Birthday's to share this week : 3rd - 9th December 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Jack Huston does on 7th December - check out my tribute to this Actor Birthday Boy turning 35, 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 3rd December

• Jean-Luc Godard - Born 1930, turns 87 - Director | Writer | Editor | Actor | Producer | Cinematographer
• Brendan Fraser - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actor | Producer 
• Julianne Moore - Born 1960, turns 57 - Actress | Producer | Singer
• Daryl Hannah - Born 1960, turns 57 - Actress | Producer | Director | Writer
• Amanda Seyfried - Born 1985, turns 32 - Actress | Producer | Singer  

Monday 4th December

• Pamela Stephenson - Born 1949, turns 68 - Actress | Writer 
• Marisa Tomei - Born 1964, turns 53 - Actress | Producer
• Jeff Bridges - Born 1949, turns 68 - Actor | Producer | Singer | Songwriter 
• Jay Z (aka Shawn Corey Carter) - Born 1969, turns 48 - Singer | Songwriter | Composer | Producer | Actor  

Tuesday 5th December

• Nick Stahl - Born 1979, turns 38 - Actor | Producer
• Frankie Muniz - Born 1985, turns 32 - Actor | Producer | Writer  

Wednesday 6th December

• Tom Hulce - Born 1953, turns 64 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Nick Park - Born 1958, turns 59 - Writer | Producer | Director | Animator 
• Judd Apatow - Born 1967, turns 50 - Producer | Writer | Director | Actor | Songwriter
• JoBeth Williams - Born 1948, turns 69 - Actress | Producer | Director | Singer  

Thursday 7th December

• Ellen Burstyn - Born 1932, turns 85 - Actress | Producer | Director
• Emily Browning - Born 1988, turns 29 - Actress | Singer
• Tom Waits - Born 1949, turns 68 - Singer | Songwriter | Composer | Actor 
• Jeffrey Wright - Born 1965, turns 52 - Actor | Singer
• Jeff Nichols - Born 1978, turns 39 - Writer | Director | Producer
• Jack Huston - Born 1982, turns 35 - Actor | Singer
• Nicholas Hoult - Born 1989, turns 28 - Actor   

Friday 8th December

• Rick Baker - Born 1950, turns 67 - Make-Up Artist | Special FX Director | Actor | Producer
• Dominic Monaghan - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actor | Producer | Singer | Songwriter
• Matthias Schoenaerts - Born 1977, turns 40 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Kim Basinger - Born 1953, turns 64 - Actress | Producer 
• Teri Hatcher - Born 1964, turns 53 - Actress  

Saturday 9th December 

• Felicity Huffman - Born 1962, turns 55 - Actress 
• Judi Dench - Born 1934, turns 83 - Actress | Singer
• Beau Bridges - Born 1941, turns 76 - Actor | Director | Producer
• John Malkovich - Born 1953, turns 64 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer

Jack Alexander Huston was born in King's Lynn, Norfolk, England to mother Lady Margot Cholmondeley and father Tony Huston, an Actor, Writer and Assistant Director. His mother is English and his father is American, and his paternal aunt is Actress Anjelica Huston and his paternal uncle is Actor Danny Huston, his paternal grandfather was Director John Huston and he is the great grandson of Canadian Actor Walter Huston. On his mothers side, his great grandfather George Cholmondeley, the 5th Marquess, Jack is descended from Robert Walpole, the first Prime Minister of Britain, and from Mayer Amschel Rothschild, the founder of the Rothschild international banking dynasty. Jack had made his mind up to become an Actor after appearing in a school production of 'Peter Pan' at just six years old. He attended the private, residential co-educational Hurtwood House, a sixth form college located in Dorking, Surrey where he studied drama. 

Huston gained his first film role in the made for television film adaptation of 'Spartacus' in 2004 alongside Goran Visnjic, Alan Bates, Angus Macfadyen, Ben Cross, Ross Kemp and Rhona Mitra. This led to the horror thriller 'Neighbourhood Watch' in 2005, then the biographical drama 'Factory Girl' with Sienna Miller, Guy Pearce, Jimmy Fallon, Hayden Christensen, James Naughton, Mena Suvari and Mary Elizabeth Winstead in 2006, and horror comedy offering 'Shrooms' in 2007. Sci-Fi actioner 'Outlander' followed in 2008 with Jim Caviezel, Ron Perlman and John Hurt with dramatic thriller 'The Garden of Eden' that same  year with Mena Suvari, Matthew Modine, and Richard E. Grant. 2009 saw comedy drama 'Shrink' with Kevin Spacey with comedy drama 'Boogie Woogie' also starring Danny Huston, Gillian Anderson, Alan Cumming, Heather Graham, Christopher Lee, Stellen Skarsgard, Charlotte Rampling and Amanda Seyfried seeing out the decade. 

