Birthday's to share this week : 31st December 2017 - 6th January 2018.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Norman Reedus does on 6th January - check out my tribute to this Actor, Producer, Director and Writer Birthday Lad turning 49, 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 have 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 31st December

• Anthony Hopkins - Born 1937, turns 80 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Composer | Singer | Songwriter
• Ben Kingsley - Born 1943, turns 74 - Actor | Producer 
• James Remar - Born 1953, turns 64 - Actor 
• Val Kilmer - Born 1959, turns 58 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Singer 
• Barbara Carrera - Born 1945, turns 72 - Actress   

Monday 1st January

• Angourie Rice - Born 2001, turns 17 - Actress 
• Frank Langella - Born 1938, turns 80 - Actor 
• Verne Troyer - Born 1969, turns 49 - Actor 

Tuesday 2nd January 

• Todd Haynes - Born 1961, turns 57 - Director | Writer | Producer | 
• Cuba Gooding Jnr. - Born 1968, turns 50 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Taye Diggs - Born 1971, turns 47 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Dax Shepard - Born 1975, turns 43 - Actor | Director | Writer | Producer | Editor | Singer  
• Tia Carrere - Born 1967, turns 51 - Actress | Producer | Singer
• Paz Vega - Born 1976, turns 42 - Actress 
• Kate Bosworth - Born 1983, turns 35 - Actress | Producer

Wednesday 3rd January

• Victoria Principal - Born 1950, turns 68 - Actress | Producer
• Florence Pugh - Born 1996, turns 22 - Actress
• Dabney Coleman - Born 1932, turns 86 - Actor 
• Mel Gibson - Born 1956, turns 62 - Actor | Director | Producer | Writer  
• Matt Ross - Born 1970, turns 48 - Actor | Director | Writer 

Thursday 4th January

• Graham McTavish - Born 1961, turns 57 - Actor | Singer
• Julia Ormond - Born 1965, turns 53 - Actress | Producer  

Friday 5th January

• Diane Keaton - Born 1946, turns 72 - Actress | Director | Producer | Singer
• January Jones - Born 1978, turns 40 - Actress 
• Robert Duvall - Born 1931, turns 87 - Actor | Producer | Director 
• Hayao Miyazaki - Born 1941, turns 77 - Writer | Director | Animator | Producer | Editor | Songwriter | Voice Actor
• Roger Spottiswoode - Born 1945, turns 73 - Director | Producer | Writer | Editor
• Clancy Brown - Born 1959, turns 59 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Vinnie Jones - Born 1965, turns 53 - Actor | Singer
• Bradley Cooper - Born 1975, turns 43 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer  

Saturday 6th January

• Rowan Atkinson - Born 1955, turns 63 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Singer
• Norman Reedus - Born 1969, turns 49 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer 
• Eddie Redmayne - Born 1982, turns 36 - Actor | Singer 
• Sylvia Syms - Born 1934, turns 84 - Actress 
• Kate McKinnon - Born 1984, turns 34 - Actress | Writer | Singer

Norman Mark Reedus was born in Hollywood, Florida, USA to mother Marianne Yarber, a teacher, and father Ira Norman Reedus. In his teenage years he worked in a Harley-Davidson dealership in Venice, California and through his artwork interests was a regular contributor to various shows exhibiting his painting, photography, sculpting and video work skills. His first taste for the acting craft came in the stage play 'Maps for Drowners' at The Tiffany Theatre on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. He was discovered at a Los Angeles party when he started screaming wearing huge sunglasses, and another party guest asked him if he wanted to act in a play. And the rest as they say, is history!

Reedus gained his big screen debut in Guillermo del Toro's horror Sci-Fi offering 'Mimic' in 1997 with Josh Brolin, F. Murray Abraham, Jeremy Northam and Mira Sorvino. This was followed up that same year by coming of age romantic drama 'Floating', then the comedy crime drama 'Six Ways to Sunday' with Debbie Harry and Adrien Brody, and then the likes of 'I'm Losing You', 'Dark Harbour', 'Reach The Rock', 'Davis is Dead', 'Let The Devil Wear Black' before Joel Schumacher's mystery thriller '8MM' with Nicolas Cage, Joaquin Phoenix, James Gandolfini and Peter Stormare. This in turn led to action crime thriller 'The Boondocks Saints' in 1999 with Willem Dafoe, Billy Connolly and Sean Patrick Flanery. Reedus plays brother Murphy MacManus to Flanery's Conor MacManus in this Boston set underworld revenge and retribution offering, which saw Reedus, Flanery and Connolly reprise their roles in the 2009 sequel 'The Boondocks Saints II : All Saints Day'.

