Birthday's to share this week : 6th - 12th August 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Charlize Theron does on 7th August - check out my tribute to this Birthday Girl turning 42, 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 6th August

• Barbara Windsor - Born 1937, turns 80 - Actress | Writer
• Michelle Yeoh - Born 1962, turns 55 - Actress | Producer | Writer
• Vera Farmiga - Born 1973, turns 44 - Actress | Producer | Singer 
• Melissa George - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actress  
• M. Night Shyamalan - Born 1970, turns 47 - Director | Producer | Writer 

Monday 7th August

• Tobin Bell - Born 1942, turns 75 - Actor | Producer
• David Duchovny - Born 1960, turns 57 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Michael Shannon - Born 1974, turns 43 - Actor | Producer
• Charlize Theron - Born 1975, turns 42 - Actress | Producer
• Abbie Cornish - Born 1982, turns 35 - Actress   

Tuesday 8th August

• Donald P. Bellisario - Born 1935, turns 82 - Writer | Producer | Director
• Dustin Hoffman - Born 1937, turns 80 - Actor | Producer | Director | Singer | Songwriter  

Wednesday 9th August

• Sam Elliott - Born 1944, turns 73 - Actor | Producer
• Eric Bana - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• McG - Born 1968, turns 49 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Daniel Henshall - Born 1982, turns 35 - Actor 
• Bill Skarsgard - Born 1990, turns 27 - Actor
• Melanie Griffith - Born 1957, turns 60 - Actress | Producer
• Gillian Anderson - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actress | Producer | Director 
• Rhona Mitra - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actress 
• Audrey Tatou - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actress 
• Anna Kendrick - Born 1985, turns 32 - Actress | Singer  

Thursday 10th August

• Rosanna Arquette - Born 1959, turns 58 - Actress | Director | Producer | Writer
• Antonio Banderas - Born 1960, turns 57 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Singer
• Justin Theroux - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director 
• Brenton Thwaites - Born 1989, turns 28 - Actor | Producer  

Friday 11th August

• Ian McDiarmid - Born 1944, turns 73 - Actor 
• Chris Hemsworth - Born 1983, turns 34 - Actor 
• Viola Davis - Born 1965, turns 52 - Actress | Producer  

Saturday 12th August

• Cara Delevingne - Born 1992, turns 25 - Actress 
• George Hamilton - Born 1939, turns 78 - Actor | Producer
• Bruce Greenwood - Born 1956, turns 61 - Actor | Producer
• Casey Affleck - Born 1975, turns 42 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director | Editor
• Lakeith Stanfield - Born 1991, turns 26 - Actor 

Charlize Theron was born in Benoni, in the Gauteng Province of South Africa (formerly at the time of her birth the Transvaal Province), to mother Gerda Jacoba Maritz and father Charles Jacobus Theron. She was raised on her parents farm in Benoni near Johannesburg. Her father had an alcohol problem and at age fifteen he turned on both the young teenage Theron and his wife. Physically attacking his wife, Theron's mother shot and killed her husband. The shooting was judged to be in self defence and she was acquitted of any crime. She attended Putfontein Primary School and at thirteen moved to a boarding school at the National School of the Arts in Johannesburg. At sixteen, she won a one year modelling contract at a competition which saw her relocate to Milan in Italy with her mother. After a year of modelling assignments across Europe, she moved Stateside with her mother living in New York City and Miami. In New York she attended the Joffrey Ballet School where she trained to be a ballet dancer where she appeared in 'Swan Lake' and 'The Nutcracker', but a subsequent knee injury put an end to that career aspiration. 

At nineteen years of age, she took a one way ticket to Los Angeles that her mother purchased for her as an ultimatum - either work out what you going to do with your life here or you can come home and sulk and feel sorry for yourself in South Africa! With every intention of getting a gig in the film business, she was picked up by a talent agent who saw Theron get into a heated outburst whilst trying to cash a cheque at a Hollywood Boulevard bank. That chance meeting led to various introductions to casting agents and time at an acting school. After her big screen debut in a non-speaking role in horror offering 'Children of the Corn III' she scored her first speaking gig as a hitwoman in the 1996  comedy crime film '2 Days in the Valley' alongside Jeff Daniels, James Spader, Eric Stolz, Danny Aiello and Teri Hatcher. Theron's role was praised, even if the film garnered average Reviews at best. 

