Birthday's to share this week : 7th - 13th January 2018.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Sam Riley does on 8th January - check out my tribute to this Actor and Singer Birthday Lad turning 38, 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 have 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 7th January

• Linda Kozlowski - Born 1958, turns 60 - Actress  
• David Caruso - Born 1956, turns 62 - Actor | Producer
• Nicolas Cage - Born 1964, turns 54 - Actor | Producer
• Irrfan Khan - Born 1967, turns 51 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Jeremy Renner - Born 1971, turns 47 - Actor | Producer | Singer | Songwriter

Monday 8th January

• John McTiernan - Born 1951, turns 67 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Sam Riley - Born 1980, turns 38 - Actor | Singer

Tuesday 9th January

• J.K.Simmons - Born 1955, turns 63 - Actor
• Imelda Staunton - Born 1956, turns 62 - Actress
• Joely Richardson - Born 1965, turns 53 - Actress 

Wednesday 10th January

• Fran Walsh - Born 1959, turns 59 - Producer | Writer | Songwriter
• Walter Hill - Born 1942, turns 76 - Director | Producer | Writer 
• Jemaine Clement - Born 1974, turns 44 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director | Singer | Songwriter | Musician

Thursday 11th January

• Jason Connery - Born 1963, turns 55 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Amanda Peet - Born 1972, turns 46 - Actress

Friday 12th January

• Kirstie Alley - Born 1951, turns 67 - Actress | Producer | Writer
• Anthony Andrews - Born 1948, turns 70 - Actor | Producer
• John Lasseter - Born 1957, turns 61 - Producer | Director | Writer | Animator | Voice Actor
• Oliver Platt - Born 1960, turns 58 - Actor
• Rob Zombie (aka Robert Bartleh Cummings) - Born 1965, turns 53 - Producer | Director | Writer | Actor | Singer | Songwriter | Composer 
• Aaron Seltzer - Born 1974, turns 44 - Director | Writer | Producer | Songwriter

Saturday 13th January

• William B. Davis - Born 1938, turns 80 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Editor
• Bill Bailey - Born 1965, turns 53 - Writer | Actor | Television Personality | Singer | Composer
• Patrick Dempsey - Born 1966, turns 52 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Michael Pena - Born 1976, turns 42 - Actor | Producer
• Orlando Bloom - Born 1977, turns 41 - Actor | Producer
• Liam Hemsworth - Born 1990, turns 28 - Actor
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus - Born 1961, turns 57 - Actress | Producer | Singer  

Samuel Peter Riley was born in the village of Menston, West Yorkshire, England, UK to mother Amanda, a nursery school teacher, and father Andrew Riley a textile agent. He attended the co-ed independent preparatory Malsis School, in Crosshills in North Yorkshire (which has subsequently closed), and then the co-ed independent secondary Uppingham School, in Uppingham, Rutland. He played with the National Youth Theatre for a time, and then for a few years in the early 2000's, Riley was the frontman for Leeds based band '10,000 Things' with whom he enjoyed some success, releasing their first single on an independent record label in 2002. From there the band signed up with Polydor for a self-titled album, before disbanding in 2005. Riley's brother George, played bass with the band. 

In 2002 Riley secured his small screen debut in a couple of made for television films - 'Tough Love' with Ray Winstone and Adrian Dunbar, and then 'Lenny Blue'. It would be five years before another screen appearance, with the short 30 minute made for television comedy movie 'Sound' in 2007. His breakout role came later that year, in the Anton Corbijn Directed musical biographical drama charting the early rise and untimely death of Ian Curtis (as played by Riley) the enigmatic singer of post-punk band Joy Division in 'Control'. The film was critically acclaimed picking up 31 award wins and another 34 nominations, including several wins and nods for Riley's convincing performance as the troubled lead singer who committed suicide at the age of just 23.

