Model turned actor and TV producer Ashton Kutcher is the first to admit he's a very lucky man. In the mid-1990s he auditioned for several U.S. TV series before joining "That '70s Show," which in 1998 launched his career as a nationally known face.

Kutcher gambled by departing "That '70s Show" in 2005, before its run had ended. How many TV stars have prematurely exited TV success, hoping to capture even greater success as movie stars, but failed? The list includes Farrah Fawcett, David Caruso and many, many others — but not Ashton Kutcher.

Of course he didn't become a nationally — and internationally — known name until he hooked up with older woman and former movie superstar Demi Moore in 2003. As a rising screen star, Ashton had struck a sexy nerve with the youth audience. He often topped polls of who was currently hot or sexy, though his movies such as "Coming Soon" (1999), "Reindeer Games" (2000) and "Down To You" (also 2000) weren't big hits and at first he was cast in supporting roles. But the media ate up the story of his dating, and engagement with, Moore, whose own career had sustained a boost in the late 1980s with her previous marriage to screen icon Bruce Willis.