Name at birth: Lea Michele Sarfati

Lea Michele plays tightly-wound super-student Rachel Berry in the TV series Glee. By the time that series started in 2009, Michele was already a veteran of the New York stage having appeared as a kid in Broadway productions of Ragtime, Les Miserables and Fiddler on the Roof. The success of Glee put her in the spotlight as the show's female lead, and Michele earned a Golden Globe nomination and an Emmy nomination in 2010.