Next up was the Tom Hanks Written, Directed and starring 'That Thing You Do!' and then made for television movie 'Hollywood Confidential', Taylor Hackford's 'The Devil's Advocate' with Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves, then Woody Allen's 'Celebrity' with Kenneth Branagh and Judy Davis. 'Mighty Joe Young' followed with Bill Paxton, Sci-Fi drama 'The Astronaut's Wife' alongside Johnny Depp, and then Lasse Hallstrom's 'The Cider House Rules' with Tobey Maguire and Michael Caine seeing out the nineties.

The new decade saw the John Frankenheimer Directed actioner 'Reindeer Games' with Ben Affleck; the James Gray Co-Written and Directed 'The Yards' with Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix; 'Men of Honour' with Robert De Niro and Cuba Gooding Jnr.; and the Robert Redford Directed 'The Legend of Bagger Vance' with Will Smith and Matt Damon - all released in 2000. 2001 and 2002 saw 'Sweet November' with Keanu Reeves again, '15 Minutes' with Robert De Niro again, 'The Curse of the Jade Scorpion' with Woody Allen again, 'Trapped' with Kevin Bacon, and 'Waking Up in Reno' with Billy Bob Thornton and Patrick Swayze. 

Perhaps her breakout role came with 2003's Patty Jenkins Written and Directed 'Monster' in which Theron plays serial killer Aileen Wournos, a former prostitute who was executed in Florida in 2002 for killing six men in the late '80's and early '90's. Theron won much critical praise for her role garnering the Oscar win for Best Actress, the Golden Globe win for Best Actress, the SAG Award for Best Actress and a BAFTA nomination, amongst a haul of others totalling 30 wins and 25 nods in all. The film also starred Christina Ricci and Bruce Dern.

That same year saw the remake of the classic 'The Italian Job' for Director F. Gary Gray with Mark Wahlberg again, and Donald Sutherland, Jason Statham and Edward Norton; and then her turn as Actress Britt Ekland in the biographical 'The Life and Death of Peter Sellers' with Geoffrey Rush in the lead role; and then war time romantic drama 'Head in the Clouds' with Penelope Cruz and Stuart Townsend. 

2006 saw another highly acclaimed turn for Theron in 'North Country' for Director Niki Caro and starring alongside Jeremy Renner, Frances McDormand, Sean Bean, Woody Harrelson and Sissy Spacek. For her role as Josey Aimes Theron was nominated as Best Actress for the Academy Award, the Golden Globe, the BAFTA and the SAG Award as well as a heap of others.

Sci-Fi actioner 'Aeon Flux' came next in 2005 with Frances McDormand again; and then the Paul Haggis Written and Directed 'In the Valley of Elah' with Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin and Susan Sarandon. Actor Stuart Townsend Wrote and Directed 'Battle in Seattle' which also starred Woody Harrelson again, Ray Liotta, Channing Tatum, Connie Nielsen and Michelle Rodriguez, and this was followed up by 'Sleepwalking', Peter Berg's reluctant Superhero film 'Hancock' with Will Smith; 'The Burning Plain', and then John Hillcoat's post-apocalyptic adventure drama film 'The Road' with Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Robert Duvall seeing out the decade.

2011 brought 'Young Adult' for Director Jason Reitman for which Theron received further awards nominations including a Golden Globe nod; and then the Ridley Scott 'Alien' prequel 'Prometheus' with Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender and Idris Elba.










'Snow White and the Hunstman' followed in 2012 with Theron playing Ravenna, the Evil Queen to Kristen Stewart's Snow White and Chris Hemsworth's The Huntsman. The film received mixed Reviews but took US$397M at the Box Office off a budget of US$170M and was therefore a commercial success spawning a sequel 'The Huntsman : Winter's War' being released in 2016 in which Theron reprised her role. The film fared less well critically and commercially than its predecessor bringing in US$165M form a US$115M budget outlay.