The new decade in 2000 opened with 'Beat' with Keifer Sutherland, 'Gossip' with James Marsden and Lena Headey, 'Bad Seed', 'Sand', 'Beatnicks', Luster' and Guillermo del Toro's action Sci-Fi horror sequel 'Blade II' with Wesley Snipes, Ron Perlman and Kris Kristofferson. 'Deuces Wild', 'Nobody Needs to Know', 'Tough Luck', 'Octane' and 'Until the Night' closed out 2004. In the meantime there had been two episodes on television series 'Charmed'. 

2005 saw 'Antibodies', historical biography 'The Notorious Bettie Page' with Gretchen Mol in the title role, then 'A Crime' in 2006 with Harvey Keitel and Ridley Scott's acclaimed 'American Gangster' in 2007 with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. 'Moscow Chill' was released also in 2007, then 'Hero Wanted' with Cuba Gooding Jnr., horror thriller 'Red Canyon', 'Cadillac Records' in 2008 with Adrien Brody and Sci-Fi action horror offering 'Pandorum' with Ben Foster and Dennis Quaid seeing out 2009 with the aforementioned 'The Boondocks Saints II : All Saints Day'.

2010 saw another busy year with numerous release films including 'Meskada', the Robert Redford Directed 'The Conspirator' with James McAvoy, Kevin Kline, Tom Wilkinson, Danny Huston, Toby Kebbel and Robin Wright, then 'Hello Herman', mystery horror offering 'Night of the Templar', 'Sunlight Jr.' with Matt Dillon and Naomi Watts, followed by 'Pawn Shop Chronicles' with Matt Dillon again and Elijah Wood, Paul Walker, Brendan Fraser and Vincent D'Onofrio, and then 'Stretch' in 2014 with Patrick Wilson, Ed Helms, Ray Liotta, David Hasselhoff and Jessica Alba.

In between time Reedus was cast as the motorcycle riding crossbow wielding Daryl Dixon in the hugely popular and highly acclaimed AMC post zombie apocalypse television series 'The Walking Dead' which has aired for seven seasons so far, with Season Eight due in 2018, and spanning 115 episodes in which Reedus has appeared in 113 of those episodes to date. The series created by Frank Durabont based on the graphic novels by Robert Kirkman have so far garnered 66 award wins and 183 nominations, including three award wins and three nods for Reedus as Best Supporting Actor in the series. He stars beside Andrew Lincoln, Chandler Riggs, Melissa McBride, Lauran Cohan, Danai Gurira and Steven Yuen as the principle cast.

2015 saw another outing for the Griswold clan in 'Vacation' with Ed Helms, Chevy Chase, Chris Hemsworth, Christina Applegate, and Leslie Mann, followed up by Sci-Fi drama 'Air' with Djimon Hounsou, and then the drama 'Sky' with Diane Kruger. 2016 brought along John Hillcoat's Police crime drama film 'Triple 9' with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Woody Harrelson, Casey Affleck, Anthony Mackie, Aaron Paul, Kate Winslet, Gal Gadot and Teresa Palmer. Meanwhile there had been several one off appearances on 'American Dad', 'Turbo FAST', 'Robot Chicken' and 'Voltron' with several video games to which Reedus had lent his voice including 'The Walking Dead : Survival Instinct', 'The Walking Dead : No Man's Land', 'Iron Man : Rise of Technovore' and currently filming is the video game 'Death Stranding' also featuring Mads Mikkelsen and Guillermo del Toro.

