Some of the biggest stars of Hollywood owe their name, fame and bank balance to the penchant for introducing freshers shown by directors like Francis Ford Coppola, Roger Corman, Barry Levinson, Paul Veerhoven, Brian De Palma, George Lucas, Steven Speilberg and Spike Lee to name just some names.

And what is more, the films of these directors, with fresh, ensemble casts, have since gone down in movie annals as classics, getting repeated late night television screenings even today.

Take for instance Coppola's 1983 film The Outsiders, which starred Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze -- before they became Cruise, Dillon, Estevez, Lowe and Swayze, that is. At the time, Cruise was also working in a movie called Taps, in which he played the militant student at cadet school. Interestingly, his co-star in Taps was one Sean Penn, who played one of the many cadets in the school, and who then went on to become a star in his own right with Fast Times in Ridgemont High. And while on Fast Times..., Nicholas Cage, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Eric Stolz and Forest Whitaker were among a plethora of newcomers who made their bones in this high school drama, and who then went on to go places.

Jack Nicholson's speciality -- playing psychotics -- was pretty much foreshadowed in his debut, as a psychotic patient in Roger Corman's Little Shop of Horrors. That film gave Nicholson his break, though it was only with Easy Rider that he gained instant fame. This on-the-road cult classic marked the start of a seventies trend, of roadie movies -- and, incidentally, also gave Peter Fonda his first big break.

Steven Speilberg was small and unknown, when he began making films with small, unknown actors and actresses. Vide Whoopie Goldberg, who made her debut in The Colour Purple and Drew Barrymore who started off as a child artiste with ET.

Richard Dreyfuss, who acted in Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, was discovered by Speilberg's friend and mentor George Lucas.

Lucas himself made his debut with American Graffitti, which kickstarted the careers of newcomers like Drefuss and Harrison Ford, who would later act in the Star Wars trilogy by Lucas. Another unknown member of the cast was Ron Howard, who was to become the director of such blockbusters as Apollo 13 and Ransom.

Or take School Ties, the 1992 flick that launched the careers of Brendan Fraser, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. The movie established Fraser, but Damon and Affleck rose to fame with the subsequent Good Will Hunting, which they co-wrote and starred in. Damon also starred in Francis Coppola's Rainmaker, based on the John Grisham novel.

Then there's John Travolta, who got his break courtesy the Brian De Palma film Carrie (which incidentally was the screen adaptation of Stephen King's debut novel). Travolta however had to wait three more years, till 1975, to become a household name with Grease.

Martin Scorsese launched Harvey Kietel in his debut film Who's That Knocking at My Door? and then went on to give Robert De Niro the film that put him way up there with Mean Streets, which in turn was followed by the classic Taxi Driver. And while on debuts, De Niro got his courtesy Brian De Palma with Greetings.

Gene Hackman played small parts for over a decade, serving his apprenticeship in 16 films which included the smash hit Bonnie and Clyde starring Warren Beaty (who also produced the film) and Faye Dunaway. And then became an overnight star with The French Connection. And incidentally, Dunaway and Jeff Bridges careers were launched together in the Peter Bogdanovich classic The Last Picture Show.

Like Hackman, Sylvester Stallone hung around, doing bit parts in movies like Death Race 2000 and Capone until he wrote and starred in his big hit, Rocky.

Brad Pitt made his debut in a small but striking role in the Geena Davis-Susan Sarandon starrer Thelma and Louise, before Robert Redford rediscovered him in the Cannes favourite A River Runs Through It. Leonardo Di Caprio, meanwhile, made his early strides through critically acclaimed films like What's Eating Gilbert Grape? and This Boy's Life, with De Niro for company in the latter film, before he went on to become a household name with Titanic.