Maggie Q does on 22nd May - check out the tribute to this Birthday Girl 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 17th May
- Bill Paxton - Born 1955, turns 60 - Actor | Producer | Director
- Tina Fey - Born 1970, turns 45 - Actress | Producer | Writer
- Yun Fatt Chow - Born 1955, turns 60 - Actor
- Miriam Margolyes - Born 1941, turns 74 - Actress
- Hugh Keynes-Byrne - Born 1947, turns 68 - Actor
- Kyle Eastwood - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actor
- Claudia Karvan - Born 1972, turns 43 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Director
- Amanda De Cadenet - Born 1972, turns 43 - Actress | Producer
- Cher - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actress | Singer
- Anton Corbijn - Born 1955, turns 60 - Director
- Timothy Olyphant - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actor | Producer
- Mr. T - Born 1952, turns 63 - Actor
- Judge Reinhold - Born 1957, turns 58 - Actor
- Nick Cassavetes - Born 1959, turns 56 - Actor | Director | Producer
- Gary Sweet - Born 1957, turns 58 - Actor
- Maggie Q - Born 1979, turns 36 - Actress
- Joan Collins - Born 1933, turns 82 - Actress
- Drew Carey - Born 1958, turns 57 - Actor | Writer | Producer
Margaret Denise Quigley was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii and is of Irish, Polish and Vietnamese decent, and the youngest of five children. She attended Mililani Waena Elementary School and the Wheeler Intermediate School before going onto Mililani High School from which she graduated in 1997 having participated in cross-country, swimming, and track & field sports . . . as well as picking up the 'Best Body' Award along the way! Having gained an athletic sponsorship she had every intention of studying veterinary science.
With no financial support from her family however, during the summer months she travelled with the hope of raising enough money to fund her further studies. She moved to Tokyo and aged 17 began modelling at the suggestion of a friend, before moving onto Hong Kong. As a struggling model she had little cash flow and seemed to be treading the path marked out earlier by her own mother a generation before. In Hong Kong however, she was selected by Jackie Chan as a potential action star - he trained her intensely teaching her too the importance of professionalism and performing her own stunts. With a potential acting career on the horizon she adopted the stage name of Maggie Q - more pronounceable for a Chinese audience.
In 1998 Q's acting career kicked off with the television series 'House of Dragons' which went on to become a huge Asian hit. Her film debut came with horror offering 'Model from Hell' in 2000, and then that same year as FBI Agent Jane Quigley in 'Gen-Y Cops'. This role so impressed Jackie Chan that he cast her in 'Manhattan Midnight' and 'Rush Hour 2'.
2002 saw 'Naked Weapon' with 'The Trouble Makers' in 2003 and 'Magic Kitchen' in 2004 made in China. That same year came 'Around the World in 80 Days' with Steve Coogan and Jackie Chan. Next up was 'Hours of Harmony' playing the lead role in the German/Singaporean television mini series.
Starring alongside Tom Cruise in the 2006 'Mission : Impossible III', with Bruce Willis in the 2007 'Live Free or Die Hard' and the 2009 Hugh Jackman and Ewan McGregor 'Deception' only served to elevate her star higher. 'Balls of Fury' released in the meantime and a return to Chinese cinema with 'Three Kingdoms : Resurrection of the Dragon' and 'The Warrior and the Wolf' continued to keep her in prominence in both the east and the west.
From 2010 to 2013 she starred in the television series 'Nikita' in the lead role of an assassin gone rogue based on the French film of 1990. In the meantime there was action comedy 'Operation : Endgame', the Sci-Fi martial arts actioner 'The King of Fighters', the dystopian Sci-Fi action horror offering 'Priest' and more recently both 'Divergent' and 'Insurgent'. Currently Q is starring in television police drama series 'Stalker' which has just wrapped on its first season. 'A Conspiracy on Jekyll Island' is in post-production for a 2015 release.
Q has 31 acting credits to her name and two Producer credits. She has won one award and has has six other nominations under her belt.
She is outspoken and devout in her stance on animal rights and has been active with PETA's (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) Asian campaigns. She is a vegetarian and has appeared in several adverts promoting vegetarianism. She has subsequently eliminated all animal products from her diet and is now vegan. She was romantically linked to Asian Actor Daniel Wu, but earlier this year announced her engagement to her 'Stalker' Co-star Dylan McDermott. 
Maggie Q - beautiful, sultry kick-ass Actress, often type cast but wooing audiences in both the east and the west nonetheless, and on both the big screen and the small - Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
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