Next up in 2008 was the Sci-Fi fantasy drama offering 'Franklyn' with Eva Green, Ryan Phillippe, Bernard Hill, Art Malik and Susannah York seeing out the decade. 2010 launched with '13' with Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke and Ray Winstone and then that same year the remake of the classic 'Brighton Rock' based on the Graham Greene novel of the same name released in 1938 and first made into a feature film in 1948 with David Attenborough and William Hartnell. Directed by Rowan Joffe this crime thriller '60's set period piece also starred Helen Mirren, John Hurt, Andy Serkis, Andrea Riseborough and Phil Davis.

German comedy 'Woman in Love' came next in 2011 in which Riley was cast alongside his wife of then two years Alexandra Maria Lara, followed by 'On The Road' in 2012, Directed by Walter Salles based on the book by Jack Kerouac and starring Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart, Amy Adams, Elisabeth Moss, Kirsten Dunst and Viggo Mortensen. Neil Jordan's Directed fantasy horror drama 'Byzantium' with Saoirse Ronan , Gemma Arterton and Caleb Landry Jones was also released in 2012.

The Austrian/German Co-Produced mystery Western 'The Dark Valley' came next in 2014 picking up 26 award wins and five other nominations from around the mostly European circuit, with the Disney Studios live action dark fantasy spin on the tale of Sleeping Beauty with 'Maleficent' also starring Angelina Jolie in the title role, with Sharlto Copley, Elle Fanning, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple and Brenton Thwaites. The film grossed US$759M from its circa US$220M budget outlay, and a sequel is in the works apparently with Jolie set to reprise her role. 2015 saw the British/French/Belgian Co-Produced WWII romantic drama film 'Suite Francaise' with Michelle Williams, Kristen Scott Thomas, Ruth Wilson, Margot Robbie, Matthias Schoenaerts and Riley's wife, Alexandra Maria Lara once again. The film generated largely positive press, but failed to make back less than half of its production budget in Box Office Receipts, which closed at just over US$9M.

The 'romantic' action horror offering 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies' followed up in 2016 with Lily James, Charles Dance, Matt Smith, Lena Headey and Jack Huston. That same year Riley lent his voice talents, together with John Boyega, to the children's animated series 'Tinkershrimp & Dutch' which has so far had a very limited run of just five episodes of five minutes each. Ben Wheatley's Boston set 1978 shoot 'em up film 'Free Fire' with Armie Hammer, Sharlto Copley, Cillian Murphy, Noah Taylor, Jack Reynor, Patrick Bergin and Brie Larson was released in 2107 as was the German produced childrens adventure comedy 'Robbi, Tobbi und das Filewatuut' which also starred Riley's wife once more Alexandra Maria Lara.

Bringing us up to date is the television mini-series 'SS-GB' in which Riley stars in all five episodes of the first season so far as Douglas Archer, a British homicide detective investigating a murder in a German-occupied England in a parallel universe where the Nazis won World War II. Also starring James Cosmo, Kate Bosworth and Jason Flemyng. Currently in post-production is 'Triple Word Score' a drama about a missing son, and the fathers love of the 'Scrabble' word game that leads him on a hunt for an online opponent in the game, that just may be that missing son. Also starring Bull Nighy, Jenny Agutter and Tim McInnerny.

All up Riley has nineteen Acting credits to his name. He has so far garnered seven award wins and ten further nominations, the most of which were for his role in 'Control'. He was nominated for the BAFTA Rising Star Award in 2008 too. In 2009 he married German Actress Alexandra Maria Lara and together they have a son, Ben, born in early 2014. Aside from his acting and early singing career, Riley has also carved out a place in modelling, having successfully modelled for British fashion house 'Burberry' in 2008, in 2014 for 'Ermenegildo Zegna' and in 2015 he was named as one of the Top 50 Best Dressed Men in Britain by GQ magazine.

