Birthday's to share this week : 14th - 20th May 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Tim Roth does on 14th May - check out my tribute to this Birthday Lad turning 56, 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 14th May

• Francesca Annis - Born 1945, turns 72 - Actress
• Cate Blanchett - Born 1969, turns 48 - Actress | Producer | Director
• Sofia Coppola - Born 1971, turns 46 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actress
• George Lucas - Born 1944, turns 73 - Producer | Writer | Director | Editor 
• Robert Zemeckis - Born 1952, turns 65 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Tim Roth - Born 1961, turns 56 - Actor | Producer | Director  
• Danny Huston - Born 1962, turns 55 - Actor | Director

Monday 15th May

• Chaz Palminteri - Born 1952, turns 65 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Grant Heslov - Born 1963, turns 54 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director  

Tuesday 16th May

• Danny Trejo - Born 1944, turns 73 - Actor | Producer
• Pierce Brosnan - Born 1953, turns 64 - Actor | Producer 
• Jim Sturgess - Born 1978, turns 39 - Actor | Singer
• Debra Winger - Born 1955, turns 62 - Actress | Producer  
• Tori Spelling - Born 1973, turns 44 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Singer

Wednesday 17th May

• Trent Reznor - Born 1965, turns 52 - Composer | Songwriter | Actor | Writer  

Thursday 18th May

• Hugh Keays-Byrne - Born 1947, turns 70 - Actor | Director
• Yun-Fat Chow - Born 1955, turns 62 - Actor | Writer
• Miriam Margolyes - Born 1941, turns 76 - Actress 
• Tina Fey - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Singer  

Friday 19th May

• Grace Jones - Born 1948, turns 69 - Singer | Songwriter | Actress
• Claudia Karvan - Born 1972, turns 45 - Actress | Writer | Producer 
• James Fox - Born 1939, turns 78 - Actor
• Peter Mayhew - Born 1944, turns 73 - Actor 
• Morten Tyldum - Born 1967, turns 50 - Director | Producer  

Saturday 20th May

• Anton Corbijn - Born 1955, turns 62 - Director | Photographer
• Timothy Olyphant - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actor | Producer
• Louis Theroux - Born 1970, turns 47 - Writer | Producer | Television Personality
• Cher (aka Cheryl Sarkisian) - Born 1946, turns 71 - Singer | Actress | Producer 

Timothy Simon Roth was born in the south London suburb of Dulwich to mother Ann, a painter and teacher and father Ernie, a Fleet Street journalist, painter and a member of the British Communist Party until sometime in the '70's. His father was born with the surname of 'Smith' in Brooklyn, New York and he later changed his surname to 'Roth' as used most commonly by those of German and Jewish decent in the 1940's out of support for the Holocaust victims, and because the English were less welcomed in the countries to which he travelled with his work.  The young Tim attended the boys grammar Strand School in south London's Tulse Hill area before studying sculpture at London's Camberwell College of Art from which he dropped out to pursue an acting career instead.

At the age of 21 Roth scored his screen debut in the made for television film 'Made in Britain' playing white supremacy skinhead Trevor in 1982. Next up was another made for television film 'Meantime' in 1984 as Directed by Mike Leigh and also starring Gary Oldman and Alfred Molina. More of the same followed in 1985 with the Agatha Christie whodunit 'Murder with Mirrors' starring also Bette Davis, John Mills and Leo McKern, an then 'Coppers' in 1988. In between time there were feature films including Stephen Frears 'The Hit' with Jim Broadbent and Terrence Stamp, 'A World Apart', 'To Kill a Priest' with Ed Harris, Christopher Lambert, Timothy Spall and Pete Postlethwaite, and then closing out the decade was Peter Greenaway's 'The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover' with Helen Mirren, Michael Gambon and Ciaran Hinds. In 1986 he also starred in 'King of the Ghetto' - a four part BBC2 television series about racial tensions in London's East End in the '80's.

The new decade launched with Robert Altman's 'Vincent & Theo' in which Roth starred as Vincent Van Gogh and later that same year Tom Stoppard's 'Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead' with Gary Oldman playing Rosencrantz and Roth playing Guildenstern alongside Richard Dreyfus and Iain Glen. 'Jumping at the Boneyard' followed in 1991 with Samuel L. Jackson. In 1992 maverick Writer and Director Quentin Tarantino cast Roth in his debut film 'Reservoir Dogs' as Mr. Orange, which kicked off a collaboration that has spanned up until QT's latest offering, taking in 1994's 'Pulp Fiction' and 1995's 'Four Rooms'. It was 'Reservoir Dogs' that really exposed Roth to an American audience, from which he has never looked back.

The rest of the '90's saw the likes of 'Bodies, Rest & Motion'; period piece 'The Perfect Husband'; Brooklyn Soviet Jewish crime drama 'Little Odessa'; then 'Captives';  Scottish historical biographical adventure film 'Rob Roy' with Liam Neeson, John Hurt, Brian Cox, Eric Stoltz and Jessica Lange; Woody Allen's 'Everyone Says I Love You' with Goldie Hawn, Drew Barrymore, Julia Roberts and Edward Norton; 'Gridlock'd' with Tupac Shakur and Thandie Newton; 1930's Harlem set gangster film 'Hoodlum' with Laurence Fishburn, Andy Garcia and Vanessa Williams; murder mystery 'Deceiver'; fantasy romance offering 'Animals with the Tollkeeper' with Rod Steiger, John Turturro and Mickey Rooney; and then in 1998 'The Legend of 1900'. 

