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

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Jake Gyllenhaal does on 19th December - check out my tribute to this Birthday Boy, turning 35, 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 December

• Jamie Foxx - Born 1967, turns 48 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Singer
• Steve Buscemi - Born 1957, turns 48 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Christopher Plummer - Born 1929, turns 86 - Actor | Producer
• Dick Van Dyke - Born 1925, turns 90 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Robert Lindsay - Born 1949, turns 66 - Actor

Monday 14th December

• Vijay Amritraj - Born 1953, turns 62 - Actor | Producer | Tennis Ace
• Rebecca Gibney - Born 1964, turns 51 - Actress | Producer
• Sophie Monk - Born1979, turns 36 - Actress

Tuesday 15th December

• Don Johnson - Born 1949, turns 66 - Actor | Producer
• Alex Cox - Born 1954, turns 61 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Editor

Wednesday 16th December

• Theo James - Born 1984, turns 31 - Actor
• Benjamin Bratt - Born 1963, turns 52 - Actor | Producer
• Shane Black - Born 1961, turns 54 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• Ben Cross - Born 1947, turns 68 - Actor
• James Mangold - Born 1963, turns 52 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Miranda Otto - Born 1967, turns 48 - Actress

Thursday 17th December

• Milla Jojovich - Born 1975, turns 40 - Actress | Singer
• Giovanni Ribisi - Born 1974, turns 41 - Actor
• Bill Pullman - Born 1953, turns 62 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Rian Johnson - Born 1973, turns 42 - Director | Writer
• Eugene Levy - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director | Singer | Songwriter
• Bernard Hill - Born 1944, turns 71 - Actor

Friday 18th December

• Brad Pitt - Born 1963, turns 52 - Actor | Producer
• Steven Spielberg - Born 1946, turns 69 - Director | Producer | Writer | Editor
• Ray Liotta - Born 1954, turns 61 - Actor | Producer
• Steve Austin - Born 1964, turns 51 - Actor | Producer | WWF Wrestler & Ringmaster
• Katie Holmes - Born 1978, turns 37 - Actress | Producer | Director
• Rachel Griffiths - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actress | Writer

Saturday 19th December 

• Jennifer Beals - Born 1963, turns 52 - Actress | Producer
• Jake Gyllenhaal - Born 1980, turns 35 - Actor | Producer

Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal was born in Los Angeles, California to mother Naomi Achs - a film Producer and Screenwriter and father, Stephen Gyllenhaal, a film Director. He has an older sister - Maggie  - also an acclaimed Actress who is married to Actor Peter Saragaard. His parents divorced in 2009. He has Swedish noble blood running through his veins on his fathers side that dates back to 1652 when the name first appeared, descended from cavalryman Nils Gunnarsson Haal. His mother is of Jewish origin and Gyllenhaal considers himself Jewish. In his early teens he worked as a volunteer at a homeless shelter, as a Summer Holiday lifeguard and as a Busboy is a family friends restaurant - all to keep him grounded given the trappings of a Hollywood lifestyle enjoyed in his privileged upbringing. He graduated from Harvard-Westlake School in LA in 1998, and then attended Columbia University, but after two years dropped out to concentrate on an acting career.

His acting career started when he was just ten years old starring as Billy Crystal's son in 'City Slickers'. Two years later he starred in 'A Dangerous Woman' as Directed by his father and written for the screen by his mother, and starring alongside his sister with Gabriel Byrne, David Strathairn, Debra Winger and Barbara Hershey. His father would Direct him again in 1998 in 'Homegrown' with John Lithgow, Billy Bob Thornton, Hank Azaria and Jamie Lee Curtis; with Joe Johnston's 'October Sky' in 1999 closing out the decade with Chris Cooper and Laura Dern.

Critical acclaim would come with the first film of the new decade in 2002 with 'Donnie Darko' - set in 1988 Gyllenhaal plays the title character alongside his sister once again, and Patrick Swayze, Drew Barrymore and an eight feet tall menacing white rabbit called Frank. Whilst barely a commercial success, it has subsequently over the years risen to 'cult status'.

