Jeff Daniels
Born: February 19 1955
Where: Chelsea, Michigan, USA
The actor captured the imagination of audiences as the matinee star who steps out of the screen in Woody Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo.
It was a lucky break for Daniels because Michael Keaton was originally cast in the role as Mia Farrow's salvation - but dropped out.
After studying at Central Michegan University, he made his way to New York and achieved a certain success in the theatre.
He won a 1982 Obie Award for his one man performance in a revival of Dalton Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun.
Daniels made his screen debut in Milos Forman's Ragtime but raised his profile as Debra Winger's philandering husband in Terms of Endearment in 1983.
After Woody Allen cast him in The Purple Rose of Cairo, he attracted broader attention in Jonathan Demme's offbeat comedy-thriller, Something Wild.
Regular roles followed including turns in the Allen's Radio Days, the spider thriller Arachnophobia and the action thriller Speed.
He starred opposite Demi Moore in the 1991 romantic fantasy The Butcher's Wife and followed it will the Civil War drama Gettysburg.
In 1994, Daniels took a radical turn away from drama to star in the Farrelly brothers hit gross-out comedy Dumb and Dumber.
Two years later he starred in the big screen adaptation of 101 Dalmatians and went on to appear in the sci-fi drama Pleasantville.
In 2002, he starred in Clint Eatwood's Blook Work and also appeared in the literary drama The Hours as Louis Waters.
Recent work includes the domestic drama Imaginary Heroes with Sigourney Weaver and Emile Hirsch.
