Jennifer Aniston

While it's hard to believe that this beloved actress made her film debut in the low-grade 1993 horror flick Leprechaun, even megastars have to start somewhere. The attractive, quirky daughter of soap-opera star John Aniston studied acting at New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts (aka the Fame school) and appeared in a handful of stage productions before moving to Los Angeles. Although she had no problem landing small-screen roles, they were all on short-lived series, until she signed on to Friends in 1994. Aniston instantly charmed audiences with her perfect looks and endearingly flawed persona, and during the sitcom's 10-year run she won an Emmy and a Golden Globe, became a hairstyle icon and married Brad Pitt. In the mid-1990s, Aniston began to appear in films while on hiatus from the small screen. Though she proved her dramatic chops as a frustrated wife who has an affair with a teen in the indie The Good Girl, she was usually called upon to play a variation of her neurotic and adorable Friends' character (Picture Perfect, The Object of My Affection, Rumor Has It... ). Meanwhile, her love life constantly kept her in the spotlight. After reigning as Hollywood's It Couple for eight years, Aniston and Pitt split in 2005 when rumors circulated that he had taken up with his Mr. & Mrs. Smith costar Angelina Jolie. (Of course, those rumors were proved true.) After her 2005 divorce, speculation about her romantic life made her a popular tabloid cover girl, and high-profile relationships with Vince Vaughn (her costar in The Break-Up) and singer John Mayer helped fan the flames. A pleasant by-product of her popularity is the attention it brings to some of her favorite charities, including St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, for which she appeared in a widely seen 2009 PSA.   ~ Rovi