Birthday's to share this week : 3rd - 9th September 2017

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Michael Keaton does on 5th September - check out my tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 66, 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 3rd September

• Jean-Pierre Jeunet - Born 1953, turns 64 - Director | Writer | Producer 
• Charlie Sheen - Born 1965, turns 52 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Noah Baumbach - Born 1969, turns 48 - Writer | Director | Producer | Actor
• Garrett Hedlund - Born 1984, turns 33 - Actor | Singer
• Pauline Collins - Born 1940, turns 77 - Actress 

Monday 4th September

• Charlotte Le Bon - Born 1986, turns 31 - Actress
• Damon Wyans - Born 1960, turns 57 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director   
• Noah Taylor - Born 1969, turns 48 - Actor

Tuesday 5th September

• George Lazenby - Born 1939, turns 78 - Actor | Writer | Producer
• Werner Herzog - Born 1942, turns 75 - Director | Writer | Actor | Producer
• Michael Keaton - Born 1951, turns 66 - Actor | Producer | Director 
• Paddy Considine - Born 1973, turns 44 - Actor | Writer | Director
• Raquel Welch - Born 1940, turns 77 - Actress | Singer
• Rose McGowan - Born 1973, turns 44 - Actress | Singer | Writer
• Carice van Houten - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actress  

Wednesday 6th September

• Rosie Perez - Born 1964, turns 53 - Actress | Producer | Director | Writer | Choreographer
• Naomi Harris - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actress
• Idris Elba - Born 1972, turns 45 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer  

Thursday 7th September

• Dario Argento - Born 1940, turns 77 - Writer | Director | Producer | Actor | Composer
• Toby Jones - Born 1966, turns 51 - Actor
• Tom Everett Scott - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Alex Kurtzman - Born 1973, turns 44 - Producer | Writer | Director
• Julie Kavner - Born 1950, turns 67 - Actress | Singer
• Angie Everhart - Born 1969, turns 48 - Actress | Producer
• Evan Rachel Wood - Born 1987, turns 30 - Actress | Singer  

Friday 8th September

• Martin Freeman - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actor | Singer  
• David Arquette - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer

Saturday 9th September

• Topol - Born 1935, turns 82 - Actor | Producer | Singer 
• Hugh Grant - Born 1960, turns 57 - Actor | Singer
• Adam Sandler - Born 1966, turns 51 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer | Songwriter | Composer
• Michelle Williams - Born 1980, turns 37 - Actress | Singer
• Zoe Kazan - Born 1983, turns 34 - Actress | Writer | Producer

Michael John Douglas was born in Coraopolis, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, west of Pittsburgh, to mother Leona Loftus, a housewife and homemaker, and father George Douglas a civil engineer and surveyor. He is the youngest of seven children. He attended Montour High School located in the Robinson Township of Allegheny County, and thereafter he attended Kent State University, in Kent, Ohio where he studied speech for two years and appeared in several stage productions during that time before dropping out and making his way back to Pittsburgh.  

After trying his hand at stand-up comedy and proving unsuccessful at that venture he spent a time as a television cameraman and then decided he would rather appear in front of the camera rather than behind one. He gained his first television role in local Pittsburgh public television programmes, including on 'Mister Rogers' Neighbourhood' in 1975, on which he also served as a Production Assistant, and then on five episodes of 'All's Fair', and then the likes of 'Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman', sitcoms 'Maude', 'The Tony Randall Show', the comedy variety show 'Mary' hosted and starring Mary Tyler Moore, and then drama 'Family'. Keaton got his first big screen break in a small role in the Joan Rivers Co-Written and Directed 'Rabbit Test' with Billy Crystal and Roddy McDowell. It was about this time that the young aspiring Actor relocated himself to Los Angeles, but realising that there was another Michael Douglas rising through the ranks of film and television stardom, as well as a television talk show host and Actor named Mike Douglas, Keaton needed a stage name to satisfy the Screen Actors Guild guidelines. So while allegedly flicking through a magazine article in which Actress Diane Keaton was profiled, he decided that Keaton was a reasonable enough sounding surname for him to adopt and so from that point forward Michael Douglas became Michael Keaton, although he has never officially changed his name.

