Kathryn Morris

Before she was cast in her career-making role as Detective Lilly Rush - the cool, tough-talking cop on "Cold Case" (NBC, 2003-10) - actress Kathryn Morris spent more than a decade climbing the rungs of episodic television while appearing in as many B-grade horror flicks as possible. Though her official performing career began as a member of Morris Code, the family gospel group formed by her parents, Morris broke through with key feature roles, thanks to her productive working relationship with director Rod Lurie, who cast the actress in her first film, "Deterrence" (2000). Lurie immediately cast her in his second feature, "The Contender" (2000), which allowed Morris to be discovered by Steven Spielberg. It was the famed director who helped propel her career forward by casting her in the blockbuster sci-fi hit, "Minority Report" (2002). But all was prologue to "Cold Case," which became a top-rated hit for the procedural-heavy CBS and turned Morris into a household name.