The Seth MacFarlane Written, Directed and starring romantic comedy Western, 'A Million Ways to Die in the West' came along in 2014, and then 'Dark Places' with Nicholas Hoult and Chloe Grace Moretz, and then George Miller's long awaited follow up to his earlier hugely successful and influential post-apocalyptic action adventure Sci-Fi offerings 'Mad Max' with 'Mad Max : Fury Road' alongside Tom Hardy as the titular Max Rockatansky with Theron playing Imperator Furiosa and with Nicholas Hoult again. The film made US$379M at the Box Office from its US$150M budget and won six Academy Awards and was nominated for four others, was nominated for two Golden Globes, won four BAFTA's and another three nominations amongst its total awards haul of 237 wins and another 209 nominations.

2016 saw the release of the Sean Penn Directed 'The Last Face' with Javier Bardem. The film was panned by Critics as too were Theron and Bardem's performances. This was followed by Theron applying her voice talents to the animated 'Kubo and the Two Strings' together with those of Matthew McConaughey, Ralph Fiennes and Rooney Mara amongst others. So far this year we have seen Theron in the F. Gary Gray Directed 'The Fate of the Furious' in which she pays cyberterrorist and criminal mastermind Cipher alongside Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Kurt Russell, Michelle Rodriguez and various others of note. The film made a staggering US$1.24B from its US$250M budget making it the eleventh highest grossing film of all time at the time of writing, and setting the record for the highest grossing opening weekend of all time at US$532M. And just released is 'Atomic Blonde' in which Theron plays double if not triple agent Lorraine Broughton in this cold war era action spy thriller.

Next up for Theron are 'Gringo' due in 2018 as Directed by Nash Edgerton and also starring Joel Edgerton, Sharlto Copley, David Oyelowo, Thandie Newton and Amanda Seyfried; in post-production is comedy about motherhood, 'Tully' for Director Jason Reitman; and in pre-production is 'Flarsky' for Director Jonathan Levine and also starring Seth Rogen.

All up Theron has 52 Acting credits to her name, and sixteen as Producer including on 2017 television series 'Girlboss' and 'Mindhunter'. She is the recipient of 56 award wins and another 96 nominations including the Oscar for 'Monster' and a nomination for 'North Country'; three Golden Globe nominations and the win also for 'Monster'; a Primetime Emmy nomination; two BAFTA nominations; three SAG nominations and the win for 'Monster' and a whole swathe of others from around the global awards circuit.

In 2007 Theron founded 'The Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project' in an attempt to support African youth in the battle against HIV/AIDS. The project is committed to supporting community engaged organisations that address the key drivers of the disease through grant donations, networking and spotlighting their work to ultimately mobilise and empower them to prevent HIV. In 2008, Theron was named a UN Ambassador of Peace. She is also involved in women's rights organisations and has participated in pro-choice rallies, as well as being an active member of 'PETA' (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and a such is a supporter of animal rights. Theron is also a staunch supporter of same sex marriage and refuses to marry herself until such time as her country makes same sex marriage legal. In 2004 she signed a deal making her the spokeswoman for 'J'adore' advertising by Christian Dior, and in 2005 her image was used worldwide in print media advertising for Raymond Weil watches. Theron was in a long term relationship with Irish Actor Stuart Townsend whom she met on the set of 'Trapped' and worked with on subsequent films. The relationship ended in 2010 after eight years. In 2007 she became a US citizen and holds dual nationality with South Africa. She has two adopted children - a boy, Jackson in 2012, and a girl, August in 2015.

Charlize Theron - has been voted on numerous 'Top' lists multiple times including the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World, 100 Sexiest Women in the World, the Hot 100 Women, the Sexiest Woman Alive, Most Desirable Women, Top Earning Actresses; has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; Afrikaans is her fist language and she learned English as teenager by watching American television; is as active in the causes she believes in as she is on the big screen both in front of the camera and increasingly behind it; is blonde, stunning and statuesque but happy to turn that upside down and inside out for her craft and has been recognised for it numerous times; and is now a bona fide action star in her own right thanks to the likes of 'Aeon Flux', 'Mad Max : Fury Road' and 'Atomic Blonde'. Plenty of achievements already, and lots more still to come - we'll keep watching Charlize, and in the meantime, Happy Birthday to you, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

