Free Birds

Amy Meredith Poehler was born in Newton, Massachusetts, to high school teachers Eileen Frances (Milmore) and William Grinstead Poehler. Her brother is comedian Greg Poehler. She is of Irish (from her mother) and English, Irish, German, and Portuguese (from her father) descent. Amy was first involved with sketch comedy when she joined the group My Mother's Flea Bag when she was attending Boston College. In 1993, she went to Chicago where she studied at Second City and Improv Olympics. There, she met Del Close, who later became the voice of the UCB opening scene. In 1996, she joined the Upright Citizen's Brigade with Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, and Matt Walsh. Later on, the group moved to New York and became a Comedy Central show. The show went on only for three seasons. However, the group stayed together at the Upright Citizen's Brigade Theater. Today, the theater is one of the leading centers for improv and sketch shows. After the Upright Citizens Brigade (1998) sketch show came and went, Amy joined the cast of Saturday Night Live (1975) in 2001. By the end of Christmas break of that year, she became a regularly featured performer. She has brought a slew of great performances on every show, such as impersonations of celebrities such as Kelly Ripa or Sharon Osbourne. When Jimmy Fallon left at the end of the 2003-04 season, Amy joined Tina Fey as a co-anchor for Weekend Update. Her Hollywood star is also growing bright, as she has done several feature films, including Blades of Glory (2007) with her then-real-life husband and Arrested Development (2003) star Will Arnett; and the Farrelly brothers-directed remake of The Heartbreak Kid (1993), in which she stars alongside another Arrested Development (2003) star, Jason Bateman. Among her 2010s film starring roles are Sisters (2015), with Tina Fey, and The House (2017), with Will Ferrell. Having played one of her first roles in the indie Wet Hot American Summer (2001), she reprised her role in the television mini-series Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp (2015) and Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later (2017). Amy was married to Canadian actor and comedian Will Arnett from 2003 to 2016. The couple have two children.

Self-proclaimed troublemaker Owen Cunningham Wilson was born in Dallas, to Irish-American parents originally from Massachusetts. He grew up in Texas with his mother, Laura (Cunningham), a photographer; his father, Robert Andrew Wilson, an ad exec; and his brothers, Andrew Wilson (the eldest) and Luke Wilson (the youngest). Expelled from St. Mark's School of Texas (Dallas, TX) in the tenth grade, Wilson finished his sophomore year at Thomas Jefferson School and then headed to a military academy in New Mexico. He then attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he met his future mentor and friend, Wes Anderson. They wrote a screenplay, Bottle Rocket (1996), and sent it to their family friend, screenwriter L.M. Kit Carson, who sent it to producer Polly Platt, who gave it to James L. Brooks, who gave the Texans $5 million to make it into a feature film. Despite critical praise, Bottle Rocket (1996) only grossed one million dollars. After making the film, Wilson moved to Hollywood, setting up house with his two brothers and Anderson. Fairly quickly, Owen found himself acting in a series of big budget films, such as The Cable Guy (1996), The Haunting (1999), Anaconda (1997) and Breakfast of Champions (1999). This led to more work, such as Shanghai Noon (2000), Meet the Parents (2000) and Behind Enemy Lines (2001). He's known not only for his nose, which has been broken several times, but also for his 'free wheeling ways' with a script. He co-wrote the film The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) with his oft partner Wes Anderson.

Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning actor Woodrow Tracy Harrelson was born on July 23, 1961 in Midland, Texas, to Diane Lou (Oswald) and Charles Harrelson. He grew up in Lebanon, Ohio, where his mother was from. After receiving degrees in theater arts and English from Hanover College, he had a brief stint in New York theater. He was soon cast as Woody on TV series Cheers (1982), which wound up being one of the most-popular TV shows ever and also earned Harrelson an Emmy for his performance in 1989. While he dabbled in film during his time on Cheers (1982), that area of his career didn't fully take off until towards the end of the show's run. In 1991, Doc Hollywood (1991) gave him his first widely-seen movie role, and he followed that up with White Men Can't Jump (1992), Indecent Proposal (1993) and Natural Born Killers (1994). More recently, Harrelson was seen in No Country for Old Men (2007), Zombieland (2009), 2012 (2009), and Friends with Benefits (2011), along with the acclaimed HBO movie Game Change (2012). In 2011, Harrelson snagged the coveted role of fan-favorite drunk Haymitch Abernathy in the big-screen adaptation of The Hunger Games (2012), which ended up being one of the highest-grossing movies ever at the domestic box office. Harrelson is set to reprise that role for the sequels, which are scheduled for release in November 2013, 2014 and 2015. Harrelson has received two Academy Award nominations, first for his role as controversial Hustler founder Larry Flynt in The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) and then for a role in The Messenger (2009). He also received Golden Globe nominations for both of these parts. In 2016, he had a stand-out role as a wise teacher in the teen drama The Edge of Seventeen (2016). Harrelson was briefly married to Nancy Simon in the 80s, and later married his former assistant, Laura Louie, with whom he has three daughters.

