Birthday's to share this week : 29th November - 5th December 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Ben Stiller does on 30th November - check out my tribute to this Birthday Boy, turning 50, 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 29th November

• Anna Faris - Born 1976, turns 39 - Actress | Producer
• Don Cheadle - Born 1964, turns 51 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Andrew McCarthy - Born 1962, turns 53 - Actor | Director
• Tom Sizemore - Born 1961, turns 54 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Joel Coen - Born 1954, turns 61 - Director | Producer | Writer

Monday 30th November

• Ridley Scott - Born 1937, turns 78 - Director | Producer 
• Terrence Malick - Born 1943, turns 72 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Mandy Patinkin - Born 1952, turns 63 - Actor
• David Yates - Born 1963, turns 52 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Ben Stiller - Born 1965, turns 50 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Marc Foster - Born 1969, turns 46 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Gael Garcia Bernal - Born 1978, turns 37 - Actor | Director | Producer | Writer

Tuesday 1st December 

• Woody Allen - Born 1935, turns 80 - Director | Writer | Actor
• Bette Midler - Born 1945, turns 70 - Actress | Producer | Singer
• Zoe Kravitz - Born 1988, turns 37 - Actress

Wednesday 2nd December

• Lucy Liu - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actress | Producer | Director
• Britney Spears - Born 1981, turns 34 - Singer | Producer | Actress

Thursday 3rd December

• Amanda Seyfried - Born 1985, turns 30 - Actress | Singer
• Julianne Moore - Born 1960, turns 55 - Actress | Producer
• Daryl Hannah - Born 1960, turns 55 - Actress | Producer
• Brendan Fraser - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actor | Producer

Friday 4th December

• Jeff Bridges - Born 1949, turns 66 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Ronnie Corbett - Born 1930, turns 85 - Actor | Television Personality
• Tyra Banks - Born 1973, turns 42 - Actress | Producer | Writer
• Marisa Tomei - Born 1964, turns 51 - Actress | Producer

Saturday 5th December

• Nick Stahl - Born 1979, turns 36 - Actor | Producer
• Frankie Muniz - Born 1985, turns 30 - Actor | Producer

Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller was born in New York City to mother and Actress Anne Meara who passed away earlier this year aged 85 having worked on stage, screen and television since the mid-'50's. His father, Jerry Stiller is a comedian and Actor, who like his late wife has been a stage, television and film presence since the mid-'50's. Growing up in show business the young Ben was taken frequently on set, stating that in his early years there was " . . . a lot of travelling, a lot of late nights, not what you would call traditional". He has an older sister, Amy with whom he would make Super 8 movies when they were growing up, with various other friends. He made his acting debut at nine years of age on his mothers television show - a short-lived legal drama series 'Kate McShane' in 1975. 

Taking part in the NYC First All Children's Theatre in the late '70's and gaining inspiration from 'Second City Television' - a Canadian TV Sketch Comedy Show, the young Stiller decided that sketch comedy was where he wanted to be. He attended The Cathedral School of St. John the Divine and graduated from the co-ed The Calhoun School in 1983 after which he started as an opening act on the cabaret circuit. He enrolled as a film student at UCLA, and after nine months returned to NYC and began auditioning for roles, and searching for an Agent.

At 15 Stiller gained a bit part in television soap 'Guiding Night' having to deliver just one single line of dialogue . . . but I guess you gotta start somewhere! In 1986 he was cast in the Broadway production of 'The House of Blue Leaves' which subsequently picked up four Tony Awards. His big screen debut came in 1987's 'Hot Pursuit' with John Cusack and Jerry Stiller playing the on-screen Dad to Stiller the younger. That same year there was a small role too in Spielberg's 'Empire of the Sun'. In 1989 Stiller began writing and starring in 'Saturday Night Live', but with a strong desire to make short films he left after just four shows.

