Birthday's to share this week : 18th - 24th June 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Frances McDormand does on 23rd June - check out my tribute to this Birthday Girl turning 60, 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 18th June

• Paul McCartney - Born 1942, turns 75 - Singer | Songwriter | Composer | Producer | Writer | Actor | Director
• Isabella Rossellini - Born 1952, turns 65 - Actress | Director | Writer | Producer
• Barbara Broccoli - Born 1960, turns 57 - Producer   

Monday 19th June

• Gena Rowlands - Born 1930, turns 87 - Actress 
• Kathleen Turner - Born 1954, turns 63 - Actress | Producer
• Zoe Saldana - Born 1978, turns 39 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Director  
• Paul Dano - Born 1984, turns 33 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director | Singer

Tuesday 20th June

• Martin Landau - Born 1928, turns 89 - Actor | Producer
• Danny Aiello - Born 1933, turns 84 - Actor | Producer
• Stephen Frears - Born 1941, turns 76 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• John Goodman - Born 1952, turns 65 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Robert Rodriguez - Born 1968, turns 49 - Director | Producer | Writer | Editor | Actor | Cinematographer | Composer | Songwriter | VFX Producer | Cameraman
• Josh Lucas - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actor | Producer  
• Christoper Mintz-Plasse - Born 1989, turns 28 - Actor 
• Olympia Dukakis - Born 1931, turns 86 - Actress | Producer
• Nicole Kidman - Born 1967, turns 50 - Actress | Producer | Singer

Wednesday 21st June

• Juliette Lewis - Born 1973, turns 44 - Actress | Singer | Songwriter | Producer | Director
• Lana Wachowski - Born 1965, turns 52 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Chris Pratt - Born 1979, turns 38 - Actor | Singer
• Benjamin Walker - Born 1982, turns 35 - Actor   

Thursday 22nd June

• Kris Kristofferson - Born 1936, turns 81 - Singer | Songwriter | Composer | Actor 
• Bruce Campbell - Born 1958, turns 59 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer 
• Randy Couture - Born 1963, turns 54 - Actor | UFC Champion
• Uwe Boll - Born 1965, turns 52 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• Meryl Streep - Born 1949, turns 68 - Actress | Singer  
• Lindsay Wagner - Born 1949, turns 68 - Actress | Producer

Friday 23rd June

• Frances McDormand - Born 1957, turns 60 - Actress | Producer
• Selma Blair - Born 1972, turns 45 - Actress
• Bryan Brown - Born 1947, turns 70 - Actor | Producer
• Russell Mulcahy - Born 1953, turns 64 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Joss Whedon - Born 1964, turns 53 - Writer | Producer | Director | Songwriter | Actor
• Joel Edgerton - Born 1974, turns 43 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director  

Saturday 24th June

• Peter Weller - Born 1947, turns 70 - Actor | Director | Producer
• Dan Gilroy - Born 1959, turns 58 - Writer | Director | Producer
• Iain Glen - Born 1961, turns 56 - Actor | Producer
• Nancy Allen - Born 1950, turns 67 - Actress 

Frances Louise McDormand was born in Chicago, Illinois and was adopted by a Canadian couple - mother Noreen Nickleson, a registered nurse and Vernon McDormand, a Disciples of Christ Pastor. She has a sister, Dorothy, who is an ordained Minister and Chaplain for the Disciples of Christ too, and another sibling - all three being adopted by the McDormand's who had no biological children of their own. Her father moved the family around a lot during their children's upbringing as part of his role with the Church, to small centres of population across Illinois, Kentucky, Georgia and Tennessee before eventually settling in Pennsylvania in the small community of Monessen. The young Frances attended Monessen High School from where she graduated in 1975. In 1979 she graduated from Bethany College in West Virginia with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in theatre studies. In 1982 she graduated from the Yale School of Drama with a Master of Fine Arts Degree, and where she was a room mate of Holly Hunter for a time.