Born in 1953, to a mother who had worked in television, Lesley Nicol was a shy 16-year-old at St. Elphin's Boarding School in Derbyshire when she expressed a desire to go out and see the world - not, she recalls, to be an actress but to kiss boys. She went to a technical college in Manchester to study for her 'A'-level examinations and, whilst there, she got involved with the Manchester Library Theatre. She was paid a pound a week to play a tiny role as a 12-year-old boy in Shaw's 'Androcles and the Lion'. It was her first and last role there but she was encouraged to apply for entry to London's Guildhall School of drama, from where she graduated in the early 1970s. For several years she was best known as a stage actress, particularly in musicals, appearing in 'Mama Mia', 'Our House', the show based on the hit songs of Madness, and as Little Buttercup in a revival, with Gary Wilmot ,of 'HMS Pinafore'. She was also the original stage neighbor, nosy Auntie Annie, in the play 'East Is East' at the Royal Court, reprising the role in the 1999 film version that was also her movie debut, surprising given her length of acting experience. She has appeared in guest roles in numerous television series and in the mid-2000s played a character called Aunt-Tea in a short series of commercials for Tetley tea. Since 2010 she has played no-nonsense cook Mrs Patmore in the successful period drama 'Downton Abbey'.

Although primarily known for playing Hikaru Sulu in the television series Star Trek: The Original Series (1966) and the first six features, George Takei has had a varied career acting in television, feature films, live theater and radio. He also is a successful writer and community activist. George Takei was born Hosato Takei on April 20, 1937, in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, California. His mother, Fumiko Emily (Nakamura), was born in Sacramento, to Japanese parents, and his father, Takekuma Norman Takei, worked in real estate and was born in Japan's Yamanashi Prefecture. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, George and his family were relocated from Los Angeles to the Rohwer Relocation Center in Arkansas, and later, as the war was ending they were moved to a camp at Tule Lake in Northern California. Takei's first-hand knowledge of the unjust internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans in World War II, poignantly chronicled in his autobiography, created a lifelong interest in politics and community affairs. After graduating from Los Angeles High School in 1956, George studied architecture at UC Berkeley. An ad in a Japanese community paper led to a summer job on the MGM lot dubbing eight characters from Japanese into English for Rodan (1956) (aka "Rodan"). With the acting bug kindled in him, he transferred to UCLA as a theater arts major. Contacting an agent he had met at MGM led to Takei's appearance as an embittered soldier in postwar Japan in the Playhouse 90 (1956) production "Made in Japan" even before starting classes at UCLA. Being spotted in a UCLA theater production by a Warner Bros. casting director led to George's feature film debut in Ice Palace (1960), various roles in Hawaiian Eye (1959) and other feature work. In June 1960, he completed his degree at UCLA and studied that summer at the Shakespeare Institute at Stratford-Upon-Avon in England. After starting a Master's degree program at UCLA, George was cast in the socially relevant stage musical production, "Fly Blackbird!" but was replaced when the show moved to New York. He took odd jobs until returning to his role at the end of the run. Getting little work in Manhattan, George returned to Los Angeles to continue his studies at UCLA, once again appearing in television series and feature films. He earned his Master's degree in 1964. Wanting a multi-racial crew, Gene Roddenberry cast him in "Where No Man Has Gone Before", the second Star Trek: The Original Series (1966) pilot. Mr. Sulu remained as a regular character when the series went into production. In the hiatus after the end of shooting the first season, he worked on The Green Berets (1968), playing a South Vietnamese Special Forces officer. After Star Trek: The Original Series (1966) was cancelled, Takei did guest stints in several television series, voiced Sulu for the animated Star Trek series and regularly appeared at Star Trek conventions. He also produced and hosted a public affairs show, "Expression East/West" aired in Los Angeles from 1971 to 1973. In 1973, he ran for the Los Angeles City Council. Although he lost by a small margin, Mayor Tom Bradley appointed him to the board of directors of the Southern California Rapid Transit District, where he served until 1984 and contributed to plans for the subway. During this period, he co-wrote a sci-fi novel, "Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe". He campaigned to get more respect for his character in the Star Trek features, resulting in Sulu finally obtaining the rank of captain in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), a role reprised in the Star Trek: Voyager (1995) episode "Flashback". George has run several marathons and was in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Torch Relay. He gained a star on Hollywood Boulevard's Walk of Fame in 1986 and left his signature and hand print in cement at the Chinese Theater in 1991. His 1994 autobiography, "To the Stars", was well-received by more than just Star Trek fans. He remains active as a stage, television and film actor and as an advocate for the interests of Japanese-Americans.

