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Tracy Letts

Age: 48

Occupation: Actor and playwright

The longtime Steppenwolf ensemble member added another Tony to his shelf last year for his star turn in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? But outside of theatre circles, millions of TV viewers now recognize him from his bombastic role in Homeland. And while some critics panned the Hollywood version of his Pulitzer- and Tony-winning stage epic August: Osage County, Letts couldn’t care less. After all, he’s always seemed to thrive when he’s the underdog. Good thing, since he’s churning out new work: juggling a screenplay based on John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath while shopping a new play, The Scavenger’s Daughter.