Jennifer Jason Leigh as Dorothy Parker

Campbell Scott as Robert Benchley

Matthew Broderick as Charles MacArthur

Peter Gallagher as Alan Campbell

Jennifer Beals as Gertrude Benchley

Andrew McCarthy as Eddie Parker

Wallace Shawn as Horatio Byrd

Martha Plimpton as Jane Grant

Sam Robards as Harold Ross

Lili Taylor as Edna Ferber

James Le Gros as Deems Taylor

Gwyneth Paltrow as Paula Hunt

Nick Cassavetes as Robert Sherwood

David Thornton as George S. Kaufman

Heather Graham as Mary Kennedy Taylor

Tom McGowan as Alexander Woollcott

Chip Zien as Franklin P. Adams

Gary Basaraba as Heywood Broun

Jane Adams as Ruth Hale

Stephen Baldwin as Roger Spalding

Matt Malloy as Marc Connelly

Rebecca Miller as Neysa McMein

Amelia Campbell as Mary Brandon Sherwood

David Gow as Donald Ogden Stewart

Leni Parker as Beatrice Kaufman

Jean-Michel Henry as Harpo Marx

Stanley Tucci as Fred Hunter

Mina Badie as Joanie Gerard

Randy Lowell as Alvan Barach

Keith Carradine as Will Rogers

Jon Favreau as Elmer Rice

Gabriel Gascon as Georges Attends

Harry Strandjofski as Home Movie Director

Bruce Dinsmore as Assistant Director

Matt Holland as Propman

Joe De Paul as Producer

Arthur Holden as Ward

Jack Langedijk as Valentine's Day Director

Howard Rosenstein as Actor

Eleanor Noble as Actress

Jesse Evans as Mail Clerk

Peter Benchley as Frank Crowninshield

Phillip Patton as Speakeasy Bartender

Sam Stone as Cab Driver (1922)

Natalie Strong as Nurse

Malcolm Gets as F. Scott Fitzgerald

Barbara Jones as Long Island Hostess

Maurice Podbrey as Long Island Investor

Walter Massey as Phillip the Producer

Gisèle Rousseau as Polly Adler

Ellen David as New Yorker Secretary

Domini Blythe as Actress in Mirror

Gregory Hlady as Russian Director

Mark Camacho as Writer #1

Bill Rowat as Writer #2

Robert Higden as Writer #3

Vanya Rose as Marcy

Cary Lawrence as June

Richard Jutras as Cab Driver (1958)

James Bradford as Host at Tribute

Michael McGill as Reporter #1

Harry Hill as Reporter #2

Roc LaFortune as Bartender (1958)

Cyndi Lauper as Picnic Guest (uncredited)