Birthday's to share this week : 5th - 11th February 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Damian Lewis does on 11th February - check out my tribute to this Birthday Lad turning 46, at the end of this feature.

Do you also share your birthday with a well known, highly regarded & famous Actor or Actress; share your special day with a Director, Producer, Writer, Cinematographer, Singer/Songwriter or Composer of repute; or share an interest in whoever might notch up another year in the coming seven days? Then, look no further! Whilst there will be too many to mention in this small but not insignificant and beautifully written and presented Blog, here are the more notable and noteworthy icons of the big screen, and the small screen, that you will recognise, and that you might just share your birthday with in the week ahead. If so, Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online!

Sunday 5th February

• Michael Mann - Born 1943, turns 74 - Director | Producer | Writer | Cameraman
• Tom Wilkinson - Born 1948, turns 69 - Actor
• Michael Sheen - Born 1969, turns 48 - Actor | Producer
• Tony Jaa - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director | Stuntman
• Charlotte Rampling - Born 1946, turns 71 - Actress
• Barbara Hershey - Born 1948, turns 69 - Actress
• Jennifer Jason Leigh - Born 1962, turns 55 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Director
• Laura Linney - Born 1964, turns 53 - Actress | Producer

Monday 6th February

• Gail Hunnicutt - Born 1943, turns 74 - Actress
• Jim Sheridan - Born 1949, turns 68 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Dane DeHaan - Born 1986, turns 31 - Actor  

Tuesday 7th February

• James Spader - Born 1960, turns 57 - Actor | Producer
• Eddie Izzard - Born 1962, turns 55 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Chris Rock - Born 1965, turns 52 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director | Singer | Songwriter
• Ashton Kutcher - Born 1978, turns 39 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer  

Wednesday 8th February

• John Williams - Born 1932, turns 85 - Composer | Musician | Songwriter
• Nick Nolte - Born 1941, turns 76 - Actor | Producer
• Seth Green - Born 1974, turns 43 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director | Singer
• Mary Steenbergen - Born 1953, turns 64 - Actress | Producer | Singer | Songwriter  

Thursday 9th February

• Mia Farrow - Born 1945, turns 72 - Actress
• Joe Pesci - Born 1943, turns 74 - Actor
• Ciaran Hinds - Born 1953, turns 64 - Actor
• Tom Hiddleston - Born 1981, turns 36 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Michael B. Jordan - Born 1987, turns 30 - Actor   

Friday 10th February

• Robert Wagner - Born 1930, turns 87 - Actor | Producer
• Michael Apted - Born 1941, turns 76 - Director | Producer
• Alexander Payne - Born 1961, turns 56 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Laura Dern - Born 1967, turns 50 - Actress | Producer | Writer 
• Elizabeth Banks - Born 1974, turns 43 - Actress | Producer | Director
• Emma Roberts - Born 1991, turns 26 - Actress
• Chloe Grace Moretz - Born 1997, turns 20 - Actress 

Saturday 11th February

• Jennifer Aniston - Born 1969, turns 48 - Actress | Producer | Singer
• Burt Reynolds - Born 1936, turns 81 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director | Singer
• Damian Lewis - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actor
• Taylor Lautner - Born 1992, turns 25 - Actor

Damian Watcyn Lewis was born in St. John's Wood, London, England to mother Charlotte Bowater and father John Watcyn Lewis a City of London Lloyd's Insurance Broker. His Grandfather on his mothers side was a Lord Mayor of London from 1969 to 1970 - Sir Ian Bowater. He was educated at the independent co-educational prep school Ashdown House in East Sussex and then the prestigious Eton College. He made his mind up to pursue an acting career at age sixteen, and he attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London from which he graduated in 1993. From there he worked for the Royal Shakespeare Company as a stage actor appearing in various plays by Shakespeare and Ibsen. Growing up he would often visit relatives in the USA during the English Summer holiday period.

He gained his first small screen role in the made for television film 'Micky Love' with Rik Mayall in the title role and also with Alan Cumming and Peter Capaldi. This led to one-off appearances on television series 'Agatha's Christie's Poirot', 'A Touch of Frost' and 'Life Force' seeing out the '90's, but not before his big screen debut in 'Robinson Crusoe' with Pierce Brosnan in the lead role. The early new decade saw eight episodes on 'Hearts and Bones' and then all ten episodes on the highly acclaimed WWII action drama series 'Band of Brothers'. Following this came the Stephen King adaptation of 'Dreamcatcher' in 2003 Directed by Lawrence Kasdan and starring Morgan Freeman, Timothy Olyphant, Tom Sizemore and Donnie Wahlberg.