A number of teenage romance films followed the forgettable 'Highway' in which he starred with future Oscar winner Jared Leto, and these included 'The Good Girl', 'Lovely and Amazing', and 'Bubble Boy'.

The Roland Emmerich disaster epic 'The Day After Tomorrow' saw Gyllenhaal in the lead role as the Northern Hemisphere freezes over, and in the process grossing a cool US$545M at the Global Box Office. After this there was really no going back, with Ang Lee's 'Brokeback Mountain' starring Heath Ledger and winning a swag of awards including Academy Awards, BAFTA's and Golden Globes totalling 122 wins and another 106 nominations from around the traps.





That same year Gyllenhaal also put out 'Proof' with Anthony Hopkins and Gwyneth Paltrow, and the Desert Storm story of 'Jarhead' as Directed by Sam Mendes and starring brother-in-law and good friend Peter Sarsgaard, and Jamie Foxx. Afterwards came the murder mystery thriller for David Fincher, 'Zodiac', about the as yet unsolved serial killings by 'The Zodiac Killer' between December 1968 and October 1969. This was followed up later that year with 'Rendition' in which he co-starred with Peter Sarsgaard once again and Meryl Streep and Reese Witherspoon. The decade drew to a close with 'Brothers' - a wartorn film with Afghanistan as the backdrop with Tobey Maguire and Natalie Portman. After this came the movie adaptation of the video game 'Prince of Persia : The Sands of Time' and then the RomCom 'Love and Other Drugs' with Anne Hathaway, for which Gyllenhaal received a Golden Globe nomination.

2012 saw 'End of Watch' - the highly acclaimed LA buddy cop movie starring Michael Pena. In between time there was 'Source Code' for Duncan Jones, and following 'Prisoners' with Hugh Jackman and Paul Dano, and then doppelganger 'Enemy' - the latter two films both Directed by Denis Villeneuve. 'Nightcrawler' was next in 2014 and one of this Reviewers favourite films of that year, with 'Accidental Love', 'Southpaw' and 'Everest' all released earlier this year. Next up is is 'Demolition' in early 2016 with Chris Cooper and Naomi Watts, with 'Nocturnal Animals' in post-production for a 2016 release, and then 'The Current War', 'Stronger', 'Okja' all currently in pre-production, and 'The Man Who Made It Snow' for Antoine Fuqua recently announced.

All up Gyllenhaal has 38 Acting credits and three Producer credits. He has garnered thirty Award wins including the 2006 BAFTA win for 'Brokeback Mountain' and a nomination for 'Nightcrawler' plus two Golden Globe nominations and an Academy Award nomination for 'Brokeback Mountain' too. He has a total 75 nominations all up to date.

Having been raised in the Hollywood Acting community, Paul Newman and Jamie Lee Curtis were/are his Godparents, and he is Godfather to Matilda Rose Ledger, daughter of the late Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams. He has been romantically linked to Kirsten Dunst, Reese Witherspoon, Taylor Swift, and model Alyssa Miller. He is politically active, supporting the Democrats and John Kerry in the past. He is also environmentally active supporting recycling, tree planting, climate change as well as supporting various charities too.

Jake Gyllenhaal - born into the industry and active in it already for 25 of his 35 years; has nobility in his ancestry; the recipient of numerous on-screen and off-screen official and unofficial awards; continues to draw a crowd with a diverse portfolio of work; and just keeps getting better with every role - Happy Birthday to you Jake, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 28th December 2014 - 3rd January 2015.