McDormand scored her film debut in the Coen Brothers first feature film offering in 1984, with 'Blood Simple', and she would go onto star in many of the Coen's films subsequently over the years, right up until the most recent 'Hail, Caesar' in 2016.  From this point on there was really no looking back for the young Actress. In 1985 she scored appearances on a single episode of 'Hunter', on six episodes of 'Hill Street Blues', in television movie 'Scandal Street' and in feature film 'Crimewave' written by the Coen Brothers and Directed by Sam Raimi. 1987 yielded 'Raising Arizona' for Writer/Directors Joel & Ethan Coen and co-starring Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter and John Goodman. Seven episodes on 'Leg Work' before the highly acclaimed multi-award winning Alan Parker Directed 'Mississippi Burning' with Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe in 1988. 'Chattahoochee' with Gary Oldman and Dennis Hopper saw out the '80's.

Ken Loach's 'Hidden Agenda' with Brian Cox opened the '90's, and then Sam Raimi's 'Darkman' with Liam Neeson, and then an uncredited appearance in the Coen Brother's 'Miller's Crossing' with Albert Finney, followed up closely by an uncredited role in the Coen's Brothers 'Barton Fink' with John Turturro. 'The Butcher's Wife', 'Passed Away' and Robert Altman's 'Shortcuts' with an ensemble cast came along in 1993. John Boorman's 'Beyond Rangoon' and crime drama 'Palookaville' came before perhaps one of McDormand's most noted roles as heavily pregnant police officer in small town mid-western USA 'Fargo' for the Coen Brothers once again, and also starring William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare. For her performance as Marge Gunderson, McDormand won the Best Actress Academy Award, the SAG Award and was nominated for the Golden Globe and the BAFTA.

She followed this up with 'Primal Fear' with Richard Gere in 1996, John Sayle's 'Lone Star', Bruce Beresford's historical WWII POW drama 'Paradise Road' with Glenn Close, 'Johnny Skidmarks' with John Lithgow, 'Madeline' and 'Talk of Angels' seeing out the decade. In the meantime, there were appearances on television series and made for TV movies.








Curtis Hanson's 'Wonder Boys' with Michael Douglas opened up the new decade with a fanfare of award wins and nominations, followed in quick succession by Cameron Crowe's 'Almost Famous' with Billy Crudup which also picked up a swathe of award wins and nominations, including the Oscar, Golden Globe, BAFTA and SAG nods for Best Supporting Actress. These in turn led to another outing for those talented Writer/Directors the Coen Brothers in 2001's 'The Man Who Wasn't There' with Billy Bob Thornton. The next year saw 'Laurel Canyon', then Michael Caton-Jones 'City by the Sea' with Robert De Niro, followed by 'Something's Gotta Give' in 2003 with Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton.

2005 brought the acclaimed 'North Country' with Charlize Theron, in which again McDormand was nominated for the Oscar, Golden Globe, BAFTA and SAG Awards in her supporting Actress capacity. Sci-Fi actioner 'Aeon Flux' followed immediately afterward that same year with Charlize Theron once again, and then Romantic Dramedy 'Friends with Money' alongside Jennifer Aniston, RomCom 'Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day' with Amy Adams, and another outing for the Writer/Director pairing of the Coen Brothers with 'Burn After Reading' with an all star cast that included George Clooney, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich, J.K.Simmons and Tilda Swinton.

'This Must Be the Place' with Sean Penn opened 2011, and that same year the third instalment in Michael Bay's mega Sci-Fi action franchise 'Transformers : Dark of the Moon', before the little more sedate 'Moonrise Kingdom' for Director and Co-Writer Wes Anderson with Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray and Tilda Swinton again. This was followed up by 'Promised Land' for Gus Van Sant with Matt Damon and then most recently 'Hail, Caesar' for those Coen Brothers again and featuring an ensemble cast that included George Clooney, Josh Brolin, Ralph Fiennes, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Scarlett Johansson and Tilda Swinton once more.