In 1999 Roth Directed his first feature film - 'The War Zone' a grim and gritty look inside an English family plagued by incest and sexual violence. The firm starred Ray Winstone, Tilda Swinton and Freddie Cunliffe and received much critical acclaim for its portrayal of the subject matter and picked up nine award wins and ten more nominations.

The 2000's clicked over with Roland Joffe's historical biographical drama 'Vatel'; Nora Ephron's 'Lucky Numbers' with John Travolta; Tim Burtons' reimagining of 'Planet of the Apes' as General Thade; Werner Herzog's 'Invincible'; a new spin on 'The Three Musketeers' with 'The Musketeer'; English Civil War drama 'To Kill a King' with Roth portraying Oliver Cromwell; John Sayles American political satire 'Silver City'; Wim Wenders road movie drama 'Don't Come Knocking'; gambling crime drama 'Easy Money' featuring an ensemble cast; Francis Ford Coppola's 'Youth Without Youth'; Michael Haneke's English language remake of his own earlier 1997 Austrian version of 'Funny Games' with Naomi Watts; and Louis Leterrier's Directed second film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe 'The Incredible Hulk'.

'Pete Smalls Is Dead' opened up 2010 with Peter Dinklage and Steve Buscemi, followed up by 'Arbitrage' in 2012 with Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon; 'Broken' with Cillian Murphy and comedy crime thriller 'The Liability' both that same year. In 2013 espionage thriller 'Mobius' was released and this was followed by 'Grace of Monaco' with Nicole Kidman as Grace and Roth as Prince Rainier. In time for the 2014 World Cup 'United Passions' was released about FIFA - footballs governing body, with Roth playing FIFA President Sepp Blatter who was the eighth President of the Association from 1998 through until 2015. 'October Gale' came later that year as did highly acclaimed historical biographical drama 'Selma' with David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Oprah Winfrey, and Tom Wilkinson. Mexican drug cartel drama '600 Miles', then 'Chronic' and then first person actioner 'Hardcore Henry' with Roth playing Henry's father. Action comedy 'Mr. Right' with Sam Rockwell and Anna Kendrick and then Quentin Tarantino's post American Civil War Western 'The Hateful Eight' featuring an ensemble cast that included Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Michael Madsen, Walton Goggins, Bruce Dern, Damian Bichir, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Zoe Bell.

Bringing us up to date is just released in the USA '1 Mile To You'. In between time there have been notable television series appearances on 48 episodes of 'Lie to Me' with Roth playing the lead character of Dr. Cal Lightman in this mystery crime drama series in which Roth is a world leading expert in facial expressions and involuntary body language. The series ran for three season from 2009. There was also the two part television mini-series 'Sea Wolf' in 2009, the six part historical mini-series 'Klondike' in 2014, and the three part mini-series 'Rillington Place' with Roth playing the role of John Christie the infamous 1940's and early '50's London serial killer.

Next up for Roth is an appearance on the next season of acclaimed television series 'Twin Peaks' which picks up 25 years after the events of the first two series, and due to go to air later this year. Currently in post-production is 'The Jesuit' - an action crime drama offering with Ron Perlman, Brian Cox, Neal McDonough and Paz Vega; gambling debt crime comedy 'The Brits Are Coming' also in post-production with Uma Thurman, Stephen Fry, Maggie Q and Sofia Vergara and 'The Padre' currently filming and due in 2018 with Nick Nolte and Luis Guzman.

All up Roth has one hundred Acting credits to his name, three as Producer and one as Director. In his time he has been nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award and a Golden Globe for 'Rob Roy' but he did win the BAFTA for his performance. All up Roth has accumulated a total eighteen award wins and a further 22 nominations. Roth has been married to Niki Butler since 1993 with whom he has two sons - Timothy born in 1995 and Michael born in 1996. He has an older son Jack who is also an Actor, born in 1984 to Lori Baker. Roth survived years of child sexual abuse at the hands of his paternal grandfather which he didn't reveal until the time of his Directorial debut with the release of 'The War Zone' which dealt with similar issues within a family.

Tim Roth - part of 'The Brit Pack' back in the '80's with Gary Oldman, Daniel Day-Lewis, Colin Firth and Paul McGann; has an ever increasing number of tattoos marking significant events in his life; often plays in historical dramas; often plays in Quentin Tarantino films (four and counting) but missed out in 'Inglourious Basterds' due to scheduling conflicts; often plays slightly twisted unhinged characters; is often convinced that he'll never score an acting gig again in between roles; and despite his London accent can do various accents very well which has helped him secure many a film with European and American auteur Directors. Never dull, never predictable, never repetitive, Happy Birthday to you Tim from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 7th - 13th May 2017

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Ving Rhames does on 12th May - check out my tribute to this Birthday Lad turning 58, 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 7th May

• John Irvin - Born 1940, turns 77 - Director | Writer  

Monday 8th May

• David Attenborough - Born 1926, turns 91 - Television Personality | Writer | Producer | Director
• Michael Gondry - Born 1963, turns 54 - Director | Writer | Producer |   

Tuesday 9th May

• Albert Finney - Born 1936, turns 81 - Actor | Producer
• James L. Brooks - Born 1940, turns 77 - Writer | Producer | Director
• Glenda Jackson - Born 1936, turns 81 - Actress
• Candice Bergen - Born 1946, turns 71 - Actress | Producer | Singer
• Rosario Dawson - Born 1979, turns 38 - Actress | Producer | Singer  