It's New Year week - do you celebrate your Birthday this week? Anthony Hopkins does, on 31st December - 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 28th December

• Denzel Washington - Born 1954, turns 60 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Stan Lee - Born 1922, turns 92 - Writer | Producer | Actor
• Alex Dimitriades - Born 1973, turns 41 - Actor
• Sienna Miller - Born 1981, turns 33 - Actress
• Noomi Rapace - Born 1979, turns 35 - Actress
• Maggie Smith - Born 1934, turns 80 - Actress

Monday 29th December

• Patricia Clarkson - Born 1959, turns 55 - Actress | Producer
• Mary Tyler Moore - Born 1936, turns 78 - Actress | Producer | Singer | Television Personality
• Jude Law - Born 1972, turns 42 - Actor | Producer
• Jon Voight - Born 1938, turns 76 - Actor | Producer
• Ted Danson - Born 1947, turns 67 - Actor | Producer
• Andy Wachowski - Born 1967, turns 47 - Director | Producer | Writer

Tuesday 30th December

• Tracey Ullman - Born 1959, turns 55 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Director

Wednesday 31st December 

• Barbara Carrera - Born 1945, turns 69 - Actress
• Val Kilmer - Born 1959, turns 55 - Actor | Producer
• Ben Kingsley - Born 1943, turns 71 - Actor
• Anthony Hopkins - Born 1937, turns 77 - Actor | Producer | Director | Composer

Thursday 1st January

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

Friday 2nd January

• Cuba Gooding Jnr. - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actor | Producer
• Todd Haynes - Born 1961, turns 54 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Taye Diggs - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actor | Producer
• Paz Vega - Born 1976, turns 38 - Actress
• Kate Bosworth - Born 1983, turns 32 - Actress | Producer
• Tia Carrere - Born 1967, turns 48 - Actress | Producer

Saturday 3rd January

• Victoria Principal - Born 1950, turns 65 - Actress | Producer
• Dabney Coleman - Born 1932, turns 83 - Actor
• Robert Loggia - Born 1930, turns 85 - Actor
• Mel Gibson - Born 1956, turns 59 - Actor | Producer | Director

Philip Anthony Hopkins was born in Margam, Port Talbot in South Wales on New Years Eve to mother Annie Muriel Yeates and father Richard Arthur Hopkins. He was not an academic child but did immerse himself in painting, drawing and learning the piano at school. He was enrolled at Jones' West Monmouth Boys School and then Cowbridge Grammar School. At age 15 he briefly met Richard Burton who greatly influenced the young Hopkins and coincidentally was also from Port Talbot. As a result he attended the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff where he graduated from in 1957. After completing his obligatory national service he relocated himself to London where he further studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

His first stage appearance came in 1960 at the Palace Theatre, Swansea in 'Have a Cigarette'. In 1965  he was seen by Lord Laurence Olivier who invited him to join the Royal National Theatre where he went on to become Olivier's understudy. His small screen career started off in 1967 in a BBC televised play 'A Flea in Her Ear' and that same year he appeared in the short film 'The White Bus' (aka 'Red, White and Zero'). However, 1968 saw his first big screen role playing King Richard I in 'The Lion in Winter' with Peter O'Toole, Katherine Hepburn and Timothy Dalton which went on to take out three Academy Awards that year. He continued to tread the boards, but progressively moved toward more television and film roles starring in this earlier years in the likes of 'The Looking Glass War', 'Hamlet', 'When Eight Bells Toll', 'Young Winston' for Director Richard Attenborough, 'The Girl from Petrovka', 'Juggernaut' and then 1977's 'A Bridge Too Far' again Directed by Richard Attenborough and with an all star cast. In the meantime there had been numerous television series and made for television movies, the most notable of which was the TV Mini-Series 'War & Peace' in which he starred in all seventeen episodes running over 1972 and '73.

The 1980's opened up opposite John Hurt in 'The Elephant Man' followed by 'A Change of Seasons' and then as William Bligh in 'The Bounty' with Mel Gibson, Laurence Olivier, Daniel Day-Lewis, Liam Neeson and Edward Fox. 'The Good Father', '84, Charring Cross Road' and again various television series and made for TV films also featured - 'A Married Man', 'Strangers and Brothers' and 'Hollywood Wives' amongst others.

