Birthday's to share this week : 23rd - 29th July 2017

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau does on 27th July - check out my tribute to this Birthday Lad turning 47, 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 23rd July

• Ronny Cox - Born 1938, turns 79 - Actor | Writer | Producer
• Woody Harrelson - Born 1961, turns 56 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Shawn Levy - Born 1968, turns 49 - Director | Producer | Actor
• Daniel Radcliffe - Born 1989, turns 28 - Actor | Singer | Producer  

Monday 24th July

• Dan Hedaya - Born 1940, turns 77 - Actor
• Gus Van Sant - Born 1952, turns 65 - Director | Producer | Writer | Editor | Actor
• Doug Liman - Born 1965, turns 52 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Lynda Carter - Born 1951, turns 66 - Actress | Singer | Songwriter
• Jennifer Lopez - Born 1969, turns 48 - Actress | Producer | Singer | Songwriter | Composer
• Rose Byrne - Born 1979, turns 38 - Actress 
• Elizabeth Moss - Born 1982, turns 35 - Actress | Producer
• Anna Paquin - Born 1982, turns 35 - Actress | Producer  

Tuesday 25th July

• Matt LeBlanc - Born 1967, turns 50 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• D.B. Woodside - Born 1969, turns 48 - Actor   

Wednesday 26th July

• Mick Jagger - Born 1943, turns 74 - Singer | Songwriter | Composer | Producer | Actor | Writer
• Kevin Spacey - Born 1959, turns 58 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Singer
• Jeremy Piven - Born 1965, turns 52 - Actor | Producer
• Jason Statham - Born 1967, turns 50 - Actor | Producer 
• Helen Mirren - Born 1945, turns 72 - Actress | Producer | Director
• Susan George - Born 1950, turns 67 - Actress | Producer
• Sandra Bullock - Born 1964, turns 53 - Actress | Producer 
• Olivia Williams - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actress 
• Kate Beckinsale - Born 1973, turns 44 - Actress 

Thursday 27th July

• Cliff Curtis - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actor | Producer
• Julian McMahon - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actor | Producer
• Nikolaj Coster-Waldau - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actor | Producer
• Jonathan Rhys Meyers - Born 1977, turns 40 - Actor | Producer  

Friday 28th July

• Randall Wallace - Born 1949, turns 68 - Director | Producer | Writer    

Saturday 29th July 

• David Warner - Born 1941, turns 76 - Actor
• Stephen Dorff - Born 1973, turns 44 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau was born in Rudkobing, a small town on the island of Langeland in Denmark, to mother Hanne Soborg Coster, a librarian and father Jorgen Oscar Fritzer Waldau who died in 1998. He has commented in the past about his fathers struggle with alcohol and about his parents divorce, as a result of which Nikolaj and his two older sisters were mostly raised by their mother. He grew up in the small village of Tybjerg in southern Zealand - the largest and most populated island in Denmark (other than Greenland). Nikolaj studied at the Danish National School of Theatre and Contemporary Dance in Copenhagen, where he was educated from 1989 through to 1993, and he was the youngest Actor to be admitted there. 

Coster-Waldau made his stage acting debut in a production of 'Hamlet' at Copenhagen's Betty Nansen Theatre in 1992 and '93 before securing his small screen introduction in television movie 'Slaget pa tasken' in 1993. In 1994 the young Actor scored his big screen breakthrough role in horror thriller 'Nightwatch' (not to be confused with the Timur Bekmambetov Russian fantasy supernatural thriller of 2004) which was well received in his native country. He then appeared in a number of locally made for television short films, and stage plays in and around Copenhagen, until being cast in his British debut feature film 'Bent' in 1997 alongside Clive Owen, Jude Law, Mick Jagger, Paul Bettany, Ian McKellen and Rachel Weisz, and Directed by Sean Mathias. More Danish productions followed including 'Wildside' with Mads Mikkelsen in 1998 which he also Co-Wrote, horror offering 'Angel of the Night' that same year, 'The Cable Club' in 1999 and 'Misery Harbour' seeing out the decade.