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 : 6th - 12th September 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Idris Elba does on 6th September - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 43 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 6th September

• Idris Elba - Born 1972, turns 43 - Actor | Producer 
• John Polson - Born 1965, turns 50 - Actor | Producer | Director  
• Rosie Perez - Born 1964, turns 51 - Actress | Producer | Director

Monday 7th September

• Evan Rachel Wood - Born 1987, turns 28 - Actress
• Toby Jones - Born 1967, turns 48 - Actor   
• Dario Argento - Born 1940, turns 75 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor   

Tuesday 8th September 

• Martin Freeman - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actor 
• David Arquette - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director 

Wednesday 9th September

• Adam Sandler - Born 1966, turns 49 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer | Songwriter
• Hugh Grant - Born 1960, turns 55 - Actor
• Michelle Williams - Born 1980, turns 35 - Actress

Thursday 10th September

• Guy Ritchie - Born 1968, turns 47 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Coln Firth  - Born 1960, turns 55 - Actor | Producer
• Ryan Phillippe - Born 1974, turns 41 - Actor | Director | Wtiter 

Friday 11th September

• Brian De Palma - Born 1940, turns 75 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Harry Connick Jnr :- Actor | Singer | Songwrie
• Tony Gilroy - Born 1956, turns 59 - Director | Producer | Writer  

Saturday 12th September

• Hans Zimmer - Born 1957, turns 58 - Singer | Songwriter | Composer
• Ian Holm - Born 1931, turns 84 - Actor 
• Freddie Jones - Born 1927, turns 88 - Actor
• Linda Gray - Born in 1940, turns 75 - Actress | Director
• Rachel Ward - Born 1957, turns 58 - Actress | Director | Writer

Idrissa Akuna 'Idris' Elba was born in the London suburb of Hackney to mother Eve, a Ghanaian working a clerical job, and father Winston, from Sierra Leone and a Ford Motor Company factory worker. The young Elba was raised in East Ham and went to school in Canning Town where his interest in acting was first sparked. Reading the weekly publication 'The Stage'  which covers the entertainment industry, Elba responded to an advertisement, auditioned for a stage play and was successful and subsequently hooked up with his first Agent. In 1986 he also started DJ'ing to help out in his Uncle's business and a year later he started up his own DJ company. He left school in 1988 having secured a place at London's National Youth Music Theatre, and was able to secure regular work on the BBC 'Crimewatch' programme acting out murder reconstructions. At 19 he was working the nightclub scene as 'DJ Big Driis' but within a year was auditioning for television roles.

His career kicked off in television in 1994 with a string of TV series that saw out the rest of the decade starting with '2point4 Children', 'Space Precinct', 'Absolutely Fabulous', 'Bramwell', two episodes of 'The Bill', four episodes of the 'Ruth Rendell Mysteries', two episodes on 'The Governor', six on 'Insiders', seven on 'Family Affairs' and six on 'Ultraviolet' before his 1999 film debut on the French comedy 'Belle maman' with Catherine Deneuve. There was then twelve episodes of 'Dangerfield' that saw out the end of the decade.

From that time on he dipped into both film and television roles constantly having moved to New York City early on in the new decade. In 2001 there was a support role on 'Law and Order' before 'The Wire' which for Elba ran from 2002 until 2004 across 37 episodes. In the meantime there were movies 'Sorted' and 'Buffalo Soldiers' with Joaquín Phoenix and Ed Harris, with brief stints on 'CSI : Miami', 'Hack', 'Soul Food', 'Girlfriends' and 'Jonny Zero'.

From here films started to feature more regularly with the likes of 'The Gospel' in 2005, 'Daddy's Little Girls' in 2007, and horror thriller 'The Reaping' that same year with Hilary Swank. Later that year there was '28 Weeks Later' with Jeremy Renner and Robert Carlyle, 'American Gangster' for Director Ridley Scott and starring Denzel Washington, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Brolin and Russell Crowe, and then a complete change of pace in closing out a busy year with 'This Christmas' with Delroy Lindo.

