Birthday's to share this week : 27th December 2015 - 2nd January 2016.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Noomi Rapace does on 28th December - check out my tribute to this Birthday Girl, turning 36, 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 27th December

• Gerard Depardieu - Born 1948, turns 67 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Maryam d'Abo - Born 1960, turns 55 - Actress | Producer | Writer

Monday 28th December

• Sienna Miller - Born 1981, turns 34 - Actress
• Noomi Rapace - Born 1979, turns 36 - Actress
• Maggie Smith - Born 1934, turns 81 - Actress
• Denzel Washington - Born 1954, turns 1954 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Stan Lee - Born 1922, turns 93 - Writer | Producer | Actor
• Alex Dimitriades - Born 1973, turns 42 - Actor

Tuesday 29th December

• Jude Law - Born 1972, turns 43 - Actor | Producer
• Ted Danson - Born 1947, turns 68 - Actor | Producer
• Jon Voight - Born 1938, turns 77 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Andy Wachowski - Born 1967, turns 48 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Bernard Cribbins - Born 1928, turns 87 - Actor
• Patricia Clarkson - Born 1959, turns 56 - Actress | Writer

Wednesday 30th December 

• Bennett Miller - Born 1966, turns 49 - Director | Producer
• Tyrese Gibson - Born 1978, turns 37 - Actor | Producer
• Tracey Ullman - Born 1959, turns 56 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Television Personality

Thursday 31st December 

• Val Kilmer - Born 1959, turns 56 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Anthony Hopkins -Born 1937, turns 78 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Composer
• Ben Kingsley - Born 1943, turns 72 - Actor | Producer
• Taylor Hackford - Born 1944, turns 71 - Director | Producer | Writer

Friday 1st January

• Frank Langella - Born 1938, turns 77 - Actor
• Verne Troyer - Born 1969, turns 46 - Actor | Stuntman

Saturday 2nd January

• Cuba Gooding Jnr. - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actor | Producer
• Todd Haynes - Born 1961, turns 54 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Tia Carrere - Born 1967, turns 48 - Actress | Producer
• Paz Vega - Born 1976, turns 39 - Actress
• Kate Bosworth - Born 1983, turns 32 - Actress | Producer

Noomi Noren was born in Hudiksvall, Sweden to mother Nina Noren, a Swedish Actress, and father Rogelio Duran a Spanish Flamenco Singer from Badajoz close to the border with Portugal on the River Guadiana. Her father died in late 2006 just before his 53rd birthday. She has a sister Saerun Noren, a photographer. Her mother and father separated when she was young, and at age five she moved from her home in Sweden with her mother and stepfather to Iceland. Two years later in 1988 she made her big screen debut in a non-speaking part in 'In the Shadow of the Raven' - an Icelandic Viking film. It was this film experience that even at such a young age made her want to be an Actress. At 15, she left home and took up Acting at a Stockholm theatre school.

In 1996 she won her small screen debut in the long running soap series 'Tre kronor' for twelve episodes. The next, her second film was released with the Swedish movie 'Sanning eller konsekvens' with the balance of the decade spent as a jobbing actor and at acting school. The new decade brought a number of theatre productions in the first half and all staged throughout Stockholm's theatre land. During this time too more film roles and television series were to follow with fairly regular work coming in year on year too through until 2007 when she gained critical acclaim in the Danish film 'Daisy Diamond' for which she won two major awards for Best Actress and the film was up for competition at the San Sebastian International Film Festival.

2009 was however, the year that changed her life forever, starring as Lisbeth Salander in the highly acclaimed trilogy of the films based on the Steig Larsson hugely successful novels in the 'Millennium' series - 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo', and then 'The Girl Who Played With Fire' and finally 'The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest'. For her role in the first film she won Sweden's highest Guldbagge Award, and was nominated for a BAFTA and a European Film Award.

'Beyond' came next in 2010 and then 'The Monitor' - Swedish and Norwegian films respectively, before her English language film debut in 2011 for Director Guy Ritchie in 'Sherlock Holmes : A Game of Shadows' opposite Robert Downey Jnr. and Jude Law. 2012 saw 'Prometheus' for Ridley Scott with Michael Fassbender and Idris Elba.

The last couple of years have seen 'Dead Man Down' in 2013 with Colin Farrell, and 'Passion' that same year for Brian De Palma with Rachel McAdams. Crime drama 'The Drop' with Tom Hardy followed in 2014, and then 'Child 44' with Tom Hardy once again.