2000 saw Danish war time drama 'Foreign Fields', then two episodes on the short lived Channel 4 television adaptation of 'Lock, Stock . . . ' and then Michael Apted's 2001 'Enigma' with Kate Winslet, Saffron Burrows and Dougray Scott. Coster-Waldau launched his US career courtesy of Ridley Scott who cast him in 2001 as Delta Force Medal of Honor recipient Gary Gordon in 'Black Hawk Down' with an all star cast. More locally produced Scandinavian films followed including 'Stealing Rembrandt', 'The Bouncer', 'My Name Is Modesty' and 'The Good Cop' before being cast in 2004 in Richard Loncraine's tennis RomCom 'Wimbledon'. In 2005 Ridley Scott came knocking again, casting Coster-Waldau in the epic historical drama 'Kingdom of Heaven' again with an all star cast. 'The Headsman' (aka 'Shadow of the Sword') came next, and then crime thriller 'Firewall' for Director Richard Loncraine again with Harrison Ford, Paul Bettany, Robert Forster and Alan Arkin. 

Up next was comedy drama 'Filthy Gorgeous' with Isabella Rossellini, comedy thriller 'The Baker' with Damian Lewis, Swedish comedy drama 'Wonderful and Loved by All', Norwegian historical drama 'The Kautokeino Rebellion', Danish crime drama 'Himmerland', Peter Berg's Sci-Fi drama 'Virtuality' and then Danish action adventure 'At World's End' in 2009. In between time there was top billing for Coster-Waldau on Fox Television's Sci-Fi detective drama series that ran for a single season of eight episodes 'New Amsterdam', with the Actor playing immortal New York homicide cop John Amsterdam.

Western 'Blackthorn' followed in 2011, then Norwegian action thriller 'Headhunters' based on the novel by Jo Nesbo and Directed by Morten Tyldum and which was both a critical and commercial success in its native Norway, with a US version allegedly in the works. 2013 saw supernatural horror film 'Mama' with Jessica Chastain and Directed by Andrew Muschietti, taking US$147M from its US$15M budget outlay. A turn in the Tom Cruise post-apocalyptic SciFi offering 'Oblivion' with Morgan Freeman too proved to be another commercial success bringing in US$287M from its US$120M budget, before 'A Thousand Times Good Night' opposite Juliette Binoche and U2's Larry Mullen Jnr., and Nick Cassavetes comedy film 'The Other Woman' with Cameron Diaz in 2014, leading on to Danish thriller 'A Second Chance' later that year.

2015 opened with comedy drama 'Klown Forever', and then in 2016 Alex Proyas' epic fantasy action adventure offering 'Gods of Egypt' with an all star cast that included Gerard Butler, Bryan Brown, Brenton Thwaites, Geoffrey Rush, Rufus Sewell but despite this the film was panned by critics for just about every reason under the sun and it recovered US$151M in ticket sales from its US$140M budget investment. Later that year he also appeared in the fifteen minute short film Written and Directed by James D'Arcy 'Chicken/Egg' also starring Hayley Atwell.

This year in a Netflix Original Film he took top billing in 'Small Crimes' with Jacki Weaver, Robert Forster and Gary Cole, the Danish drama film '3 Things', and due for imminent release is prison crime drama 'Shot Caller' with Jon Bernthal and Benjamin Bratt. 'Domino' which is currently filming is due for a 2018 release and is Directed by Brian De Palma and also stars Christina Hendricks and Guy Pearce.

This brings us up to date, however, not forgetting the role that made Coster-Waldau a household name the world over as Jaime Lannister on the hugely successful HBO series 'Game of Thrones', based on the George R.R. Martin best selling fantasy action novel series of books 'A Song of Ice and Fire'. 'GOT' started screening in early 2011 and has just aired its first episode of Season 7. Coster-Waldau has starred in 46 episodes to date and plays a central character, for which he is paid two million pounds sterling per episode for this current season, making him one of the highest paid Actors working in television today.