In the meantime, there has also been the television mini-series 'Olive Kitteridge' in which McDormand plays the title role of the four episode series alongside screen husband Richard Jenkins. For her role McDormand was nominated for a Golden Globe, won a Primetime Emmy and won a SAG Award amongst a raft of others too. She has also lent her voice talents to an episode of 'The Simpsons', and to animated feature films 'Madagascar 3 : Europe's Most Wanted' and 'The Good Dinosaur'.

Next up for McDormand is 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri' for Writer/Director Martin McDonagh and co-starring Peter Dinklage, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson and Abbie Cornish. This film is due for release towards the back end of this year. Currently filming and due in March 2018 is animated action comedy for Writer/Director Wes Anderson with 'Isle of Dogs' featuring McDormand's voice talents together with those of an ensemble cast that takes in Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton once more, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Bryan Cranston, Harvey Keitel, Jeff Goldblum, Liev Schreiber and Greta Gerwig.

All up McDormand has 62 acting credits to her name and two as Producer. She has amassed 55 award wins and a further 51 nominations including the Academy Award win for 'Fargo' and three others Oscar nods for 'Mississippi Burning', 'Almost Famous' and 'North Country', plus five Golden Globe nominations and one win for the ensemble cast in 'Short Cuts', a Primetime Emmy for 'Olive Kitteridge', three BAFTA nominations, and the SAG Award win for 'Fargo' and 'Olive Kitteridge' and three other nods. She also has a distinguished stage acting career too with awards wins and nominations for 'A Streetcar Named Desire' in 1988, 'The Country Girl' in 2008 and 'Good People' in 2011. McDormand is only one of twelve Actresses in history to win the 'Triple Crown of Acting' for her Academy Award win with 'Fargo', 'for her Tony Award win with the Broadway stage play 'Good People' and her Primetime Emmy Award win with 'Olive Kitteridge'.

McDormand has been married to Screenwriter and Director Joel Coen since 1984, which may have helped her secure so many roles in the Coen Brothers filmography over the years, and they have an adopted son from Paraguay - Pedro McDormand Coen.

Frances McDormand - ageing gracefully no doubt; still very much at the top of your game, in demand and sought after; a character Actor of repute and with the accolades to prove it; always watchable and entertaining; grounded and real. Happy 60th Birthday to you Frances, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online- 

Birthday's to share this week : 30th April - 6th May 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Kirsten Dunst does on 30th April - check out my tribute to this Birthday Girl 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 30th April

• Jane Campion - Born 1954, turns 63 - Director | Writer | Producer 
• Kirsten Dunst - Born 1982, turns 35 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Director
• Gal Gadot - Born 1985, turns 32 - Actress  
• Lars von Trier - Born 1956, turns 61 - Director | Writer | Producer | Actor | Cinematographer | Editor | Songwriter

Monday 1st May

• Wes Anderson - Born 1969, turns 48 - Director | Writer | Producer | Actor
• James Badge Dale - Born 1978, turns 39 - Actor 
• Jamie Dornan - Born 1982, turns 35 - Actor
• Joanna Lumley - Born 1946, turns 71 - Actress |   

Tuesday 2nd May

• Lone Scherfig - Born 1959, turns 58 - Director | Writer 
• David Suchet - Born 1946, turns 71 - Actor | Producer 
• Stephen Daldry - Born 1960, turns 57 - Director | Producer
• Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson - Born 1972, turns 45 - Actor | Producer | Singer

Wednesday 3rd May

• Rob Brydon - Born 1965, turns 52 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Television Personality
• Bobby Cannavale - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actor 
• Amy Ryan - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actress 
• Christina Hendricks - Born 1975, turns 42 - Actress  

Thursday 4th May

• Richard Jenkins - Born 1947, turns 70 - Actor
• Will Arnett - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer  

