Color), music (he earned a Grammy nomination for his album "Unpredictable"), and film (he won the Oscar and Golden Globe for Ray.

Viewed by some as one of Tinsletown's brightest stars, and by others as a pariah. He's managed to stay on top despite public scandals and outspoken views.

Matthew McConaughey was on the way to becoming a lawyer when he picked up the inspirational book, The Greatest Salesman in the World, and decided his real future lay in screen acting. A chance meeting with a casting director in an Austin bar secured his first real film role.

Paula Abdul is accustomed to the spotlight. With the phenomenal success of American Idol, there are more Paula Abdul fans than ever.

The Wahlberg brothers, Mark and Donnie, have taken Hollywood by storm, transitioning from pop music sensations to establishing themselves as successful actors in both television and film. Raised in the rough neighborhood of Dorchester in Boston, the Wahlberg brothers used a combination of street smarts and hard work to become forces to be reckoned with in the entertainment world.

Rick Springfield has sold fifteen million records and after nearly thirty years in show business, he still performs with the reckless abandon of a twenty-something rock star. Springfield's hit song, "Jesse's Girl" became the anthem of the 1980's-- a time when his feathered hair, tightly-suited body and boyish face became hallmarks of the era.

Shania Twain's "not just a pretty face." The singer/songwriter revolutionized country music with her drop-dead looks, sultry voice and spirited lyrics.

Sylvester Stallone provides us with exclusive access to the 35 year journey of Rocky Balboa--one of Hollywood's greatest icons and the very symbol of the American Dream as well as its excesses.

An in-depth profile of the comic who has accomplished a seemingly impossible feat--he's made ventriloquism hip again.