Bringing us up to date, is 'Ride with Norman Reedus'. The series follows the Actor and motorcycle enthusiast where he and a guest of the week travel across to a different destination on a motorcycle while exploring the city's biker culture and checking out various locales. The travel series Premiered on AMC in mid-2016, with a second season going to air in late 2017, with a third season commissioned for 2018.

All up Reedus has 72 acting credits to his name, two as Producer, two as Writer and two as Director. He has garnered so far four award wins for his work on 'The Walking Dead' and 'Floating' and a further five nominations.

Aside from his successful acting career, Reedus has modelled over the years for the likes of Prada, Levi's and Lexus, and has also appeared in numerous music videos for prominent recording artists including Keith Richards, Bjork, The Goo Goo Dolls, Ugly Kid Joe, R.E.M. and Radiohead, and more recently Lady Gaga, Hilary Duff and Tricky. He has also showcased his painting, sculpting and photographic works in galleries in New York, Berlin and Frankfurt.

Reedus was in a five year relationship with supermodel Helena Christensen from 1998 through until 2003 with whom they have a son Mingus Lucien Reedus (Born in 1999). In 2005 Reedus was involved in a bad motorcycle accident in Germany resulting in him needing a nose reconstruction with the aid for four screws and a new left eye socket made from titanium.

Norman Reedus - heavily tattooed; reconstructed like a Terminator; collects masks for a hobby; multi-talented; has worked across multiple genres; has his own New York based Production Company called 'Bigbaldhead' (as in the sun rising up like a  . . . ); and is often seen wearing sun glasses, donning a beard or goatee, carrying a weapon of some kind, and speaking in his trademark deep husky voice. We love you in 'The Walking Dead' and watch out for your other productions too with much interest and anticipation. Happy Birthday to you Norman, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 18th-24th September 2016.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Jon Bernthal does on 20th September - check out my tribute to this Birthday Lad turning 40, 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 18th September

• Jada Pinkett Smith - Born 1971, turns 45 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Director
• Jason Sudeikis -  Born 1975, turns 41 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer
• Mark Romanek - Born 1959, turns 57 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Tim McInnerny - Born 1956, turns 60 - Actor

Monday 19th September

• Adam West - Born 1928, turns 88 - Actor
• David McCallum - Born 1933, turns 83 - Actor
• Jeremy Irons - Born 1948, turns 68 - Actor
• Paul McGuigan - Born 1963, turns 53 - Director | Producer
• Jimmy Fallon - Born 1974, turns 42 - Television Personality | Writer | Producer | Actor | Singer  

Tuesday 20th September

• Jon Bernthal - Born 1976, turns 40 - Actor
• Gary Cole - Born 1956, turns 60 - Actor
• George R.R. Martin - Born 1948, turns 68 - Writer | Producer | Actor
• Sophia Loren - Born 1934, turns 82 - Actress | Singer  

Wednesday 21st September

• Jerry Bruckheimer - Born 1943, turns 73 - Producer
• Stephen King - Born 1947, turns 69 - Writer | Producer | Actor
• Bill Murray - Born 1950, turns 66 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Singer
• Ethan Coen - Born 1957, turns 59 - Director | Producer | Writer | Editor
• David Wenham - Born 1965, turns 51 - Actor | Producer
• Luke Wilson - Born 1971, turns 45 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director  

Thursday 22nd September

• Nick Cave - Born 1957, turns 59 - Writer | Singer | Songwriter | Composer | Actor
• Scott Baio - Born 1960, turns 56 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Tom Felton - Born 1987, turns 29 - Actor | Director
• Billie Piper - Born 1982, turns 34 - Actress | Producer  

Friday 23rd September

• John Woo - Born 1946, turns 70 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Editor
• Jason Alexander - Born 1959, turns 57 - Actor | Producer | Director | Singer
• Alex Proyas - Born 1963, turns 53 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Anthony Mackie - Born 1978, turns 38 - Actor | Producer   

Saturday 24th September

• Brad Bird - Born 1957, turns 59 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor

Jonathan Edward Bernthal was born in Washington D.C., USA, to mother Joan Marx and father Eric Lawrence Bernthal - a lawyer with Latham & Watkins - the world's highest grossing and one of the most prestigious law firms. He has two brothers - Thomas and Nicholas. After High School, he attended Skidmore College - a private independent arts college in Saratoga Springs, New York in 1999, before relocating himself to the Moscow Arts Theatre School in Russia, during which time he played semi-professional baseball as a catcher while studying his chosen craft. After this he attended the American Repertory Theatre at the Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University where he graduated from in 2002 with a Masters of Fine Arts Degree.

