Birthday's to share this week : 19th - 25th April 2015

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

James McAvoy does on 21st April - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy 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 19th April

• James Franco - Born 1978, turns 37 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Tim Curry - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actor | Singer
• Hayden Christensen - Born 1981, turns 34 - Actor | Producer
• Ashley Judd - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actress | Producer
• Kate Hudson - Born 1979, turns 36 - Actress | Producer

Monday 20th April

• Jessica Lange - Born 1949, turns 66 - Actress
• Andy Serkis - Born 1964, turns 51 - Actor | Producer | Director | MoCap Aficionado
• Ryan O'Neal - Born 1941, turns 74 - Actor | Producer
• George Takei - Born 1937, turns 78 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Leslie Phillips - Born 1924, turns 91 - Actor | Producer

Tuesday 21st April

• James McAvoy - Born 1979, turns 36 - Actor | Producer
• Toby Stephens - Born 1969, turns 46 - Actor
• Charles Grodin - Born 1935, turns 80 - Actor | Writer
• Tony Danza - Born 1951, turns 64 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Andie MacDowell - Born 1958, turns 57 - Actress | Writer

Wednesday 22nd April

• Jack Nicholson - Born 1937, turns 78 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• John Waters - Born 1946, turns 69 - Director | Writer | Actor
• Lee Tamahori - Born 1950, turns 65 - Director
• George Cole - Born 1925 - turns 90 - Actor

Thursday 23rd April

• Dev Patel - Born 1990, turns 25 - Actor
• Lee Majors - Born 1939, turns 76 - Actor | Producer
• John Hannah - Born 1962, turns 53 - Actor | Producer
• Michael Moore - Born 1954, turns 61 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Judy Davis - Born 1955, turns 60 - Actress

Friday 24th April

• Barbra Streisand - Born 1942, turns 73 - Singer | Actress | Writer | Director | Producer
• Kelly Clarkson - Born 1982, turns 33 - Singer | Actress
• Shirley MacLaine - Born 1934, turns 81 - Actress | Producer | Director | Writer | Singer
• Djimon Hounsou - Born 1964, turns 51 - Actor | Producer
• Richard Donner - Born 1930, turns 85 - Director | Producer

Saturday 25th April

• Al Pacino - Born 1940, tun 75 -  Actor | Producer | Writer
• Hank Azira - Born 1964, turns 51 - Producer | Actor
• Renee Zellwegger - Born 1969, turns 46 - Actress | Producer |writer
• Talia Shire - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actress | Producer 

James McAvoy was born in Glasgow, Scotland to mother Elizabeth Johnstone, a psychiatric nurse and father James McAvoy Snr. a builder. At age seven his parents divorced, and as his mother suffered from poor health it was determined best that the young James should live with his maternal grandparents in the Drumchapel area of Glasgow.His mother came and went intermittently, but he lost all contact with his father whom he has not seen since those early childhood years. He has a sister, Joy, and a half-brother, David. He attended St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School in Jordanhill, Glasgow, and while at school, aged sixteen, there was visit by Actor/Director David Hayman which sparked his interest in acting. As a result, Hayman, offered him a role in his upcoming 1995 film 'The Near Room' which was to be this young Actor's screen debut.

He joined the 'PACE Youth Theatre' although never considered acting as a career choice, and in fact had been accepted to join the Royal Navy, when he was offered a place at the 'Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama', from which he graduated in 2000 and relocated to London thereafter. By this time he had already appeared in an episode of TV's long running 'The Bill' series and movies 'An Angel Passes By' and 'Regeneration' in 1997.

The start of the decade brought German slasher horror flick 'Swimming Pool' followed up by the Stephen Fry Written and Directed 'Bright Young Things' with the likes of Peter O'Toole, Jim Broadbent, Dan Aykroyd and Emily Mortimer. 'Bollywood Queen' followed with 'Wimbledon' next in 2004 starring the likes of Paul Bettany, Kirsten Dunst and Sam Neill. During this time too there were numerous television appearances including 'Band of Brothers', 'Murder in Mind, 'White Teeth', 'Foyle's War', 'Frank Herbert's Children of Dune', 'State of Play' and 'Early Doors'.

Running concurrently were various stage plays that came and went up and down the country with 'The Tempest', 'Romeo and Juliet', 'West Side Story', 'Lovers', 'Out in the Open' and 'Privates on Parade' amongst others. None of these stage appearances did the young actor any harm at all, and in fact brought him to the attention of Director's Joe Wright and Sam Mendes, and it was while working for Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks on 'Band of Brothers' that he met his good friend and future co-star Michael Fassbender.

It was however, McAvoy's role on thirteen episodes of the highly acclaimed comedy drama 'Shameless' in 2004/05 that really started to bring the Actor acclaim, for which he was nominated for the 'Best TV Comedy Newcomer Award'. Further acclaim followed with 2005's 'The Chronicles of Narnia' in which he plays the faun 'Mr. Tumnus', and then 'Inside I'm Dancing' - for both films he was nominated the Best Supporting Actor and Best Actor Awards respectively by the London Film Critics Circle. 2006 and 2007 proved to be breakout years - first with 'The Last King of Scotland' starring opposite Forest Whitaker's Idi Amin, and then 'Atonement' for Joe Wright and starring Keira Knightley and Saoirse Ronan - both films bringing huge critical acclaim and multiple award wins and nominations.

In between there was 'Starter for 10', 'Becoming Jane' and 'Penelope' which fared less well. Following 'Atonement' came comic book actioner 'Wanted' with Angeline Jolie and Morgan Freeman and Directed by Russian Timur Bekmambetov. A critical and commercial success this led to 'The Last Station', 'The Conspirator', and then his first outing as the young Professor Charles Xavier in 2011's 'X-Men : First Class' Directed by Matthew Vaughn and starring also Michael Fassbender. He reprised this role again last year in 'X-Men : Days of Future Past' this time for Director Bryan Singer. The two films grossed in excess of US$1.1B, with 'X-Men : Apocalypse' now in pre-production for a 2016 release.

There was 'Welcome to the Punch', Danny Boyle's 'Trance' and 'Filth' in the meantime all of which delivered more award wins for the Actor. Bringing us up to date there has been 'The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby' film series 'Him', 'Her' and 'Them', a cameo in 'Muppet's Most Wanted', 'Victor Frankenstein' currently in post-production for release later this year, and voice talent work over the years on 'Arthur Christmas', 'Gnomeo & Juliet' and 'Strings'.

McAvoy has 43 screen acting credits to his name, a Producer credit for 'Filth' and eleven awards wins and 23 other monitions including a Golden Globe and BAFTA nomination for 'Atonement', a BAFTA nomination for 'The Last King of Scotland' and the BAFTA Rising Star Award, as well as two BAFTA Awards, Scotland, for 'Filth' and 'The Last King of Scotland'.


In 2006 McAvoy married his 'Shameless' co-star Anne-Marie Duff in a quiet ceremony, and together they have a son Brendan, born in 2010. He lives a modest life which he says is just the way he likes it and is seemingly not caught up or bogged down by the trappings of fame and fortune. He enjoys the fantasy genre and is a devout follower of Celtic Football Club. His role in 'The Last King of Scotland' drove him to support the Ugandan childrens charity 'Retrak' and the 'British Red Cross' for the work they do there too.

James McAvoy - a talented unmistakable Scot, with a diverse body of work amassed already and able to play intense believable characters on the big screen, the small screen and on stage - keep it comin' young Jimmy, and we'll keep watching - Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-