Next up is 'Rupture' due in 2016 and currently in post-production, as is 'Unlocked' with Michael Douglas, John Malkovich and Orlando Bloom, and then 'What Happened to Monday' with Willem Dafoe and Glenn Close. After this will be 'Amy Winehouse' currently in pre-production with Rapace playing the title role as the tragic eclectic English singer/songstress. For 2017 there will be 'Enzo Ferrari' Directed by Michael Mann and starring Christian Bale in the title role as the Italian sports car entrepreneur, and then 'Alien : Covenant' with Rapace reprising her role from 'Prometheus' for Director Ridley Scott again.

All up Rapace has 36 acting credits to her name so far and has garnered thirteen award wins and another seventeen nominations including a 2011 BAFTA.

In 2001 Rapace married Swedish Actor Ola Norell, with whom she adopted the surname 'Rapace' meaning 'bird of prey' in both French and Italian. They filed for divorce in 2011, and have a son together born in 2003 - Lev.

Noomi Rapace - fluent in Swedish (her native tongue), Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic and English; a reformed teenage punk rocker who had designs in her youth to emulate Nancy Spungen; insists on performing her own stunts no matter how dangerous; and judging by her current workload is very much in demand and destined for bigger things since starting out on her acting career aged less than ten! Happy Birthday Noomi, from all at Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 13th - 19th September 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Tom Hardy does on 15th September - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 38 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 13th September

• Colin Trevorrow - Born 1976, turns 39 - Director | Producer | Writer 
• Frank Marshall - Born 1946, turns 69 - Director | Producer  
• Jacqueline Bisset - Born 1944, turns 71 - Actress

Monday 14th September

• Andrew Lincoln - Born 1973, turns 42 - Actor 
• Sam Neill - Born 1947, turns 68 - Actor | Director | Producer
• Joon-ho Bong - Born 1969, turns 46 - Director | Producer | Writer  

Tuesday 15th September

• Tom Hardy - Born 1977, turns 38 - Actor | Producer
• Tommy Lee Jones - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Oliver Stone - Born 1946, turns 69 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor  

Wednesday 16th September

• Mickey Rourke - Born 1952, turns 63 - Actor | Writer  
• Amy Poehler - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Director | Singer 

Thursday 17th September

• Paul Feig - Born 1962, turns 53 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Bryan Singer - Born 1965, turns 50 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Neill Blomkamp - Born 1979, turns 36 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Baz Luhrmann - Born 1962, turns 53 - Director | Producer | Writer 

Friday 18th September 

• Jason Sudeikis - Born 1975, turns 40 - Actor | Writer
• Tim McInnerny - Born 1956, turns 59 - Actor
• Jada Pinkett Smith - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actress | Producer | Director | Writer 

Saturday 19th September

• Adam West - Born 1928, turns 87 - Actor
• Jeremy Irons - Born 1948, turns 67 - Actor | Producer | Director  
• David McCallum - Born 1933, turns 82 - Actor

Edward Thomas Hardy was born in the London suburb of Hammersmith to mother Elizabeth Anne Barrett, an artist and painter, and father Edward Hardy, a novelist and comedy writer. He attended Tower House School, an independent junior boys school, and then Reed's School an independent boys secondary school in Cobham, Surrey, and then onto Richmond Drama School and the Drama Centre London. At age 21 he won a modeling competition gaining a short contract with the Models One agency. His late teens and early 20's were spent fighting drug and alcohol dependency and delinquency , and he says that after seeking treatment in 2002 it was his addictions that ended his five year marriage to Sarah Ward in 2004. He has however, been sober since 2003.

His small screen debut came in 2001, securing the role of Private John Janovec in Spielberg's WWII epic series 'Band of Brothers', and that same year he gained his big screen debut too in Ridley Scott's Somalia war torn actioner 'Black Hawk Down'. The next year saw Hardy play the clone villain in 'Star Trek : Nemesis' which did little at the Box Office, but it did give him valuable international exposure.

In 2003 too Hardy took to the stage with 'In Arabia We'd All Be Kings' at the Hampstead Theatre, and 'Blood' at The Royal Court Theatre for which he was awarded the Outstanding Newcomer Award at the London Evening Standard Theatre Awards. He was also nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Most Promising Newcomer. That same year he knocked out three films too - 'The Reckoning' with Willem Dafoe, 'dot the i' with Gael Garcia Bernal and horror offering 'LD50 | Lethal Dose'.