Wednesday 10th May

• Maureen Lipman - Born 1946, turns 71 - Actress 
• Meg Foster - Born 1948, turns 69 - Actress  

Thursday 11th May

• Frances Fisher - Born 1952, turns 65 - Actress
• Holly Valance - Born 1983, turns 34 - Actress 
• Tim Blake Nelson - Born 1964, turns 53 - Actor | Director | Writer | Producer  

Friday 12th May

• Gabriel Byrne - Born 1950, turns 67 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Ving Rhames - Born 1959, turns 58 - Actor | Producer
• Emilio Estevez - Born 1962, turns 55 - Actor | Director | Writer | Producer
• Gavin Hood - Born 1963, turns 54 - Director | Actor | Producer
• Stephen Baldwin - Born 1966, turns 51 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Jason Biggs - Born 1978, turns 39 - Actor | Producer
• Domhnall Gleeson - Born 1983, turns 34 - Actor | Writer | Director
• Vanessa Williams - Born 1963, turns 54 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Director
• Emily VanCamp - Born 1986, turns 31 - Actress 

Saturday 13th May

• Samantha Morton - Born 1977, turns 40 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Director
• Harvey Keitel - Born 1939, turns 78 - Actor | Producer
• Joe Johnston - Born 1950, turns 67 - Director | Producer
• Robert Pattinson - Born 1986, turns 31 - Actor | Producer | Singer

Irving Rameses Rhames was born and raised in Harlem, New York City, New York to mother Reather, a housewife and mother and Ernest, an automotive mechanic. He attended the High School of Performing Arts where his calling to the acting profession was cemented. After High School he studied Drama at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Purchase, in New York, where fellow acting student Stanley Tucci, gave him the nickname 'Ving' which stuck. Rhames then transferred to Juilliard School in Manhattan, New York City attending the Drama Division between 1979 and 1983 from which he graduated in 1983 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree. 

Rhames got his first feature film break in 1984 in 'Go Tell It on the Mountain' and followed this up in 1986 with 'Native Son' also starring Matt Dillon, Elizabeth McGovern, Oprah Winfrey and Geraldine Page. 1988 saw Paul Schrader's bio-pic 'Patty Hearst' with Natasha Richardson, Frances Fisher and William Forsythe and in 1989 came Brian De Palma's Vietnam War drama 'Casualties of War' with Sean Penn, Michael J. Fox, John C. Reilly and John Leguizamo. The '80's also saw television screen time on episodes of 'Crime Story', 'Another World', 'Miami Vice', 'Tour of Duty', 'Men' and 'The Equaliser'.

The '90's gave way to the likes of 'The Long Walk Home', Adrian Lyne's 'Jacob's Ladder', 'Flight of the Intruder' for John Milius, David Mamet's 'Homicide', Wes Craven's horror 'The People Under the Stairs', Taylor Hackford's 'Blood In, Blood Out', Ivan Reitman's US Presidential RomCom 'Dave', leading up to one of his most well known roles as Marsellus Wallace in Quentin Tarantino's hugely successful 'Pulp Fiction' in 1994 alongside John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Harvey Keitel, Uma Thurman amongst others.

The second half of the '90's saw the likes of 'Kiss of Death', the critically panned 'Striptease', then 'Dangerous Ground', followed by true story historical acton drama 'Rosewood', 'Con Air' featuring an ensemble cast, and then television film 'Don King : Only in America' in which Rhames starred as the famous fight promoter and boxing manager winning a Golden Globe in the process for his performance. Steven Soderbergh's 'Out of Sight' followed, as did 'Entrapment' with Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Martin Scorsese's 'Bringing Out the Dead'. The '90's also saw the launch of a mega action film franchise that is still going strong today based on  he popular television series from the '60's and '70's - 'Mission : Impossible'. Here Rhames starred as Luther Stickell opposite Tom Cruise in the first film released in 1996. Since then there has been 'Mission : Impossible II' released in 2000, 'Mission : Impossible III' released in 2006, 'Mission : Impossible - Ghost Protocol' released in 2011 and 'Mission : Impossible - Rogue Nation' released in 2015. 'M:I 6 - Mission Impossible' is currently filming and due for release in 2018. Rhames has reprised his role in each instalment so far. The first five films have grossed US$2.77B at the global Box Office against budget outlays of a combined US$650M. The '90's also saw Rhames star in eight episodes of 'ER'.

The early 2000's saw a slew of made for television movies and appearances on television series. These included nine episodes on 'The System', five episodes on historical documentary 'Freedom : A History of Us' with a huge ensemble cast, five episodes on 'The District', and a single season of nine episodes in 2005 as Detective Theo Kojak in the remake of the classic '70's TV show of the same name 'Kojak'. In between time there were more feature film offerings including 'Sin' with Gary Oldman, Zack Snyder's zombie horror remake 'Dawn of the Dead' and 'Day of the Dead', 'Back in the Day','Idlewild', 'A Broken Life', boxing Sonny Liston biopic 'Phantom Punch' in which Rhames stars as Liston, 'Echelon Conspiracy', 'The Tournament' with the decade closing out with Jonathan Mostow's 'Surrogates' with Bruce Willis. 

