Bebe Neuwirth
(Aunt Nora)

Born Beatrice Neuwirth in Newark, N.J., Bebe Neuwirth started studying ballet at the age of five. While still in primary school, she danced with the Princeton Ballet Company in productions of Peter and the Wolf, The Nutcracker and Coppelia. Neuwirth also cut her teeth acting in community theater musicals. After graduating from Princeton High School, she attended the prestigious Julliard School.

In 1986, Neuwirth made a guest appearance on Cheers as uptight psychologist Lilith Crane; the guest appearance turned into a regular role that brought her two Emmys. While Neuwirth told the Toronto Sun that she's not now interested in "doing a TV show with any regularity," she has returned to the character for guest appearances on the Cheers spin-off, Frazier.

In addition to her film and television work, Neuwirth is an accomplished stage actress. In 1980, she made her Broadway debut in the role of Sheila in A Chorus Line. She won a Tony in 1986 for Sweet Charity. After her run on Cheers ended in 1993, Neuwirth headed back to the stage. In 1994 she starred in the stage musical version of Kiss of the Spider Woman in London and Damn Yankees on Broadway. In 1996, she took the lead in the Broadway revival of the musical Chicago, which brought her a second Tony Award.

While Neuwirth's stage career has flourished in recent years, she's taken time out to work on her film career as well. Her post-Cheers resume includes the teen horror film The Faculty, as well as Spike Lee's Summer of Sam and Barry Levinson's Liberty Heights. Neuwirth's next film is 2002's Tadpole. Also starring Sigourney Weaver and John Ritter, the film made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2002.