Birthday's to share this week : 5th - 11th November 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Emma Stone does on 6th November - check out my tribute to this Actress Producer Birthday Girl turning 29, 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 5th November

• Elke Sommer - Born 1940, turns 77 - Actress
• Tilda Swinton - Born 1960, turns 57 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Director
• Tatum O'Neal - Born 1963, turns 54 - Actress | Producer
• Famke Janssen - Born 1964, turns 53 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Director
• Robert Patrick - Born 1958, turns 59 - Actor | Producer 
• Sam Rockwell - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actor | Producer

Monday 6th November

• Nigel Havers - Born 1951, turns 66 - Actor 
• Vince Colosimo - Born 1966, turns 51 - Actor
• Ethan Hawke - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actor | Writer | Director | Producer | Singer
• Sally Field - Born 1946, turns 71 - Actress | Producer | Director | Writer
• Lori Singer - Born 1957, turns 60 - Actress | Producer
• Thandie Newton - Born 1972, turns 45 - Actress | Producer
• Rebecca Romijn - Born 1972, turns 45 - Actress | Producer
• Emma Stone - Born 1988, turns 29 - Actress | Producer | Singer

Tuesday 7th November

• Morgan Spurlock - Born 1970, turns 47 - Producer | Writer | Director | Actor 
• Adam Devine - Born 1983, turns 34 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Singer | Songwriter | Director  

Wednesday 8th November

• Richard Curtis - Born 1956, turns 61 - Writer | Producer | Director 
• Parker Posey - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actress | Singer
• Gretchen Mol - Born 1972, turns 45 - Actress   

Thursday 9th November

• Lou Ferrigno - Born 1951, turns 66 - Actor 
• Tony Slattery - Born 1959, turns 58 - Actor | Writer | Television Personality  

Friday 10th November

• Ennio Morricone - Born 1928, turns 89 - Composer | Songwriter | Musician | Conductor
• Roland Emmerich - Born 1955, turns 62 - Director | Producer | Writer 
• Hugh Bonneville - Born 1963, turns 54 - Actor 
• Walton Goggins - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actor | Producer
• Taron Egerton - Born 1989, turns 28 - Actor  

Saturday 11th November

• Stanley Tucci - Born 1960, turns 57 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Leonardo DiCaprio - Born 1974, turns 43 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Scoot McNairy - Born 1977, turns 40 - Actor | Producer
• June Whitfield - Born 1925, turns 92 - Actress
• Demi Moore - Born 1962, turns 55 - Actress | Producer
• Calista Flockhart - Born 1964, turns 53 - Actress | Singer

Emily Jean Stone was born in Scottsdale, Arizona to mother Krista Jean Yeager, a housewife and homemaker and father Jeffrey Charles Stone, the CEO and founder of a general contracting company. She attended Sequoya Elementary School and then Cocopah Middle School in Scottsdale. By her own admission she did not particularly like school but having a controlling nature she was determined to do well and score 'A's' in all subjects. As a child she suffered from panic attacks which negatively impacted her social skills, but attending therapy coupled with her local theatre interests in play acting helped cure her of this ailment. She first developed an interest in acting at the age of just four, and for several years took voice coaching lessons. Her acting debut came at age eleven in a stage production of 'The Wind in the Willows', after which she was home schooled for two years, and during which time she appeared in a further sixteen productions at the Phoenix Valley Youth Theatre. She travelled to Los Angeles to audition for the Nickelodeon Produced live action sketch comedy variety show 'All That' but was unsuccessful. Following this her parents enlisted her for private acting lessons. She then attended Xavier College Preparatory Catholic Girls High School in Phoenix but dropped out after just one semester to pursue a career as an Actress. 