2010 saw his appearance on eight out of the thirteen episode single season of the fantasy drama television series 'Eastwick', and then the biographical crime comedy caper 'Mr. Nice' with Rhys Ifans, David Thewlis and Chloe Sevigny. He then made a brief appearance in the 2010 instalment of the Stephanie Meyer novel big screen adaptation of 'The Twilight Saga : Eclipse' before scoring a turn in the Al Pacino Directed, Co-Written and starring docudrama 'Wilde Salome'. This led to the drama based on real events 'The Hot Potato' with Ray Winstone, and then '2 Jacks' alongside Danny Huston again, Sienna Miller, Jacqueline Bisset and Billy Zane in 2012. That year also saw 'Not Fade Away' and the five part television mini-series 'Parade's End' with Benedict Cumberbatch, Rupert Everett, Miranda Richardson and Rebecca Hall amongst notable others.

Up next for Huston was the biographical drama 'Kill Your Darlings' about the lives of acclaimed poets drawn together through a murder - Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs, with Daniel Radcliffe playing the former, Ben Foster the latter and Huston the guy in the middle. 'Night Train to Lisbon' followed with Jeremy Irons, Tom Courtenay, Bruno Ganz, Christopher Lee and Charlotte Rampling in this mystery romantic thriller, and then the highly acclaimed 'American Hustle' as Co-Written and Directed by David O'Russell with an ensemble cast including Jennifer Lawrence, Amy Adams, Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner and Michael Pena. The film was nominated for ten Academy Awards but failed to win one, but it did win three Golden Globes  and was nominated for four others, it won three BAFTA's and was nominated for a further seven, it won one SAG Award and was nominated for one more and it won two AACTA Awards and was nominated for a further five. All up it picked up seventy award wins and 218 nods, and took US$252M at the global Box Office from its US$40M budget outlay.

In between time, Huston starred in 41 episodes of the 57 episode series running over five seasons between 2010 and 2014 of the highly acclaimed 'Boardwalk Empire'. Starring as Richard Harrow alongside the likes of Steve Buscemi, Michael Shannon, Stephen Graham, Michael Kenneth Williams, Dabney Coleman, Kelly Macdonald and Gretchen Mol, the series won 64 awards and was nominated another 182 times, including multiple Golden Globe, Primetime Emmy and SAG Awards and nominations.

'Posthumous' was released in 2014, then the romantic drama 'The Longest Ride' with Scott Eastwood and Brit Robertson, then the undead period piece of rampaging flesh eaters marauding through 19th Century England in this romantic action horror offering of 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies' with Lily James, Lena Headey, Charles Dance, Matt Smith, and Sam Riley released in 2016. As was the Coen Brother's mystery comedy of Hollywood in the '50's starring Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Ralph Fiennes, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Alden Ehrenreich, Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton and Frances McDormand in 'Hail, Caesar'!'. The film was awarded eleven wins and a mother 39 nominations from around the traps including an Oscar and a BAFTA nod.

2016 also saw Timur Bekmambetov's remake of the classic swords and sandals epic 'Ben-Hur' with Huston playing Judah Ben-Hur, alongside Morgan Freeman, Toby Kebbel, Rodrigo Santoro and James Cosmo. The film cost US$100M plus marketing and distribution costs and failed to recoup that investment bringing home just US$94M at the worldwide Box Office, making it a bomb, as well a being poorly received by Critics and clearly audiences alike. This was followed up by WWII romantic comedy drama 'Their Finest' Directed by Lone Scherfig and also starring Bill Nighy, Sam Claflin, Richard E. Grant, Jeremy Irons, Eddie Marsan and Gemma Arterton. Closing out 2017 to date, the Iraq War drama 'Yellow Birds' was released early in the year and starred Jennifer Aniston, Tye Sheridan, Alden Ehrenreich, Toni Collette and Jason Patric. Meanwhile, there was also the television mini-series which ran for four episodes in 2014 'The Great Fire' recounting the events that unfolded during the Great Fire of London in early September 1666, with Huston playing King Charles II.

Next up for Houston is the recently wrapped Phillip Noyce Directed crime action thriller 'Above Suspicion' also starring Emilia Clarke, Thora Birch and Johnny Knoxville. In Post-Production is the comedy offering 'An Actor Prepares' also with Jeremy Irons, Matthew Modine and Will Patton, and currently filming is new television series from the creator of 'Mad Men' with 'The Romanoffs' due for airing sometime in 2018. Starring Aaron Eckhart, Paul Reiser, John Slattery, Corey Stoll, Christina Hendricks, Isabelle Huppert, Diane Lane and Amanda Peet amongst others, the first series is currently scheduled for six episodes on Amazon. Also filming for a 2018 release is the Martin Scorsese Directed biographical crime drama film 'The Irishman' starring Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Bobby Cannavale, Harvey Keitel, Ray Romano, Stephen Graham, Jesse Plemmons and Anna Paquin in a story about a mob hit man recounting his possible involvement with the slaying of Union Boss, Jimmy Hoffa.

All up Huston has 38 Acting credits to his name, and he has so far garnered eight award wins for 'American Hustle', 'Boardwalk Empire', 'Kill Your Darlings' with another four nominations. Huston is in a long term relationship with American model Shannan Click since 2011, with whom he has a daughter, Sage Lavinia (born in April 2013) and a son, Cypress Night (born in January 2016).

