Mara Wilson

When she was five years old, Mara Wilson saw her brother Danny acting in a feature film and decided she wanted to do that as well. Danny has since tired of acting, but Mara Wilson became one of the hottest kid actors of the 1990s thanks to her performance as the heavy-tongued, "Stuart Little"-loving youngest tot of Robin Williams and Sally Field in "Mrs. Doubtfire" (1993).

Wilson, who hails from Los Angeles, acted in a number of TV commercials (including Oscar Mayer, Texaco and Pound Puppies) before earning her first "break" playing the daughter of Russian immigrants for whom Matt (Doug Savant) must care on several episodes of "Melrose Place" (Fox, 1993). She filmed a TV-movie, "A Time to Heal" (NBC, 1994), in which she was the daughter of a woman who has a stroke trying to give birth to her second child which aired after the release of "Mrs. Doubtfire," Wilson's third project.

Her performance as the daughter of divorcing parents earned her much praise and attention. Wilson's lisping delivery might, on the surface, appear too cute, but combined with eyes which speak 1,000 emotions starting with pathos, the combination works. Wilson went on to star in John Hughes' 1994 remake of "Miracle on 34th Street," assuming the Natalie Wood role of a skeptical, even cynical, child who comes to believe in Santa Claus.

It was almost two years before she was seen again in features, this time in the title role of "Matilda" (1996), a girl with telekinetic powers based on a Roald Dahl children's book. After a four-year absence, she returned to the big screen playing Peter Fonda's pre-teen granddaughter in "Thomas and the Magic Railroad" (2000).