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 21st December
- Samuel L. Jackson - Born 1948, turns 66 - Actor | Producer
- Kiefer Sutherland - Born 1966, turns 48 - Actor | Producer | Director
- Jeffrey Katzenberg - Born 1950, turns 64 - Producer
- Ray Romano - Born 1957, turns 57 - Actor | Producer
- Jane Fonda - Born 1937, turns 77 - Actress
- Julie Delpy - Born 1969, turns 45 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Director | Editor
Monday 22nd December
- Vanessa Paradis - Born 1972, turns 42 - Actress | Singer
- Ralph Fiennes - Born 1962, turns 52 - Actor | Producer | Director
- Hector Elizondo - Born 1936, turns 78 - Actor
- David S. Goyer - Born 1965, turns 49 - Director | Producer | Writer
Tuesday 23rd December
- Nick Moran - Born 1969, turns 45 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
- Estella Warren - Born 1978, turns 36 - Actress
Wednesday 24th December - Christmas Eve
- Ricky Martin - Born 1971, turns 43 - Singer | Songwriter | Actor
- Stephanie Meyer - Born 1973, turns 41 - Writer | Actor
Thursday 25th December - Christmas Day
- Sissy Spacek - Born 1949, turns 65 - Actress
- Annie Lennox - Born 1954, turns 60 - Singer | Songwriter | Actress
Friday 26th December - Boxing Day
- Jared Leto - Born 1971, turns 43 - Actor | Writer | Songwriter | Producer | Director
- Temuera Morrison - Born 1960, turns 54 - Actor
- Steve Bisley - Born 1951, turns 63 - Actor
- Phil Spector - Born 1939, turns 75 - Songwriter
- Fred Schepisi - Born 1939, turns 75 - Director | Producer | Writer
Saturday 27th December
- Gerard Depardieu - Born 1948, turns 66 - Actor | Producer | Director
Samuel Leroy Jackson was born in Washington D.C. and grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee as an only child. His father, Henry Jackson lived away from home in Kansas City, Missouri and died from alcoholism - he met him only twice. His mother, Elizabeth Montgomery was a factory worker and later a supplies buyer for a local hospital and she raised Samuel with the maternal grandparents and extended family. He graduated from the Riverside High School in Chattanooga where he acme proficient over the years in playing the French horn and trumpet. He went on to Morehouse College to study marine biology, and after joining a local acting group to earn extra points he switched his major to drama.
Following public speaking classes he appeared in 'The Threepenny Opera' and various stage plays and TV movies before making his feature film debut in 1972 in 'Together for Days'. His early roles prompted him to relocate to New York City in 1976 where he appeared in stage plays including 'The Piano Lesson' and 'Two Trains Running', but, at the same time he developed a liking for alcohol, heroine, and then cocaine resulting i him being unable to continue with this splays as they moved on to Broadway.
During his early career he was mentored by Morgan Freeman and introduced to Spike Lee who would go on to Direct him in several films throughout the years, including bit parts in his earlier offerings - 'School Daze' in 1988 and 'Do the Right Thing' in 1989. Martin Scorsese game him a small role too in 1990's 'Goodfellas'. During this time his drug addiction deepened, and had previously overdosed on heroine several times before moving onto cocaine. His family subsequently entered him into a New York drug rehabilitation clinic which he came out of successfully, and went straight into filming 'Jungle Fever' again with Spike Lee . . . starring as a crack cocaine addict - a role he described as 'cathartic' and which won him much critical acclaim including a 1991 Cannes Film Festival 'Supporting Actor' Award.
After this he received multiple offers including 'Juice', 'Strictly Business', 'Patriot Games' and then 'Jurassic Park' with Steven Spielberg, and 'True Romance' with Tony Scott and his first brush with Writer/Director Quentin Tarantino. Following this Tarantino specifically wrote the role of Jules Winnfield for Jackson in 'Pulp Fiction' which went on to give him Best Supporting Actor Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations, and the BAFTA win.
As the new century turned over Jackson was more in demand than ever opening with 'Rules of Engagement', 'Shaft' and 'Unbreakable' with Bruce Willis again all in 2000. He reprised Mace Windu three more times in 'Attack of the Clones', 'Revenge of the Sith' and the CGI animated 'The Clone Wars', and in the meantime took on 'Changing Lanes' with Ben Affleck, 'xXx' and its sequel 'xXx : State of the Union' with Vin Diesel, 'Basic' with John Travolta, 'S.W.A.T.' with Colin Firth, 'Kill Bill, Volume 2' with Tarantino again, and the voice of Frozone in the successful animated feature 'The Incredibles'.
2006 brought cult actioner 'Snakes on a Plane' - a role he took because of its title rather than the intricacies required from a nuanced performance, 'Black Snake Moan' and '1408' in 2007, and a busy year in 2008 with 'Jumper', 'Soul Men', 'Lakeview Terrace', 'The Spirit', 'Gospel Hill' and his first uncredited appearance as Nick Fury in 'Iron Man'. Since then he has reprised the role of Nick Fury in 'Iron Man 2', in 'Thor', 'Captain America : The First Avenger', 'The Avengers', 'Captain America : The Winter Soldier', the upcoming 'Avengers : Age of Ultron' due for release mid-2015 and in the TV Series 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D'.
He worked with Quentin Tarantino again narrating several scenes in 'Inglourious Basterds' and then in 'Django Unchained' and is currently filming with him once more in the 'The Hateful Eight' due out later on in 2015. Meanwhile he teamed up with Spike Lee once more in 'Oldboy' with Josh Brolin, the rebooted 'RoboCop' with Gary Oldman, with 'Kite' and 'Big Game' bringing us up to date. 'Kingsmen : The Secret Service' with Colin Firth is due out imminently, 'Cell', 'Barely Lethal' and 'Avengers : Age of Ultron' are all currently in post-production for a 2015 release, 'The Hateful Eight' and 'Tarzan' are currently filming, 'Moose' is in pre-production, and 'Nick Fury' and 'xXx : The Return of Xander Cage' have been announced. He has lent his voice talents to numerous animated features and video games, has 159 acting credits to his name, and has thirty award wins and another sixty award nominations under his belt. These include the Academy Award nomination for 'Pulp Fiction', four Golden Globe nominations for 'Jackie Brown', 'A Time to Kill', 'Pulp Fiction' and 'Against the Wall', and the BAFTA win for 'Pulp Fiction'. 
He is an avid golfer, a basketball fan of the Toronto Raptors and Harlem Globetrotters and a keen follower of Liverpool Football Club. He launched a campaign in support of Alzheimers Disease research in mid-2013 and also 'One for the Boys' advocating testicular cancer checks. He made a conscious decision to of bald, began a vegan diet and subsequently lost 40lbs in weight (18kgs). He has been married to LaTanya Richardson since 1980 and they have a daughter Zoe, born in 1982.
Samuel L. Jackson - often mistaken for Laurence Fishburne; eaten alive by both a shark and a dinosaur; still the epitome of wise-ass bad-ass cool even at 66; known for your deep authoritarian voice and use of whiplash MoFo quips; often portrays violent and intimidating but always entertaining and keeping it real - Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
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