Since 2002 Bernthal has performed in over thirty Off-Broadway Plays, many with his own Theatre Company - Fovea Floods. He gained his first small screen role in 2002 in a single episode of 'Law and Order : Criminal Intent' with the next few years bringing further television series work on the likes of 'Without a Trace', 'Dr. Vegas', 'Boston Legal', 'Jonny Zero', 'C.S.I. : Miami' and 'How I Met Your Mother'. His first film role came in 2002 with 'Mary/Mary' and then in 2004 with 'Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding' with Mila Kunis and then television movie 'Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman' with Bryan Brown. 

2006 brought Oliver Stone's 'World Trade Centre' with Nicolas Cage, Michael Pena and Michael Shannon, and then 'The Air I Breathe' and 'Day Zero' in 2007, 'Coutrroom K', 'Bar Starz', 'A Line in the Sand' and 'Night at the Museum : Battle of the Smithsonian' closed out the decade.  From 2006 to 2007 running for just one season over nineteen episodes was 'The Class', and then rom 2009 to 2010 for one season over thirteen episodes was 'Eastwick' based on 'The Witches of Eastwick' book and film of the same name.

The new decade saw Roman Polanski's 'The Ghost Writer' with Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan and Tom Wilkinson, 'Date Night' with Steve Carell and Tina Fey, 'Rampart' with Woody Harrelson and Sigourney Weaver, 'Snitch' with Dwayne Johnson and Susan Sarandon, and then Martin Scorsese's 'The Wolf of Wall Street' with Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill, and 'Grudge Match' with Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro.

During this period of escalating film roles there were also further television appearances on 'Numb3rs', 'The Pacific', 'Harry's Law' and 'Robot Chicken', plus the role that almost certainly put Bernthal on the map, as Shane Walsh on the first twenty episodes across the first two seasons of AMC's groundbreaking 'The Walking Dead' from 2010-2012. The show's seventh season is soon to go to air in the US.

David Ayer's 'Fury' in 2014 with Brad Pitt, Michael Pena and Shia LaBeouf came next with 'Me and Earl and the Dying Girl', 'Sicario' with Josh Brolin, Benicio del Toro and Emily Blunt, and then 'We Are Your Friends' with Zac Efron. Further television series followed including the mini-series 'Show Me a Hero' with Oscar Isaac and Alfred Molina, the animated series 'SuperMansion' to which Bernthal lends his voice talents with Bryan Cranston amongst others, and then as Frank Carter/Punisher on 'Daredevil' based on the Marvel Comics character for which Bernthal is to get his own spin-off series of 'Punisher' in 2017.

Up next are several film appearances in 'Viena and the Fantomes', and 'The Accountant' with Ben Affleck and Anna Kendrick both due later this year. Currently filming is 'Sweet Virginia' for a 2017 release with Imogen Poots, 'Pilgrimage' with Tom Hollander and Richard Armitage in post-production, as is 'Shot Caller', Edgar Wright's 'Baby Driver' with Kevin Spacey, John Hamm and Jamie Foxx, and 'Wind River' with Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olson.

Including these, all up Bernthal has 51 Acting credits to date, and he has three award nominations including Best Male Breakout Performance for 'The Walking Dead'. He married Erin Angle in September 2010 with whom he has three children - Henry (born in 2011), Billy (born in 2013) and Adeline (born in 2015). His brother Nicholas is an orthopaedic surgeon at UCLA with whom he also runs a not-for-profit company 'Drops Fill Buckets' which describes its credo as an 'impact driven, entrepreneurial approach to making a difference'. His other brother Tom is a three time Emmy Award winning Producer for NBC, and CEO of a business consulting company.