2008 & '09 brought the 'Prom Night' remake, Guy Ritchie's London gangster flick 'RocknRolla' with Gerald Butler, Tom Hardy and Tom Wilkinson, 'The Human Contract' with Jason Clarke, 'The Unborn' with Gary Oldman, 'Obsessed' with Beyoncé Knowles before seven episodes on 'The Office' to wind up another decade.

2010 kicked off with 'Legacy : Black Ops', 'The Losers' with Zoe Saldana and Chris Evans, 'The Takers' and Marvel's 'Thor' in 2011 with Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston and Anthony Hopkins. Of course Elba has reprised his role of Heimdall in 2013's 'Thor : The Dark World' and in 2015's 'Avengers : Age of Ultron'. 

In between there was the forgettable 'Ghost Rider : Spirit of Vengeance', the more memorable  'Prometheus' for Ridley Scott once again, 'Pacific Rim' for Guillermo del Toro, and his star turn and Academy Award nominated role as Nelson Mandela in 'Mandela : Long Walk to Freedom'. 'No Good Deed', ' Second Coming' and 'The Gunman' with Sean Penn have been more recent.

During this time there has been four seasons of the BBC's highly acclaimed 'Luther' for which Elba was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for all four seasons and won the gong in 2012, as well as three Primetime Emmy Award nominations. There is talk too of concluding the successful small screen series with a big screen feature length film.

Next up there is 'Beasts of No Nation', 'A Hundred Streets' and 'Bastille Day' in post-production, 'The Jungle Book' and 'Finding Dory' both filming for a 2016 release and to which Elba has lent his voice talents, 'Star Trek : Beyond' also filming and 'The Trap' due in 2017 and starring too Al Pacino, Benicio del Toro, and James Franco.

Amongst big and small screen acting gigs, Elba has carved out a respectable music career appearing in numerous music videos, recording his own work, DJ'ing and rapping his way around various other artists and guest appearances or doing his own thing.

All up Elba has 74 acting credits to his name, he won the Golden Globe for 'Luther' and has nine other award wins and 38 nominations. He was married first time around in 1999 to Hanne 'Kim' Nasgaard with whom he has a daughter Isan born in 2002, then Sonya Nicole Hamlin in 2006 for a brief time, and now he is hooked up with Naiyana Garth since 2013 with whom he has a young son, Winston, born in 2014.

Idris Elba - deep baritone voice; jobbing disc jockey; New York resident; works across all genres with a track record in Sci-Fi, Superhero fare, crime and horror; has been voted best dressed, most beautiful and sexiest man over the years so there is much to celebrate, and, it's your Birthday too - Happy Birthday Idris, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 29th March - 4th April 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Michael Fassbender does on 2nd April - 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 29th March

• Elle Macpherson - Born1964, turns 51 - Actress | Producer | Supermodel
• Lucy Lawless - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actress
• Brendan Gleeson - Born 1955, turns 60 - Actor
• Christopher Lambert - Born 1957, turns 51 - Actor | Producer
• Michael Winterbottom - Born 1961, turns 54 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Eric Idle - Born 1943, turns 72 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Comedian | Singer | Songwriter

Monday 30th March

• Warren Beatty - Born 1937, turns 78 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Robbie Coltrane - Born 1950, turns 65 - Actor | Writer
• Paul Reiser - Born 1957, turns 58 - Actor  | Producer | Writer
• Richard Dysart - Born 1929, turns 86 - Actor

Tuesday 31st March 

• Ewen McGregor - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Christopher Walken - Born 1943, turns 72 - Actor
• Richard Chamberlain - Born 1934, turns 81 - Actor
• Paul Mercurio - Born 1963, turns 52 - Actor
• Howard Gordon - Born 1961, turns 54 - Producer | Writer

Wednesday 1st April

• David Oyelowo - Born 1976, turns 39 - Actor | Producer
• Barry Sonnenfeld - Born 1953, turns 62 - Director | Producer | Actor | Cinematographer
• Asa Butterfield - Born 1997, turns 18 - Actor
• Ali McGraw - Born 1939, turns 76 - Actress

Thursday 2nd April

• Linda Hunt - Born 1945, turns 70 - Actress
• Christopher Meloni - Born 1961, turns 54 - Actor
• Michael Fassbender - Born 1977, turns 38 - Actor | Producer