And so he made 'Elvis Stories' - a short with John Cusack, Mike Meyers, Jeremy Piven and then 'Going Back to Brooklyn' for MTV which so impressed the Producers there that he was offered his own experimental thirteen episode show called aptly 'The Ben Stiller Show'. The series was scrapped after its first season but relaunched in 1992 this time by Fox, and went on to win an Emmy Award after it too was cancelled.

In 1992 Stiller was asked to Direct 'Reality Bites' in his debut as Director in the film in which he also starred. This was followed in 1995 with 'Heavyweights', 'Happy Gilmore', 'If Lucy Fell' and 'Flirting with Disaster' before taking on his next Directing gig with the Jim Carey vehicle 'The Cable Guy'.

It was 1998's Farrelly Brothers classic comedy 'There's Something About Mary' with Cameron Diaz as the hapless Mary, that propelled Stiller's career ever skyward. That same year there was more dramatic fare too with 'Zero Effect', 'Permanent Midnight' and 'Your Friends and Neighbours', with 'Mystery Men' and 'Black & White' seeing out the decade.

The start of the new decade saw more comedic offerings with 'Meet the Parents' for which he would reprise his role as Greg Focker in 'Meet the Fockers' in 2004 and 'Little Fockers' in 2010. 2001 saw 'Zoolander' - his own creation which he also Directed, and 'The Royal Tenenbaums' with 'Duplex' in 2003, 'Along Came Polly' in 2004, the big screen rendition of 'Starskey & Hutch' that same year, with 'Envy', 'Dodgeball : A True Underdog Story' and 'Anchorman : The Legend of Ron Burgundy' that year too.

'School for Scoundrels', 'Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny' and 'Night at the Museum' followed in 2006 - the latter role he would also reprise again in 2009's 'Night at the Museum : Battle of the Smithsonian' and again in 2014 in 'Night at the Museum : Secret of the Tomb'. 'Tropic Thunder' which he Directed and starred in was followed by 'Greenberg' and 'I'm Still Here' in 2010, 'Tower Heist' in 2011, 'The Watch' in 2012, and his next Directing and starring feature in 2013 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty'. 2014 saw 'While We're Young' with 'Zoolander 2' currently in post-production for a 2016 release, and which he has also Directed. In the meantime he has lent his voice talents to 'Madagascar' in 2005, 'Madagascar : Escape 2 Africa' in 2008, and 'Madagascar 3 : Europe's Most Wanted' in 2012, with voice work also on 'Megamind' in 2010.

There have been numerous television show appearances too throughout the years including 'The Simpsons', 'The King of Queens', 'King of the Hill', 'Extras', 'Family Guy', 'Curb Your Enthusiasm', 'The Trip', 'Saturday Night Live' and 'Arrested Development'. All up Stiller has 122 Acting credits, 37 Producer credits, fifteen for Directing and another twelve for Writing. He has thirteen award wins and another 51 nominations.

In 2000, Stiller married Christine Taylor, an Actress with whom he has starred in several films including 'Zoolander', 'Tropic Thunder' and 'Dodgeball'. The couple have a daughter Ella Olivia (born in 2002) and a son Quinlan Dempsey (born in 2005). Stiller is a Democrat and has actively supported John Kerry, Barack Obama, John Edwards and Hilary Clinton. He also supports several charities including those associated with animal rights, AIDS campaigning, and child welfare and wellbeing.

Often appearing with his other Hollywood 'Frat Pack' alumni since the early '90's, his frequent collaborators and close friends are Owen and Luke Wilson, Jack Black, Will Ferrell, Steve Carell and Vince Vaughn. He is also an accomplished impersonator and has in his frequent repertoire Bono, Tom Cruise, David Bowie and Bruce Springsteen.

Ben Stiller - a self confessed 'Trekkie', mimic, and must be one of the busiest guys in Hollywood - on screen, behind the camera, armed with a pen and holding the cash too. Influential, sought after, in demand and can freeze you to the spot with his 'Blue Steel' gaze! Turning the BIG 5-Oh! this week, a very Happy Birthday to you Ben, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-