Colm Meaney was born on May 30, 1953 in Dublin, Ireland. He is an actor, known for Con Air (1997), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) and Layer Cake (2004). He has been married to Ines Glorian since March 15, 2007. They have one child. He was previously married to Bairbre Dowling.

Dan Fogler made his Broadway debut when he originated the role of William Barfée in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, for which he won the Theatre World Award for the original off-Broadway production and the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical in 2005 for the original Broadway production. Fogler's first television appearance was in 2002 on FOX's 30 Seconds to Fame as a contestant impersonating Al Pacino. Other television credits include guest starring roles on AMC's The Walking Dead, ABC's The Goldbergs, NBC's Hannibal, CBS' The Good Wife and voice work for FOX's American Dad. Fogler also has had starring roles in ABC's Man Up! and Secrets & Lies. In film, Fogler is most known for his role of Jacob Kolwalski in J.K. Rowling's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Fantastic Beasts The Crimes of Grindelwald. Fogler also starred as Randy Daytona in 2007's Balls Of Fury for Focus Features and had roles in Good Luck Chuck, Fanboys, Take Me Home Tonight, Love Happens, Scenic Route, Europa Report and In Like Flynn. Fogler has also done a variety of voiceover acting in films such as; Horton Hears A Who! along with Steve Carell and Jim Carrey, Disney's Mars Needs Moms, Free Birds and 2008's Kung Fu Panda, with Jack Black and Jackie Chan. Some of Fogler's other projects include starring in the music video for the Type O Negative song "I Don't Wanna Be Me", in which he played a man recording himself on video as he cross-dresses as celebrities including Marilyn Monroe, Michael Jackson and Britney Spears. Fogler also wrote and directed the play Elephant in the Room, inspired by Ionesco's Rhinoceros, which was produced by the New York International Fringe Festival in 2007. Fogler has also written and directed Hysterical Psycho (2009) which premiered at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival, featuring actors from his theater company Stage 13 where Dan serves as one of the company's Artistic Directors, and Don Peyote (2014) which also saw Fogler in the lead role as Warren Allman, with supporting roles from Josh Duhamel, Anne Hathaway, Topher Grace. Hysterical Psycho was Fogler's first graphic novel. In 2010, Archaia Entertainment published the horror anthology Moon Lake. This collection of stories chronicles the past, present, and future of the most haunted town on Earth: Moon Lake. Fogler is also hard at work on another graphic novel, Brooklyn Gladiator.

Keith David was born Keith David Williams in New York City's Harlem district, and was raised in East Elmhurst, in the Queens section of the city. He is the son of Dolores (Dickenson), a New York Telephone manager, and Lester Williams, a payroll operations director. As a child, he realized he wanted to act after playing the cowardly lion in his school's production of "The Wizard of Oz." He later enrolled in New York's High School of the Performing Arts and continued his studies at Juilliard. After graduation, he was hired as an understudy for Tullus Aufidius in William Shakespeare's "Coriolanus." In 1992, he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical for his role in the Broadway play "Jelly's Last Jam." Keith's extraordinary range of talent is evidenced by his body of work. His films include "The Princess and the Frog", "Coraline", and "Crash". Other credits are "Barbershop", "Agent Cody Banks", and "Requiem for a Dream". Prior to that, Keith was featured in "There's Something About Mary", "Armageddon" and "Dead Presidents". Keith has received Emmy Awards for his narration of two Ken Burns documentaries: "The War" and "Unforgivable Blackness", and was nominated for his narration of "Jazz". He received a daytime Emmy nomination for his work in Showtime's "The Tiger Wood's Story". Keith David gained wide attention in 1986 for his role as King in the Oscar winning film "Platoon". Other of his over 75 film credits includes "Men at Work", "Clockers", and "Pitch Black". Keith has also worked with notable directors including Clint Eastwood ("Bird"), Steven Spielberg ("Always") and John Carpenter ("The Thing" and "They Live"). Born in Harlem, New York and raised in East Elmhurst, Queens, Keith sang in the all borough choir as a boy. He knew he wanted to act at the age of nine when he appeared as the cowardly lion in his school's production of "The Wizard of Oz". He later attended New York's famed High School of the Performing Arts and then graduated from Juilliard. There he studied under such voice and speech teachers as Robert Williams and Edith Skinner.

Jimmy Hayward is known for his work on Horton Hears a Who! (2008), Jonah Hex (2010) and Free Birds (2013).