Birthday's to share this week : 26th November-2nd December 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Zoe Kravitz does on 1st December - check out my tribute to this Actress Birthday Girl turning 29, 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 26th November

• Tina Turner (aka Anna Mae Bullock) - Born 1939, turns 78 - Singer | Songwriter | Actress
• Mark L. Lester - Born 1946, turns 71 - Producer | Director | Writer  

Monday 27th November

• John Alderton - Born 1940, turns 77 - Actor
• William Fichtner - Born 1956, turns 61 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Sharlto Copley - Born 1973, turns 44 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Kathryn Bigelow - Born 1951, turns 66 - Director | Producer | Writer  

Tuesday 28th November

• Mary Elizabeth Winstead - Born 1984, turns 33 - Actress | Producer
• Randy Newman - Born 1943, turns 74 - Singer | Songwriter | Composer | Actor | Writer
• Joe Dante - Born 1946, turns 71 - Director | Producer | Actor
• Ed Harris - Born 1950, turns 67 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer 
• Judd Nelson - Born 1959, turns 58 - Actor | Writer
• Alfonso Cuaron - Born 1961, turns 56 - Producer | Director | Writer | Editor | Cinematographer
• Jonathan Mostow - Born 1961, turns 56 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Martin Clunes - Born 1961, turns 56 - Actor | Director 
• Ryan Kwanten - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actor  

Wednesday 29th November

• Joel Coen - Born 1954, turns 63 - Producer | Director | Writer | Editor
• Tom Sizemore - Born 1961, turns 56 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Andrew McCarthy - Born 1962, turns 55 - Actor | Director | Producer
• Don Cheadle - Born 1964, turns 53 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Singer
• Chadwick Boseman - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Lucas Black - Born 1982, turns 35 - Actor 
• Diane Ladd - Born 1935, turns 82 - Actress | Director | Writer | Producer
• Anna Faris - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actress | Singer | Producer  

Thursday 30th November

• Ridley Scott - Born 1937, turns 80 - Director | Producer
• Terrence Malick - Born 1943, turns 74 - Writer | Producer | Director
• David Mamet - Born 1947, turns 70 - Writer | Director | Producer | Songwriter 
• Mandy Patinkin - Born 1952, turns 65 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Ben Stiller - Born 1965, turns 52 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Singer
• Marc Foster - Born 1969, turns 48 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Gael Garcia Bernal - Born 1978, turns 39 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Singer  
• Robert Kirkman - Born 1978, turns 39 - Writer | Producer

Friday 1st December

• Woody Allen - Born 1935, turns 82 - Writer | Director | Actor 
• Treat Williams - Born 1951, turns 66 - Actor 
• Jeremy Northam - Born 1961, turns 56 - Actor 
• Riz Ahmed - Born 1982, turns 35 - Actor | Writer | Director
• Bette Midler - Born 1945, turns 72 - Actress | Singer | Songwriter | Producer | Writer
• Sarah Silverman - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Singer | Songwriter
• Emily Mortimer - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actress | Producer | Writer
• Zoe Kravitz - Born 1988, turns 29 - Actress   

Saturday 2nd December

• Connie Booth - Born 1940, turns 77 - Actress | Writer
• Lucy Liu - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actress | Director | Producer 

Zoe Isabella Kravitz was born in Venice, Los Angeles, California, USA to mother Lisa Bonet, an Actress and father Lenny Kravitz a Singer, Songwriter, Musician, Actor and Record Producer. Her parents were married in 1987 and divorced six years later when Zoe was just five years of age. Initially, she lived with her mother in Topanga Canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains in western Los Angeles County before moving at the age of eleven to live with her father in Miami. She attended the private co-educational non-denominational Miami Country Day School, and then the Rudolf Steiner School in Manhattan, New York from which she graduated in 2007. That same year she began studying at the Acting Conservatory at the State University of New York at Purchase, but gave this up after a year and relocated to Brooklyn, New York to begin her career in the movie business. During her High School years up until her mid-20's, Zoe struggled with bulimia and anorexia.

The young Kravitz, aged nineteen secured her first film role in the Scott Hicks Directed 'No Reservations' starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart and Abigail Breslin, and later that same year the Neil Jordan Directed crime drama offering 'The Brave One' alongside Jodie Foster, Terrence Howard and Naveen Andrews. The following year saw her appear in 'The Assassination of a High School President' with Bruce Willis and Michael Rapaport, and also that year the comedy drama 'Birds of America' with Matthew Perry, Ben Foster and Hilary Swank.  2009 saw 'The Greatest' with Pierce Brosnan, Susan Sarandon, Carey Mulligan and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival that year.