All up Coster-Waldau has 52 Acting credits to his name, five as Producer and one as Writer on 1998's 'Wildside'. He has fifteen awards nominations including Critics Choice Television Awards, People's Choice Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards nods - all for 'GOT'. Coster-Waldau is married to Greenlandic Singer, Actress and 1990 Miss Greenland Sascha Nukaaka Motzfeldt, with whom he has two daughters - Filippa (born in 2000) and Safina (born in 2003). They live in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. He has supported the Danish Red Cross since 2003, and in 2016 he has also supported (PRODUCT) RED in engaging with the private sector in raising awareness and funding to help eliminate HIV/AIDS across eight African countries. In late 2016 he was appointed a United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador to help raise awareness and support for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to end poverty, fight inequality and stop climate change.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau - made his name in 'GOT' and we love you for it and remain glued to the screen because of it, but equally securing diverse roles on both sides of the Atlantic and increasingly in demand in both local Scandinavian and international television and film, loves a good dramatic story and portraying characters with secrets, twists and who don't follow the rules. 'All Men Must Die' Jaime Lannister - will you survive into the final season of 'GOT' - let's hope so. In the meantime Happy Birthday to you Nikolaj, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 11th - 17th January 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week? Orlando Bloom  does, on 13th January - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy 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 January

• Amanda Peet - Born 1972, turns 43 - Actress
• Mary J. Blige - Born 1971, turns 44 - Singer | Songwriter | Actress
• Jason Connery - Born 1963, turns 52 - Actor | Producer | Director

Monday 12th January

• Rob Zombie - Born 1965, turns 50 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Singer | Songwriter | Composer
• Oliver Platt - Born 1960, turns 55 - Actor | Producer
• Anthony Andrews - Born 1948, turns 67 - Actor
• John Lasseter - Born 1957, turns 58 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Aaron Seltzer - Born 1974, turns 41 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Kirstie Alley - Born 1951, turns 64 - Actress | Producer

Tuesday 13th January

• Julia Louis-Dreyfus - Born 1961, turns 54 - Actress | Producer
• Orlando Bloom - Born 1977, turns 38 - Actor | Producer
• Liam Hemsworth - Born 1990, turns 25 - Actor
• Patrick Dempsey - Born 1966, turns 49 - Actor | Producer
• Bill Bailey - Born 1965, turns 50 - Actor | Comedian | Producer | Singer | Songwriter | Composer
• Michael Pena - Born 1976, turns 39 - Actor

Wednesday 14th January

• Jason Bateman - Born 1969, turns 46 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Carl Weathers - Born 1948, turns 67 - Actor | Director
• Steven Soderbergh - Born 1963, turns 52 - Director | Producer | Writer | Editor | Cinematographer
• Lawrence Kasdan - Born 1949, turns 66 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Faye Dunaway - Born 1941, turns 74 - Actress | Producer
• Emily Watson - Born 1967, turns 48 - Actress

Thursday 15th January

• James Nesbitt - Born 1965, turns 50 - Actor
• Mario Van Peebles - Born 1957, turns 58 - Actor | Director | Producer | Writer | Singer | Songwriter
• Ryan Corr - Born 1989, turns 26 - Actor

Friday 16th January

• John Carpenter - Born 1948, turns 67 - Director | Producer | Writer | Composer
• Debbie Allen - Born 1950, turns 65 - Actress | Director | Producer | Singer | Songwriter

Saturday 17th January 

• Zooey Deschanel - Born 1980, turns 35 - Actress | Producer | Singer
• Jim Carey - Born 1962, turns 53 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer
• James Earl Jones - Born 1931, turns 84 - Actor
• Brian Helgeland - Born 1954, turns 54 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Leigh Wannell - Born 1977, turns 38 - Writer | Producer | Director | Actor

Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Bloom was born in Canterbury, Kent, England to Sonia Constance Josephine Copeland and Harry Saul Bloom. His mother was born in Kolkata, India and the man he knew in his early life as his father was a South African Political Activist - he died when Orlando was just four years old. He was raised by his mother, older sister Samantha and Colin Stone whom his mother announced when Orlando was thirteen years of age was his actual biological father.