Friday 3rd April

• Eddie Murphy - Born 1961, turns 54 - Actor | Producer | Director | Comedian | Singer
• Alec Baldwin - Born 1958, turns 57 - Actor | Producer
• Ben Mendelsohn - Born 1969, turns 46 - Actor

Saturday 4th April 

• Robert Downey Jnr. - Born 1965, turns 50 - Actor | Producer
• Hugo Weaving - Born 1960, turns 55 - Actor | Producer
• Barry Pepper - Born 1970, turns 45 - Actor | Producer
• Craig T. Nelson - Born 1944, turns 71 - Actor | Producer
• David E. Kelley - Born 1956, turns 59 - Writer | Producer

Michael Fassbender was born in Heidelberg, Germany to mother Adele from Larne, County Antrim, in Northern Ireland originally, and father Josef, a German. At the age of two the family moved to Killarney in County Kerry where his parents operated 'The West End House' - a restaurant where Josef worked as a Chef. He has an older sister Catherine, with whom he spent many a Summer Holiday in Germany where he learned to speak the language fluently. In Killarney he attended the Fossa National School and then St. Brendan's College - a Catholic School for boys. At 17 he discovered his love for acting in a school play, and at 19 he relocated himself to London to study at The Drama Centre where he subsequently dropped out in 1999 and toured instead with the Oxford Stage Company. 

As a budding young Actor, like many before him, he supported himself initially by working jobs such as bartending and delivering the post while auditioning for screen roles. His first screen role came in the acclaimed Tom Hanks/Steven Spielberg Co-Production 'Band of Brothers' before going on to 'Hex' for Sky One Television. In late 2003 he starred in a radio serialisation of 'Dracula' and in 2006 starred in a stage production of Quentin Tarantino's 'Reservoir Dogs' which he also Produced and Directed.

His first big screen role came in 2006 in the heavily stylised but lauded fantasy action sword & sandal drama '300' as Directed by Zack Snyder. Next up in 2008 he played the infamous Irish Prisoner on hunger strike, Bobby Sands, in 'Hunger' for Director Steve McQueen - a role for which he slimmed down dramatically on a 600 calorie a day diet. Next up came his role as a British Officer in Quentin Tarantino's 'Inglorious Basterds' in 2009 and then 'Fish Tank' that same year - both well received and applauded for his performances. Less so however, was 'Blood Creek' also in 2009 and Directed by Joel Schumacher.

A comic book adaptation came next in 2010 with 'Jonah Hex' starring Josh Brolin, John Malkovich and Will Arnett and with such a strong cast it should have done better, but it did nothing to ignite the critics or the Box Office. Following this was the war torn bloody Roman era slaughter fest  'Centurion', and then the complete polar opposite alongside Mia Wasikowska in 2011's 'Jane Eyre' adaptation.

Returning to comic book fare but this time with much more success, came 'X-Men : First Class' in 2011 playing the young Magneto of 1962 era. That year he also worked with David Cronenberg playing Dr. Carl Jung in 'A Dangerous Method'. Closing out the year with his second collaboration with Steve McQueen in 'Shame' for which he gained much critical acclaim with nominations from the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, the BAFTA's and more.

In 2012 he worked with Steven Soderbergh on 'Haywire' and then Ridley Scott on 'Prometheus' as android David. The following year he reteamed with Scott on 'The Counselor', and thereafter on his third outing with Steve McQueen on the award winning '12 Years a Slave' which garnered him further critical acclaim and awards nominations.








2014 brought 'Frank' and 'X-Men : Days of Future Past' in which he reprised his role as Magneto, the younger. Next up this year is 'Slow West' with 'Trespass Against Us', 'The Light Between Oceans' and 'Macbeth' currently in post-productions for a later in 2015 release, as is an as yet untitled Terrence Malick production based around the country music scene that has a huge all star cast! He plays too the lead role of Steve Jobs in the Danny Boyle film 'Steve Jobs' currently filming, and then Magneto for a third time in 'X-Men : Apocalypse' and 'Assassins Creed' due for release in 2016, as is the recently announced 'Prometheus 2' which will see him playing the android David once more.