Jon Bernthal - plays tough, physical muscular roles because he's a tough, physical muscular looking kinda guy; he has had his nose broken thirteen times at the last count; is immensely talented and will turn his hand to any genre and because of it is increasingly in demand and his star very much on the rise. We'll keep watching Jon, if you keep doing what your best at - keeping us entertained with gritty realism! Happy 40th Birthday to you, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 11th - 17th September 2016.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Andrew Lincoln does on 14th September - check out my tribute to this Birthday Lad 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 11th September

• Brian De Palma - Born 1940, turns 76 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Tony Gilroy - Born 1956, turns 60 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Harry Connick Jnr. - Born 1967, turns 49 - Singer | Songwriter | Actor | Producer  

Monday 12th September

• Ian Holm - Born 1931, turns 85 - Actor
• Hans Zimmer - Born 1957, turns 59 - Composer | Songwriter | Musician
• Rachel Ward - Born 1957, turns 59 - Actress | Writer | Director
• Linda Gray - Born 1940, turns 76 - Actress  

Tuesday 13th September

• Jacqueline Bisset - Born 1944, turns 72 - Actress
• Frank Marshall - Born 1946, turns 70 - Producer | Director | Actor
• Colin Trevorrow - Born 1976, turns 40 - Director | Producer | Writer  

Wednesday 14th September

• Sam Neill - Born 1947, turns 69 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director | Winemaker
• Joon-ho Bong - Born 1969, turns 47 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Andrew Lincoln - Born 1973, turns 43 - Actor  

Thursday 15th September

• Tommy Lee Jones - Born 1946, turns 70 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director  
• Oliver Stone - Born 1946, turns 70 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• Tom Hardy - Born 1977, turns 39 - Actor | Writer | Producer

Friday 16th September

• Mickey Rourke - Born 1952, turns 64 - Actor | Writer
• Amy Poehler - Born 1971, turns 45 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Director | Singer  

Saturday 17th September

• Baz Luhrmann - Born 1962, turns 54 - Director | Producer | Writer | Songwriter
• Paul Feig - Born 1962, turns 54 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• Bryan Singer  - Born 1965, turns 51 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Kyle Chandler - Born 1965, turns 51 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Neill Blomkamp - Born 1979, turns 37 - Director | Producer | Writer | VFX Artist  

Andrew James Clutterbuck was born in London, England to mother, a South African nurse and father, a civil engineer. At eighteen months old the family moved to Hull, Yorkshire, and then at age eight to Bath, Somerset where he attended Beechen Cliff School - a secondary school for boys. It was while at school at age fourteen that he got his first taste of acting, in a school production of 'Oliver' playing The Artful Dodger. He spent a summer break at London's National Youth Theatre where his interest in acting as a career was cemented. Following school he studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London which is when, wisely, he adopted the stage name Andrew Lincoln.

He gained his first television appearance in a single episode of Channel 4's 'Drop the Dead Donkey' series in 1994. A year later he was cast in his first full length feature film - 'Boston Kickout' - a British drama Written and Directed by Paul Hills and starring John Simm. Two episodes on 'Over Here' and one on 'Bramwell' followed in 1996, before 32 episodes on the BBC drama series 'This Life' which ran for two series from 1996 to 1997. He followed these up with the BBC's 'Woman in White' in 1997, and then feature film 'Human Traffic' for Director Justin Kerrigan and starring John Simm again. The film was a commercial and critical success and has since achieved cult status.

2000 saw British crime drama 'Gangster No. 1' for Director Paul McGuigan with Malcolm McDowell, Paul Bettany, David Thewlis, Eddie Marsan and Saffron Burrows. Up next was 'Offending Angels' which tanked at the UK box office taking less than one hundred pounds sterling, and received very mixed reviews despite it doing well on the film festival circuit. Made for television movies 'A Likeness in Stone' and 'State of Mind' came next with 'Understanding Jane' before Richard Curtis' 2003 'Love Actually' with a who's who of British acting talent including Bill Nighy, Colin Firth, Martin Freeman, Liam Neeson, Hugh Grant, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Emma Thompson and Keira Knightley. Lincoln's role as Mark in the film, gained him wider recognition.

