Mark Ruffalo does on 22nd November - check out my tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 48 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 22nd November
- Mark Ruffalo - Born 1967, turns 48 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
- Terry Gilliam - Born 1940, turns 75 - Director | Producer | Writer
- Robert Vaughn - Born 1932, turns 83 - Actor
- Mads Mikkelsen - Born 1965, turns 50 - Actor
- Scarlett Johansson - Born 1984, turns 31 - Actress | Director
- Jamie Lee Curtis - Born 1958, turns 57 - Actress
- Vincent Cassel - Born 1966, turns 49 - Actor | Producer
- Franco Nero - Born 1941, turns 74 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
- Robert Towne - Born 1934, turns 81 - Writer | Producer | Director
- Stephen Merchant - Born 1974, turns 41 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
- Colin Hanks - Born 1977, turns 38 - Actor | Producer | Director
- Billy Connolly - Born 1942, turns 73 - Actor | Producer | Singer | Songwriter | Composer
- Kaherine Heigl - Born 1978, turns 37 - Actress | Producer
- Christina Applegate - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actress | Producer
- Dougray Scott - Born 1965, turns 50 - Actor | Producer
- Joel Kinnaman - Born 1979, turns 36 - Actor
- Julien Temple - Born 1953, turns 62 - Writer | Producer | Director
- Tina Turner - Born 1939, turns 76 - Singer | Writer | Actress
- Katherine Bigelow - Born 1951, turns 64 - Director | Producer | Writer
- Robin Givens - Born 1964, turns 51 - Actress | Producer
- William Fichtner - Born 1956, turns 59 - Actor | Producer
- Sharlto Copley - Born 1973, turns 42 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
- Ed Harris - Born 1950, turns 65 - Actor | Producer | Director
- Judd Nelson - Born 1959, turns 56 - Actor
- Ryan Kwanten - Born 1976, turns 39 - Actor
- Alfonso Cuaron - Born 1961, turns 54 - Director | Producer | Writer | Cinematographer | Editor
- Joe Dante - Born 1946, turns 69 - Director | Producer | Writer | Editor
- Randy Newman - Born 1943, turns 72 - Composer | Singer | Songwriter
- Jonathan Mostow - Born 1961, turns 54 - Director | Producer | Writer
- Mary Elizabeth Winstead - Born 1984, turns 31 - Actress | Producer
Mark Alan Ruffalo was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA to mother Marie Herbert, a hairdresser and stylist, and father Frank Lawrence Ruffalo, a construction painter. He has two sisters Tania and Nicole and brother Scott who was shot dead at his Beverly Hills condominium in December 2008. He was raised a Catholic and attended a Catholic School having grown up in a family unit that he describes as 'very big' with 'lots of love' and that he was a 'happy kid'. Spending his teenage years at Virginia Beach, Virginia, he took part in school wrestling competitions in his native Wisconsin and then Virginia and upon graduating from First Colonial High School the family moved to San Diego and then Los Angeles, California. He enrolled at the Stella Adler Conservatory acting school in New York and he was co-founder of the Orpheus Theatre Company for which he wrote, Directed and starred in a number of stage plays. During this time and for nine or so years he worked as a bar tender in order to make ends meet. 
His television acting career kicked off in 1989 with a single episode on 'CBS Summer Playhouse'. His big screen debut came in the 1994 horror film 'Mirror, Mirror 2 : Raven Dance', with 'Mirror, Mirror III : The Voyeur' the following year. The next few years brought bit parts in the likes of 'The Dentist' and 'The Last Big Thing' in 1996; 'Safe Men' and '54' in 1998; and then Ang Lee's American Civil War Western drama 'Ride with the Devil' in 1999. A chance meeting with playwright, screen writer and Director Kenneth Lonergan in the mid-90's led to a number of successful collaborations in his stage play 'This is Our Youth' in 1996 and then his Oscar nominated film in 2000 'You Can Count On Me' for which Ruffalo received much critical praise.
The new decade brought more significant fare with 'The Last Castle', 'XX/XY' and 'Windtalkers' in 2002; 'My Life Without Me', 'In The Cut' in 2005; and 'The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind', '13 Going On 30', and 'Collateral' in 2004. The balance of the decade saw 'Zodiac', 'Reservation Road', 'Blindness', 'The Brothers Bloom', and briefly 'Where The Wild Things Are'.
His Directorial debut came in 2010 with 'Sympathy for Delicious' which Premiered and won the Special Jury Prize at The Sundance Film Festival. That same year he starred in 'The Kids Are All Right' and Scorsese's 'Shutter Island' with Leonardo DiCaprio.
In 2012 Ruffalo joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Dr. Bruce Banner AKA 'The Hulk' in the first 'The Avengers' instalment. He remains under contract to reprise the role in any future film appearance of the character in a Marvel Studios produced movie - a very astute move methinks! As a result there was a post-credits sequence in 'Iron Man 3' and this years 'The Avengers : Age of Ultron' with 'Thor : Ragnarok' due in 2017.
In between time there has been 'Thanks for Sharing' in 2013, 'Now You See Me' that same year and Ruffalo is set to reprise his role from that film in 2016's 'Now You See Me : The Second Act' currently filming. There has also been 'Begin Again', 'Infinitely Polar Bear' and 'Foxcatcher' this year with 'Spotlight' due out at Christmas.
All up Ruffalo has 62 Acting credits, four Producer credits and one Director credit. He has two Academy Award and two BAFTA nominations for 'Foxcatcher' in 2015 and 'The Kids Are All Right' in 2011,and two Golden Globe nominations for 'Foxcatcher' too and 'The Normal Heart' also from this year. He also garnered a Primetime Emmy Award win and a nomination in two different categories. both for 'The Normal Heart' in 2015 as well as a haul so far of sixteen other award wins and 77 other nominations. Plus, he was nominated for a Tony Award for his stage play role in 'Awake and Sing'.
Ruffalo is married to Actress Sunrise Coigney and together they have three children - Keen (born 2001), Bella Noche (born 2005) and Odette (born 2007). He has strong political views speaking out publicly against the War in Iraq, the Bush Administration, and the torture of prisoners. In 2006 he spoke at 'The World Can't Wait' protest in NYC; appeared on the 2008 'Penn & Teller : Bullshit' series on an episode called 'World Peace'; has supported several Democratic candidates; is pro-choice on abortion rights; and is a supporter of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights. He is staunchly opposed to fracking and has publicly spoken out about this too, as well as openly criticising the Israel Defence Force for targeting a Gaza Strip hospital for attack.
Despite all his outspokenness, Mark Ruffalo has a social conscience, a moral compass, a heart in the right place and he is highly sought after playing it straight, playing it funny, playing the Superhero and you can bet we'll keep watching. Happy Birthday to you Mark, from Odeon Online.
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
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