James Gandolfini

It's rare that someone with character-actor looks becomes a bona fide leading man, but Gandolfini's career has been anything but ordinary. In 1992 the New Jersey-born thespian made both his Broadway (Streetcar Named Desire) and big-screen (Stranger Among Us) debuts. He played a mobster in the latter, which turned out to be prophetic casting. Throughout the '90s the burly, balding actor carved out a solid career as a supporting player until he became a megastar overnight as a gangster on the groundbreaking series The Sopranos. Along with the accolades and awards came media scrutiny of his personal life, including his alcohol and drug abuse and his acrimonious 2002 divorce, during which his wife accused him of adultery.