From 2001 to 2003 Lincoln starred as Simon Casey in Channel 4's 'Teachers' - a television comedy drama series that ran for four seasons, with Lincoln appearing in two of those seasons. The show was nominated for six BAFTA's during its time, and charted the lives of a bunch of secondary school teachers both in and out of the classroom.

Over the next few years Lincoln dipped in between television and films with appearances on 'The Canterbury Tales' for the BBC with John Simm once more, James Nesbitt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Julie Walters and Billie Piper, then 'Holby City', 'Lie With Me', 'Afterlife' for its two seasons over fourteen episodes, and the two part ITV adaptation of 'Wuthering Heights' with Tom Hardy and Charlotte Riley. Feature films during this period included 'Enduring Love' with Daniel Craig, Bill Nighy and Samantha Morton, 'These Foolish Things' with Terrence Stamp, Lauren Bacall and Angelica Huston, the French comedy 'Hey Good Looking!' and 'Scenes of a Sexual Nature' with Ewen McGregor, Tom Hardy and Hugh Bonneville. Made for television movies included 'Things I Haven't Told You', 'Play or Be Played' and 'Moonshot' closed out the decade.

2010 launched with 'Heartbreak' with Vanessa Paradis, and 'Made in Dagenham' with Bob Hoskins, Rosamund Pike, Sally Hawkins, Andrea Riseborough and Geraldine James. Also that year he appeared in five episodes of 'Strike Back'. He also appeared in several stage plays over the years, radio productions, and voice over work for documentaries, advertisements and governmental campaigns.

This of course brings us up to the present day, to Lincoln's lead role in the highly acclaimed 'The Walking Dead' television series for AMC Productions in the role of Rick Grimes. With Season Seven going to air in the US in late October, this show has run to huge success since its launch in 2010, and has now seen 99 episodes (including the yet to air Season Seven), has won 48 awards and been nominated for another 142, and, it has the highest Nielsen ratings in cable television history. Lincoln has won three Best Actor Awards for his portrayal of Rick Grimes and been nominated a further ten times.

Lincoln has 41 Acting credits to his name and one Director credit for two episodes of 'Teachers' back in 2003. He has four award wins and another thirteen nominations so far under his belt. He married Gael Anderson in 2006, the daughter of Ian Anderson, the lead singer of Jethro Tull. Together they have two children Matilda (born in 2007) and Arthur (born in 2010). Lincoln has an older brother, Richard.

Andrew Lincoln - good friends with Norman Reedus (Daryl Dixon on 'TWD'); has a distinctive raspy voice; has successfully moved between stage, screen and TV over the years; and has given us a character now ingrained in popular culture that we love you for, and love your work. Happy Birthday to you Andrew, from Odeon Online, and, from a fellow former Bath resident who lived just a mile up the road from where you went to school.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 25th-31st October 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Gale Anne Hurd does on 25th October - check out the tribute to this Birthday Girl turning 60 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 25th October

• Gale Anne Hurd - Born 1955, turns 60 - Producer | Writer 

Monday 26th October

• Emilia Clarke - Born 1986, turns 29 - Actress
• Rosemarie DeWitt - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actress
• Jaclyn Smith - Born 1945, turns 70 - Actress
• Cary Elwes - Born 1962, turns 53 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Dylan McDermott - Born 1961, turns 54 - Actor
• Seth MacFarlane - Born 1973, turns 42 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director | Singer | Songwriter

Tuesday 27th October

• John Cleese - Born 1939, turns 76 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Roberto Benigni - Born 1952, turns 63 - Director | Producer | Actor
• Ivan Reitman - Born 1946, turns 69 - Director | Producer | Writer  

Wednesday 28th October

• Joaquin Phoenix - Born 1974, turns 41 - Actor | Producer 
• Dennis Franz - Born 1944, turns 71 -   Actor | Writer
• Kevin Macdonald - Born 1967, turns 48 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Julia Roberts - Born 1967, turns 48 - Actress | Producer 