Sam Riley - has worked across just about all genres including fantasy, horror, biographical, comedy, crime, Western, historical, musical, animation and foreign language; appears to be quite choosy about his roles and his output; is nonetheless in demand but prefers to be out of the spotlight living in relative safety and isolation in Germany. Keep up the good, albeit selective, work Sam and we'll keep watching. Happy Birthday to you, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

JOHN HURT - dies aged 77 - R.I.P.

John Vincent Hurt - the acclaimed Actor of stage and screen died at his home in Cromer, Norfolk, England following a long battle with pancreatic cancer on 25th January - three days after his 77th Birthday.  Born in Chesterfield, Derby, England on 22nd January 1940 he had a strict upbringing by his amateur Actress mother Phyllis Massey and his Church of England clergyman father Arnould Herbert Hurt. They lived opposite a cinema but his parents forbade him from watching films there or mixing with other local children. He attended St. Michael's Preparatory School in Orford, Kent where his interest in acting was first sparked. He then attended Lincoln Grammar School, and at seventeen he enrolled in the Grimsby Art School to study art. Two years later he won a scholarship to Saint Martin's School of Art in London, and in 1960 he gained a scholarship to London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where he studied for two years.

His first screen role came in the classic early '60's police drama series 'Z-Cars' on a single episode in 1962. His first big screen role came later that same year in 'Young and Willing' with his first major screen performance and perhaps his breakout role being as Richard Rich in the widely acclaimed 1966 film 'A Man For All Seasons' opposite Orson Welles, Robert Shaw, Leo McKern, Vanessa Redgrave and Susannah York. He gained his first BAFTA nomination for playing Timothy Evans, the man accused to be hanged for the murders committed by his landlord John Christie in the real life drama '10, Rillington Place' in 1971. A few years later in 1975, Hurt secured his first BAFTA win for his portrayal of Quentin Crisp in 'The Naked Civil Servant' - the story of the outrageous and flamboyant homosexual Crisp's coming of age and his elder years in a very conservative England. A year later, Hurt's prominence continued to rise with his acclaimed performance in the BBC television mini-series 'I, Claudius' as Roman Emperor Caligula opposite Derek Jacobi's Claudius.

1978 saw another award worthy performance in the Alan Parker Directed and Oliver Stone Written 'Midnight Express' about an American College student played by Brad Davis caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey where upon he is promptly thrown in a Turkish prison left to rot and subject to all manner of woes by his captors. The film garnered Hurt a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor and his first Academy Award nomination. 1979 saw his iconic role as Kane in Ridley Scott's 'Alien' - with his alien chest busting scene being hailed by many as one of the most memorable in cinematic history. For this role he gained another BAFTA Best Supporting Actor nomination. Continuing with his run of successes, 1980 saw Hurt play John Merrick in David Lynch's 'The Elephant Man'. This role secured the Actor another BAFTA win for Best Actor, as well as Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations.

1980 also saw a role in Michael Cimino's 'Heaven's Gate' hailed at one time as being the biggest commercial and critical flop in film making history, but since then time has been kinder to this production. 1984 saw the big screen adaptation of George Orwell's '1984', and in 1989 he starred in 'Scandal' the retelling of the Profumo Scandal of 1963 that shook the British Government at the time involving the Minister of War and an exotic dancer.

The mid-'90's saw historical dramas 'Rob Roy' with Liam Neeson, 'Dead Man' with Johnny Depp, 'Wild Bill' with Jeff Bridges and then Sci-Fi offering for Robert Zemeckis 'Contact' with Jodie Foster. The new decade saw 'Captain Corelli's Mandolin' and his first appearance in the Harry Potter franchise as Mr. Ollivander - the wand maker in 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' - a role he would reprise in 'The Deathly Hallows : Parts 1 and 2'. In 2004 he starred in Guillermo del Toro's 'Hellboy' and again in its sequel 'Hellboy : The Golden Army' in 2008 and in the meantime there was the historical Australian Western 'The Proposition', then 'V for Vendetta'  and 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'. More than thirty years after his award winning turn as Quentin Crisp he reprised the role for 2009's 'An Englishman in New York' for which he was again nominated for a BAFTA Award.