Jack Huston - hails from Hollywood Royalty and English Aristocracy; has played English Royalty (Charles II) and Roman Aristocracy (Judah Ben-Hur); has played across just about all genres except Sci-fi but seems to lean toward Biographical retellings, historical offerings and straight up drama; never typecast; is increasingly in demand; a star on the up; and another Brit doing great things Stateside and at home. Happy 35th Birthday to you Jack, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 1st - 7th January 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Jeremy Renner does on 7th January - check out my tribute to this Birthday Lad turning 46, 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 1st January

• Frank Langella - Born 1938, turns 79 - Actor
• Verne Troyer - Born 1969, turns 48 - Actor  

Monday 2nd January

• Todd Haynes - Born 1961, turns 56 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Cuba Gooding Jnr. - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actor | Producer
• Tia Carrere - Born 1967, turns 50 - Actress | Producer 
• Paz Vega - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actress  
• Kate Bosworth - Born 1983, turns 34 - Actress 

Tuesday 3rd January

• Victoria Principal - Born 1950, turns 67 - Actress | Producer
• Mel Gibson - Born 1956, turns 61 - Actor | Director | Producer | Writer  

Wednesday 4th January

• Julian Sands - Born 1958, turns 59 - Actor 
• Dyan Cannon - Born 1937, turns 80 - Actress | Writer | Director
• Julia Ormond - Born 1965, turns 52 - Actress    

Thursday 5th January

• Diane Keaton - Born 1946, turns 71 - Actress | Producer | Director
• Robert Duvall - Born 1931, turns 85 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Hayao Miyazaki - Born 1941, turns 75 - Animator | Director | Producer | Writer | Editor
• Roger Spottiswoode - Born 1945, turns 72 - Director | Producer | Writer | Editor
• Clancy Brown - Born 1959, turns 57 - Actor | Producer
• Vinnie Jones - Born 1965, turns 52 - Actor
• Bradley Cooper - Born  1975, turns 42 - Actor | Producer | Director

Friday 6th January

• Rowan Atkinson - Born 1955, turns 62 - Actor | Writer 
• Norman Reedus - Born 1969, turns 48 - Actor | Writer | Director
• Eddie Redmayne - Born 1982, turns 35 - Actor  
• Sylvia Syms - Born 1934, turns 82 - Actress
• Kate McKinnon - Born 1984, turns 33 - Actress | Writer

Saturday 7th January

• Linda Kozlowski - Born 1958, turns 59 - Actress  
• David Caruso - Born 1956, turns 61 - Actor | Producer
• Nicolas Cage - Born 1964, turns 53 - Actor | Producer
• Irrfan Khan - Born 1967, turns 50 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Jeremy Renner - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actor | Producer | Singer | Songwriter

Jeremy Lee Renner was born in Modesto, California, USA to mother Valerie Tague and father Lee Renner who managed the the local bowling alley in Modesto during the 1980's. His parents were married as teenagers and divorced when the young Jeremy was just ten years of age. He attended the Fred C. Beyer High School in Modesto and then Modesto Junior College where he studies criminology, computer science and psychology before being drawn to acting through an elective. Bitten by the acting bug, he decided to relocate himself to San Francisco to study at the American Conservatory Theatre, then moving to Hawaii and then onto Los Angeles in 1993. 

Upon his arrival in L.A. Renner dedicated much of his time to theatre productions with the highlight coming in 'Search and Destroy' which he starred in and Co-Directed to critical acclaim. In 1995 he secured his first big screen break in 'National Lampoon's Senior Trip'. From here he secured single episode appearances on televisions series 'Deadly Games', 'Strange Luck', 'To Have & to Hold', 'The Net', 'Time of Your Life' and 'Angel'. In the meantime there were a number of made for television films and features that included 'Paper Dragons' and 'A Friend's Betrayal' all seeing out the '90's.

In 2002 he secured his first starring role in 'Dahmer' playing serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer - a complex role for which he was highly acclaimed. This in turn led to 'S.W.A.T.' with Colin Farrell and Samuel L. Jackson - his first commercially successful action film. This led to 'The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things', then 'A Little Trip to Heaven' with Forest Whitaker, 'North Country' with Charlize Theron, '12 and Holding', 'Neo Ned', an uncredited turn in 'Lords of Dogtown' and 'Love Comes to the Executioner'.

2007 saw 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford' with Brad Pitt, then the British zombie horror sequel offering'28 Weeks Later' with Robert Carlyle, then 'Take' with Minnie Driver before Kathryn Bigelow's highly acclaimed and six times Academy Award winning 'The Hurt Locker' in which Renner was nominated for Best Actor in a Lead Role for his performance as maverick bomb disposal expert Staff Sergeant William James. The film picked up 120 award wins and another 121 nominations around the circuit including the Oscar for Best Film and Best Director. 

'Ingenious' came next with another critically acclaimed turn in the Ben Affleck Directed, Co-Written and starring crime drama 'The Town'. Renner was again nominated for an Academy Award for his role as James Coughlin in the Best Supporting Actor category. The film picked up nine award wins and a further 45 nominations in all.