The following year saw 'Layer Cake' with yet to be Bond, Daniel Craig, with a couple of TV movies to follow - 'Gideon's Daughter' and 'A for Andromeda' as well as a couple of TV series stints on 'Colditz' and 'The Virgin Queen'.

2006 through to 2010 saw thirteen feature films including 'Scenes of a Sexual Nature', 'Flood', 'WAZ', 'The Inheritance', Guy Ritchie's London crime flick 'RocknRolla', 'Bronson' and culminating in 2010's 'Inception' for Christopher Nolan. During this time too there were further TV series appearances on 'Cape Wrath', 'Oliver Twist' as Bill Sykes, 'Wuthering Heights' as Heathcliffe and 'The Take' as well as 'The Man of Mode' at The National Theatre, and 'The Long Red Road' at Chicago's Goodman Theatre as Directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Since then there have been a number of standout roles including 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' with his hero Gary Oldman, 'Warrior' with Joel Edgerton, his unforgettable role as arch villain Bane in Christopher Nolan's concluding Batman trilogy instalment 'The Dark Knight Rises', John Hillcoat's Prohibition era bootleggin' moonshine swillin' 'Lawless' with Gary Oldman again; and then 'Locke', and 'The Drop' with Noomi Rapace and James Gandolfini last year.

In 2015 so far there has been 'Child 44' with Gary Oldman and Noomi Rapace once more, and George Millers long overdue reprisal of the cult classic character Max Rockatansky in 'Mad Max : Fury Road'. Next up there is 'London Road', 'Legend' for Director Brian Helgeland in which Hardy plays both underground criminal brothers in 60's era London, Ronnie and Reggie Kray, 'The Revenant' with Leonardo DiCaprio currently in post-production, TV mini-series 'Taboo' in pre-production for 2016 and 'Mad Max : The Wasteland' recently announced.

Hardy has 48 Acting credits to his name and two Producer credits. He has won eleven awards including the Rising Star BAFTA Award in 2011, and a British Independent Film Award for 'Bronson' as Best Actor. There have been a further 37 nominations also.

Having divorced Sarah Ward in 2004, Hardy was linked to Rachel Speed from 2004 until 2009 with whom he has a son, Louis Thomas born in 2008. In mid-2014 he married Actress Charlotte Riley, and the couple announced recently that they are expecting their first child. Hardy is also an ambassador for The Prince's Trust.

Tom Hardy - muscular, toned and tattooed; deep gravelly voice; able to dramatically change his physical appearance from film to film; has a diverse range across all genres (almost); and appears to be in just about every other film out at the moment whether big studio fare or small independent stuff, but, we'll keep on coming back for more as long as you keep doing what you do best - Happy Birthday to you Tom, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 12th - 18th July 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Jason Clarke does on 17th July - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy 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 12th July

• Michelle Rodriguez - Born 1978, turns 37 - Actress
• Cheryl Ladd - Born 1951, turns 64 - Actress
• Brian Grazer - Born 1951, turns 64 - Producer | Writer
• Topher Grace - Born 1978, turns 37 - Actor | Producer
• Bill Cosby - Born 1937, turns 78 - Television Personality | Actor | Writer | Producer | Composer

Monday 13th July

• Patrick Stewart - Born 1940, turns 75 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Robert Forster - Born 1941, turns 74 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Harrison Ford - Born 1942, turns 73 - Actor | Producer
• Cheech Marin - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer
• Cameron Crowe - Born 1957, turns 58 - Director | Producer | Writer

Tuesday 14th July

• Harry Dean Stanton - Born 1926, turns 89 - Actor
• Joel Silver - Born 1952, turns 63 - Producer
• Scott Rudin - Born 1958, turns 57 - Producer
• Jackie Earle Haley - Born 1961, turns 54 - Actor | Writer
• Matthew Fox - Born 1966, turns 49 - Actor

Wednesday 15th July

• Travis Fimmel - Born 1979, turns 36 - Actor
• Forest Whittaker - Born 1961, turns 54 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Jan Michael Vincent - Born 1944, turns 71 - Actor | Producer
• Brigitte Nielsen - Born 1963, turns 52 - Actress | Producer
• Diane Kruger - Born 1976, turns 39 - Actress

Thursday 16th July

• Phoebe Cates - Born 1963, turns 52 - Actress
• Corey Feldman - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actor | Producer
• Will Ferrell - Born 1967, turns 48 - Actor | Producer

