Vin Diesel does on 18th July - check out my tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 49, 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 July
- F. Gary Gray - Born 1969, turns 47 - Director | Producer | Actor
- Jason Clarke - Born 1969, turns 47 - Actor
- David Hasselhoff - Born 1952, turns 64 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer
- Donald Sutherland - Born 1935, turns 81 - Actor | Producer | Writer
- James Brolin - Born 1940, turns 76 - Actor | Producer | Director
- Paul Verhoeven - Born 1938, turns 78 - Director | Producer | Writer
- Vin Diesel - Born 1967, turns 49 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
- Kelly Reilly - Born 1977, turns 39 - Actress | Producer
- Elizabeth McGovern - Born 1961, turns 55 - Actress
- Kristen Bell - Born 1980, turns 36 - Actress | Producer | Singer
- Benedict Cumberbatch - Born 1976, turns 40 - Actor
- Atom Egoyan - Born 1960, turns 56 - Producer | Director | Writer | Editor | Cinematographer
- Abel Ferrara - Born 1951, turns 65 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Songwriter
- Mark Webber - Born 1980, turns 36 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director | Singer
- George Dzundza - Born 1945, turns 71 - Actor
- Cormac McCarthy - Born 1933, turns 83 - Writer | Producer
- Josh Holloway - Born 1969, turns 47 - Actor | Producer
- Frank Whaley - Born 1963, turns 53 - Actor | Director | Writer
- Diana Rigg - Born 1938, turns 78 - Actress
- Sandra Oh - Born 1971, turns 45 - Actress
- Juno Temple - Born 1989, turns 27 - Actress
- Charlotte Gainsbourg - Born 1971, turns 45 - Actress
- Norman Jewison - Born 1926, turns 90 - Producer | Director
- John Lovitz - Born 1957, turns 59 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer
- Michael Caton - Born 1943, turns 73 - Actor
- Josh Hartnett - Born 1978, turns 38 - Actor | Producer
- Terence Stamp - Born1938, turns 78 - Actor | Director
- Paul Schrader - Born 1946, turns 70 - Writer | Director
- Danny Glover - Born 1946, turns 70 - Actor | Producer | Director
- Albert Brooks - Born 1947, turns 69 - Actor | Director | Writer
- Willem Dafoe - Born 1955, turns 61 - Actor | Producer | Writer
- David Spade - Born 1964, turns 52 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer
- John Leguizamo - Born 1964, turns 52 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director | Singer
- Rhys Ifans - Born 1967, turns 49 - Actor
- Franka Potenta - Born 1974, turns 42 - Actress | Singer
- Selena Gomez - Born 1992, turns 24 - Singer | Actress
- Ronny Cox - Born 1938, turns 78 - Actor
- Woody Harrelson - Born 1961, turns 55 - Actor | Producer | Singer
- Daniel Radcliffe - Born 1989, turns 27 - Actor
Marc Sinclair was born in Alameda County, California, USA to mother Delora Sherleen Sinclair, an astrologer. He never knew his biological father, and was raised in New York City by his mother and stepfather Irving Vincent, an acting coach and theatre manager. He has a younger brother and sister and a fraternal twin Paul Vincent who works as a film editor. He started his acting career by accident at the age of seven when he and a bunch of mates broke into a local theatre intent on vandalising the property, but were caught before they could by the Artistic Director, who offered the lads roles in an upcoming play, or, call the Police. They opted for the former option. That was in a children's play 'Dinosaur Door' produced at the Greenwich Village Theatre for the New City. His career onstage progressed to a New York Repertory Company run by his stepfather, and from there to Hunter College - a public university and part of the City University of New York where his skills in creative writing led him to an interest in screenwriting. By seventeen with a muscle toned build he was bouncing at several hip & trendy New York night spots, and it was then that he changed his name to Vin Diesel.
After three years majoring in English at Hunter College he dropped out and headed to Hollywood to make his acting fame and fortune - but this was no easy task, and after a year as a struggling actor he returned to New York. His screen debut came in an uncredited role on the Penny Marshall Directed film of 'Awakening' in 1990 with Robin Williams and Robert De Niro. At about this time his mother gave him a book 'Feature Films at Used Car Prices' which motivated Diesel to take his destiny into his own hands. From here, in 1994 he Wrote, Produced, Directed and starred in his own semi-autobiographical short film 'Multi-Facial' about an actors struggle with the audition process. It screened at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. Three years later in 1997 Diesel Wrote, Produced, Directed and starred in his first fill length feature film 'Strays' which played in competition at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival. The next year, on the strength of 'Multi-Facial' Steven Spielberg cast him in his WWII epic 'Saving Private Ryan'.