The following years saw Renner embark on a series of hugely successful franchise offerings that started off with his uncredited role and first appearance as Clint Barton/Hawkeye in 2011's Avengers offering of 'Thor'. He would reprise his role in 2012's 'The Avengers', 2015's 'Avengers : Age of Ultron', 2016's 'Captain America : Civil War', the currently filming and due in 2018 'Avengers : Infinity War' and the recently announced 'Ant Man and the Wasp' also due in 2018.

The next franchise saw Renner star as intelligence analyst William Brandt opposite Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt in the fourth instalment in the ever popular and successful 'Mission : Impossible' series of films with 2011's 'Ghost Protocol'. Again, he reprised his role in 2015's 'Rogue Nation' and is set to do so in 'M:I 6 - Mission Impossible' currently in pre-production for a 2018 release. Finally, Renner starred in a spin off of the acclaimed fast paced action Jason Bourne franchise but without Matt Damon. Renner played Alex Cross in 'The Bourne Legacy' for Director and Writer Tony Gilroy - a role he is set to reprise again in a recently announced Bourne sequel that may or may not see him playing alongside Matt Damon.

In between 'The Avengers', 'Mission:Impossible' and 'Bourne' franchise films he starred in a modern take on the German folklore fairy tale of Hansel & Gretel, in the fantasy action comedy outing of 'Hansel & Gretel : Witch Hunters' in which Renner starred as Hansel alongside Gemma Arterton's Gretel - siblings who now grown up work as a pair of witch exterminators for hire. The film made US$226M off its US$50M budget outlay. This was followed up by the James Gray Directed period piece 'The Immigrant' with Marion Cotillard and Joaquin Phoenix which was nominated for the Palme D'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

Next up was the David O. Russell Directed criminal comedy drama film 'American Hustle' in 2013 which was nominated for ten Academy Awards, won  a total of 66 awards and was nominated a further 202 times. With an ensemble cast including Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Amy Adams and Michael Pena the film was a commercial success too bringing home US$252M at the Global Box Office from its US$40M budget.




2014 brought the true story of investigative journalist Gary Webb in 'Kill the Messenger' which saw Renner starring as Gary Webb and also taking his first Producer credit. With an all star cast that included Ray Liota, Oliver Platt, Michael Sheen, Andy Garcia, Barry Pepper, Robert Patrick, Rosemarie DeWitt and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, the film was well received critically, albeit it failed to make back its budget outlay.

'Avengers : Age of Ultron', 'Mission:Impossible - Rogue Nation' and 'Captain America : Civil War' as mentioned previously bring us up to his most recent release at the end of 2016, 'Arrival' for Director Denis Villeneuve and starring Amy Adams, and Forest Whitaker. The film has so far made US$145M off its US$47M budget cost and has already picked up eighteen award wins and 111 nominations.





Next up for Renner is 'Avengers : Infinity War' due in 2018 and currently filming, the animated 'Arctic Justice : Thunder Squad' also due in 2018 to which Renner is lending his voice talents together with James Franco, Alec Baldwin, John Cleese, Michael Madsen, Omar Sy, Anjelica Huston and Heidi Klum. 'M:I 6 - Mission Impossible' is in pre-production for later in 2018, recently announced are a Bourne sequel and Marvel's 'Ant Man and the Wasp', with 'Wind River' in post-production for an early 2017 release and starring also Martin Sensmeier, Jon Bernthal, and Elizabeth Olson.

All up Renner has 54 Acting credits to his name so far, and four as Producer. He has two Academy Award nominations for his performances in 'The Town' and 'The Hurt Locker', one Golden Globe nomination for 'The Town' and one BAFTA nomination for 'The Hurt Locker'. So far he has garnered thirty award wins and a further 51 nominations along the way. As well as an active career as an Actor in demand, he is a singer/songwriter, guitarist, drummer and keyboard player, and has written and preformed songs for a number of films he has appeared in. Renner married Canadian model Sonni Pacheco in January 2014 and within a year she had filed for divorce. They have a daughter together, Ava Berlin, born in 2013.

Jeremy Renner - runs a house renovating business in his spare time restoring rundown iconic Hollywood homes; is a UN Goodwill Peace Ambassador helping raise awareness of mine-clearing efforts in Afghanistan; has studied both Filipino and Thai martial arts; often plays intense, emotional character driven roles, frequently tinged with violence or unstable traits; is a bona fide action star having played such recurring roles in three major film franchises to date; put also plays flawed, often complicated grounded roles that bring him acclaim critically to match his commercial success from the blockbusters he is perhaps better known for. Very watchable and keeping it real in front of the camera and away from it - Happy Birthday to you Jeremy, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 9th - 15th August 2015

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Jennifer Lawrence does on 15th August - check out the tribute to this Birthday Girl turning 25, 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 9th August