Rhames released seven films in each of the years 2010, 2011 and 2012, four in 2013 and three in each of 2014 and 2015 that included comedy horror 'Piranha 3D' and 'Piranha 3DD', 'Death Race 2' and 'Death Race : Inferno', 'The River Murders' with Ray Liotta, 'Zombie Apocalypse', '7 Below' with Val Kilmer, 'Soldiers of Fortune' with Christian Slater, 'Won't Back Down' with Maggie Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis and Holly Hunter, 'Force of Execution' with Steven Seagal, 'Jamesy Boy' with James Woods, and 'A Day Late and a Dollar Short' with Whoppi Goldberg. After the fifth 'Mission : Impossible' instalment in 2015, there was 'Operator', 'A Sunday Horse' and most recently 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2'. So far this decade there have also been appearances on ten episodes of dark comedy series 'Gravity' which has run for just one season and for ten episodes on one season only of hospital surgeon drama series 'Monday Mornings'.

Next up and currently filming is the sixth 'Mission : Impossible' film due in July 2018, 'Bastards' which has wrapped filming and also stars Owen Wilson, J.K.Simmons, Ed Helms and Glenn Close, and in post-production for a release later this year is 'Minkow' (aka 'Con Man') with Mark Hamill and James Caan, and the animated 'The Star' to which Rhames is lending his voice talents as Thaddeus the Dog.

All up Rhames has 129 acting credits to his name, eight as Producer and one as Writer. He has also lent his voice talents to 'Lilo & Stitch', 'Stitch : The Movie', 'Lilo & Stitch : The Series', 'Leroy & Stitch', the video games 'Driv3r' and 'Mission : Impossible - Operation Surma', and he narrates on the documentary television series 'American Gangster'. He is the recipient of one Golden Globe Award win for 'Don King : Only in America' for which he was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award together with another five award wins and twenty other nominations. He was married to Valerie Scott from 1994 until 1999 and has been married to Deborah Reed since 2000 with whom he has two children - daughter Reignbeau (born in 2000), son Freedom (born in 2002) and a step daughter Tiffany.

Ving Rhames - looks imposing and keeps himself fit by lifting weights and exercising regularly and is a big fan of boxing, has a deep bass voice, and is well known for his deep rooted and strong spiritual beliefs which he attributes his success as an Actor to, and his benevolent approach to others. He grew up in a poverty stricken area but never struggled to find work as an Actor, and whilst he has made some questionable B-Grade films in his time across most genres, he is often type cast as the no-nonsense, kick-ass, brooding type, and equally has starred in some highly praised commercially successful fare too. As long as you keep churning them out Ving, we'll keep watching. Happy Birthday to you, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 22nd - 28th March 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Quentin Tarantino does on 27th March - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 52, 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 22nd March

• Reece Witherspoon - Born 1976, turns 39 - Actress | Producer | Singer
• William Shatner - Born 1931, turns 84 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Matthew Modine - Born 1959, turns 56 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• M. Emmet Walsh - Born 1935, turns 80 - Actor
• Bruno Ganz - Born 1941, turns 74 - Actor
• Stephen Sondheim - Born 1930, turns 85 - Composer | Songwriter | Writer
• Andrew Lloyd Webber - Born 1948, turns 67 - Composer | Songwriter | Writer | Producer

Monday 23rd March

• Michele Monaghan - Born 1976, turns 39 - Actress
• Catherine Keener - Born 1959, turns 56 - Actress | Producer

Tuesday 24th March

• Jessica Chastain - Born 197, turns 38 - Actress | Producer
• Lara Flynn Boyle - Born 1970, turns 45 - Actress
• Kelly LeBrock - Born 1960, turns 55 - Actress
• Keisha Castle-Hughes - Born 1990, turns 25 - Actress
• Curtis Hansen - Born 1945, turns 70 - Director | Producer | Writer

Wednesday 25th March

• Paul Michael Glaser - Born 1943, turns 72 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Elton John - Born 1947, turns 68 - Singer | Songwriter | Composer | Producer
• Aretha Franklin - Born 1942, turns 73 - Singer | Actress | Producer
• Sarah Jessica Parker - Born 1965, turns 50 - Actress | Producer

Thursday 26th March

• Keira Knightley - Born 1985, turns 30 - Actress | Singer
• Martin Short - Born 1950, turns 65 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer
• James Caan - Born 1940, turns 75 - Actor
• Alan Arkin - Born 1934, turns 81 - Actor | Writer | Producer

Friday 27th March

• Quentin Tarantino - Born 1963, turns 52 - Writer | Director | Producer | Actor
• Michael York - Born 1942, turns 73 - Actor

Saturday 28th March

• Vince Vaughn - Born 1970, turns 45 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Nick Frost - Born 1972, turns 43 - Actor
• Brett Ratner - Born 1969, turns 46 - Director | Producer
• Richard Kelly - Born 1975, turns 40 - Writer | Producer | Director
• Michael Newell - Born 1942, turns 73 - Director | Producer
• Lady Gaga - Born 1986, turns 29 - Singer | Songwriter | Writer | Producer | Actress
• Dianne Weist - Born 1948, turns 52 - Actress

Quentin Jerome Tarantino was born in Knoxville, Tennessee to mother Connie McHugh a nurse - aged 16 at the time of Quentin’s birth, and father Tony Tarantino - an American/Italian Actor and Musician. Quentin’s parents separated before he was born. At age four the young Quentin relocated to Torrance, California with his mother . , . and later to Harbor City - a Los Angeles neighbourhood. Here he attended Flemming Junior High School and then Narbonne High School in Harbor City for the first year but ultimately dropped out of school at age fifteen to attend full time acting classes at the James Best Theater Company in Toluca Lake. After two years, however, he became bored with the acting school and so left, landing a job at ‘Video Archives ’in Manhattan Beach where he met fellow colleague, movie geek and future collaborator Roger Avery.