It was the 1990's however, that really saw Hopkins movie career take off with the hugely successful and highly acclaimed Jonathan Demme Directed 'Silence of the Lambs' in 1991 which won the 'Big-5' Academy Awards including the Best Actor Award for Hopkins. He was nominated a further three times in the 90's for the golden statue - for 'Remains of the Day', 'Nixon' and 'Amistad'. There were other notable films too during the decade that included 'Howard's End', 'Dracula', 'Chaplin', 'Shadowlands' with Richard Attenborough Directing once more, 'Legends of the Fall', 'The Edge', 'The Mask of Zorro', 'Meet Joe Black', 'Instinct' and 'Titus'.

As the new century rolled over Hopkins reprised his role as Dr. Hannibal Lecter twice again - in 2001's 'Hannibal' Directed by Ridley Scott, and then Brett Ratner's 2002 'Red Dragon'. What followed included 'The Human Stain', 'Alexander' for Oliver Stone who also Directed Hopkins in 'Nixon', 'Proof', 'Fracture', 'The World's Fastest Indian', the CGI animated 'Beowulf' and his own Written, Directed and Starring 'Slipstream' in 2007.

More recently there has been 'The Wolfman'. 'The Rite', Marvel's 'Thor' and it's sequel 'Thor : The Dark World', '360', 'Hitchcock' as the great Director himself opposite Helen Mirren, 'RED 2' and 'Noah' most recently. 

Coming up there is 'Autobahn' and 'Kidnapping Freddy Heineken' due in 2015, 'Solace' in post-production currently and 'Go with Me' presently filming. The 'Westworld' Television series is filming too for 2015 and 'The Dresser' television movie is in pre-production now.

All up Hopkins has 127 acting credits to his name, three Directer credits for which he also composed his own music scores and a total 51 worldwide award wins and 44 other nominations. The Academy Awards were mentioned before, and in addition there are six Golden Globe nominations and the 2006 Cecil B. DeMille Award win; two Primetime Emmy Award wins for 'The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case' and 'The Bunker' and two other nominations; and four BAFTA Award wins for 'War & Peace', 'Silence of the Lambs', 'Shadowlands' and The Academy Fellowship win in 2008, plus four other nominations.

During his career he has played British Prime Minister David Lloyd George; English King - Richard the Lionheart; two US Presidents - John Quincy Adams and Richard Nixon; German Dictator Adolf Hitler; renowned artist Pablo Picasso; renowned film Director Alfred Hitchcock; and renowned literary scribe Charles Dickens, amongst other real life characters.

He was married to Petronella Barker from 1967 to 1972; to Jennifer Lynton from 1973 to 2002; and to Stella Arroyave from 2003 until the present day. He has a daughter - composer and actress Abigail Hopkins, born in 1968. He has both British and American citizenship and his charitable and philanthropic efforts extend to his Presidency of the National Trust's 'Snowdonia Appeal' to which he personally donated one million pounds sterling. He is  patron of his hometown YMCA and is a volunteer teacher at Santa Monica's Ruskin School of Acting. Additionally he is a prominent member of 'Greanpeace' and a patron of the 'Rehabilitaion for Addicted Prisoners Trust'. He is a reformed alcoholic having given up on Christmas day 1975, he has quit smoking and has been vegetarian now for some years, and he is a piano virtuoso. In the Queen's Birthday Honour's List in 1987 he was awarded the CBE (Commander of the British Empire); in 1992 she bestowed upon him in the New Year's Honour's List the KBE (Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire); and in 2008 he was made a Fellow of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

Anthony Hopkins - owner of deep blue piercing eyes and a deep smooth voice, often playing restrained archetypal English roles, character actor and known for roles of historical personalities, trademarked as bringing to life one of cinemas most chilling characters, and still much in demand and still turning it on for us at 77 - Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-