• Gillian Anderson - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actress
• Anna Kendrick - Born 1985, turns 30 - Actress
• Rhona Mitra - Born 1976, turns 39 - Actress
• Audrey Tatou - Born 1976, turns 39 - Actress
• Melanie Griffith - Born 1957, turns 58 - Actress | Producer
• McG - Born 1968, turns 47 - Director | Producer
• Sam Elliott - Born 1944, turns 71 - Actor | Producer
• Eric Bana - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actor | Producer | Director

Monday 10th August

• Antonio Banderas - Born 1960, turns 55 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Brenton Thwaites - Born 1989, turns 26 - Actor
• Rosanna Arquette - Born 1959, turns 56 - Actress | Producer | Director

Tuesday 11th August

• Viola Davis - Born 1965m turns 50 - Actress | Producer
• Chris Hemsworth - Born 1983, turns 32 - Actor
• Ian McDiarmid - Born 1944, turns 71 - Actor
• Hulk Hogan - Born 1953, turns 62 - Actor | Wrestler

Wednesday 12th August

• George Hamilton - Born 1939, turns 76 - Actor | Producer
• Casey Affleck - Born 1975, turns 40 - Actor | Producer | Writer

Thursday 13th August

• Paul Greengrass - Born 1955, turns 60 - Director | Producer | Wreiter

 Friday 14th August

• Steve Martin - Born 1945, turns 70 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• James Horner - Born 1953, turns 62 - Composer | Songwriter
• Wim Wenders - born 1945, turns 70 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Mila Kunis - Born 1983, turns 32 - Actress
• Halle Berry - Born 1966, turns 49 - Actress | Producer
• Marcia Gay Harden - Born 1959, turns 56 - Actor

Saturday 15th August

• Jennifer Lawrence - Born 1990, turns 25 - Actress
• Debra Messing - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actress | Producer
• Natasha Hentsridge - Born 1974, turns 41 - Actress
• Nicolas Roeg - Born 1928, turns 87 - Director | Cinematographer
• Ben Affleck - Born 1972, turns 43 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Alejandro Gonzales Inaritu - Born 1963, turns 52 - Procucer | Director | Writer.

Jennifer Shrader Lawrence was born and grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, USA to mother Karen Koch - the manager and owner of a children's camp, and construction worker father Gary Lawrence. She has two older brothers - Ben and Blaine. Lawrence attended Kammerer Middle School in her home town and graduated two years ahead of time wanting to pursue a career in acting. Whilst at school she participated in softball, modelling, hockey and cheer leading, and having grown up just 15 minutes from a horse stud too she became proficient in horse riding, but none of these really interested her above her desire to act. She convinced her parents to take her to New York to locate a talent agent, which they did and with relative ease given the prowess for the craft that the young Lawrence was able to demonstrate.

Having been spotted by an acting agency her first television role came in an episode of 'Monk' in 2006, and then 'Cold Case' in 2007, with two on 'Medium' in 2007/08, with a minor role that same year in 'Garden Party' which was her big screen debut. From 2007-2009 she appeared in 'The Bill Engvall Show' over multiple episodes. During this time there was a meatier role in 'The Poker House', Directed by Lori Petty in 2008, which was her first starring role and for which she won an LA Film Festival Award. 'The Burning Plain' came next also in 2008 with Charlize Theron and Kim Bassinger which received mild critical reviews but failed commercially, and despite this she won an award at the Venice Film Festival for Best Emerging Actress.

What is often described as her breakout role came next in 2010 with 'Winter's Bone' which picked up the Best Picture Award at Sundance, and for her role she gained an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. 2011 delivered 'Like Crazy', a romantic drama; 'The Beaver' with Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster; and then 'X-Men : First Class' in her first outing as Raven/Mystique.






2012 was however, the game changer, as Lawrence snagged the lead role as Katniss Everdeen in the first of 'The Hunger Games' series which she was initially reluctant to take on given the enormity of the role, the physical requirements, and the expectations behind the film adaptation of the successful books. The extensive training regime she had to undertake paid off with a worldwide gross Box Office take of US$691M.

That same year also saw 'Silver Linings Playbook' with Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro in David O'Russell's acclaimed film. At just 22, Lawrence won both the Golden Globe Award and the Academy Award for Best Actress and was the second youngest actress to do so. Also that year came the psychological thriller 'The House at the End of the Street' and a year later she reprised her Katniss Everdeen role in 'The Hunger Games : Catching Fire' which outstripped the opening film with a Box Office haul of US$865M.

'American Hustle' followed in 2013 with Christian Bale, Jeremy Renner, Bradley Cooper and Amy Adams which garnered further acclaim with Best Supporting Actress nominations at The Golden Globes, Academy Awards and BAFTA's. 2014 saw a reprisal for her Raven/Mystique character in Bryan Singer's US$748M blockbuster 'X-Men : Days of Future Past', and then Katniss Everdeen in the first of the final 'The Hunger Games' films 'Mockingjay - Part 1' which cashed in at US$752M.