The young Bloom attended St. Peter's Methodist Primary School, The King's School, and St. Edmund's School all in Canterbury. He struggled academically because he suffered with mild dyslexia and so immersed himself in pottery, sculpture and photography. He in turn studied poetry and prose  and with his sister gave many recitals of classic works and from the Bible. He was encouraged by his mother to take art and drama classes and in 1993 he relocated to London to complete drama, photography and sculpture classes at the Fine Arts College in Hampstead. He joined the National Youth Theatre and gained a scholarship to the British American Drama Academy.

He then began acting professionally securing roles in three episodes of BBC's hospital drama 'Casualty' and one episode of 'Midsomer Murders' before appearing with Stephen Fry in his 1997 big screen debut 'Wilde'. He then attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London to study acting. While there he fell three stories from a roof top terrace and broke his back. Beyond all expectations he made a quick and full recovery and returned to the stage. During one performance, Peter Jackson was sat in the audience, and following a post-show discussion he was cast in the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy which began filming two days after he graduated. The rest as they say, is history!

His role as Legolas in the 'LOTR' series propelled Bloom into the international spotlight and mainstream - a role he would reprise a further four times in 'The Two Towers' and 'Return of the King' and then again more recently in two of the three 'The Hobbit' films 'The Desolation of Smaug' and 'The Battle of the Five Armies'. Whilst shooting the first 'Rings' film he also secured a small role in Ridley Scott's 'Black Hawk Down' in 2001 and 'Ned Kelly' in 2003 with Heath Ledger and Geoffrey Rush.

Immediately following the success of 'LOTR' came another huge franchise beckoning with the first in the epic blockbuster 'Pirates of the Carribbean' series with 2003's 'Curse of the Black Pearl' opposite Johnny Depp and Keira Knightley. His role as Will Turner was subsequently reprised in 2006's 'Dead Man's Chest' and 2007's 'At World's End', and he is rumoured to be back again for 2017's 'Dead Men tell no Tales' having skipped 'On Stranger Tides' in the meantime.

Following on came 'Troy' in 2004 Directed by Wolfgang Petersen, and starring as 'Paris' alongside Brad Pitt, Eric Bana and Peter O'Toole, with 'Kingdom of Heaven' a year later for Director Ridley Scott with Jeremy Irons, Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson and Edward Norton. Coming after the epic blockbuster fare largely seen up to now came 'Elizabethtown' in 2005 with Kirsten Dunst, 'New York, I Love You' in 2009 in one of the twelve short films that comprise the complete film package, and then several other roles flying largely under the radar - 'Sympathy for Delicious', 'Main Street', 'The Good Doctor', 'Zulu' and the more widely known 'The Three Musketeers' in 2011. Next up is 'Digging for Fire' with Anna Kendrick, Sam Rockwell and Sam Elliott due later this year, and then 'Unlocked' thereafter with Director Michael Apted and also starring Noomi Rapace, Toni Collette, Michael Douglas and John Malkovich.

Bloom has 38 acting credits to his name and three Producer credits thus far. He has twenty award wins and a further 21 award nominations. He was associated with Actress Kate Bosworth from 2003-2006 and married to Miranda Kerr from 2010-2013 with whom they have a son - Flynn Christopher Blanchard Copeland Bloom born in 2011. He is a practising Buddhist, a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador,  and is involved in environmental organisation 'Global Green'. As wells breaking his back, he has also broken his left arm (playing rugby), his right leg (skiing), his left leg (motorcycle accident), right wrist (snowboarding), several ribs (filming 'LOTR'), nose (playing rugby) and cracked his skull several times. His home in the Hollywood Hills was robbed by the 'Bling Ring' in 2009 during which US$500K in personal possessions were stolen - although mostly subsequently retrieved.

Orlando Bloom - very handy with a sword and a bow, rides a horse well, adept at close quarter combat, athletic and known for sword and sandal, epic fantasy, costume drama roles and possessing cheeky boyish good looks - Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-