Thursday 29th October

• Winona Ryder - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actress | Producer
• Kate Jackson - Born  1948, turns 67 - Actress | Producer 
• Robert Hardy - Born 1925, turns 90 - Actor 
• Ben Foster - Born 1980, turns 35 - Actor | Producer
• Rufus Sewell - Born 1967, turns 48 - Actor
• Richard Dreyfus - Born 1947, turns 68 - Actor | Producer

Friday 30th October

• Kevin Pollak - Born 1957, turns 58 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer  
• Henry Winkler - Born 1945, turns 70 -  Actor | Producer | Director | Writer

Saturday 31st October 

• Peter Jackson - Born 1961, turns 54 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• Stephen Rea - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actor  
• Rob Schneider - Born 1963, turns 52 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Dermot Mulroney - Born 1963, turns 52 - Actor | Director
• Piper Perabo - Born 1976, turns 39 - Actress | Producer

Gale Anne Hurd was born in Los Angeles, California to mother Lolita Espiau and father Frank Hurd, an investor. Growing up in Palm Springs, she graduated from Stanford University with a BA Degree in economics and communications in 1977. She joined New World Pictures which later came to be owned by 20th Century Fox and although now effectively defunct it exists in the dim & distant recesses of 21st Century Fox. That said, back in the day she joined as an Executive Assistant to Producer. Director and Actor Roger Corman who was also President of the Company. Progressing through various administrative roles, eventually she became involved in Production.

Resulting from this she created Pacific Western Productions from which she Produced a number of Box Office classics including 'The Terminator' in 1984 which she also co-wrote with James Cameron, then 'Aliens' in 1986 and 'The Abyss' in 1989. The common denominator here was James Cameron who Directed all three films, and who she was married to from 1985 to 1989.

From there she went on to Produce the likes of 'Tremors' in 1990, 'Terminator 2 : Judgement Day' in 1991, 'The Ghost and the Darkness' in 1996, 'The Relic' and 'Dante's Peak' in 1997 and 'Armageddon' in 1998 to largely see out the decade.

The new decade brought more Sci-Fi and action fare including 'Clockstoppers' in 2002, 'Hulk' and 'Terminator 3 : Rise of the Machines' in 2003, 'Punisher' in 2004, 'Aeon Flux' in 2005, 'Welcome to the Jungle' in 2007, 'The Incredible Hulk' in 2008 before the first season of the positively excellent landmark series commencement of 'The Walking Dead' in 2010.








With first husband James Cameron she is responsible for bringing us one of the most recognised film characters in popular culture and cinema history, as well as launching the career of one Arnold Schwarzenegger into the stratosphere  - and for this alone Hurd deserves recognition. 'The Terminator' franchise which she wrote the original screenplay for with Cameron has endured for over 30 years and lives on after five successful films already and a television series, with two further 'Terminator' films announced for release in 2017 and 2018 to follow up this years 'Terminator : Genisys'. The first five films have raked in a global Box Office haul of a combined US$1.84B with 'T2' being the most successful to date, followed by this years 'Genisys'.

As well as acting as Executive Producer on so far 70+ episodes of 'The Walking Dead' and this years spin off series 'Fear The Walking Dead', there has been 'The Wronged Man', 'Last Man Standing', 'Very Good Girls' and 'Horizon' before her latest television offering 'Hunters' currently filming for its 2016 release. Hurd has 45 Producer credits to her name and nine Writer credits with twelve award wins and two other nominations. She has had an esteemed career which includes accolades for the 'Women in Film Crystal Award' for helping to advance the role of women in the entertainment industry 'The Telluride Tech Festival Award for Technology', she is a governor of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

She is described as the 'First Lady of Sci-Fi' and her company Valhalla Entertainment is very active in both big and small screen production with 'The Walking Dead' topping many ratings worldwide and has received critical acclaim. After divorcing James Cameron in 1989, she was married to Brian De Palma from 1991 to 1993 with whom she has a daughter Lolita born in 1991, and she is presently married to Director and Screenwriter Jonathan Hensleigh and has been since 1995.

Gale Anne Hurd - successful, influential and respected movie and television business woman; responsible for creating a huge film, and, television franchise; entrenched in the Sci-Fi and horror action world and shows no sign of letting up, and, we love you for it - Happy 60th Birthday to you - from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-