Birthdays to share this week : 3rd - 9th August.

Is it your Birthday this week?

Do you 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!

Check out too the spotlight on this weeks Birthday Boy on 8th August, Dustin Hoffman, at the end of this feature.

Sunday 3rd August

• Martin Sheen - Born 1940, turns 74 - Actor | Producer
• John C. McGinley - Born 1959, turns 55 - Actor
• Isaiah Washington - Born 1963, turns 51 - Actor | Producer
• Steven Berkoff - Born 1937, turns 77 - Actor | Writer | Director
• John Landis - Born 1950, turns 64 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• Tony Bennett - born 1936, turns 88 - Singer | Songwriter | Actor

Monday 4th August

• Billy Bob Thornton - Born 1955, turns 59 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Daniel Dae Kim - Born 1968, turns 46 - Actor

Tuesday 5th August

• Mark Strong - Born 1963, turns 51 - Actor
• John Jarratt - Born 1951, turns 63 - Actor | Producer

Wednesday 6th August

• Vera Farmiga - Born 1973, turns 41 - Actress | Director
• M. Night Shyamalan - Born 1970, turns 44 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Melissa George - Born 1976, turns 38 - Actress
• Michelle Yeoh - Born 1962, turns 52 - Actress | Producer
• Frank Finlay - Born 1926, turns 88 - Actor
• Barbara Windsor - Born 1937, turns 77 - Actress

Thursday 7th August

• Charlize Theron - Born 1975, turns 39 - Actress | Producer
• Abbie Cornish - Born 1982, turns 32 - Actress
• David Duchovny - Born 1960, turns 54 - Actor | Producer | Director

Friday 8th August

• Dustin Hoffman - Born 1937, turns 77 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Keith Carradine - Born 1949, turns 65 - Actor | Singer | Songwriter | Composer
• Donald P. Bellisario - Born 1935, turns 79 - Director | Producer | Writer

Saturday 9th August

• Rhona Mitra - Born 1976, turns 38 - Actress
• Gillian Anderson - Born 1968, turns 46 - Actress
• Eric Bana - Born 1968, turns 46 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Melanie Griffith - Born 1957, turns 57 - Actress | Producer
• Audrey Tatou - Born 1976, turns 38 - Actress
• Sam Elliott - Born 1944, turns 70 - Actor
• McG - Born 1968, turns 46 - Director | Producer

Dustin Lee Hoffman was born in Los Angeles, California and graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1954. From there he went to Santa Monica City College where, because of poor grades he dropped out at the end of his first year. However, before doing so he took an acting course and did some training at the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music. He decided that acting was the career for him because he didn't want to work for a living, or join the military services. He trained for two years at the Pasadena Playhouse where he met another young aspiring actor, Gene Hackman, and later on the two of them shared an apartment with a guy with similar aspirations - Robert Duvall.

In the early 60's Hoffman made several TV Series and Film appearances in such shows as 'Naked City',  'The Defenders' and 'The Doctors and The Nurses'. 1967 saw his first break into cinema screen acting in 'The Tiger Makes Out' with the celebrated 'The Graduate' following later that same year. In quick succession came 'Midnight Cowboy' and 'John and Mary' before the end of the decade, and by this time Hoffman's star was already beginning to shine very brightly.

Since then Hoffman has never been out of work scoring many lauded film roles which have garnered him many accolades and much success, backed up by stage roles and TV series including his most recent - the HBO produced horse racing drama 'Luck' which ran for two seasons only from 2011-2012.

Hoffman often portrays fractured souls as in 'Midnight Cowboy', vulnerable characters as in 'Rain Man' and antiheroes as in 'Straw Dogs' and does so every time inhabiting his character and making his performance real, believable and grounded in their reality. Very rarely could you accuse this actor of 'ringing it in', and playing himself just for the pay cheque!

He is the only actor in history to have top billing in three films that won the Best Picture Academy award - 'Midnight Cowboy', 'Kramer vs Kramer' and 'Rain Man'. He and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman are the only two winners of the Best Actor in a Leading Role Academy Award to share the same surname - PSH for 'Capote' and DH for 'Midnight Cowboy' and 'Rain Man', and is only one of four actors to win two Oscars for films that also won Best Picture - Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson and Gene Hackman being the other three. He has also appeared in eight films nominated for Best Picture Academy Awards - 'The Graduate', 'Midnight Cowboy', 'Lenny', 'All the President's Men', 'Kramer vs Kramer', 'Tootsie', 'Rain Man' and 'Finding Neverland'. For his breakout role in 1967's 'The Graduate' he was paid US$17K - a far cry from the
sums he commands theses days!

Dustin Hoffman has 76 acting credits to him name, as well as his 2012 Directorial debut with 'Quartet'. Among those films that you will recognise that have not been mentioned above include 'Little Big Man', 'Papillon', 'Marathon Man', 'Ishtar', 'Dick Tracy', Billy Bathgate', 'Hook', 'Outbreak', 'Sleepers', 'Mad City', 'Wag the Dog', 'Sphere', 'Runaway Jury', 'Meet the Fockers' and 'Little Fockers', 'Perfume : The Story of a Murderer', 'Mr. Magarium's Wonder Emporium' and more recently 'Last Chance Harvey' and 'Chef'. He has lent his voice talents to three 'Kung-Fu Panda' films with the third currently in post-production for a 2015 release and for 'The Tale of Despereaux'. In the works for future release are 'Boychoir', 'The Cobbler' and 'Roald Dahl's Esio Trot'.

For his efforts over six decades of film making he has been rewarded with two Academy Award wins for 'Rain Man' and 'Kramer vs Kramer' with five other nominations. He has six Golden Globe wins for 'The Graduate', 'Kramer vs Kramer', 'Death of a Salesman', 'Rain Man', 'Tootsie' and the Cecil B. DeMille Award, plus eight other nominations; and there are four BAFTA wins for 'The Graduate', 'John and Mary', 'Midnight Cowboy' and 'Tootsie' plus another five nominations, bringing his global awards haul to a total 61 wins and 36 other nominations so far.

Married to Anne Byrne from 1969 to 1980 and now Lisa Gottsegen since 1980 he has six children and a hugely successful career.

Dustin Hoffman - acclaimed actor, versatile performer, owner of an unmistakable voice and still going strong well into his sixth decade in front of the camera, and occasionally behind it - Happy Birthday, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-