'The Forsyte Saga' saw Lewis play Soames Forsyte in this television mini-series that spanned ten episodes chronicling three generations of an upper-middle class English family from 1870 through to 1920. 'Keane', 'Brides' and 'Chromophobia' came next with the latter also starring Ralph Fiennes, Ian Holm, Rhys Ifans, Ben Chaplin, Kristen Scott Thomas and Penelope Cruz in 2005. The two part mini-series of four British POW escaping from a German Prison Camp during WWII 'Colditz' saw Lewis star alongside Tom Hardy, Timothy West, Jason Priestly and James Fox. 

'An Unfinished Life' for Director Lasse Hallstrom saw Lewis co-star with Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman, Josh Lucas and Jennifer Lopez, before 2006's 'Alex Rider : Operation Stormbreaker' with an all star line up that also included Robbie Coltrane, Stephen Fry, Ewan McGregor, Bill Nighy, Mickey Rourke, Andy Serkis and Alicia Silverstone. 'The Situation', 'The Baker', 'The Escapist' came before a return to television with his role as Charlie Crews across two seasons and 32 episodes of 'Life' which saw his wrongly imprisoned police officer character freed and returned to the force after serving time.

Historical fantasy adventure offering 'Your Highness' came next in 2011 with all star line up comprising the likes of Charles Dance, James Franco, Danny McBride, Justin Theroux, Toby Jones, Natalie Portman and Zooey Deschanel and made back just over half its production budget receiving largely negative Reviews along the way. That same year came along 'Homeland' which Lewis headlined along with Claire Danes in which a bipolar CIA Agent becomes convinced that an American POW has been turned by al-Queda and plans to carry out a terrorist attack on American turf. Lewis starred in the first 37 episodes with the series continuing after his departure. The show was a huge hit garnering 54 award wins and another 155 nominations including Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy wins and nominations for Lewis's portrayal of US Marine Sergeant Nicholas Brody. 'Will' and TV Movie 'Stolen' also were released in 2011.

2012 saw the hard hitting London Metropolitan Police Flying Squad drama film based on the classic 1970's British television series 'The Sweeney' with Ray Winstone, Plan B, and Hayley Atwell. The film received very mixed Reviews and lacklustre Box Office receipts. The next year brought another adaptation of 'Romeo & Juliet', followed by 'The Silent Storm', then American Civil War mini-series 'To Appomattox' with Lewis playing William T. Sherman, the renowned General serving the Union Army. Werner Herzog's Bio-pic of Gertrude Bell's life 'Queen of the Desert' came next in 2015 with Nicole Kidman in the lead role as Bell, with James Franco, Robert Pattinson and Jenny Agutter also starring.

Acclaimed middle-ages historical drama 'Wolf Hall' followed with Mark Rylance in the lead role as Thomas Cromwell - chief adviser to the court of King Henry VIII as played by Lewis. The BBC 2 mini-series which ran for six episodes received eleven award wins and a further 41 nominations and also starred Claire Foy, Bernard Hill, Tom Holland and Jonathan Pryce.

'Bill' and 'Our Kind of Traitor' bring us up to date in terms of film roles with television drama series 'Billions' based on an ambitious and hugely successful hedge fund manager Bobby Axelrod (Lewis) and Charles Rhoades (Paul Giamatti) as the ruthless US Attorney who has a disliking for wealthy criminals who attempt to buy their way out of justice, as Axelrod is seemingly doing. The show has so far ran for just one season of twelve episodes, with Season Two premiering in the US later this month.

Next up on the film front is 'Ocean's Eight' for Director Gary Ross. A spin off of the successful 'Oceans 11, 12 and 13' film franchise this has the Ocean's team being all female led by Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock - and Danny Ocean's estranged sister) with her crew comprising Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Sarah Paulson, Helena Bonham Carter and Rihanna with Lewis playing chief villain in the piece, Debbie's ex-lover and the subject of the gang's daring heist. The film will also star Matt Damon, James Cordon, Richard Armitage and a bunch of cameo appearances. It is due for release in June 2018.

All up Lewis has five award wins including a Golden Globe for 'Homeland' and a further 28 nominations. He has 42 Acting credits to his name  and two as Producer. He married Actress Helen McCrory in 2007 and together that have a daughter Manon (born in 2006) and a son Gulliver (Born in 2007). In 2010 he became a Trade Justice Ambassador for Christian Aid and in 2014 HRH Queen Elizabeth II awarded Lewis an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in her Birthday Honours List for services to the world of British drama film and television.

Damian Lewis - was invited to dine at the Whitehouse with President Barack Obama on the strength of 'Homeland'; was mentioned briefly as the next Bond, James Bond; has a flawless American accent and is often cast as an American despite being English; plays the guitar, keyboard, golf and soccer and has represented his country in celebrity tournaments of both sports. A growing body of work as much on the small screen as on the big screen, more and more in demand, and already critically applauded for numerous performances - Happy Birthday to you Damian, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-