In 2000, he secured a major role in the Ben Affleck and Giovanni Ribisi film 'Boiler Room' with his breakout role coming later that same year as Riddick in the Sci-Fi actioner 'Pitch Black'. He would reprise the role in 2004 in 'The Chronicles of Riddick' teaming up again with Director David Twohy. Diesel also Produced the film. Whilst hardly a commercial success at the Box Office barely recovering its US$110M budget, it did well enough on the DVD after sales market, prompting a further sequel in 2013, 'Riddick' which again Diesel Produced and Twohy Directed this time for a more modest US$40M. A further instalment has recently been announced.
2001 saw his action hero status reach new heights in his first outing as Dominic Toretto in 'The Fast and the Furious' Directed by Rob Cohen for US$38M and returning US$207M so guaranteeing a follow-up. Diesel skipped 2003's sequel '2 Fast 2 Furious' and had an uncredited cameo in the 2006 'The Fast and the Furious : Tokyo Drift', but has appeared in all films since - in 2009's 'Fast & Furious'; 2011's 'Fast Five'; 2013 'Fast & Furious 6' and 2015's 'Furious 7'. So far all seven films have been made for a combined US$759M and have grossed worldwide US$3,90B. 'Furious 7' currently stands at the #7 ranking highest grossing films of all time at a haul of US$1,52B. 'Fast 8' is currently filming for a 2017 release, and 'Fast & Furious 9 and 10' have been announced for 2019 and 2021 respectively.
2002's 'xXx' also helped cement Diesel's action star status with his role being reprised in 2017's 'xXx : The Return of Xander Cage'. 2003 brought 'A Man Apart' Directed by F. Gary Gray; 2005 saw the action comedy 'The Pacifier' which returned US$199M from its US$56M outlay, and then 'Find Me Guilty' for Sidney Lumet in 2006 with Diesel playing mobster Giacomo DiNorscio - the subject of the longest Mafia court case in American history. 2008 saw 'Babylon A.D.' - a SciFi action film with Mark Strong, Gerard Depardieu and Michelle Yeoh. In 2009 he wrote, Produced, Directed and starred in the 20 minute short film 'Los Bandeleros' providing a back story for the characters and events leading up to the start of the fourth 'Fast & Furious' film, so bridging the gap between that film and 'Tokyo Drift'.
2014 saw the Marvel Cinematic Universe sleeper hit 'Guardians of the Galaxy' with Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista and Diesel as the voice of 'Groot' - a tree like humanoid. The film made US$774M at the global Box Office, with a sequel now in post-production for a 2017 release.
'The Last Witch Hunter' was released in 2015 with Elijah Wood and Michael Caine which brings us up to date. Next up is Ang Lee's 'Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk' with Kristen Stewart, Garrett Hedlund, Steve Martin and Chris Tucker due in November this year, and a whole bunch of sequels due over the next five years as already mentioned within this Post, including a fourth Riddick instalment with 'Furia' recently announced. All up Diesel has forty Acting credits to his name, 22 as Producer, five as Director and four as Writer. He has seven award wins and a further 26 nominations. He has also lent his voice talents to 'The Iron Giant' in 1999, several video games based on his character Riddick, and as 'Groot' in 'Guardian's of the Galaxy' and its follow up due early next year.
In 1995 he formed 'One Race Films' - a video production company behind many of his films, and with it a subsidiary company 'Tigon Studios' - a video game development business, and another subsidiary 'Racetrack Records' - a record label, music studio and production company. He has been in a long term relationship with Mexican born model Paloma Jimenez since 2007, and together they have three children - Hania Riley (born 2008), Vincent Sinclair (born 2010) and Pauline (born 2015) named after his good friend and 'Fast & Furious' Co-Star Paul Walker who died in November 2013.
Vin Diesel - he of the deep instantly recognisable voice, avid 'Dungeons and Dragons' player for 20+ years now, deeply private in his personal life, a lover and supporter of the Dominican Republic where he filmed 'Los Bandeleros', and the action star of four burgeoning film franchises still going strong after 15+ years and that keep audiences coming back for more - Happy Birthday to you Vin, from Odeon Online.
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
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