In 2004 Stone moved with her mother to Los Angeles and auditioned for just about every role that she felt best qualified for . . . meeting with rejection at every turn. At the same time she registered for the Screen Actors Guild but the name of Emily Stone was already taken by someone else. She initially opted to use the stage name of Riley Stone but following one-off appearances on 'Medium', 'Lucky Louie' and 'Malcolm in the Middle' she favoured Emma Stone, and that name stuck. She auditioned for the Sci-Fi action drama series 'Heroes' but was unsuccessful here too, and appeared in the illegal car racing action drama series 'Drive' which was canned after just seven episodes in 2007. Stone got her first feature film role in 'Superbad' in 2007 starring Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Bill Hader, Dave Franco and Michael Cera. Stone was praised for her performance and it garnered her a Young Hollywood Award for the most 'Exciting New Face'. 'The Rocker' followed in 2008, then Comedy Romance 'The House Bunny' with Anna Faris, Colin Hanks and Hugh Heffner; followed by 'Ghosts of Girlfriends Past' with Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner and Michael Douglas; 'Paper Man' with Ryan Reynolds, Jeff Daniels and Lisa Kudrow, and the commercially successful adventure comedy horror offering 'Zombieland' with Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Bill Murray and Abigail Breslin seeing out the decade.  

2010 saw Stone launch with lending her voice to the animated feature film 'Marmaduke' with an all star voice cast including Steve Coogan, Kiefer Sutherland, Owen Wilson and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. Also that year saw 'Easy A' in which Stone got top billing as a clean cut high school student who uses the schools grape vine and rumour mill to progress her social and financial standing. The film also starred Stanley Tucci, Thomas Haden Church, Patricia Clarkson, Lisa Kudrow and Malcolm McDowell, garnered Stone a number of award wins and nominations including her first Golden Globe nod, and was financially successful too.  

2011 saw 'Friends with Benefits'; then 'Crazy, Stupid Love' with Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, and Kevin Bacon and then a change of pace with the historical drama offering 'The Help' which picked up eighty award wins and another 116 nominations - among them Academy Awards, Golden Globes, BAFTA's and SAG's wins and nods. Stone starred with Octavia Spencer, Viola Davis, Jessica Chastain, Sissy Spacek and Bryce Dallas Howard. The film grossed US$217M off the back of a US$25M production budget. The reboot of the 'Spider-Man' franchise for Marvel with Marc Webb's rendition of 'The Amazing Spider-Man' followed in 2012 with Stone playing Gwen Stacy to Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker/Spider-Man's first love interest. Stone would reprise the role in 2014's 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2' again opposite Andrew Garfield. The two films combined grossed a total US$1,47B off a budgeted US$480M with Critics saying positive things about the Stone/Garfield pairing in the film and the on-screen chemistry that exists that only serves to heighten both performances.

Historical 1949 LA set gangster and mobster action crime drama 'Gangster Squad' was released in 2013 with Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin, Nick Nolte, Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Pena and Robert Patrick with this time Critics being kind to the pairing of Stone and Gosling, but less positive about the film generally. The film recovered US$106M from its US$75M outlay. The next year saw the Woody Allen Written and Directed 'Magic in the Moonlight' with Colin Firth. In between time there had been an appearance on a single episode of '30 Rock' and 'iCarly', and Stone lent her voice talents to the video game 'Sleeping Dogs' and the DreamWorks animated feature 'The Croods' together with Ryan Reynolds, Nicolas Cage and Catherine Keener, grossing US$588M from a US$135M budget expense.

2014 was seen out with the hugely successful Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu Co-Written and Directed 'Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)' starring Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Zach Galifianakis, Naomi Watts, and Andrea Riseborough. The film collected 193 Award wins and another 277 nominations including four Academy Award wins and five nominations, two Golden Globe wins and five nominations, one BAFTA win and nine nominations, and one SAG win and three nominations, of which Stone was nominated at each of these prestigious Awards for her Best Supporting Actress performance. The film also took US$104M in Box Office receipts against its US$18M budget investment.

This led to a turn with Writer/Director Woody Allen again in 2015 with the release of 'Irrational Man' alongside Joaquin Phoenix, and then later that same year in the Cameron Crowe Written and Directed 'Aloha' opposite Bradley Cooper, Rachel McAdams, Bill Murray, Alec Baldwin, Jaeden Lieberher and Danny McBride.