The new decade saw 'Twelve' Directed by Joel Schumacher which also Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2010, then 'Beware the Gonzo' alongside Ezra Miller which Premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and 'It's Kind of a Funny Story' with Zach Galifianakis and Viola Davis. 2011 brought 'Yelling to the Sky' which Premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and starring Jason Clarke, Tim Blake Nelson and Gabourey Sibide. This was followed by eight episodes on the television series 'Californication' with David Duchnovy and Natascha McElhone, and then her turn in Matthew Vaughn's 'X-Men : First Class' as Angel Salvadore, a superhuman teen mutant, alongside an all star cast taking in James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, Jennifer Lawrence, Oliver Platt, Nicholas Hoult, Rose Byrne and Jason Flemyng. The film secured twenty award wins and another 38 nominations, and grossed US$354M at the Box Office from its US$150M budget outlay.

'Treading Water' was released in 2013 with Douglas Smith and Carrie-Anne Moss, and then the Sci-Fi action adventure offering Co-Written and Directed by M.Night Shyamalan 'After Earth' with Will Smith and Jaden Smith. Next up came the first instalment in the hugely popular Veronica Roth adapted novels for the big screen with 'Divergent' with Shailene Woodley taking the lead role as Tris Prior with Theo James, Kate Winslet, Ashley Judd, Jai Courtney, Ansel Elgort, Miles Teller and Maggie Q. Kravitz would reprise her role as Christina in the two feature length sequels, 'Insurgent' in 2015, and 'Allegiant' in 2016, with the final instalment, 'Ascendant' due to be released as a made for TV movie.

In between time there was 'Pretend We're Kissing', 'The Road Within' with Dev Patel and Robert Patrick, 'Good Kill' with Ethan Hawke, Bruce Greenwood and January Jones, 'Dope' which Premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, and then George Millers reboot of his classic dystopian future franchise road movie with 'Mad Max : Fury Road' with Tom Hardy as the titular hero Max Rockatansky and Charlize Theron and Nicholas Hoult.

2016 launched with adventure comedy 'Adam Green's Aladdin'  and then the crime drama 'Vincent N Roxxy' with Emile Hirsch and Zoey Deutch. That same year saw the David Yates Directed J.K.Rowling adapted novel 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' in which Kravitz plays Lestrange in this New York set secret world of wizards and witches seventy years before Harry Potter stepped foot inside Hogwarts for the first time. The film won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design amongst its haul of fifteen award wins and fifty nominations. Kravitz reprises her role as Leta Lestrange in the second instalment of this franchise also Directed by David Yates and starring Eddie Redmayne reprising his role as our hero Newt Scamander, with Ezra Miller, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Carmen Ejogo. This film 'Fantastic Beasts : The Crimes of Grindelwald' is due for release in November 2018.

In the meantime, Kravitz lent her voice talents as Catwoman in 'The LEGO Batman Movie' and then the mystery thriller 'Gemini' and girls on tour comedy 'Rough Night' with Scarlett Johansson, Kate McKinnon, Demi Moore, Ty Burrell, all released this year. There was also her role in the David E. Kelley Directed hugely popular and successful television mini-series 'Big Little Lies' with Nicole Kidman, Reece Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern and Alexander Skarsgard. The series won eight Primetime Emmy Awards was nominated for another eight from its total collection of 23 award wins and 28 further nominations.

Next up for Kravitz is the musical drama 'Viena and the Fantoms' with Jon Bernthal, Dakota Fanning and Evan Rachel Wood about a Roadie who travels across North America with a punk rock band during the '80's. Then there is Sci-Fi actioner 'Kin' in Post-Production for a 2018 release with James Franco, Dennis Quaid and Jack Reynor about an ex-con and his brother who are forced on the run in a game of cat and mouse by a vengeful career criminal, and currently filming is the aforementioned 'Fantastic Beasts' follow up.



Aside from carving out a successful acting career, Kravitz has also modelled in various fashion magazines, has endorsed a number of fragrances, and released her own line in jewellery in collaboration with the Swarovski crystal company amongst others. Added to this, Kravitz began dabbling in music from sixteen years of age and she formed her first band in 2009 'Elevator Fight'. The band performed at a number of music festivals. From there she went on to form 'Lolawolf' releasing a self titled EP in 2014, and then an album 'Calm Down' in 2014 and another EP in mid-2015 'Every F***n Day', and she has also toured with the band too supporting the likes of Miley Cyrus and Lily Allen.
All up Kravitz has 34 Acting credits to her name, and she has two award wins and another eight nominations.

Zoe Kravitz - born into show business, stepdaughter of Jason Momoa, Goddaughter of Marisa Tomei,  multi-talented, in demand, a rising star, has achieved much in her ten years or so in the entertainment game and has so much still to offer, and not even thirty yet! Happy Birthday to you Zoe, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-