Later on while attending a Hollywood party he met Lawrence Bender who encouraged Tarantino to write a screenplay which led to his Directing debut in 1987 with ‘My Best Friend’s Birthday’. The final reel of film stock was mostly destroyed during editing in a fire that ripped through the lab, but the screenplay was later further adapted to create the foundation for ‘True Romance’.






Fast forward to 1992, and Tarantino’s first Hollywood film ‘Reservoir Dogs’ was shown at the Sundance Film Festival. It was an overnight sensation and the stuff of movie legend which instantly propelled QT into the limelight. Having written the dialogue heavy screenplay in less than four weeks, his friend Bender dispatched it to Director Monte Hellman who assisted in the funding process to bring the story to the big screen with Harvey Keitel jumping on board as Co-Producer and taking an Actor credit too.

With ‘True Romance’ optioned for the big screen too, this arrived in cinemas in 1993, and next up his base story for ‘Natural Born Killers’ was further developed by a team of screenwriters and then Directed by Oliver Stone, with credit given to QT for the storyline. Already QT was flavour of the month, if not the year, and offers began flooding in, including the chance to Direct ‘Speed’ and ‘Men in Black’ but instead he decamped to Holland and wrote the screenplay for ‘Pulp Fiction’.

‘Pulp Fiction’ wowed audiences and critics the world over, and for his efforts he won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and got the nod for Best Director as well as five other nominations including Best Picture. He also won the prestigious Palme D’Or Award at the Cannes Film Festival to top it all off. After this came his collaboration with three other Directors including friend Robert Rodriguez on ‘Four Rooms’ which was met with less glowing reviews.

‘From Dusk till Dawn’ came next which was Directed by Rodriguez but for which QT wrote the script and took an acting role whilst launching the big screen career of one up & coming George Clooney. The film spawned two sequels and most recently a television series. As the 90’s closed out he Directed his next feature film - a tribute to the Blaxpoitation Films of the 60’s and 70’s with ‘Jackie Brown’ with those stars of yesteryear - Pam Grier and Robert Forster

As the new decade came in QT hunkered down to write his tribute to the Japanese/Western inspired revenge flick ‘Kill Bill’ starring at its lead - Uma Thurman. With an initial running time of over four hours he decided to release this over two volumes, and so ‘Kill Bill : Volume 1’ was released in the latter half of 2003 and ‘Kill Bill : Volume 2’ in the first half of 2004. He collaborated with Rodriguez again on 2005’s ‘Sin City’ for which he took a ‘Guest Director’ credit.

His partnership with Rodriquez continued in their dual project in 2007 releasing their tribute to 70’s and early 80’s ‘Grindhouse Cinema’ with the release of ‘Grindhouse’ - two films released as a single package with specially filmed movie Previews separating the two movies. ‘Planet Terror’ was Directed by Rodriguez and ‘Deathproof’ by QT. Not huge commercial successes but garnered positive audience reviews for followers of the genre(s). As the decade closed out, QT released his next film - an alternative take on the outcomes of WWII following the exploits of a rogue group of Jewish American guerrilla soldiers, with 'Inglorious Basterds' which at the time became QT's greatest Box Office success at a global take of US$321M and hit #1 at the Box Office worldwide. He garnered two Academy Award nominations here for Best Original Screenplay and Best Director.

2012 brought his tribute to spaghetti westerns and the slave trade of the American deep south with a resurrection of the 'Django' character from the 60's and 70's with his release of 'Django Unchained', Starring Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio and acting stablemate Samuel L. Jackson, this film superseded 'Basterds' as QT's greatest commercial success with a haul of US$425M and won him the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, which he also won at the Golden Globes and BAFTA's.

Coming toward the end of 2015 is 'The Hateful Eight', another Western, but not linked to 'Django'. Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Michael Madsen, Tim Roth, Bruce Dern, Channing Tatum, and Walton Goggins with Jennifer Jason Leigh and Zoe Bell, this all star ensemble cast combined with a harsh Wyoming Winter, raging blizzards, bounty hunters, and a confined space are sure to give us a QT experience not to be missed.

Tarantino has so far 23 Writer credits to his name, thirty Actor credits, twenty Producer credits and sixteen Director credits as well as his credited abilities as Cinematographer and his control over the Soundtrack of his film which in themselves have become a touchstone. He has two Academy Award wins for his Screenplays for 'Pulp Fiction' and 'Django Unchained' and three other nominations, he has two Golden Globe wins for his Screenplays of 'Pulp Fiction' and 'Django Unchained' and three other nominations, and the same haul for the BAFTA's as for the Golden Globes. All up this amounts to 122 award wins and 103 other nominations.

He has been romantically linked to Mira Sorvino, Sofia Coppola, Julie Dreyfus and there have been rumours and speculation also about Uma Thurman whom he refers to as his 'muse'. He is not a believer in guns, violence and drugs even though his films feature drug use and often stylised violence with extreme acts mostly occurring off-camera. He does not believe that violence portrayed on film spills over into society. So much has been written and recorded about QT's rise to fame in the last twenty years and the undeniable impact he has had on modern cinema, that I cannot possibly do it justice herein.