Friday 5th May

• Lance Henriksen - Born 1940, turns 77 - Actor 
• Michael Palin - Born 1943, turns 74 - Actor | Writer | Television Personality | Singer | Songwriter
• John Rhys-Davies - Born 1944, turns 73 - Actor | Producer
• Richard E. Grant - Born 1957, turns 60 - Actor | Writer | Director
• Henry Cavill - Born 1983, turns 34 - Actor  

Saturday 6th May

• Alan Dale - Born 1947, turns 70 - Actor 
• George Clooney - Born 1961, turns 56 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer

Kirsten Caroline Dunst was born in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, USA to mother Inez Dunst, a Lufthansa airline hostess and occasional artist and former gallery owner, and father Klaus Hermann Dunst, a medical services executive. Up to the age of eleven, the young Kirsten lived in the Brick Township of New Jersey attending the independent coeducational Ranney School. In 1993 her parents split and she relocated with her mother and younger brother, Christian, to Los Angeles where she attended Laurel Hall School in North Hollywood and then the coeducational Catholic College Notre Dame High School. Her parents divorced in 1995. By the time she had graduated from Notre Dame in 2000, Dunst had already spent ten years or so in the acting business, and chose to continue along that path that had launched her career at age three as a child fashion model on television commercials having signed up with Elite Model Management and Ford Models.

At the age of six Dunst made her feature film debut in a minor role in Woody Allen's short film 'Oedipus Wrecks' which was part of the anthology film 'New York Stories' comprising three short films with the central theme being New York City as Directed by Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola. In 1989 she lent her voice talents to the English language version of the Japanese animated feature film 'Kiki's Delivery Service', and followed this up in 1990 with 'The Bonfire of the Vanities' playing the daughter to the character played by Tom Hanks. The film also starred Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman and Melanie Griffiths. 'High Strung' and 'Greedy' both came before 'Interview with the Vampire : The Vampire Chronicles' based on the Anne Rice best seller in which Dunst plays child vampire and surrogate daughter to the characters played by Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. She had her first on-screen kiss with Pitt, aged eleven. Her performance garnered several award wins and nominations including her first Golden Globe nod. That same year came 'Little Women' opposite Winona Ryder, Claire Danes, Susan Sarandon, Christian Bale and Gabriel Byrne. 

1995 saw the release of Joe Johnston's 'Jumanji' with Robin Williams which was a commercial success raking in US$263M. In 1996 Dunst played on six episodes of 'ER' as a child prostitute taken under the stewardship of George Clooney's Dr. Doug Ross. The following years she starred in 'Tower of Terror' for 'The Wonderful World of Disney' television series, and then lent her voice work to the animated feature 'Anastasia' and followed this up that same year with Barry Levinson's 'Wag the Dog' with Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, William H. Macy and Woody Harrelson, and then 'True Heart' also that same year. Closing out the decade was 'All I Wanna Do', 'Small Soldiers', Drop Dead Gorgeous', 'Dick' and 'The Virgin Suicides' for Sofia Coppola with James Woods, Scott Glenn, Danny DeVito, Josh Hartnett and Kathleen Turner.

The turn of the new decade saw Dunst graduate from High School and lurch into 'The Crow : Salvation' the supernatural action film and the third instalment in 'The Crow' series based on the comic book of the same name. After a very limited release this film went straight to video. This was followed up by the likes of 'Luckytown', teen comedy 'Bring It On' which has become a bit of a cult classic and recovered US$90M from its US$11M budget, then 'Deeply' and then into 2001 with 'Get Over It', 'Crazy/Beautiful', Peter Bogdanovich's period drama 'The Cat's Meow', and then 'Lover's Prayer'. This leads us to 'Spiderman' based on the Marvel comic book teen web slinging hero as played by Tobey Maguire with Dunst playing Mary Jane Watson - Peter Parker's (aka Spiderman) love interest. Directed by Sam Raimi the film cost US$140M to make and brought in US$822M at the global Box Office. Dunst would reprise her role in 'Spiderman 2' released in 2004 and again in 'Spiderman 3' released in 2007. The latter two films made a combined US$1,68B against production costs of US$458M.