After appearing in uncredited roles in 'The Interview' and 'Popstar : Never Stop Never Stopping', along came Damien Chazelle's Written and Directed song and dance drama 'La La Land' with Stone playing the female lead as Mia opposite Ryan Gosling's Sebastian with Rosemary DeWitt, John Legend and J.K. Simmons. The film was a huge critical success bagging 212 Award wins and a further 248 nominations including six Academy Awards and eight nominations, seven Golden Globe wins, five BAFTA wins and six nominations and one SAG win and one nomination. Amongst these Awards ceremonies Stone picked up the award for Best Leading Actress at each. The film also returned US$446M from its US$30M budget.

Released just a short time ago, next up for Stone was the biographical sports drama 'Battle of the Sexes' in which Stone portrays tennis legend Billie Jean King as she faces off against former mens tennis champion Bobby Riggs played by Steve Carell back in 1973 in what was back then the most widely watched television sports event in history. The film also stars Andrea Riseborough, Bill Pullman, Alan Cumming, Elisabeth Shue and Jessica McNamee. Whilst the film garnered mixed Critical Reviews and did lacklustre Box Office, Stone's performance was largely praised.

This brings us up to date, with next up for Stone is the Netflix series 'Maniac' alongside Jonah Hill which is currently in production for airing in 2018. Then there is the Yorgos Lanthimos Directed 18th Century historical biographical feature film 'The Favourite' about royal intrigue, envy, betrayal and passion in the court of Queen Anne, and starring Olivia Coleman, Rachel Weisz, Nicholas Hoult and due in 2018 too. Currently in pre-production is 'Cruella' a live action feature film following the evil exploits of Cruella de Vil, following the storyline from '101 Dalmatians' with Stone playing the title character. And finally, and also in pre-production, Stone is set to reprise her role as Eep in the animated feature follow up 'The Croods 2' due in 2020.

All up Stone has forty-two Acting credits to her name and two Producer credits for upcoming TV series 'Maniac' and action comedy feature film 'Little White Corvette'. During her career to date she has also amassed 54 award wins and another 109 nominations including the Academy Award win, Golden Globe win, BAFTA win, AACTA win and SAG win for 'La La Land' as well as other wins from around the festival and awards circuit for 'The Help', 'Birdman' and 'Easy A'. For a few years from 2010 Stone and 'Spider-Man' Co-Star Andrew Garfield were said to be romantically linked, but by 2015 they were reported to have split. She is a supporter of charitable organisations and worthy causes including for the promotion of breast cancer awareness, Earth Hour, autism awareness, and various fundraisers for the Motion Picture and Television Fund, Entertainment Industry Foundation and the World Wide Fund for Nature.

Emma Stone - branded by some publications as one of her generations most talented Actresses; has appeared on numerous 'Top' lists over the years including Top 20 Rising Stars Under 30, Top 20 Actresses Under 30, 100 Most Powerful People in the World, Top 10 Best Value Stars, 100 Most Influential People in the World, Hot 100, 100 Sexiest Women in the World, 100 Most Beautiful Women, 100 Hottest Women, Top 99 Women, Most Desirable Women, Best Dressed Woman and in 2017 made it to the top of the highest paid Actress league by raking in a cool US$26M. With your trademark bright green eyes, husky voice, red hair and always playing out of your comfort zone you have proven yourself time and again as the accolades will attest to. So much achieved, and not even thirty yet! Happy Birthday to you Emma, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 18th-24th December 2016.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Jonah Hill does on 20th December - check out my tribute to this Birthday Lad turning 33, 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 December

• Katie Holmes - Born 1978, turns 38 - Actress | Producer | Singer | Director
• Rachel Griffiths - Born 1968, turns 48 - Actress | Writer | Director | Producer
• Keith Richards - Born 1943, turns 73 - Singer | Songwriter | Producer | Actor
• Steven Spielberg - Born 1946, turns 70 - Director | Producer | Writer | Editor
• Ray Liotta - Born 1954, turns 62 - Actor | Producer
• Brad Pitt - Born 1963, turns 53 - Actor | Producer
• Steve Austin - Born 1964, turns 52 - Actor | Producer
• Robson Green - Born 1964, turns 52 - Actor | Producer | Television Personality
• Casper Van Dien - Born 1968, turns 48 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer

Monday 19th December

• Jake Gyllenhaal - Born 1980, turns 36 - Actor | Producer
• Jennifer Beals - Born 1963, turns 53 - Actress | Producer 

Tuesday 20th December

• Jenny Agutter - Born 1952, turns 64 - Actress
• Jonah Hill - Born 1983, turns 33 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Todd Phillips - Born 1970, turns 46 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• Eduardo Sanchez - Born 1968, turns 48 - Director | Producer | Writer | Editor  

Wednesday 21st December

• Samuel L. Jackson - Born 1948, turns 68 - Actor | Producer
• Jeffrey Katzenberg - Born 1950, turns 66 - Producer | Writer
• Ray Romano - Born 1957, turns 59 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Keifer Sutherland - Born 1966, turns 50 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Steven Yuen - Born 1983, turns 33 - Actor  
• Jane Fonda - Born 1937, turns 79 - Actress | Producer
• Julie Delpy - Born 1969, turns 47 - Actress | Writer | Director | Producer | Singer | Songwriter | Composer | Editor 

Thursday 22nd December

• Vanessa Paradis - Born 1972, turns 44 - Actress | Singer
• Ralph Fiennes - Born 1962, turns 54 - Actor | Director | Producer 
• Hector Elizondo - Born 1936, turns 80 - Actor | Producer

Friday 23rd December

• Nick Moran - Born 1969, turns 47 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Estella Warren - Born 1978, turns 38 - Actress

Saturday 24th December 

• Ryan Seacrest - Born 1974, turns 42 - Producer | Writer | Actor | Television Personality

Jonah Hill Feldstein was born in Los Angeles, California, to mother Sharon Lyn Chalkin, a costume designer and fashion stylist, and father Richard Feldstein a tour accountant for rock band, Guns N' Roses. He grew up in the affluent neighbourhood of Cheviot Hills and attended The Centre for Early Education, then the Brentwood School and thereafter the Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences in Santa Monica. Following high school he attended Bard College - a private liberal arts college in New York, then The New School in New York City and then the University of Colorado Boulder. He has a sister Beanie Feldstein, an actress, and a brother Jordan Feldstein who manages singer/songwriter Robin Thicke and pop/rock band Maroon 5.

Whilst at College, Hill started writing his own plays and performing in them too, gaining quite a following in his New York East Village neighbourhood. He was in turn befriended by Rebecca and Jake Hoffman (the children of Dustin Hoffman) who introduced the young Hill to their Dad. Dustin Hoffman persuaded Hill to audition for a part in 'I Heart Huckabees' in which Hoffman was starring, and he secured a small role in what was to be his screen debut. That was in 2004. After this he gained brief roles in Judd Apatow's Directing debut, 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin' and 'Grandma's Boy', before a more substantial role in Apatow's 'Knocked Up' with Seth Rogen. By now it was 2007 and in between time there had also been appearances in 'Click' with Adam Sandler, 'Accepted' with Justin Long, 'Evan Almighty' with Steve Carell, and '10 Items or Less' with Morgan Freeman and seven episodes on comedy television series 'Campus Ladies'. These all lead to his first lead role in the Judd Apatow Produced 'Superbad' alongside Michael Cera, Seth Rogen and Bill Hader. The film returned US$170M from its US$20M outlay and was critically praised too.

'Walk Hard : The Dewey Cox Story' followed with an uncredited role, then 'Strange Wilderness', 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall', 'Just Add Water', an uncredited appearance in 'Night at the Museum : Battle of the Smithsonian' before another outing for Judd Apatow with Seth Rogen and Adam Sandler in 'Funny People', with 'The Invention of Lying' Written, Directed and Starring Ricky Gervais. In the meantime there had been television appearances on 'Wainy Days', 'Reno 911!', and 'The Simpsons' before the decade closed out.