Next up is the final instalment of 'The Hunger Games' franchise with 'Mockingjay - Part 2', with 'Joy' also due for release later in 2015 and starring with Bradley Cooper for the fourth time. 'X-Men : Apocalypse' is filming currently for a 2016 release, with 'The Rose Project' and 'Passengers' in pre-production and 'It's What I Do' recently announced.






So far Lawrence has 28 acting credits to her name, one Academy Award win and two other nominations; two Golden Globe wins and another nomination; one BAFTA win and a nomination plus 114 other award wins and 113 other nominations from around the traps, and, she's still only 25! When Lawrence is not acting, she actively supports the 'World Food Programme', 'The Thirst Project', 'Feeding America'; is an ambassador for the Special Olympics and has launched the Jennifer Lawrence Foundation. Earlier this year she was ranked by the Guinness World Records as the highest grossing action heroine too for her role in 'The Hunger Games'. She was romantically linked to Actor Nicholas Hoult for a time and for a brief period more recently to Coldplay front man Chris Martin.

Jennifer Lawrence - husky voiced, immense acting range, Hollywood power player, sultry, beautiful, talented, in demand, a rising star, influential and inspirational - Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 25th - 31st January 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week? Christian Bale does, on 30th January - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 41, 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 January

• Tobe Hooper - Born 1943, turns 72 - Director | Producer | Writer

Monday 26th January

• David Strathairn - Born 1949, turns 66 - Actor
• Scott Glenn - Born 1941, turns 74 - Actress
• Ellen DeGeneres - Born 1958, turns 57 - Television Personality | Writer | Producer | Actress
• Odeon Online - Born 2014, turns 1 - Movie Blog of choice!

Tuesday 27th January

• Mimi Rogers - Born 1956, turns 59 - Actress | Producer
• Bridget Fonda - Born 1964, turns 51 - Actress
• James Cromwell - Born 1940, turns 75 - Actor | Producer
• Frank Miller - Born 1957, turns 58 - Writer | Producer | Director | Actor
• Alan Cumming - Born 1965, turns 50 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director | Singer

Wednesday 28th January

• Alan Alda - Born 1936, turns 79 - Actor | Writer | Director
• Frank Darabont - Born 1959, turns 56 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Elijah Wood - Born 1981, turns 34 - Actor | Producer
• Rosamund Pike - Born 1979, turns 36 - Actress

Thursday 29th January 

• Katherine Ross - Born 1940, turns 75 - Actress
• Oprah Winfrey - Born 1954, turns 61 - Television Personality | Actress | Writer
• Heather Graham - Born 1970, turns 45 - Actress | Producer | Singer
• Tom Selleck - Born 1945, turns 70 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Edward Burns - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Marc Singer - Born 1948, turns 67 - Actor

Friday 30th January

• Christian Bale - Born 1974, turns 41 - Actor
• Gene Hackman - Born 1930, turns 85 - Actor
• Phil Collins - Born 1951, turns 64 - Singer | Songwriter | Actor
• Vanessa Redgrave - Born 1937, turns 78 - Actress | Producer

Saturday 31st January

• Minni Driver - Born 1970, turns 45 0 Actress | Producer
• Portia de Rossi - Born 1973, turns 42 - Actress
• Justin Timberlake - Born 1981, turns 34 - Singer | Songwriter | Actor | Producer
• Anthony LaPaglia - Born 1959, turns 56 - Actor | Writer | Producer
• Philip Glass - Born 1937, turns 78 - Composer | Songwriter
• Dexter Fletcher - Born 1966, turns 49 - Actor | Writer | Director | Producer

Christian Charles Philip Bale was born in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales to English parents. His mother Jenny James was a circus performer and his father David Charles Howard Bale was a commercial pilot and talent manager. His childhood years were spent in various locations from Wales to southern England to Portugal to the United States. He attended Bournemouth Boys Grammar School and left at 16. The next year he moved to Los Angeles with his father when his parents divorced in 1991. 

His first screen acting role came in a fabric softener television commercial in 1982 and then a 'Pac-Man' breakfast cereal advertisement a year later. In 1984 he played for the first time in a theatre production opposite Rowan Atkinson in 'The Nerd' on London's West End. With work coming in as an up & coming Actor he auditioned for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and the Central School of Speech and Drama and was offered a place by all three institutions to study his craft but was convinced by his parents at the time to continue working - a decision he regrets still to this day!

His big screen debut came in in 1986 in the television film 'Anastasia : The Mystery of Anna' which quickly led to a starring role in in the television mini-series 'Heart of the Country', and then the fantasy film 'Mio in the land of the Faraway' opposite Christopher Lee. It was the 'Anastasia : The Mystery of Anna' movie that brought the young Bale to the attention of Steven Spielberg who cast him in his breakout role in 1987's 'Empire of the Sun'. This brought Bale much critical acclaim, winning too the inaugural award by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures for the Best Performance by a Juvenile Actor.