'Levity' came next in 2003 with Billy Bob Thornton and Morgan Freeman, then Mike Newell's 'Mona Lisa Smile' with Julia Roberts, Julia Stiles and Maggie Gyllenhaal followed by Michael Gondry's 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' with Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Mark Ruffalo and Tom Wilkinson. 'Wimbledon' followed in 2004 with Paul Bettany; Cameron Crowe's 'Elizabethtown' in 2005 with Orlando Bloom; Sofia Coppola's 'Marie Antoinette' in 2006 with Dunst in the title role, and then 'How to Lose Friends & Alienate People' in 2008 with Simon Pegg.

Another new decade dawned with 'All Good Things' opposite Ryan Gosling, and then Lars von Trier's Written and Directed 'Melancholia' alongside Keifer Sutherland, John Hurt, Stellen Skarsgard, Alexander Skarsgard, Charlotte Rampling and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Comedy Romance 'Bachelorette' followed in 2012 with Isla Fisher, Lizzy Caplin and Rebel Wilson, and later that same year came 'On the Road' based on novel by Jack Kerouac and Directed by Walter Salles with Garret Hedlund, Viggo Mortensen, Kristen Stewart, Amy Adams, and Elisabeth Moss. 'Upside Down' followed with Jim Sturgess, then an uncredited turn in Sofia Coppola's 'The Bling Ring', then 'Anchorman 2 : The Legend Continues' with Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, followed up with 'The Two Faces of January' with Viggo Mortensen and Oscar Isaac.

Jeff Nichols 'Midnight Special' with Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton and Adam Driver and the still on general release 'Hidden Figures' with Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae and Kevin Costner bring us up to date in terms of feature films. In between time Dunst Directed and Co-Wrote two short films - the sixteen minute 'Welcome' in 2007 and the seven minute 'Bastard' in 2010 which was shown at both the Tribeca and Cannes Film Festivals. Over the years she has also appeared in numerous made for television films such as 'The Siege at Ruby Ridge', 'Fifteen and Pregnant', and 'The Devil's Arithmetic', and television series appearances including 'Sisters' in 1993, 'Touched by an Angel' and 'The Outer Limits' in 1997 and most recently as Peggy Blomquist in the second season of the acclaimed TV adaptation of 'Fargo'.

Next up for Dunst is drama film offering 'Woodshock' starring Pilou Asbaek and Lorelei Linklater and due for release later this year. As is a remake of 'The Beguiled' for Sofia Coppola and also starring Nicole Kidman, Elle Fanning, Angourie Rice and Colin Farrell. Recently announced is made for television film 'On Becoming a God in Central Florida' and her own feature film Directing debut which she has also Written and is Executive Producing on - 'The Bell Jar' and will star Dakota Fanning, Patricia Arquette and Jesse Plemons and is due out in 2018.

All up Dunst has 74 Acting credits to her name, three as Director (including 'The Bell Jar' currently in pre-production), three as Writer and two as Producer. Dunst has amassed thirty award wins to her name and a further 63 nominations including two Golden Globe nods for 'Fargo' and 'Interview with the Vampire', a Primetime Emmy Award nomination also for 'Fargo' and an AACTA Award nomination for 'Melancholia'. She works with the Elizabeth Glazer Paediatric AIDS Foundation and has worked in raising awareness for Breast Cancer. In 2008 she underwent treatment for depression checking herself into a treatment centre in Utah. Last year she began dating her 'Fargo' Co-Star Jesse Plemons and they are now engaged to be married.