2010 saw 'Cyrus' for Jay and Mark Duplass, 'Get Him to the Greek' with Russell Brand, and 'Moneyball' with Brad Pitt and Philip Seymour Hoffman which garnered Hill Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA Award nominations for his Supporting Role as Peter Brand in this tale of the Oakland A's baseball team. This was followed up with 'The Sitter'.


Next up was a big screen rendition of the successful 1987 television series '21 Jump Street', released in 2012. Co-Written by Hill and also starring him as one of the two lead roles opposite Channing Tatum, the film made US$222M off its US$42M budget outlay, making a sequel inevitable. That sequel came in the form of '22 Jump Street' again Co-Written and Starring Hill as Morton Schmidt once again opposite Channing Tatum's Greg Jenko. The second film in the series made US$332M off its US$50M budget. A third cross-over film is in the works mashing up 'Jump Street' with 'Men In Black' in what is so far known as 'MIB 23' in which Hill will seemingly reprise his role once more as Schmidt.

In between time there was 'The Watch' with Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn, a small role in QT's 'Django Unchained', 'This is the End' with Seth Rogen and James Franco and then his Academy Award nominated turn in the highly acclaimed and commercially successful Jordan Belfort Bio-Pioc 'The Wolf of Wall Street' opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role, and for Director Martin Scorsese. 'True Story' followed in 2015 with James Franco again.

This brings us up to this year which has seen 'Hail, Caesar' for Joel and Ethan Coen with an all star cast including George Clooney, Josh Brolin, Ralph Fiennes, Channing Tatum, Tilda Swinton and Scarlett Johansson, and then the Todd Phillips Co-Written and Directed 'War Dogs' with Miles Teller and Bradley Cooper, with Hill starring as real life US Army contract arms dealer Efraim Diveroli.

Over the years too Hill has lent his voice talents to several film characters including on 'Horton Hears a Who!' in 2008, 'How to Train Your Dragon' as Snotlout in 2010 and again in 'HTTYD 2' in 2014, 'Megamind' as Tighten, in 2010, 'The Lego Movie' as Green Lantern in 2014 and in this years 'Sausage Party' as Carl. He will reprise his Snotlout voice work in 'How to Train Your Dragon 3' due in 2019 and currently in pre-production.

All up Hill has 52 Acting credits to his name, eight as Producer, and six as Writer. He has garnered two Academy Award nominations, two Golden Globe nominations and one BAFTA nomination together with 53 other award nods and five wins so far. He made a concerted effort to lose weight to secure better roles and subsequently did, in more serious roles gaining acclaim along the way. He took the role in 'The Wolf of Wall Street' for nothing, just to have the opportunity to work with Martin Scorsese - his 'favourite filmmaker of all time', and he would do it again in a second!

Jonah Hill - Screenwriter, Comedian, Actor, Producer; as equally committed to piling on the weight as to getting it off for his roles; plays is funny, plays it serious; and has become more watchable as his talent has matured and his star has risen - Happy Birthday to you Jonah, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online- 

Birthday's to share this week : 12th-18th June 2016.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Dave Franco does on 12th June - check out my tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 31, 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 12th June

• Dave Franco - Born 1985, turns 31 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Richard Ayoade - Born 1977, turns 39 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Frances O'Connor - Born 1967, turns 49 - Actress

Monday 13th June

• Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen - Born 1986, turn 30 - Actresses | Producers  
• Ally Sheedy - Born 1962, turns 54 - Actress
• Tim Allen - Born 1953, turns 63 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Stellen Skarsgard - Born 1951, turns 65 - Actor | Producer
• Simon Callow - Born 1949, turns 67 - Actor | Writer | Director
• Malcolm McDowell - Born 1943, turns 73 - Actor | Producer
• Chris Evans - Born 1981, turns 35 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Aaron Taylor-Johnson - Born 1990, turns 26 - Actor
• Kodi Smit-McPhee - Born 1996, turns 20 - Actor

Tuesday 14th June

• Will Patton - Born 1954, turns 62 - Actor
• Diablo Cody - Born 1978, turns 38 - Writer | Producer | Director  