The success of 'Empire of the Sun' Bale found hard to adjust to and almost gave up acting as a career choice there & then. Kenneth Branagh however, convinced him to take a role in the 1989 big screen telling of Shakespeare's 'Henry V' with a critically acclaimed all star cast. From there he starred with Charlton Heston in 'Treasure Island', in Disney's 'Newsies' with Robert Duvall, 'Swing Kids' with Kenneth Branagh again, and then 'Little Women' with Wynona Ryder who introduced Bale to his future wife in 1994. He returned to Disney in 1995 to provide the voice for Captain John Smith in the animated feature 'Pocahontas' and in 1997 he played alongside Ewen McGregor in 'Velvet Goldmine'.

He saw out the decade and saw in the new with another big screen adaptation of Shakespeare in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' with again an all star cast and 'All the Little Animals' with John Hurt. This was followed up by his turn as Patrick Bateman in 'American Psycho'. In it Bale inhibited his character of the deranged murdering Wall Street executive for which he trained obsessively to develop his body and prepare his mental state to match that of his character as depicted in the Brett Easton Ellis book.

Next up came 'Shaft' alongside Samuel L. Jackson, 'Captain Correlli's Mandolin' with Nicolas Cage and then in quick succession came 'Laurel Canyon', 'Reign of Fire' and 'Equilibrium'. 2004 saw Bale back to prominence as Trevor Reznik in 'The Machinist' - a role for which he slimmed down drastically by 63lbs (27kgs) to a body weight of just 128lbs (55kgs) by taking a crash diet and going without sleep for prolonged periods.

His next role was the polar opposite requiring Bale to regain all those lost kilos and bulk up considerably gaining 105lbs (45kgs) in muscle in six months to play the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman in Christopher Nolan's 2005 'Batman Begins'.  The success of this brought two hugely successful sequels in 2008 with 'The Dark Knight' and then again in 2012 with 'The Dark Knight Rises'. The three films together and as a complete package, and singularly, were received to both critical and commercial acclaim generating US$2.5B in Box Office and after sales receipts off a total production cost of US$585M.

In the meantime, and since, there has been 'The New World' and 'Harsh Times' in 2005; 'Rescue Dawn' and 'The Prestige' in 2006; '3:10 to Yuma' and 'I'm Not There' in 2007; and then 'Terminator : Salvation' and 'Public Enemies' in 2009. 'The Fighter' in 2010 with Mark Wahlberg brought more critical success, leading to 'The Flowers of War' in 2011, 'Out of the Furnace' and 'American Hustle' in 2013 and most recently 'Exodus : Gods and Kings' with Director Ridley Scott in 2014 and still on general release. Next up is Terrence Malick's 'Knight of Cups' with Cate Blanchett due for release later this year, and an as yet untitled project for the same Director which is currently in post-production. Then will come 'Creed of Violence' and 'Jungle Book : Origins' for 2016/17.

Bale has 48 acting credits to his name and a total 59 award wins and a further 58 nominations. He won the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for 'The Fighter' and was nominated for Best Actor for 'American Hustle'. The same was true of the Golden Globes and he was nominated similarly at the BAFTA's.

He has been married to Sandra 'Sibi' Blazic since 2000 and together they have a daughter Emmaline born in 2005 and a son born in mid-2014. He is an active supporter of 'Greenpeace', the 'World Wildlife Fund' and he and his wife sit on the Board of Trustees of the 'Dian Fossey Gorilla Foundation'.

Christian Bale - intense character Actor going to extraordinary lengths to portray the physical, mental and emotional states of his roles; often teams up with Christopher Nolan and Terrence Malick; a natural at putting on an accent - American especially; and often plays either historical roles or those of fractured, obsessive, detached and lonely characters and always with conviction and intensity. Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 4th - 10th January 2015

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week? Bradley Cooper does, on 5th January - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy 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 4th January

• Julia Ormond - Born 1965, turns 50 - Actress
• Dyan Cannon - Born 1937, turns 78 - Actress | Director | Writer
• Julian Sands - Born 1958, turns 57 - Actor
• Michael Stipe - Born 1960, turns 55 - Singer | Songwriter | Producer | Actor

Monday 5th January

• Bradley Cooper - Born 1975, turns 40 - Actor | Producer
• Robert Duvall - Born 1931, turns 84 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Vinnie Jones - Born 1965, turns 50 - Actor
• Roger Spottiswoode - Born 1945, turns 70 - Director | Producer | Writer | Editor
• Hayao Miyazaki - Born 1941, turns 74 - Director | Producer | Writer | Editor | Animator
• Diane Keaton - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actress | Producer | Director

Tuesday 6th January

• Trudie Styler - Born 1954, turns 61 - Producer | Actress
• Eddie Redmayne - Born 1982, turns 33 - Actor
• Norman Reedus - Born 1969, turns 46 - Actor
• Rowan Atkinson - Born 1955, turns 60 - Actor | Writer

Wednesday 7th January

• Nicolas Cage - Born 1964, turns 51 - Actor | Producer
• Jeremy Renner - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actor | Producer
• David Caruso - Born 1956, turns 59 - Actor
• Linda Kozlowski - Born 1958, turns 57 - Actress

Thursday 8th January

• David Bowie - Born 1947, turns 68 - Singer | Songwriter | Composer | Actor
• John McTiernan - Born 1951, turns 64 - Director | Producer | Writer