Kirsten Dunst - only 35 but have spent your whole life over four decades in front of the camera and with the critical and commercial success to back it up; became a German citizen in 2011; has been named on various 'Top' lists over the years including '25 Hottest Stars Under 25', Entertainment Weekly's '30 Under 30'. '#25 out of the Top 102 Sexiest Women in the World', and one of People Magazine's '50 Most Beautiful People in the World' in 1995 and 2002; takes tap dancing lessons; has set up her own Production Company; has sung in numerous films and music videos for well known recording artists; is Sofia Coppola's go to girl; and has amassed a varied body of work across almost all genres from the age of seven that is truly enviable. Happy Birthday to you Kirsten, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-  

Birthday's to share this week : 4th - 10th September 2016

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Martin Freeman does on 8th September - check out my tribute to this Birthday Lad turning 45, 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 September

• Jocelyn Moorhouse - Born 1960, turns 56 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Damon Wayans - Born 1960, turns 56 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Noah Taylor - Born 1969, turns 47 - Actor

Monday 5th September

• George Lazenby - Born 1939, turns 77 - Actor
• Werner Herzog - Born 1942, turns 74 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• Michael Keaton - Born 1951, turns 65 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Paddy Considine - Born 1974, turns 42 - Actor | Writer | Director
• Raquel Welch - Born 1940, turns 76 - Actress | Singer
• Rose McGowan - Born 1973, turns 43 - Actress | Singer
• Carice van Houten - Born 1976, turns 40 - Actress  

Tuesday 6th September

• Rosie Perez - Born 1964, turns 52 - Actress | Producer | Choreographer
• Naomi Harris - Born 1976, turns 40 - Actress
• Idris Elba - Born 1972, turns 44 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director  

Wednesday 7th September

• Dario Argento - Born 1940, turns 76 - Writer | Director | Producer | Actor
• Toby Jones - Born 1966, turns 50 - Actor
• Leslie Jones - Born 1967, turns 49 - Actress | Writer
• Julie Kavner - Born 1950, turns 66 - Actress | Singer
• Evan Rachel Wood - Born 1987, turns 29 - Actress | Singer  

Thursday 8th September

• Martin Freeman - Born 1971, turns 45 - Actor
• David Arquette - Born 1971, turns 45 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director  

Friday 9th September

• Hugh Grant - Born 1960, turns 56 - Actor
• Adam Sandler - Born 1966, turns 50 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Singer | Songwriter
• Eric Stonestreet - Born 1971, turns 45 - Actor
• Michelle Williams - Born 1980, turns 36 - Actress | Singer  

Saturday 10th September

• Chris Columbus - Born 1958, turns 58 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Colin Firth - Born 1960, turns 56 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Guy Ritchie - Born 1968, turns 48 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Ryan Phillippe - Born 1974, turns 42 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director  
• Harry and Luke Treadaway - Born 1984, turn 32 - Actors

Martin John Christopher Freeman was born in Aldershot, Hampshire, England to mother Philomena Norris and father Geoffrey Freeman, an officer in the Royal Navy. His parents separated when he was young, and his father passed away when Martin was ten years of age. He attended the Salesian School, in Chertsy, Surrey - a Comprehensive Roman Catholic Secondary School, and then Brooklands College in Weybridge, Surrey to undertake media studies. At fifteen he joined a youth theatre group before deciding to make a career out of acting, when he joined the Central School of Speech and Drama in London.

His screen acting career launched with television in 1997 with an episode on 'The Bill', and then 'This Life' and 'Casualty' and 'Picking Up The Pieces', with his appearance in the 1998 short film 'I Just Want to Kiss You'. His first feature length film role came with 'The Low Down' in 2000, with his next in 2002 with 'Ali G Indahouse' with Sasha Baron Cohen, Michael Gambon and Charles Dance.

Six episodes on 'Bruiser', two on 'Lock, Stock . . .', five on 'World of Pub', three on 'Helen West', four as Lord Shaftesbury on 'Charles II : The Power and the Passion' with singular turns on 'Black Books' and 'Linda Green' kick started the new decade. In the meantime there were made for television movies including 'Men Only', 'The Debt', 'Margery and Gladys' before 2003's 'Love Actually' with Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson, Bill Nighy, Emma Thompson and Keira Knightley.

