Chris Noth

The actor is probably best known as Sarah Jessica Parker's charming on-off suitor Mr Big in the hit series Sex in the City.

On the big screen, he starred alongside Tom Hanks in Castaway and was "the perfect man" in the romantic comedy of the same name.

The son of a CBS news reporter, he lived in England, Yugoslavia and Spain as a child before studying at Marboro College in South Vermont, USA.

Roles in college productions included an archangel in Faust before he studied with Sanford Meisner at the Neighbourhood Playhouse before being accepted at Yale School of Drama.

He made his big screen debut as a male prostitute in the 1982 rock movie Smithereens but only attracted attention four years later in the comedy Off Beat.

For the next few years he had regular bit part on film and TV before landing a featured role in the hit TV series Law and Order in 1989.

In 1995, he shocked fans when he decided to quit playing Detective Mike Logan in favour of other roles.

In 2000, he played Jerry Lovett in Cast Away and was Uncle Jack in the thriller The Glass House.

In 1998, he began playing Mr Big in Sex in the City - a role that attracted international acclaim.

He played the dad in 2004 The Tooth Fairy and was Uncle Ben opposite Heather Locklear and Hilary Duff in The Perfect Man the following year.