And so, Quentin Tarantino - multi-talented cinematic auteur, always pushing the boundaries, trademark film maker, keeping it real, outspoken, wildly energetic, deeply passionate and a walking encyclopedia of all things film and television - we love what you do, await eagerly for your next offering and will keep watching as long as you keep writing and making movies - and long after that too! Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 15th - 21st March 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Bruce Willis does on 19th March - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy 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 15th March

• Jai Courtney - Born 1986, turns 29 - Actor
• David Cronenberg - Born 1943, turns 72 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• Greg Nicotero - Born 1963, turns 52 - Make-Up & Special Effects Artist | Producer | Director | Actor 
• Renny Harlin - Born 1959, turns 56 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• Eva Longoria - Born 1975, turns 46 - Actress | Producer | Director

Monday 16th March

• Gore Verbinski - Born 1964, turns 51 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Bernardo Bertolucci - Born 1941, turns 74 - Director | Producer | Writer

Tuesday 17th March

• Rob Lowe - Born 1964, turns 51 - Actor | Producer
• Kurt Russell - Born 1951, turns 64 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Gary Sinise - Born 1955, turns 60 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Patrick Duffy - Born 1949, turns 66 - Actor | Director
• Lesley-Anne Down - Born 1954, turns 61 - Actress

Wednesday 18th March

• Queen Latifah - Born 1970, turns 45 - Actress | Writer | Singer
• Vanessa Williams - Born 1963, turns 52 - Actress | Writer | Singer
• Luc Besson - Born 1959, turns 56 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Adam Levine - Born 1979, turns 36 - Singer | Songwriter | Actor

Thursday 19th March

• Bruce Willis - Born 1955, turns 60 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Harvey Weinstein - Born 1952, turns 63 - Producer
• Ursula Andress - Born 1936, turns 79 - Actress
• Glenn Close - Born 1947, turns 68 - Actress | Producer | Director | Writer | Singer

Friday 20th March

• Holly Hunter - Born 1958, turns 57 - Actress | Writer
• David Thewlis - Born 1963, turns 52 - Actor
• Spike Lee - Born 1957, turns 58 - Producer | Director | Writer | Actor
• William Hurt - Born 1950, turns 65 - Actor

Saturday 21st March

• Gary Oldman - Born 1958, turns 57 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Matthew Broderick - Born 1962, turns 53 - Actor
• Timothy Dalton - Born 1944, turns 71 - Actor
• Rosie O'Donnell - Born 1962, turns 53 - Actress | Writer

Walter Bruce Willis was born in Idar-Oberstein, West Germany to mother Merlene and father David - a US soldier. Living on a US Military Base for his very early life, he was later raised in Penns Grove, New Jersey. He is the oldest of four children with sister Florence and two brothers David and Robert - the latter of which died of pancreatic cancer in 2001. Willis attended Penns Grove High School in his hometown where he developed a stutter but learned to deal with it through stage acting. 

Finishing High School he worked as as a security guard at the Salem Nuclear Power Plant and  as a transport driver at the DuPont Chambers Works Factory. Having spent time also as a private investigator he joined Montclair State University in the Drama Programme, but left in his junior year and moved to New York City where he supported himself as a bar tender whilst treading the boards in various Off-Broadway stage plays.

He then left New York for California and auditioned for numerous television shows. He appeared in the mid-80's in the likes of 'Miami Vice' and 'The Twilight Zone', and then secured the role as David Addison Jnr. out of 3,000 other hopeful Actors in the successful five series long 'Moonlighting' alongside Cybill Shepherd from 1985-1989. Having starred in a number of small uncredited film roles in the early 80's, his first big screen break came with Blake Edwards in 'Blind Date' with Kim Bassinger in 1987, and then with Edwards again in 'Sunset' in 1988. That same year he took his first outing in a film that would catapult him into the movie stratosphere with an action hero franchise that is now synonymous with his name - 'Die Hard'. The Actor performed all of his own stunts in the first film, and subsequently the series that has so far seen five films for John McClane has generated a total worldwide Box Office haul of US$1.44B off a combined production budget of US$390M.

The success of 'Die Hard' gave rise to two sequels in the 90's with 'Die Hard : Die Harder' in 1990 and 'Die Hard with a Vengeance' in 1995 which cemented Willis' star status as a bona fide action hero. But with these successes came less well received fare with the likes of 'The Bonfire of the Vanities' , 'Striking Distance', 'Hudson Hawk' and 'Color of Night'. Quentin Tarantino's 'Pulp Fiction' in 1994 gave his career a lift as did Terry Gilliam's '12 Monkey's' in 1995 and Luc Besson's 'The Fifth Element' in 1997. Others that flew largely under the radar included 'Last Man Standing', 'Mercury Rising', 'Breakfast of Champions', 'The Story of Us', interspersed with more quirky popular fare 'North' and 'Death Becomes Her'. 'Armageddon' for Director Michael Bay received very average critical ratings but with a Box Office stash of US$554M was the biggest commercial success of 1998 worldwide. 'The Sixth Sense' brought Willis back into the limelight and helped him close out the 90's on a high note with upcoming Director M. Night Shyamalan.

Continuing his busyness into the 2000's he kicked off with 'The Whole Nine Yards' for which he reprised his role as Jimmy 'The Tulip' Tudeski in 2004's 'The Whole Ten Yards', and 'Unbreakable' with M. Night Shyamalan once more. Playing either the hardened war hero in the likes of 'Hart's War' and 'Tears of the Sun', or the grizzled police officer type in 'Hostage', '16 Blocks', 'Live Free or Die Hard', 'Surrogates' and 'Sin City', his career continues to entertain and draw an audience for the on-screen spectacle he provides.