Wednesday 15th June

• Pia Miranda - Born 1973, turns 43 - Actress
• Courtney Cox - Born 1964, turns 52 - Actress | Producer | Director
• Helen Hunt - Born 1963, turns 53 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Director 
• James Belushi - Born 1954, turns 62 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Ice Cube aka O'Shea Jackson - Born 1969, turns 47 - Actor | Producer | Singer | Songwriter
• Jake Busey - Born 1971, turns 45 - Actor | Producer
• Neil Patrick Harris - Born 1973, turns 43 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director | Singer 

Thursday 16th June

• Daniel Bruhl - Born 1978, turns 38 - Actor
• John Cho - Born 1972, turns 44 - Actor
• Arnold Vosloo - Born 1962, turns 54 - Actor | Producer  

Friday 17th June

• Ken Loach - Born 1936, turns 80 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Bobby Farrelly - Born 1958, turns 58 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Thomas Haden Church - Born 1960, turns 56 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Greg Kinnear - Born 1963, turns 53 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Jason Patric - Born 1966, turns 50 - Actor | Producer
• Will Forte - Born 1970, turns 46 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer  
• Louis Leterrier - Born 1973, turns 43 - Producer | Director

Saturday 18th June

• Paul McCartney - Born 1942, turns 74 - Singer | Songwriter | Composer | Writer | Actor | Producer | Director
• Richard Madden - Born 1986, turns 30 - Actor
• Barbara Broccoli - Born 1960, turns 56 - Producer
• Isabella Rossellini - Born 1952, turns 64 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Director  

David John Franco was born in Palo Alto, California to mother Betsy Verne, a poet, author, editor and occasional Actress, and father Eugene Franco a business owner/operator in Silicone Valley who passed away in 2011. He is the younger brother of Actors James and the lesser known Tom. Franco grew up in California where he attended the University of Southern California with designs on becoming a high school creative writing teacher. However, his brother James' Manager led him to take up theatre classes in his second year at University where his interest in acting was first sparked.

His acting career kicked off with '7th Heaven' in 2006 for The CW Television Network in which he appeared in a single episode. That same year he appeared in the short film 'Frat Boys' before scoring a place on 'Superbad' in 2007 with the likes of Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Bill Hader, Michael Cera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Emma Stone. The film was generally well received and took US$170M from its US$20M outlay. Later that year was 'After Sex' in which he starred as one half of a couple having conversations after sex, whilst exploring the modern day complexities of relationships as seen through the eyes, hearts and minds of seven other couples.

2008 saw five episodes on 'Do Not Disturb' (seven episodes were filmed, four aired and then promptly the show was cancelled). 'Greek' was next which ran for 74 episodes over four seasons with Franco gaining a spot on six, and then came 'Privileged' which aired for eighteen episodes over just one season in which Franco appeared in five. 'Milk' also came out that year in which Franco played a small role alongside brother James, Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin and Victor Garber. The film was critically very well received and made back almost three times its production budget. Seeing out the decade was the low budget direct to DVD horror thriller 'The Shortcut', a short film never released called 'A Fuchsia Elephant', and thirteen episodes in the ninth and final series of 'Scrubs'.

The new decade launched with the Noah Baumbach Written and Directed 'Greenberg' with Ben Stiller, Rhys Ifans, Greta Gerwig, Brie Larson, Juno Temple and Jennifer Jason Leigh. The film was positively received but it made less than 25% of its production costs. 'Charlie St. Cloud' followed later that year with Zac Efron, Ray Liotta and Kim Bassinger, with 'The Broken Tower' following. This film was Directed, Written, Produced, Edited and starring his brother James Franco, his mother Betsy and Michael Shannon and made by James as part of his film-making thesis for New York University. 'Fright Night' - the remake of the 1985 film of the same name also starred Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Toni Collette and Imogen Poots and received critical acclaim and the recovery of its budget. Comedy horror 'Bad Meat' saw out 2011.

