Birthday's to share this week : 19th - 25th February 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Miles Teller does on 20th February - 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 19th February

• Jeff Daniels - Born 1955, turns 62 - Actor | Writer | Director
• Ray Winstone - Born 1957, turns 60 - Actor | Producer
• Benicio Del Toro - Born 1967, turns 50 - Actor | Producer

Monday 20th February

• Sidney Poitier - Born 1927, turns 90 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Mike Leigh - Born 1943, turns 74 - Director | Writer
• Peter Strauss - Born 1947, turns 70 - Actor | Producer
• Miles Teller - Born 1987, turns 30 - Actor
• Brenda Blethyn - Born 1946, turns 71 - Actress  

Tuesday 21st February

• Tyne Daly - Born 1946, turns 71 - Actress
• Jennifer Love Hewitt - Born 1979, turns 38 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Director | Singer
• Ellen Page - Born 1987, turns 30 - Actress | Producer
• Sophie Turner - Born 1996, turns 21 - Actress
• Anthony Daniels - Born 1946, turns 71 - Actor | Producer
• Kelsey Grammer - Born 1955, turns 62 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director | Singer
• William Baldwin - Born 1963, turns 54 - Actor | Producer  

Wednesday 22nd February

• Jonathan Demme - Born 1944, turns 73 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Kyle MacLachlan - Born 1959, turns 58 - Actor
• Julie Walters - Born 1950, turns 67 - Actress | Singer
• Drew Barrymore - Born 1975, turns 42 - Actress | Producer | Director | Singer

Thursday 23rd February

• Emily Blunt - Born 1983, turns 34 - Actress | Singer
• Dakota Fanning - Born 1994, turns 23 - Actress | Producer | Singer
• Peter Fonda - Born 1940, turns 77 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer  

Friday 24th February

• Edward James Olmos - Born 1947, turns 70 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Dennis Waterman - Born 1948, turns 69 - Actor | Singer  
• Billy Zane - Born 1966, turns 51 - Actor | Producer | Director
• O'Shea Jackson Jnr. - Born 1991, turns 26 - Actor

Saturday 25th February

• Tom Courtenay - Born 1937, turns 80 - Actor
• Lee Evans - Born 1964, turns 53 - Actor | Writer | Composer
• Sean Astin - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actor | Producer | Director  
• James and Oliver Phelps - Born 1986, turn 31 - Actors
• Tea Leoni - Born 1966, turns 51 - Actress | Producer
• Rashida Jones - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actress | Producer | Director | Writer | Singer

Miles Alexander Teller was born in Downingtown, Pennsylvania to mother Merry, a Real Estate Agent and father Michael Teller, a nuclear power plant engineer. Growing up Miles lived in various places because of the relocation necessary in his fathers career, spending time in Florida, New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania. He attended the Lecanto High School in Florida where he played saxophone, piano, guitar and the drums, he was President of the Drama Club and played baseball too, hoping to turn the game into his vocation of choice. He then attended the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University where he studied method acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree.

He began his screen acting career by appearing in a number of short films - in 2004's eighteen minute 'Moonlighters', then 2007's ten minute 'Specific Recipe', 2008's eleven minute 'The Musicians' and 2010's eleven minute 'The Track Meet'. His feature film debut came in the 2010 drama 'Rabbit Hole' for which he was singled out by Co-Star Nicole Kidman for the role and also starring Aaron Eckhart, Dianne Wiest and Sandra Oh. 2011 saw the remake of the classic 1984 musical dance movie 'Footloose' starring Andie McDowell and Dennis Quaid with Kenny Wormald in the lead role. The film received generally positive Reviews and returned US$64M from its US$24M budget. In 2013 he starred in '21 & Over' and then his more critically lauded screen performance to date in 'The Spectacular Now' with Co-Star Shailene Woodley and also Brie Larson, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Kyle Chandler. The film made just US$7M from its US$2.5M budget, but was well received by Critics.

'Whiplash' came next in 2014 for Director Damien Chazelle with Teller starring as promising young student drummer Andrew Neiman enrolled at the Shaffer Conservatory in New York, with Terence Fletcher (J.K.Simmons) as his over bearing domineering and abusive jazz instructor. The film gained universal acclaim, returned US$49M from its meagre US$3.3M budget and garnered three Academy Award wins, one Golden Globe win, three BAFTA wins and a SAG win with J.K.Simmons and Damien Chazelle receiving numerous accolades. All up the film took home 91 award wins and another 134 nominations.

That same year, 2014, saw RomCom 'That Awkward Moment' with Zac Efron, Michael B. Jordan and Imogen Poots, and then the first in a recurring role as Peter Hayes in the first instalment of the Veronica Roth series of books to be adapted for the big screen, 'Divergent'. This was followed up by 'Insurgent' in 2015 and 'Allegiant' in 2016, with the final instalment 'Ascendant' in pre-production for a release later this year as a television movie, due to the lacklustre Box Office performance of the 'Allegiant' film bringing in US$179M from its US$110M budget outlay.

RomCom 'Two Night Stand' was also released in 2014, and then in 2015 the reboot of Marvel's 'Fantastic Four' franchise which had seen earlier live action adaptations in 2005 and 2007. Starring Teller as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic with Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch, Kate Mara as Susan Storm/The Invisible Woman and Jamie Bell as Ben Grimm/The Thing with Toby Kebbell and Vicor von Doom, this picture tanked critically and commercially taking US$168M from its US$126M budget investment, and picking up several 'Worst' awards.

Comedy 'Get A Job' followed in 2016 with Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Alison Brie, Bryan Cranston and Marcia Gay Harden, and then true story comedy drama 'War Dogs' as Directed by Todd Phillips and Co-Starring Jonah Hill and Bradley Cooper about the real life arms dealers Efraim Diveroli (Hill) and David Packouz (Teller) who win a US Army contract to supply munitions for the Afghan National Army worth about US$300M without any prior experience, credentials, contacts or expertise in this field. The film received mixed Reviews and returned US$86M from its US$40M budget.

The biographical boxing drama film 'Bleed for This' was released in the US in mid-November last year, but has not seen a theatrical release in Australia. With Teller starring as Vinny Pazienza an American professional boxing champion and Aaron Eckhart as his trainer Kevin Rooney, the film charts the story of the boxer who after a near fatal car accident leaves him with severe neck and spinal injuries and not knowing if he'll ever walk again, let alone fight. And fight he does, in one of the most incredible comeback stories from inside the ring. Although the film received generally positive Reviews, it was a bomb at the Box Office taking just US$5.5M from its US$6M budget costs.

Next up Teller is lending his voice talent to the animated feature 'The Ark and the Aardvark' due later this year, then in PTSD effected returning servicemen and women drama 'Thank You for Your Service' based on the book by David Finkel also due later this year and in post-production. 'Ascendent' the last instalment in the 'Divergent' series is in pre-production and then 'Granite Mountain' is in post-production with Jeff Bridges, Josh Brolin, Taylor Kitsch, Jennifer Connolly, and Andie MacDowell about an elite crew of men who fought a wildfire in Arizona in 2013 that claimed the lives of nineteen of their team..

Since 2013 Teller has been in a relationship with model Keleigh Sperry. All up Teller has 27 acting credits to his name and he has garnered four award wins and 21 other nominations including the BAFTA Rising Star Award in 2015.

Miles Teller - increasingly in demand and taking on more adult mature film roles, is musical, a dancer, was very academic at school, and has ambition to succeed and go the distance. We wish you well Miles and Happy 30th Birthday to you, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-