Michael Kitchen

Best known as Christopher Foyle, the tenacious detective at the center of the British TV drama "Foyle's War," Michael Kitchen first took to acting as a child. After performing with the National Youth Theater and Coventry's Belgrade Theater, he went on to train at the distinguished Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. While there he was honored with the Emile Littler Award, which honors a student who is deemed talented and professional, and snagged an agent. In short order, the promising young actor made his way onto British television with a string of one-offs and the occasional recurring role.

He's proven himself prolific in television, having worked in more than 80 programs since his debut, but Foyle has become his most popular role. "Foyle's War," which centers on detective Foyle's criminal investigations in the midst of an England torn asunder by World War II, debuted in 2002 and soon found a fervent audience that has helped make the show a long-running series. Kitchen has also made his mark in film, appearing in such popular features as the Oscar-winning biopic "Out of Africa," Mike Newell's Golden Globe-winning drama "Enchanted April," and the James Bond action-adventures "GoldenEye" and "The World is Not Enough."