The Dave Franco penned short film 'Would You' also starred his mother Betsy and once again Christopher Mintz-Plasse. 2012 also saw '21 Jump Street' with Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube, and Brie Larson - he would reprise his role in the 2014 sequel, '22 Jump Street' albeit uncredited, together with a bunch of other uncredited appearances by Seth Rogen, Bill Hader, Anna Faris and Queen Latifah. The 2013 ZomRomCom 'Warm Bodies' with Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer and John Malkovich did well critically and commercially in which he also starred.


This gave way to his first turn as Jack Wilder - one of the Four Horsemen, in 'Now You See Me' opposite Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Isla Fisher. Although the film received mixed Reviews, it made US$352M from its US$75M budget outlay and spawned a very recently released sequel 'Now You See Me : The Second Act' in which Franco reprises his role. 'NYSM 3' has already been announced, and was so as early as a year ago already. The 2014 'Lego Movie' starred an ensemble voice cast that included Franco in a voice cameo, with a sequel in the works too for a May 2018 release date given the critical acclaim and the US$470M haul it took. 'Bad Neighbours' followed with Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, Rose Byrne and regular running mate Christopher Mintz-Plasse which again on the strength of its US$271M Box Office take spawned a sequel earlier this year for which Franco also reprised his role. So far the Box Office receipts for the second instalment 'Bad Neighbours 2 : Sorority Rising' stands so far at just US$91M.

Last year there was 'Unfinished Business' with Vince Vaughn, Tom Wilkinson, Nick Frost and Sienna Miller which tanked commercially and critically. In the meantime there were television series appearances on 'Young Justice' and 'Other Space' and the upcoming Netflix comedy series 'Easy'. There have also been multiple videos on the comedy video website 'Funny or Die' in which Franco has starred, Written and/or Directed.





Next up is 'Zeroville' Directed by brother James and also starring brother James with Seth Rogen, Will Ferrell and Megan Fox it tells the story of a late 60's Hollywood and the change the film industry was going through at that time. Franco here plays screen legend Montgomery Clift. Also Directed by James Franco and to follow up is 'The Masterpiece' with Zac Efron (again), Seth Rogen (again), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (again), Bryan Cranston, Josh Hutchinson, Alison Brie and Sharon Stone that looks behind the scenes of the making of that cult film for all the wrong reasons - 'The Room' in 2003. Then there is 'Nerve' with Juliette Lewis and Emma Roberts and 'The Little Hours' for 2017 with Alison Brie and John C. Reilly.

All up Franco has 41 Acting credits, eight Writer credits, three as Producer and one as Director. He has three award wins and one other nomination. He has been engaged to Actress and occasional Co-Star Alison Brie since August 2015.

Dave Franco - younger brother to multi-talented James Franco but determined not to be overshadowed by him and to carve out his own career in the movie business; good buddies and frequent collaborator on screen and off it with Christopher Mintz-Plasse; describes himself as small & shifty, a cat person and the proud owner of two, tough critically on himself and not comedic. With that determination, those credentials and your track record to date things will undoubtedly continue on the up for you. Happy Birthday Dave, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 12th - 18th April 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Seth Rogen does on 15th April - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 33, 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 12th April

• Saoirse Ronan - Born 1994, turns 21 - Actress
• Claire Danes - Born 1979, turns 26 - Actress | Producer
• Shannen Doherty - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actress | Producer | Director
• Andy Garcia - Born 1956, turns 59 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Ed O'Neill - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actor

Monday 13th April

• Ron Perlman - Born 1950, turns 65 - Actor | Producer
• Paul Sorvino - Born 1939, turns 76 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Edward Fox - Born 1937, turns 78 - Actor
• Peter Davison - Born 1951, turns 64 - Actor

Tuesday 14th April

• Robert Carlyle - Born 1961, turns 54 - Actor | Director
• Adrien Brody - Born 1973, turns 42 - Actor | Producer
• Peter Capaldi - Born 1958, turns 57 - Actor | Writer | Director
• Julie Christie - Born1941, turns 74 - Actress
• Sarah Michelle Gellar - Born 1977, turns 38 - Actress | Writer
• Abigal Breslin - Born 1996, turns 19 - Actress