Friday 9th January

• J. K. Simmons - Born 1955, turns 60 - Actor
• Imelda Staunton - Born 1956, turns 59 - Actress

Saturday 10th January

• Fran Walsh - Born 1959, turns 56 - Producer | Writer
• Walter Hill - Born 1942, turns 73 - Director | Producer | Writer

Bradley Charles Cooper was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and grew up close by in Jenkintown. His mother Gloria Campano worked for an affiliate of the NBC, and father Charles Cooper was a stockbroker with Merrill Lynch - he passed away early in 2011. He attended the Germantown Academy from which he graduated in 1993, and then went onto Villanova University for a year and then Georgetown University at which he gained a BA honours degree in English in 1997. He learned to speak French fluently and spent six months in France as an exchange student. In 2000, he received a Master of Fine Arts at the now named Actors Studio Drama School at New York's Pace University.

Cooper's professional acting career kicked off in 1999 with a guest appearance on 'Sex and the City', and the he worked as a Presenter on the travel adventure show 'Globe Trekker' (aka 'Pilot Guides' and 'Lonely Planet'). His first film role came with a 'Wet Hot American Summer' with the likes of Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks and Amy Poehler and was both a critical and commercial failure. From here he gained a regular slot as character Will Tippin on the successful 'Alias' television action drama series alongside Jennifer Garner. He gained a small role in 2002's 'Changing Lanes' with Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson but his performance appears only on the DVD and Bluray versions of the film. 2002 also brought the films 'My Little Eye' and 'Bending all the Rules' with numerous television roles and guest appearances that included 'The $treet', 'Miss Match', 'Touching Evil', 'Jack and Bobby', 'Kitchen Confidential' and 'Nip/Tuck'.

After a couple of made for TV movies, he starred in 2005's 'Wedding Crashers' with Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughan and Christopher Walken, following this up with RomCom 'Failure to Launch' with Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker. What followed were mostly typecast comedies all with varying levels of acclaim including 'The Comebacks', 'The Rocker', 'Yes Man', 'He's Just Not That Into You' interspersed with occasional dramatic roles in horror thriller 'The Midnight Meat Train' and suspense drama 'Older than America'.

2009 proved to be a turning point with the first in the hugely successful 'The Hangover' series which all up generated US$1.4B in Box Office receipts and DVD/Bluray sales off a total production budget of US$218M, and spawned two sequels in 2011 and 2013. Cooper earned US$600K for the first instalment, US$5M for the second and US$15M for the third. That same year saw 'All About Steve' with Sandra Bullock, 'New York, I Love You' and psychological horror 'Case 39' closing out the year.

2010 saw the big screen reboot of the popular 80's action adventure television series 'The A-Team' with Cooper playing 'Face' alongside Liam Neeson and Patrick Wilson. 'Limitless' came next with Robert De Niro and Abbie Cornish in a positively received film that was certainly successful commercially and generally critically too. After this the second 'Hangover' offering gave way to 'Hit and Run' followed up by the much acclaimed 'Silver Linings Play Book' with Jennifer Lawrence and Robert De Niro for which Cooper received Lead Actor nominations at the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes and the BAFTA's.

Romantic drama 'The Words' followed in 2012 with Zoe Saldana and Jeremy Irons and 2013 saw 'The Place Beyond the Pines' with Ryan Gosling, the third 'Hangover' with the now all too familiar cast and plot lines, and concluding the year 'American Hustle' with Christian Bale, Jeremy Renner and Jennifer Lawrence again, and, for which he received nominations in the Best Supporting Actor category at the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes and the BAFTA's.

Next up was his voice adaptation as 'Rocket' the Racoon in Marvel's sleeper hit 'Guardians of the Galaxy' which has so far earned a largely unexpected US$773M, followed by another turn alongside Jennifer Lawrence in the recently released 'Serena'. Coming up in 2015 is Cooper's lead role in the anticipated Clint Eastwood Directed 'American Sniper' due imminently , 'Joy' currently in pre-production seeing him reunited again with co-stars Jennifer Lawrence and Robert De Niro and Directed by David O'Russell (who Directed him in the acclaimed 'Silver Linings Play Book' and 'American Hustle') and two as yet untitled projects for Cameron Crowe and John Wells due later in 2015.

Cooper has 49 acting credits to his name and five Producer credits so far, he has 20 award wins and 49 other nominations. He was married for a brief time to actress Jennifer Esposito from 2006-2007 and has been romantically linked to Actresses Renee Zellweger and Zoe Saldana and most recently to model Suki Waterhouse. He gave up alcohol at the age of 29, is a dog lover and a keen cook and likes to eat (a lot as he says) - and with Italian heritage he grew up making fresh homemade pastas, sauces and concocting dishes out of whatever he has lying around.

Bradley Cooper - definitely on the up & up, known for a cheeky grin, piercing blue eyes, trademark five day growth of stubble, and more recently playing more dramatic characters that stretch, challenge and ultimately reward us all - Happy 40th Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-