As 2010 clicked over his action status continued unabated with 'The Expendables' in 2010 headed up by stable mate Sylvester Stallone and all all star 80's ensemble action hero cast, and then again with 'The Expendables 2' in 2012 - he pulled out of 2014's 'Expendables 3' because allegedly he demanded a bigger pay cheque which Stallone and his Producers were not prepared to pay. 'RED' in 2010 and 'RED 2' in 2013 also helped keep the action star mantle in place, with other notable offerings including  'Looper' and 'Moonrise Kingdom' in 2012, 'A Good Day to Die Hard' in 2013 and 'Sin City : A Dame to Kill For' in 2014. 'Catch .44', 'Lay the Favourite', 'The Cold Light of Day', 'G.I.Joe : Retaliation' and 'The Prince' bring us up to date. Next up is 'Vice' likely to go straight to DVD & BluRay in early 2015, with 'Rock the Kasbah' later in 2015 and 'Captive' and 'Extraction' due in 2016.

Outside of the movie business, Willis is an astute property owner and investor, and businessman. For a few years he co-owned Production Company 'Cheyenne Enterprises', several small businesses, was co-founder of 'Planet Hollywood' and owns a small percentage of 'Sobieski Vodka'.

He has 104 acting credits to his name and would be regarded as one of Hollywood's busiest jobbing Actors. He also has seven Producer credits to his name and wrote the story too for 'Hudson Hawk'. He won the Golden Globe in 1987 for 'Moonlighting' and has two Primetime Emmy Awards for 'Moonlighting' and 'Friends' and all up has garnered twenty award wins and a further 33 nominations throughout his career to date. He also has enjoyed success as a singer and recording artist with three solo albums and four compilation albums.

He was married to Actress Demi Moore from 1987 to 2000 with whom he has three children - Rummer (born 1988), Scout (born 1991), and Talulah (born 1994). In 2009 Willis married model Emma Harding with whom he has two children - Mabel (born 2012) and Evelyn (born 2014). A supporter of the constitutional right to bear arms, he has some Republican political leanings but describes himself a 'apolitical', and he has actively supported military intervention in Iraq as a means to restore democracy and freedom ultimately. He took a pay cheque of US$5M for the first 'Die Hard' instalment in 1998 and US$25M twenty years later for 'Live Free or Die Hard' . . . not a bad pay day!

Bruce Willis - head shaven, wisecracking, smirking gun toting action hero; Box Office draw card; predictably familiar; always entertaining and as colourful off-screen as on it - keep doing what you do and we'll keep putting our bums on seats you watch you do it! Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 21st - 27th December 2014.

It's Christmas week - do you celebrate your Birthday this week? Samuel L. Jackson does, on 21st December - 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 or 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 21st December

• Samuel L. Jackson - Born 1948, turns 66 - Actor | Producer
• Kiefer Sutherland - Born 1966, turns 48 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Jeffrey Katzenberg - Born 1950, turns 64 - Producer
• Ray Romano - Born 1957, turns 57 - Actor | Producer
• Jane Fonda - Born 1937, turns 77 - Actress
• Julie Delpy - Born 1969, turns 45 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Director | Editor

Monday 22nd December

• Vanessa Paradis - Born 1972, turns 42 - Actress | Singer
• Ralph Fiennes - Born 1962, turns 52 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Hector Elizondo - Born 1936, turns 78 - Actor
• David S. Goyer - Born 1965, turns 49 - Director | Producer | Writer

Tuesday 23rd December

• Nick Moran - Born 1969, turns 45 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Estella Warren - Born 1978, turns 36 - Actress

Wednesday 24th December - Christmas Eve

• Ricky Martin - Born 1971, turns 43 - Singer | Songwriter | Actor
• Stephanie Meyer - Born 1973, turns 41 - Writer | Actor

Thursday 25th December - Christmas Day

• Sissy Spacek - Born 1949, turns 65 - Actress
• Annie Lennox - Born 1954, turns 60 - Singer | Songwriter | Actress

Friday 26th December - Boxing Day

• Jared Leto - Born 1971, turns 43 - Actor | Writer | Songwriter | Producer | Director
• Temuera Morrison - Born 1960, turns 54 - Actor
• Steve Bisley - Born 1951, turns 63 - Actor
• Phil Spector - Born 1939, turns 75 - Songwriter
• Fred Schepisi - Born 1939, turns 75 - Director | Producer | Writer

Saturday 27th December

• Gerard Depardieu - Born 1948, turns 66 - Actor | Producer | Director

Samuel Leroy Jackson was born in Washington D.C. and grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee as an only child. His father, Henry Jackson lived away from home in Kansas City, Missouri and died from alcoholism - he met him only twice. His mother, Elizabeth Montgomery was a factory worker and later a supplies buyer for a local hospital and she raised Samuel with the maternal grandparents and extended family. He graduated from the Riverside High School in Chattanooga where he acme proficient over the years in playing the French horn and trumpet. He went on to Morehouse College to study marine biology, and after joining a local acting group to earn extra points he switched his major to drama.

Following public speaking classes he appeared in 'The Threepenny Opera' and various stage plays and TV movies before making his feature film debut in 1972 in 'Together for Days'. His early roles prompted him to relocate to New York City in 1976 where he appeared in stage plays including 'The Piano Lesson' and 'Two Trains Running', but, at the same time he developed a liking for alcohol, heroine, and then cocaine resulting i him being unable to continue with this splays as they moved on to Broadway. 