Next up, he scored a regular slot of nine episodes on the short lived sitcom 'Working Stiffs' with James Belushi, and then eleven episodes on 'The Mary Tyler Moore Hour'. Both of these aired in 1979. In 1982 he starred as Murphy in the single season of six episodes of 'Report to Murphy' as well as his next big screen role in the Ron Howard Directed comedy film 'Night Shift' with Henry Winkler and Shelley Long. His performance here earned him some critical praise, leading to his next starring role in 'Mr. Mom' opposite Teri Garr, then 'Johnny Dangerously' with Danny DeVito and Peter Boyle, followed by the Ron Howard Directed 'Gung Ho' with Mimi Rogers and John Turturro, and then 'Touch and Go' and 'The Squeeze'. Perhaps his breakout role came in 1988 when Director Tim Burton cast Keaton as Betelgeuse in the fantasy comedy offering 'Beetlejuice' alongside Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis. The film was critically acclaimed as was Keaton's performance, and it took US$74M from its US$15M budget outlay making it a financial winner too. Later that same year saw Keaton star with Morgan Freeman in 'Clean and Sober' in which his dramatic performance was also acclaimed.

1989 saw Keaton team up with Tim Burton once again in the DC Comics big screen adaptation of 'Batman'. Keaton's casting was the subject of much controversy amongst the legions of ardent Batman fans, believing that the Actor has become typecast as a comedy Actor, and was therefore unable to portray a serious role of this nature. Starring alongside Jack Nicholson as The Joker, Kim Bassinger, Billy Dee Williams, Jack Palance and Jerry Hall, Keaton proved the naysayers wrong and delivered a critically praised performance, and the film grossed US$412M off the back of its US$35M budget and became the fifth highest grossing film of all time, at the time of its release. It also picked up ten award wins including the Oscar for Best Art Direction, and a further 26 nominations. Keaton reprised his role once again in 1992's 'Batman Returns' for Tim Burton once again and this time starring Danny DeVito as The Penguin, Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman and Christopher Walken. The second instalment grossed US$267M from its US$80M budget. After this second instalment Keaton bowed out of the burgeoning franchise to make way for Val Kilmer in 'Batman Forever' in 1995 and George Clooney in 1997's 'Batman and Robin' both Directed by Joel Schumacher.

In between time there was John Schlesinger's Directed psychological thriller 'Pacific Heights' with Melanie Griffith and Matthew Modine; 'One Good Cop' with Rene Russo; the Kenneth Branagh Directed, Co-Produced, Written for the screen and starring RomCom based on the Shakespeare play 'Much Ado About Nothing' in 1993 with an ensemble cast including Emma Thomson, Denzel Washington, Keanu Reeves, Ben Elton, Richard Briers, Imelda Staunton, Brian Blessed and Kate Beckinsale. This in turn led to 'My Life' with Nicole Kidman, 'The Paper' for Director Ron Howard again with Robert Duvall, Randy Quaid, Glenn Close, Marisa Tomei and Jason Alexander. RomCom 'Speechless' came next, then 'Multiplicity' for Director Harold Ramis.

'Jackie Brown' for Screenwriter and Director Quentin Tarantino came along in 1997 with Robert De Niro, Samuel L. Jackson, Bridget Fonda, Pam Grier and Robert Forster in this Elmore Leonard adapted story. Keaton plays the role of Agent Ray Nicolette - a role he would play again the following year in the Steven Soderbergh Directed crime comedy caper 'Out of Sight' with George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Ving Rhames and Don Cheadle. 'Desperate Measures' with Andy Garcia, and Christmas offering 'Jack Frost' closed out the decade. 

2002 offered up 'A Shot at Glory', the HBO Produced television movie 'Live from Baghdad' with Helena Bonham Carter, direct to video offering 'Quicksand' with Michael Caine, his turn as US President John Mackenzie in 'First Daughter' alongside Katie Holmes, the supernatural horror film 'White Noise', then a reboot of the much loved 'Herbie' franchise whose origins date back to 1968 with 'Herbie : Fully Loaded' in 2005 and also starring Lindsay Lohan, Matt Dillon and Justin Long. 'Game 6' was also released in 2005 with Robert Downey Jnr. and Griffin Dunne, then the Dramedy 'The Last Time' with Brendan Fraser and Neal McDonough, and then 'The Merry Gentleman' which Keaton also Directs for the first time. RomCom 'Post Grad' and the action comedy 'The Other Guys' with Mark Wahlberg, Will Ferrell, Samuel L. Jackson, Steve Coogan and Dwayne Johnson saw out another decade.