'44 Inch Chest', a remake of the classic Graham Greene novel 'Brighton Rock', the highly acclaimed big screen adaptation of 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' and then swords and sandals epic 'Immortals', horror comedy 'Only Lovers Left Alive', the acclaimed Sci-Fi action drama 'Snowpiercer' and then another swords and sandals retelling of 'Hercules' closed out 2014. 'ChickLit', 'The Journey' and the recently released 'Jackie' bring us up to date. In the meantime, Hurt lent his considerable voice talents to numerous films, television programmes, and documentaries over the years including the likes of 'Watership Down' and 'Lord of the Rings' as Aragorn both in 1978, Disney's 'The Black Cauldron' in 1985, Disney's 'The Tigger Movie' in 2000, Lars von Trier's 'Dogville' in 2003 and 'Manderlay' in 2005 for the same Director, and 'Perfume : The Story of a Murderer' in 2006. There were also innumerable television series including 'The Storyteller', 'Watership Down', 'The Alan Clarke Diaries', 'The Confession', 'The Hollow Crown', 'Labyrinth', 'Merlin', 'Doctor Who' as The War Doctor, and 'The Last Panthers' most recently.

Still to come and due for release throughout 2017 are 'That Good Night' which is complete, 'Damascus Cover' currently in Post-Production, and so too is 'My Name Is Lenny' and currently filming is 'Darkest Hour' in which Hurt played former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, opposite Gary Oldman's Winston Churchill.

All up over seven decades Hurt had accumulated 204 acting credits to his name, garnered two Academy Award nominations for 'Midnight Express' and 'The Elephant Man', gained one Golden Globe Award for 'Midnight Express' and a nomination for 'The Elephant Man', and won three BAFTA Awards for 'The Naked Civil Servant', 'Midnight Express' and 'The Elephant Man' plus four other nominations and the BAFTA Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Cinema in 2012.

He was married four times during his life - from 1962 until 1964 to Actress Annette Robertson; he lived with French model Marie-Lise Volpeliere-Pierrot from 1967 through until 1983 and who was tragically killed in a horse riding accident; from 1984 until 1990 to Donna Peacock; from 1990 to 1996 to Joan Dalton with whom he had two children - Alexander 'Sasha' John Vincent Hurt born in 1990, and Nicholas 'Nick' Hurt born in 1993. Following this he was in a seven year relationship with Sarah Owens a presenter and writer. From 2005 up until the time of his passing he was married to Producer and Casting Director Anwen Rees-Myers. Upon marrying Rees-Myers he gave up smoking and drinking, putting his alcoholic days behind him.

In 2004 Hurt was honoured in the Queen's New Years Honours List with a Knighthood for services to drama by being made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). He also received various other accolades including The John Hurt Centre in his name being an education and exhibition space in Cinema City, Norwich. He was also a patron of the Proteus Syndrome Foundation (thought to be the affliction that affected John Merrick - the character he portrayed in 'The Elephant Man'), and he was also a patron of Project Harar working with Ethiopian children affected by facial disfigurements.

John Hurt - so many memorable performances, so many iconic roles, such an instantly recognisable deep gravel like voice, in demand for 55+ years - your legacy will live on forever recorded on celluloid and in the hearts and minds of the movie going public and the television audiences you served so well right up until the time of your passing.

John Hurt - Rest In Peace
1940 - 2017.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

RICHARD ATTENBOROUGH - dies aged 90 - R.I.P.

Richard Samuel Attenborough was born in Cambridge on August 29th 1923 and died at lunchtime on Sunday 24th August 2014 following a prolonged period of illness, just five days from his 91st birthday.

Brother of David Attenborough, the acclaimed and equally renowned naturalist and broadcaster, he was educated at Wyggeston Grammar School in Leicester and studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He served in the Royal Air Force during the second World War, and after pilot training was seconded to the new RAF Film Unit at Pinewood Studios where he volunteered to fly with the film unit flying several sorties over Europe filming the bombing raids. This gave him a taste for film making which later on would fuel his hunger for Directing.