Fassbender has 48 acting credits to his name and four Producer credits. He has 66 award wins and another 68 nominations which all up include the Best Supporting Actor nomination at the Academy Awards for '12 Years a Slave', two Golden Globe nominations for '12 Years a Slave' and 'Shame' and the BAFTA nomination for '12 Years a Slave' and 'Shame' also.


Michael Fassbender - just 38 years of age, on the big screen for just ten years, but already a solid portfolio of films, much in demand, highly lauded and very watchable - Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 30th November - 6th December 2014.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week? Ridley Scott does, on 30th November - 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 or 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 30th November

• Mark Forster - Born 1969, turns 45 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Mandy Patinkin - Born 1952, turns 62 - Actor
• Ben Stiller - Born 1965, turns 49 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Ridley Scott - Born 1937, turns 77 - Director | Producer | Production Designer
• Terrence Malick - Born 1943, turns 71 - Director | Producer | Writer
• David Mamet - Born 1947, turns 67 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Gael Garcia Bernal - Born 1978, turns 36 - Actor | Producer | Director

Monday 1st December

• Woody Allen - Born 1935, turns 79 - Director | Producer | Actor | Writer
• Treat Williams - Born 1951, turns 63 - Actor
• Bette Midler - Born 1945, turns 69 - Actress | Producer

Tuesday 2nd December

• Lucy Liu - Born 1968, turns 46 - Actress | Producer | Director
• Britney Spears - Born 1981, turns 33 - Singer | Songwriter | Producer | Actress

Wednesday 3rd December

• Julianne Moore - Born 1960, turns 54 - Actress | Producer
• Daryl Hannah - Born 1960, turns 54 - Actress | Producer
• Amanda Seyfried - Born 1985, turns 29 - Actress | Producer
• Brendan Fraser - Born 1968, turns 46 - Actor | Producer
• Jean-Luc Godard - Born 1930, turns 84 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Editor | Cinematographer

Thursday 4th December

• Jeff Bridges - Born 1949, turns 65 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Jay Z - Born 1969, turns 45 - Singer | Songwriter | Producer | Actor
• Marisa Tomei - Born 1964, turns 50 - Actress
• Tyra Banks - Born 1973, turns 41 - Actress | Producer | Writer

Friday 5th December 

• Frankie Muniz - Born 1985, turns 29 - Actor | Producer
• Nick Stahl - Born 1979, turns 35 - Actor

Saturday 6th December

• Judd Apatow - Born 1967, turns 47 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• Nick Park - Born 1958, turns 56 - Director | Producer | Writer

Ridley Scott was born in the north-east of England in South Shields, and is the middle of three sons born to mother Elizabeth and father Colonel Francis Percy Scott. Frank was the eldest of the three, and Tony the youngest - both of whom are deceased. Scott's father was an officer in the Royal Engineers, and therefore absent from for much of the boys younger lives. He attended Grangefield Grammar School and then West Hartlepool College of Art where he graduated with a Diploma in Design. From there he went on to the Royal College of Art in London where he was instrumental in establishing a film department.

Graduating in 1963 he had already made a short film, 'Boy and Bicycle' starring both brother Tony and father Francis, before joining the BBC in set design work. Attending a trainee Directors course while there his first Directing role was on an episode of the iconic BBC Police drama of the time 'Z-Cars'. In 1968 he and Tony founded Ridley Scott Associates - a film and television commercial company who amongst many others brought the iconic 1974 'Hovis' bread commercial to our TV screens.

His film Directorial debut came in 1977 in 'The Duellists' and is set in the Napoleonic Wars period and stars Harvey Keitel and Keith Carradine - it won an award at the Cannes Film Festival for Best Film. Next up was 1979's iconic 'Alien' which made for just US$11M brought in US$105M globally and gave him international success both commercially and critically; it spawned three sequels; a spin off series with 'Predator'; the recent prequel (of sorts), 'Prometheus' also Directed by Scott in 2012; and made a cinematic icon of Sigourney Weaver in the role of Ellen Ripley. Sticking with the Sci-Fi theme Scott gave us 'Blade Runner' as his next offering in 1982 with Harrison Ford based on the Philip K. Dick novel; 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep'. Costing US$28M to make and grossing just US$33M it was not a commercial success, but time has been very kind to this outstanding film, and it now regarded a classic and the touchstone of the genre.

