Birthday's to share this week : 11th - 17th June 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Kodi Smit-McPhee does on 13th June - check out my tribute to this Birthday Lad turning 21, 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 11th June

• Hugh Laurie - Born 1959, turns 58 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director | Singer
• Peter Dinklage - Born 1969, turns 48 - Actor | Producer
• Shia LaBeouf - Born 1986, turns 31 - Actor | Director | Producer | Writer   

Monday 12th June

• Richard Ayoade - Born 1977, turns 40 - Actor | Writer | Director | Producer
• Dave Franco - Born 1985, turns 32 - Actor | Writer | Producer
• Frances O'Connor - Born 1967, turns 50 - Actress  

Tuesday 13th June

• Malcolm McDowell - Born 1943, turns 74 - Actor | Producer
• Stellan Skarsgard - Born1951, turns 66 - Actor | Producer
• Tim Allen - Born 1953, turns 64 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Chris Evans - Born 1981, turns 36 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Aaron Taylor-Johnson - Born 1990, turns 27 - Actor 
• Kodi Smit-McPhee - Born 1996, turns 21 - Actor
• Ally Sheedy - Born 1962, turns 55 - Actress 
• Kathy Burke - Born 1964, turns 53 - Actress | Writer | Director | Producer  
• Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen - Born 1986, turns 31 - Actresses | Producers | Twin Sisters 

Wednesday 14th June

• Diablo Cody - Born 1978, turns 39 - Writer | Producer | Director
• Donald Trump - Born 1946, turns 71 - Actor | Producer | Television Personality | President of the USA | Leader of the Free World   

Thursday 15th June

• Jim Belushi - Born 1954, turns 63 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director | 
• Ice Cube (aka O'Shea Jackson) - Born 1969, turns 48 - Singer | Songwriter | Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Jake Busey - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actor | Producer
• Neil Patrick Harris - Born 1973, turns 44 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director | Singer
• Helen Hunt - Born 1963, turns 54 - Actress | Director | Producer | Writer 
• Courteney Cox - Born 1964, turns 53 - Actress | Producer | Director | Singer  

Friday 16th June

• James Bolam - Born 1935, turns 82 - Actor 
• Arnold Vosloo - Born 1962, turns 55 - Actor | Producer
• John Choo - Born 1972, turns 45 - Actor | Producer
• Daniel Bruhl - Born 1978, turns 39 - Actor | Producer   

Saturday 17th June

• Ken Loach - Born 1936, turns 81 - Director | Writer | Producer
• Thomas Haden Church - Born 1960, turns 57 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Greg Kinnear - Born 1963, turns 54 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Jason Patric - Born 1966, turns 51 - Actor 
• Will Forte - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Singer
• Louis Leterrier - Born 1973, turns 44 - Director | Producer 
• Scott Adkins - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actor | Producer

Kodi Smit-McPhee was born in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia to mother Sonja and father Andy McPhee - an Actor and professional wrestler. Kodi has an older sister, Sianoa, born in early 1992, and she is an Actress, Singer and Songwriter. When the young Kodi was about three years of age the family unit relocated to Melbourne.

Smit-McPhee's debut screen appearance came in the 2006 Stuart McDonald Directed 52 minute short film 'Stranded', and this was followed up by 'Fatal Contact : Bird Flu in America' with Joely Richardson and Stacy Keach. Another short film of fifteen minutes also appeared in 2006 - 'End of Town' and then four episodes on the first and only season of television series 'Monarch Cove', before biographical drama 'The King' about the story of Graham Kennedy, described as Australia's first and greatest home grown television superstar. These in turn led to Smit-McPhee's breakout role at the tender age of ten in the Richard Roxburgh biographical drama 'Romulus, My Father' playing the young son Raimond Gaita to father Romulus (Eric Bana) and mother Christina (Franka Potenta). Smit-McPhee won the Young Actors Award at the 2007 Australian Film Institute Awards, was also nominated for Best Lead Actor, and won a Special Achievement Award at the Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards.  

'The Tender Hook' followed in 2008 with Rose Byrne and Hugo Weaving, and then another awards worthy performance in John Hillcoat's 2009 post-apocalyptic world adventure drama 'The Road' based on the Cormac McCarthy novel and starring alongside Viggo Mortensen, Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce and Charlize Theron. 

'Matching Jack' came next in 2010 with Richard Roxburgh, Colin Friels and James Nesbitt. More award wins and nominations followed for his performance in the 2010 Matt Reeves Written and Directed remake of the earlier 2008 Swedish film 'Let the Right One In', with horror mystery 'Let Me In' opposite Chloe Grace Moretz and Richard Jenkins. Aussie drama film 'Dead Europe' followed as did live action/animated Sci-Fi drama film 'The Congress' with Robin Wright, Paul Giamatti, John Hamm, Danny Huston and Harvey Keitel. 'Romeo & Juliet' with Hailee Steinfeld, Damian Lewis, Stellan Skarsgard and Paul Giamatti also arrived at our screens in 2013, as did 'A Birder's Guide to Everything' with Ben Kingsley. 

2014 saw Smit-McPhee work with Matt Reeves again in 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' with Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Toby Kebbell and Keri Russell. The same year also saw 'All the Wilderness' with Danny DeVito, Virginia Madsen and Isabelle Fuhrman, and then Sci-Fi post-drought apocalypse actioner 'Young Ones' with Michael Shannon, Nicholas Hoult and Elle Fanning. 

Western 'Slow West' as Directed and Written by John Maclean was released in 2015 and also starred Michael Fassbender, Ben Mendelssohn, and this lead into the seven part one hundredth anniversary television drama mini-series special 'Gallipoli' with Smit-McPhee taking a lead role as seventeen year old Thomas 'Tolly' Johnson who lies about his age so that he can enlist in the First World War effort with his brother, and ultimately fight at Gallipoli in the raging, bloody and long drawn out battle that helped create the legend of the ANZAC's.

In 2016 Smit-McPhee starred as Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler in Bryan Singer's 'X-Men : Apocalypse' based on the popular and long running film franchise founded on the Marvel Comics characters. This ninth film in the 'X-Men' franchise stars an ensemble cast that you will be well aware of, and took US$544M at the global Box Office. 

Next up for Smit-McPhee is 'The Solutrean' Written and Directed by Albert Hughes and due for release towards the back end of this year. The film tells the survival story set 20,000 years ago during the last Ice Age as a young caveman struggles against the elements to find his way home after a hunting expedition goes awry. 

All up Smit-McPhee has 26 Acting credits to his name, having lent his voice talents also to the animated features 'ParaNorman' and 'Maya the Bee Movie'. He has already amassed three award wins for his performances in 'Romulus, My Father' and 'Let Me In' plus a further 23 nominations. Kodi is now a resident of Los Angeles, California where he lives with this Actress sister. 

Kodi Smit-McPhee - the young lad from Adelaide has done good; just 21 years of age and already has worked with some of the best Acting and Directorial talent in the business, and, has the accolades to prove it; is a star on the rise; in demand and sought after; and has got the talent to work across just about all genres. Happy 21st Birthday to you Kodi, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-