Friday 17th July

• Jason Clarke - Born 1969, turns 46 - Actor
• Donald Sutherland - Born 1935, turns 80 - Actor | Producer
• David Hasselhoff - Born 1952, turns 63 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• F. Gary Gray - Born 1969, turns 46 - Director | Producer | Actor

Saturday 18th July

• Vin Diesel - Born 1967, turns 48 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Paul Verhoeven - Born 1938, turns 77 - Producer | Director | Writer
• James Brolin - Born 1940, turns 75 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Elizabeth McGovern - Born 1961, turns 54 - Actress | Writer
• Kelly Reilly - Born 1977, turns 38 - Actress | Producer

Jason Clarke was born in Winton, Queensland, Australia - a remote rural part of this outback State. His father was a professional sheep shearer. In his teens the young Clarke decided on an acting career and he enrolled in a class with the waiting to be discovered Hugh Jackman. After High School he moved to Melbourne to attend drama school at the Victorian College of Arts from which he graduated in 1994.

In his mid-20's his acting career kicked off with appearances in Australian television shows and films. His small screen debut came with singular episodes of 'Halifax f.p.' in 1995, then 'Mercury', 'Diagnosis Murder', 'Water Rats', 'Heartbreak High', 'Wildisde', 'Murder Call' and in between several appearances between 1995 and 1999 on 'Blue Heelers'.

His first big screen outing came in 1997's 'Dilemma' with Danny Trejo, and then 'Twilight' in 1998 with Paul Newman, Gene Hackman and Susan Sarandon, with 'Praise' that same year with Joel Edgerton. The next year bought 'Kick' with Paul Mercurio and Radha Mitchell, and then 'Our Lips Are Sealed' in 2000 with the Olsen Sisters. By this time however, after a string of popular television shows in the first half of the decade, the latter half of the decade turned very lacklustre with bit parts in B and C grade film fare. Becoming increasingly frustrated Clarke started questioning his acting career.

DEspite his self doubt, 2000 also saw 'Risk' and then 'Better Than Sex' with David Wenham and Susie Porter, but it was 2002's 'Rabbit Proof Fence' that was to prove a break through. Directed by Phillip Noyce and starring Kenneth Branagh, David Gilpilil and Deborah Mailman, this film was both a commercial and critical success in both Australia and Stateside. Suddenly he was getting noticed, and the offers started coming in.

Next up, there was a stint on Australia's long running 'Home and Away' in 2002, with three episodes on 'Farscape' in 2003, two on 'White Collar Blue' and seven on 'Stingers' up to 2003. 'Get Rich Quick' was next in 2004, with the successful 'Brotherhood' Showtime crime drama series for 29 episodes from 2006 through to 2008 during which time he also made 'Under Still Waters', 'Death Race' with Jason Statham, Ian McShane and Joan Allen, and then 'The Human Contract' with Idris Elba and Paz Vega as Directed by Jada Pinkett Smith.

Following these there were smaller parts in studio fare but featuring some big name talent including Michael Mann's 'Public Enemies' with Johnny Depp and Christian Bale; Oliver Stone's 'Wall Street : Money Never Sleeps' with Michael Douglas and Shia LaBeouf; David Schwimmer's 'Trust' with Clive Owen and Viola Davis; John Hillcoat's 'Lawless' with Tom Hardy and Guy Pearce; and Kathrine Bigelow's 'Zero Dark Thirty' with Jessica Chastain and Kyle Chandler.

In the meantime there had been a return to TV with thirteen episodes of 'The Chicago Code' and movies 'Yelling at the Sky', 'Swerve' and 'Texas Killing Fields'.

The last few years have seen bigger budget film fare as Clarke has risen to prominence in Baz Luhrmann's 'The Great Gatsby'; actioners 'White House Down' for Roland Emmerich; 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' for Matt Reeves; and the just released 'Terminator : Genisys' for Alan Taylor playing the saviour of the free world in 2029 against the machines, John Connor.

Still awaiting release in Australia is 'Knight of Cups' with Christian Bale; 'Child 44' with Tom Hardy; and 'Everest' due later this year and with an all star cast; 'All I See Is You' due in 2016; 'HHHH' currently in pre-production; and 'Weightless' recently announced.

With 58 acting credits to his name, one Producer credit and four award nominations so far, Jason Clarke is stepping out of the shadows finally, is a star on the rise, and capable of emulating an almost flawless American accent he is sure to do well in Hollywood, at last. Go get 'em Jason - the lad from outback Queensland. Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-