With all the hoo-haa surrounding 1984 and the Orwellian angst propagated at the time, Scott Directed a US$900K television commercial for the new Apple Macintosh computer which aired during the SuperBowl of that year. That advertisement was seen too as the cornerstone and a masterpiece of modern televised advertising. As the 80's played out Scott Directed 'Legend' in 1985 with Tom Cruise and Tim Curry; 'Someone to Watch Over Me' with Tom Berenger and Mimi Rogers in 1987; and 'Black Rain' with Michael Douglas and Andy Garcia in 1989.

The 90's brought 'Thelma & Louise' in 1991 with Geena Davis, Susan Sarandon and a young Brad Pitt and was a critical and commercial success, unlike the Christopher Columbus Americas discovery telling '1492' in 1992, which cost US$47M to make and grossed just over US$7M. 'White Squall' followed with Jeff Bridges and then 'G.I.Jane' with Demi Moore and Viggo Mortensen.

As the new century clicked over, so came 'Gladiator' with Russell Crowe giving Scott one of his biggest critical and commercial successes with a worldwide gross of US$458M off a US$103M budget, and five Academy Awards including Best Film and Best Actor for Crowe. In the wake of this came 'Hannibal' in 2001 - the follow up to 'Silence of the Lambs', and then 'Black Hawk Down' later that same year with Eric Bana amongst a big name cast.

From here came more modest success with 'Matchstick Men', 'Kingdom of Heaven' and 'A Good Year' before 'American Gangster' with Russell Crowe again and Denzel Washington in 2007 bringing  critical and commercial acclaim once more. 'Body of Lies' featured next with Leonardo DiCaprio and acting stablemate Russell Crowe, and then a retelling of the much told 'Robin Hood' with Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett making US$322M off a US$155M budget. In 2012 Scott returned to Sci-Fi for the first time in almost 30 years with a 'Alien' origin story with 'Prometheus' starring Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender which again gave him critical success and a box office haul of $403M from a production cost of US$120M. 2013 saw 'The Counsellor', a relatively low budget offering at just US$25M but with an all start cast taking in Diaz, Bardem, Pitt, Fassbender and Cruz and based on a Cormac McCarthy story, it made a return of US$71M.

Being a very busy man, even at 77 this week, Scott has 97 Producer credits to his name, 34 as Director, and ten as Production Designer. Directorially, he has 'Exodus : Gods & Kings' about to hit our cinemas and starring Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, Ben Kingsley and Sigourney Weaver; and 'The Martian' is currently filming with Matt Damon, Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sean Bean, Kristin Wiig and Jessica Chastain and is due for release in 2015; and a TV mini-series 'The Hot Zone' has been announced. As Producer, 'Prometheus 2' is in pre-production for 2016, with a 'Blade Runner' sequel, 'Potsdamer Platz', 'Emma's War' and 'David' all announced for future release.

Nominated as Best Director for Academy Awards for 'Black Hawk Down', 'Gladiator', and 'Thelma & Louise' but has yet to win  golden statue; he also has two Golden Globe nominations and a win for 'RKO-281' in the mini-series or TV movie category; and four BAFTA nominations and recipient in 1995 of the Michael Balcon Award - in total then 23 award wins and 48 other nominations throughout his illustrious career. He was awarded a KBE (Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire) in 2003 by HRH Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his services to the film industry.

He was married to Felicity Heywood from 1964 to 1975 and to Sandy Watson from 1979 to 1989 with whom he has three children between the two marriages - Jake (born 1965), Luke (born 1968) and Jordan (born 1978) - all of them work in the film & TV business either behind or in front of the camera. His current partner is actress Giamina Facio whom Scott has cast in the majority of his films since 2000. In 1995 he and brother Tony purchased London's Shepparton Studios which subsequently merged with Pinewood Studios and set about upgrading and expanding the facilities and studios into the renowned production centre it is today.

Ridley Scott - still going strong after all these years; diverse film and television portfolio; highly regarded as the Actors Director; maker of several classic movies; and a keen eye for detail and stunning visuals of the past and the future, we continue to eagerly await your next offering! Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-