During his early career he was mentored by Morgan Freeman and introduced to Spike Lee who would go on to Direct him in several films throughout the years, including bit parts in his earlier offerings - 'School Daze' in 1988 and 'Do the Right Thing' in 1989. Martin Scorsese game him a small role too in 1990's 'Goodfellas'. During this time his drug addiction deepened, and had previously overdosed on heroine several times before moving onto cocaine. His family subsequently entered him into a New York drug rehabilitation clinic which he came out of successfully, and went straight into filming 'Jungle Fever' again with Spike Lee . . . starring as a crack cocaine addict - a role he described as 'cathartic' and which won him much critical acclaim including a 1991 Cannes Film Festival 'Supporting Actor' Award.

After this he received multiple offers including 'Juice', 'Strictly Business', 'Patriot Games' and then 'Jurassic Park' with Steven Spielberg, and 'True Romance' with Tony Scott and his first brush with Writer/Director Quentin Tarantino. Following this Tarantino specifically wrote the role of Jules Winnfield for Jackson in 'Pulp Fiction' which went on to give him Best Supporting Actor Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations, and the BAFTA win.

More film offers began to flood in during the mid-90's which included 'Kiss of Death', 'Die Hard : With a Vengeance', 'Hard Eight', 'Trees Lounge' and 'A Time to Kill' in 1996 which gave him another Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor.  The latter half of the 90's played out with 'The Long Kiss Goodnight' with Geena Davis, 'Jackie Brown' reunited with Quentin Tarantino, 'Sphere' with Dustin Hoffman, 'The Negotiator' with Kevin Spacey, 'Deep Blue Sea' with Director Renny Harlin and then as Mace Windu in George Lucas' reboot of the Star Wars franchise in 'Episode 1: The Phantom Menace'.

As the new century turned over Jackson was more in demand than ever opening with 'Rules of Engagement', 'Shaft' and 'Unbreakable' with Bruce Willis again all in 2000. He reprised Mace Windu three more times in 'Attack of the Clones', 'Revenge of the Sith' and the CGI animated 'The Clone Wars', and in the meantime took on 'Changing Lanes' with Ben Affleck, 'xXx' and its sequel 'xXx : State of the Union' with Vin Diesel, 'Basic' with John Travolta, 'S.W.A.T.' with Colin Firth, 'Kill Bill, Volume 2' with Tarantino again, and the voice of Frozone in the successful animated feature 'The Incredibles'.

2006 brought cult actioner 'Snakes on a Plane' - a role he took because of its title rather than the intricacies required from a nuanced performance, 'Black Snake Moan' and '1408' in 2007, and a busy year in 2008 with 'Jumper', 'Soul Men', 'Lakeview Terrace', 'The Spirit', 'Gospel Hill' and his first uncredited appearance as Nick Fury in 'Iron Man'. Since then he has reprised the role of Nick Fury in 'Iron Man 2', in 'Thor', 'Captain America : The First Avenger', 'The Avengers', 'Captain America : The Winter Soldier', the upcoming 'Avengers : Age of Ultron' due for release mid-2015 and in the TV Series 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D'.

He worked with Quentin Tarantino again narrating several scenes in 'Inglourious Basterds' and then in 'Django Unchained' and is currently filming with him once more in the 'The Hateful Eight' due out later on in 2015. Meanwhile he teamed up with Spike Lee once more in 'Oldboy' with Josh Brolin, the rebooted 'RoboCop' with Gary Oldman, with 'Kite' and 'Big Game' bringing us up to date. 'Kingsmen : The Secret Service' with Colin Firth is due out imminently, 'Cell', 'Barely Lethal' and 'Avengers : Age of Ultron' are all currently in post-production for a 2015 release, 'The Hateful Eight' and 'Tarzan' are currently filming, 'Moose' is in pre-production, and 'Nick Fury' and 'xXx : The Return of Xander Cage' have been announced. He has lent his voice talents to numerous animated features and video games, has 159 acting credits to his name, and has thirty award wins and another sixty award nominations under his belt. These include the Academy Award nomination for 'Pulp Fiction', four Golden Globe nominations for 'Jackie Brown', 'A Time to Kill', 'Pulp Fiction' and 'Against the Wall', and the BAFTA win for 'Pulp Fiction'. 

He is an avid golfer, a basketball fan of the Toronto Raptors and Harlem Globetrotters and a keen follower of Liverpool Football Club. He launched a campaign in support of Alzheimers Disease research in mid-2013 and also 'One for the Boys' advocating testicular cancer checks. He made a conscious decision to of bald, began a vegan diet and subsequently lost 40lbs in weight (18kgs). He has been married to LaTanya Richardson since 1980 and they have a daughter Zoe, born in 1982.

He is also acclaimed as the highest grossing film actor of all time with his movies grossing (depending on what you read) in excess of US$5.6B (The Movie Times), US$9.3B (The Numbers), US$8.3B (Box Office Mojo) and US$7.4B (The Guinness Book of Records). He is a prolific actor because he loves acting and loves the film making process and what he believe he can bring to the role and the character portrayed. 

Samuel L. Jackson - often mistaken for Laurence Fishburne; eaten alive by both a shark and a dinosaur; still the epitome of wise-ass bad-ass cool even at 66; known for your deep authoritarian voice and use of whiplash MoFo quips; often portrays violent and intimidating but always entertaining and keeping it real - Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-