All of these gave way to what is probably regarded as his breakout role as Tim Canterbury on the iconic television series 'The Office' which ran for just two seasons over fourteen episodes from 2001 to 2003 with Ricky Gervais. This was followed dup with two seasons running over twelve episodes on 'Hardware' from 2003 to 2004 and then a single series over six episodes on 'The Robinsons' in 2005. He had a cameo appearance in the Simon Pegg and Nick Frost 'Shaun of the Dead' film, followed up by his starring role in 2005 as Arthur Dent in 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy' with Sam Rockwell, Bill Nighy and John Malkovich.

'Confetti' came next in 2006, with Anthony Minghella's 'Breaking and Entering' that year with Jude Law. 2007 saw Justin Theroux's 'Dedication' with Tom Wilkinson, Billy Crudup and Mandy Moore; 'The Good Night' with Gwyneth Paltrow, Penelope Cruz, Michael Gambon and Simon Pegg; then 'Hot Fuzz' with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost once again. 'The All Together'; Peter Greenaway's 'Nightwatching' and made for television films - 'The Old Curiosity Shop', 'Svengali', ''Micro Men' and the mini-series 'Boy Meets Girl' and 'Nativity' brought the decade to close.

2010 began with 'Wild Target' with Bill Nighy once more and Emily Blunt; 'Swinging with the Finkles' with Mandy Moore once more; 'What's Your Number' and 'Animals' before his turn as Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson's ''The Hobbit : An Unexpected Journey' in 2012, 'The Hobbit : The Desolation of Smaug' in 2013 and 'The Hobbit : The Battle of the Five Armies' in 2014. The full length feature film of 'Svengali', and 'The World's End' with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost completed their 'Three Flavours Cornetto' trilogy.

Made for television movie 'The Eichmann Show' in 2015, 'Whiskey Tango Foxtrot' and 'Captain America : Civil War' bring his big screen features up to date. Of course let's not forget the highly acclaimed 'Fargo' Season One with Colin Hanks and Billy Bob Thornton with Freeman's turn as Lester Nygaard in 2014/15, and the equally acclaimed 'Sherlock' which has run for fifteen feature length episodes since 2010 with Freeman as Dr. John Watson to Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock Holmes.

Over the years Freeman has lent his voice talents also to the short film 'Lonely Hearts' in 2007; 'The Pirates! Band of Misfits' in 2012; 'Saving Santa' in 2013; 'Robot Chicken' in 2015 and another short film 'Stick Men' in 2015 too. Next up and currently filming is 'Cargo', new Miami based crime thriller television series 'StartUp', and in pre-production 'Official Secrets' with Harrison Ford, Anthony Hopkins, Paul Bettany, and Gillian Anderson, and then 'Funny Cow' and 'Ghost Stories' all due in 2017.

All up Freeman has 74 acting credits to his name and has seven award wins including a Primetime Emmy and BAFTA for 'Sherlock' and another 26 nominations. Freeman lives with his partner of fifteen years, Actress Amanda Abbingdon with whom he has starred in the likes of 'Sherlock', 'The Debt', 'The Robinsons', and 'Swinging with the Finkles'. They have two children together, Joe (born in 2006) and Grace (born in 2008). 

Martin Freeman - known for playing passive, restrained, mild-mannered characters often put in extraordinary situations that often reach a breaking point; has played his fair share of literary heroes - Arthur Dent in 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy', Dr. Watson in 'Sherlock' and Bilbo Baggins in 'The Hobbit'; is a pescatarian (eats fish and seafood, but not the flesh of other animals); and keeps his roles grounded, real and always varied. A very Happy Birthday to you Martin, from Odeon Online, and a neighbour who grew up just down the road in Salisbury.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-