2014 saw 'Blindsided', then the remake of the 1987 part man, part machine, all cop shoot first ask questions later 'Robocop' with Joel Kinnaman in the title role and also starring Gary Oldman, Samuel L. Jackson, Jackie Earle Haley, and Abbie Cornish, and then 'Need for Speed' with Aaron Paul, Dominic Cooper and Imogen Poots. That same year came the highly acclaimed the world over 'Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)' with Keaton's lead role as Riggan Thomson, an Actor famed for his performance back in the day as the iconic titular superhero, 'Birdman'. As Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written by Alejandro G. Inarritu the film also starred Edward Norton, Zach Galifianakis, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts, Amy Ryan and Andrea Riseborough. The film picked up four Academy Award wins and five nominations, Keaton won the Golden Globe for his performance and was nominated too for the Oscar and the BAFTA in a total haul of 193 award wins and 277 other nominations.

Keaton followed this up straight away with another turn in a highly acclaimed film - 'Spotlight' with Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber, Stanley Tucci, Billy Crudup, John Slattery and Rachel McAdams in this true Boston Globe newspaper investigative journalism piece into child sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, that blew the lid off such scandals world wide and the repercussions of which are still being seen today. The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay amongst its total awards tally of 119 wins and 136 further nominations, and it recovered US$93M for its US$20M budget investment.

The story behind the McDonald's fast food empire came next in 2016 in 'The Founder' with Keaton playing businessman Ray Kroc who ousts control of the fledgling company from Richard and Maurice McDonald and turned it into the global success story it is today. And then bringing us up to date is his most recent run as Adrian Toomes/Vulture in this second reboot of the 'Spider-Man' franchise with the Jon Watts Directed 'Spider-Man : Homecoming' released back in July having cost US$175M and so far grossing US$738M. The film stars Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man with Robert Downey Jnr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Jon Favreau, Marisa Tomei and Zendaya.

Next up for Keaton is action thriller 'American Assassin' due for imminent release as Directed by Michael Cuesta and starring Dylan O'Brien, Taylor Kitsch and David Suchet; and due for release in 2019 and currently filming is the live action fantasy adventure film 'Dumbo' based largely on the 1941 Walt Disney animated classic with Tim Burton on Director duties and also starring Colin Farrell, Danny DeVito, Alan Arkin, and Eva Green. In between time Keaton has lent his voice talents to the English language version of the Japanese animated comedy adventure film 'Porco Rosso' in 2005, to the 2006 Pixar Animation 'Cars' featuring an all star voice cast, to the voice of Ken in the Pixar Animation 'Toy Story 3' in 2010 which went on to gross US$1.07B off the back of a US$200M production budget, and the voice of Walter Nelson in the Illumination Entertainment animated spin-off to the 'Despicable Me' franchise with 'Minions' which from a budget of US$74M grossed worldwide US$1.17B. He has also lent his voice talents over the years to single episodes of 'The Simpsons', 'King of the Hill', 'Gary the Rat' and had guest appearances on 'Frasier', 'The Company' and '30 Rock'.

All up Keaton has 76 Acting credits to his name, three as Producer and one as Director. He has amassed a haul of 64 award wins and a further 39 nominations including the nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role for 'Birdman', he won the Golden Globe for the same role and was also nominated for 'Live from Baghdad', was nominated for the BAFTA for 'Birdman', won the AACTA for it, and won the SAG Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Cast for both 'Birdman' and 'Spotlight' as well the nod for Best Lead Actor in 'Birdman' and 'The Company'. Keaton was married to Actress Caroline McWilliams from 1982 to 1990 and with whom they had a son together, Sean Douglas born in 1983.

Michael Keaton - an avid fly fisherman, mountain biker, horse rider, golfer and snowboarder; and is a keen fan of the 'Pittsburgh Pirates' baseball team, the 'Pittsburgh Penguins' ice hockey team and the 'Pittsburgh Steelers' American football team. Was either considered for, or turned down leading roles in more films than you could care to mention including 'Ghostbusters', 'Speed', 'The Fly', 'When Harry Met Sally', 'Philadelphia', 'Splash', 'Police Academy', 'JFK', 'Cutthroat Island', 'Mars Attacks', 'Pirates of the Caribbean' and television series 'Lost', and was in his early years typecast in RomCom's or comedies, but has since proven himself across multiple genres and in dramatic and thrilling roles, and winning the accolades and gaining the recognition to prove it. Enjoying your second wind of great roles that continue to surprise and delight your audience, keep up the good work Michael, and a very Happy Birthday to you, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-