His acting career began in the Noel Coward/David Lean production of 'In Which We Serve' in 1942, although he was uncredited by mistake. It was however, the 1947 adaptation of the classic Graham Greene novel, 'Brighton Rock', in which Attenborough starred as small time local crim, Pinkie Brown, that was to prove his breakthrough. Two years later in 1949, he was voted the sixth most popular actor in British cinema.

For the next thirty years he worked prolifically, with his starring role alongside many Hollywood heavyweights in 1963's 'The Great Escape' that was to prove another milestone - his big screen epic Hollywood breakthrough. This was followed up by the likes of 'The Flight of the Phoenix', 'Sand Pebbles' and 'Doctor Dolittle' starring with James Stewart, Steve McQueen and Rex Harrison respectively - the latter two roles winning him back-to-back Golden Globe Awards for Best Supporting Actor.

His Directing debut came in 1969 with 'Oh, What a Lovely War' and then the period epics 'Young Winston' and 'A Bridge Too Far'. 1982's 'Gandhi' won him two Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture, as he also acted as Producer on that film.

He married actress Sheila Sim in 1945, and they remained married up to his death this past weekend. His eldest daughter, Jane Holland, and his granddaughter Lucy, were both tragically killed in the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami that struck Thailand while they were holidaying. In 2008 Attenborough had a pacemaker fitted and suffered a stroke later that year that left him wheelchair bound until his death. In late 2012 his wife was diagnosed with senile dementia and in early 2013 he moved into the actors nursing home, Denville Hall, to be with his wife.

In 1967, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), and in 1993 was made a life peer as Baron Attenborough of Richmond-on-Thames. in 1983 he was awarded the 'Padma Bhusan' - India's third highest civilian honour and that same year the 'Martin Luther King Jnr. Nonviolence Peace Prize'. In 2006 with his brother David, he was awarded as a 'Distinguished Honourary Fellow of the University of Leicester', and in 2008 an 'Honourary Doctorate of Drama from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama'. He also has a 30,000 sq.ft. sound stage named after him at Pinewood Studios which was unveiled in 2012 - his career then almost coming full circle!

His film performances run to 78 credits and began in 1942 with 'In Which We Serve', and took in over more than half a century with the likes of 'Brighton Rock', 'The Great Escape', 'The Flight of the Phoenix', 'Doctor Dolittle', 'The Last Grenade', '10, Rillington Place', 'Ten Little Indians', 'Brannigan', 'Jurassic Park', 'Miracle on 34th Street', 'Hamlet', 'The Lost World : Jurassic Park', and 'Elizabeth'. In addition he has thirteen Producer and twelve Director credits to his name including 'Oh, What a Lovely War', 'Young Winston', 'A Bridge Too Far', 'Gandhi', 'A Chorus Line', 'Cry Freedom', 'Chaplin', 'Shadowlands' and his last offering - 2007's 'Closing the Ring'.

He was the recipient of 31 career award wins and 16 other nominations including two Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director for 'Gandhi'; three Golden Globes for Best Director for 'Gandhi' and Best Supporting Actor for 'Sand Pebbles' and 'Doctor Dolittle' with two other nominations; and six BAFTA wins for Best Actor for 'Guns at Batsai' and 'Seance on a Wet Afternoon', Best Film for 'Gandhi' and 'Shadowlands', Best Director for 'Gandhi' as well as winning the 'Academy Fellowship Award' in 1983, plus eight other nominations.

Richard Attenborough - an icon of British film history, a star of numerous Hollywood classics, active in the industry for seven decades, a respected influence to many, and the provider of a film legacy both in front and behind the camera that will live on in motion picture history, may you forever Rest In Peace in the knowledge that you have left an indelible mark on the world of cinema.

Richard Attenborough - Rest In Peace
1923-2014.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-