Birthday's to share this week : 4th - 10th October 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Christoph Waltz does on 4th October - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 59 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 4th October

• Armand Assante - Born 1949, turns 66 - Actor | Producer
• Liev Schreiber - Born 1967, turns 48 - Actor | Producer
• Christoph Waltz - Born 1956, turns 59 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Susan Sarandon - Born 1946, turns - Actress | Producer | Singer
• Alicia Silverstone - Born 1976, turns 39 - Actress | Producer

Monday 5th October

• Kate Winslet - Born 1975, turns 40 - Actress
• Karen Allen - Born 1951, turns 64 - Actress
• Guy Pearce - Born1967, turns 48 - Actor | Singer
• Jesse Eisenberg - Born 1983, turns  32 - Actor
• Vic Armstrong - Born 1946, turns 69 - Stuntman | Director | Second Unit Director | Actor

Tuesday 6th October

• Ioan Gruffudd - Born 1973, turns 42 - Actor
• Elisabeth Shue - Born 1963, turns 52 - Actress | Writer

Wednesday 7th October

• Simon Cowell - Born 1959, turns 56 - Television Personality | Producer | Writer | Composer
• Tim MInchin - Born 1975, turns 40 - Actor | Writer | Singer | Songwriter | Composer

Thursday 8th October

• Matt Damon - Born 1970, turns 45 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Paul Hogan - Born 1939, turns 76 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Edward Zwick - Born 1952, turns 63 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Chevy Chase - Born 1943, turns 72 - Actor | Writer
• Sigourney Weaver - Born 1949, turns 66 - Actress | Producer

Friday 9th October

• Guillermo del Toro - Born 1964, turns 51 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Chris O'Dowd - Born 1979, turns 35 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Scott Bakula - Born 1954, turns 61 - Actor | Producer
• Brian Blessed - Born 1936, turns 79 - Actor
• Pete Docter - Born 1968, turns 47 - Director | Writer | Actor
• Brandon Routh - Born 1979, turns 36 - Actor

Saturday 10th October 

• Charles Dance - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Martin Kemp - Born 1961, turns 54 - Actor | Producer | Director | Musician

Christoph Waltz was born in Vienna, Austria to mother Elisabeth Urbancic and father Johannes Waltz, both film and television set and costume designers. His family lineage includes an actor and actress, and his great grandparents worked in the theatre too. He studied acting at the Max Reinhardt School of Drama at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. In the latter half of the 70's he studied method acting with the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute and the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, both in New York.

His career began as a stage actor performing in theatres in Vienna, Salzburg and Zurich. He became a prolific television film actor throughout the 80's and 90's, securing his debut film appearance in 1977's 'Der Einstand'. Subsequently he played in 36 television movies and 15 television series and mini-series including thirteen episodes of 'Parole Chicago' in 1979, 'The Gravy Train' in 1990 and 'The Gravy Train Goes East' in 1991. His early films include 'The Mysterious Stranger' in 1982, 'Goldeneye' in 1989 (not to be confused with the Pierce Brosnan Bond outing, but the bio-pic of Sir Ian Fleming), 'Catherine the Great' in 1995 (with an emerging Catherine Zeta Jones) and 'Ordinary Decent Criminal' in 2000 (with Kevin Spacey).

More TV films followed over the next decade interspersed with more TV series all the way up to 2009's 'Inglorious Basterds' for Director Quentin Tarantino. After thirty years making a respectable living in mostly German speaking television and film roles, his multi-award winning role as Colonel Hans Landa catapulted him into the Hollywood mainstream and international stardom. His role in Tarantino's film gained him the Best Supporting Academy Award, the BAFTA, the Golden Globe, the Screen Actors Guild Award and the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009.

After this there has been no looking back with 'The Green Hornet' following in 2011 for Michel Gondry, and then 'Water for Elephants', 'The Three Musketeers' for Paul W.S.Anderson and 'Carnage' for Roman Polanski all that same year.

In 2012 Waltz did it all again with Tarantino as Dr. King Schultz in 'Django Unchained' for which he again received much critical acclaim garnering him the Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe, BAFTA and ultimately Academy Award.

'Epic' came next in 2013 to which he added his voice talents to this animated feature, and that same year 'The Zero Theorem' for Terry Gilliam, and then 'Muppets Most Wanted' and 'Horrible Bosses 2' in 2014 followed up by 'Big Eyes' earlier this year for Tim Burton.

Next up we'll see Waltz as Franz Oberhausen in Bond 24 - 'Spectre' due for release next month, and then for 2016 'Tarzan' for David Yates, and 'Tulip Fever' with Alicia Vikander (Profiled last week). His second Directing duty after 2000's 'Wenn man such trait' is the based on a true story 'The Worst Marriage in Georgetown' in which he also starts and is currently in pre-production.

All up Waltz has 107 Acting credits, two Directing credits, two as Producer, and along the way so far he has picked up 82 award wins including the two previously mentioned Academy Awards with Quentin Tarantino at the helm, and a further 26 award nominations.

Although born in Austria, his father applied for German citizenship following his birth, and in 2010 he received Austrian citizenship too, so now holding dual passports. Waltz has three children with his first wife, and a daughter born in 2005 with his second wife Judith Helste. They split their time living between London, Berlin and Los Angeles, and Waltz speaks fluent German, French, English and can more than get by in Italian.

Christoph Waltz - good mates with QT, has acting in his DNA, often portrays charming yet sinister characters infused with dark humour, reads psychology, listens to classical music, enjoys fine art and fine wine and he worries about the digital age! With so much going on since his star began to shine much much more brightly, it's a wonder he has time to make films - let alone pick up all his awards! Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-