Birthday's to share this week : 25th-31st December 2016.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Kit Harrington does on 26th December - check out my tribute to this Birthday Lad turning 30, 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 25th December

• Sissy Spacek - Born 1949, turns 67 - Actress
• Nicholas Hope - Born 1958, turns 58 - Actor  

Monday 26th December

• Fred Schepisi - Born 1939, turns 77 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Steve Bisley - Born 1951, turns 65 - Actor
• Temuera Morrison - Born 1960, turns 56 - Actor 
• Steve Le Marquand - Born 1967, turns 49 - Actor | 
• Jared Leto - Born 1971, turns 45 - Actor | Producer | Director | Songwriter 
• Shane Meadows - Born 1972, turns 44 - Director | Writer | Producer | Actor
• Kit Harrington - Born 1986, turns 30 - Actor  

Tuesday 27th December

• Gerard Depardieu - Born 1948, turns 68 - Actor | Producer | Director | Singer  

Wednesday 28th December

• Stan Lee - Born 1922, turns 94 - Writer | Producer | Actor
• Denzel Washington - Born 1954, turns 62 - Actor | Producer | Director   
• Maggie Smith - Born 1934, turns 82 - Actress
• Noomi Rapace - Born 1979, turns 37 - Actress
• Sienna Miller - Born 1981, turns 35 - Actress

Thursday 29th December

• Patricia Clarkson - Born 1959, turns 57 - Actress | Producer
• Lilly Wachowski - Born 1967, turns 49 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Charlotte Riley - Born 1981, turns 35 - Actress
• Alison Brie - Born 1982, turns 34 - Actress | Producer
• John Voight - Born 1938, turns 78 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Ted Danson - Born 1947, turns 69 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Oliver Hirschbiegel - Born 1957, turns 59 - Director | Writer
• Jude Law - Born 1972, turns 44 - Actor | Producer
• Danny McBride - Born 1976, turns 40 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Diego Luna - Born 1979, turns 37 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer

Friday 30th December

• Bennett Miller - Born 1966, turns 50 - Director | Producer
• Tyrese Gibson - Born 1978, turns 38 - Actor | Producer | Singer | Songwriter
• Tracey Ullman - Born 1959, turns 57 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Singer | Television Personality

Saturday 31st December

• Barbara Carrera - Born 1945, turns 71 - Actress
• Anthony Hopkins - Born 1937, turns 79 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Singer | Songwriter | Composer
• Ben Kingsley - Born 1943, turns 73 - Actor | Producer
• Taylor Hackford - Born 1944, turns 72 - Director | Producer | Writer
• James Remar - Born 1953, turns 63 - Actor 
• Val Kilmer - Born 1959, turns 57 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Singer

Christopher Catesby Harrington was born in Acton, London, England, to mother Deborah Catesby, a former playwright, and father Sir David Richard Harrington, 15th Baronet and business man. The Harrington Baronetcy, of Ridlington in the landlocked East Midlands county of Rutland was first created in 1611 for James Harrington who lived from 1542 until 1614. Through his paternal grandmother, Harrington's eight-time great-grandfather was King Charles II of England. History lesson over, Harrington attended Southfield Primary School, and at age eleven the family moved to Worcestershire where he studied at the Chantry High School in Martley. His interest in acting was sparked at school where he preformed in several school productions. He went on to attend Worcester Sixth Form College where he studied Drama and Theatre, and following this at age eighteen he attended the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, from where he graduated in 2008.

Originally, the young Harrington had designs on becoming a journalist, war correspondent or cameraman. However, while at Drama School he landed a role in the National Theatre's adaptation of 'War Horse', and Harrington's performance was highly praised. This led quickly to another theatre production in 'Posh' in 2010 at the Royal Court Theatre. His first screen role came in 'Game of Thrones' as John Snow, with the show debuting in 2011 and quickly gaining a huge following, that sees Season 7 currently in production for a 2017 airing. The show has since become a worldwide phenomenon with Harrington's character so far surviving the first six complete seasons.

His first big screen role came in the supernatural psychological horror film sequel of the survival horror video game of the same name 'Silent Hill' from 2006. 'Silent Hill : Revelation' was released in 2012 and also started Sean Bean, Malcolm McDowell and Carrie-Anne Moss. Despite its moderate Box Office success bringing in US$53M off a US$20M budget, the film was panned critically. His first major role came in 2014 in the US$80M Paul W.S.Anderson production of 'Pompeii' which also starred Emily Browning, Carrie-Anne Moss again, Kiefer Sutherland and Jared Harris amongst others. 

In 2014 Harrington voiced the character of Eret in 'How to Train Your Dragon 2'. Featuring an ensemble cast of fellow actors providing their voice talents to this successful DreamWorks animated fantasy action offering the film returned US$622M from its US$145M outlay, spawning a recently announced third instalment in this franchise due for release in early 2019. That same year came another fantasy action epic offering 'Seventh Son' with Jeff Bridges, Alicia Vikander, Julianne Moore and Djimon Hounsou. The film made just US$115M from its budget of US$95M and was generally poorly received. Also that year was 'Testament of Youth' - the First World War drama based on the life of Vera Brittain who wrote the memoir of the same name. The film starred Alicia Vikander again, Emily Watson, Hayley Atwell, Taron Egerton and Dominic West. The film was well received but failed to recoup its US$10M budget.

'Spooks : The Greater Good' (aka 'MI-5') was a big screen adaptation in 2015 of the popular BBC Television series which aired from 2002 through until 2011. That year he also starred in a HBO Comedy film '7 Days In Hell' about a seven day tennis match opposite Andy Samberg and featuring a strong support cast of named actors and tennis players. He also appeared in the stage play 'The Vote' at London's Donmar Warehouse alongside Jude Law, Judi Dench and Timothy West in 2015, and this year appeared as Faustus in 'Doctor Faustus' at the West End's Duke of York Theatre.

Next up is Western thriller Directed by Martin Koolhoven 'Brimstone' with Guy Pearce, Dakota Fanning and Carice van Houten. The film had its Premier at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival in early September this year, but is yet to get a wider release. Currently filming for a 2018 release is 'The Death and Life of John F. Donovan' for Writer/Director Xavier Dolan and also starring Natalie Portman, Thandie Newton, Jessica Chastain, Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates and Michael Gambon with Harrington playing John F. Donovan.  

All up Harrington has twelve acting credits to his name including 50+ episodes on 'Game of Thrones' so far, with Season Seven currently in production. This year he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award as Outstanding Supporting Actor on 'Game of Thrones' and he has twelve other nominations and two award wins both for his work on 'Game of Thrones'. 

He has been romantically connected with fellow 'Game of Thrones' Actress Rose Leslie (Ygritte) since 2012. Earlier this year he took active part in a United Nations video for the Refugee Agency, UNHCR (United National High Commissioner for Refugees) to help raise awareness of the global refugee crisis. He took part with the likes of Cate Blanchett, Keira Knightley, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jesse Eisenberg and Stanley Tucci. 

Kit Harrington - he has royal blood and the aristocracy coursing through his veins - in real life and on television; has become one of the most recognised faces on television; is a self confessed fan of the horror movie genre; is fearful of flying, needles and spiders; loves to party; and is clearly on the up, in demand and recognised for his talents on television, on film and in the theatre. Happy 30th Birthday to you Kit, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-