Wednesday 15th April

• Emma Watson - Born 1990, turns 25 - Actress
• Emma Thompson - Born 1959, turns 56 - Actress | Director | Singer
• Claudia Cardinale - Born 1938, turns 77 - Actress
• Luke Evans - Born 1979, turns 36 - Actor
• Seth Rogen - Born 1982, turns 33 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director

Thursday 16th April

• Martin Lawrence - Born 1965, turns 50 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Lukas Haas - Born 1976, turns 39 - Actor
• Ellen Barkin - Born 1954, turns 61 - Actress | Producer

Friday 17th April

• Rooney Mara - Born 1985, turns 30 - Actress | Producer
• Jennifer Garner - Born 1972, turns 43 - Actress | Producer
• Olivia Hussey - Born 1951, turns 64 - Actress
• Sean Bean - Born 1959, turns 56 - Actor

Saturday 18th April

• David Tennant - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actor
• Eli Roth - Born 1972, turns 43 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Eric Roberts - Born 1956, turns 59 - Actor
• James Woods - Born 1947, turns 68 - Actor | Producer
• Rick Moranis - Born 1953, turns 62 - Actor | Writer | Producer
• Edgar Wright - Born1974, turns 41 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Hayley Mills - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actress
• America Ferrera - Born 1984, turns 31 - Actress | Producer

Seth Andrew Rogen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to mother Sandy Belogus, a social worker and father Mark Rogen - a not-for-profit worker often in more senior managerial and executive positions.  He attended Vancouver Talmud Torah Elementary School and then Point Grey Secondary School, although he did not graduate and instead move to Los Angeles. He was never interested in pursuing a 'proper' career instead he just wanted to make people laugh and chase a life as a comedian or a writer or a combination of the two.

He got his first exposure to the world of show business at the age of 12 when he enrolled in a comedy workshop and during his teenage years often performed stand-up routines at parties , bar-mitzvahs, and then graduating to bars & clubs.  At age 13 he wrote and early draft of 'Superbad' with his young friend and future collaborator Evan Goldberg, and during their time at school together they progressively polished up and fine tuned the script eventually releasing it as a movie in 2007.

At age 16 Rogen was already winning awards for his stand-up comedy routines - including the Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest, and at about this time his Dad lost his job, his Mum quit hers, the house went on the market and overnight he became the main household bread winner. By now he had secured a role on Judd Apatow's acclaimed 'Freaks and Geeks' in 1999 and although the show was short lived it did enable him to hone his comedic skills and his improvisational abilities which he continues to use to great effect in many of his shows and films.

After 'Freaks and Geeks' folded there was a period when Rogen struggled to get traction in his career, landing roles in 2001's 'Donny Darko' and then the TV Series  'Undeclared' running from 2001-2003. In 2003 he secured a writing role on the US version of 'Ali G in da USA' with his friend and writing colleague Evan Goldberg and for their efforts they received an Emmy Award nomination and the chance to work with Baron Cohen. The next year in 2004 he secured a spot on 'Anchorman : The Legend of Ron Burgundy' and then a year later on Judd Apatow's Directorial debut with 'The 40 Year Old Virgin'.

 It was however, 2007's 'Knocked Up' that was to prove his break through. Playing the leading man opposite Katherine Heigl this US$30M film garnered critical and commercial success raking in US$220M at the global Box Office. His own co-written 'Superbad' followed with Rogen taking a supporting role to Apatow's Producer credit. 2008 was a year of voice work with Rogen lending his vocal talents to 'The Spiderwick Chronicles', 'Horton Hears a Who' and then the hugely successful 'Kung Fu Panda'. That same year was released 'Step Brothers', 'Pineapple Express' (Written and Produced by him too) and 'Zack & Miri make a Porno'.

In 2009 'Observe and Report', 'Fanboys' and 'Funny People' put Rogen in front of the camera again, with more voice work on 'Monsters vs. Aliens' that same year. 'The Green Hornet' was released in 2010 after years in development with Rogen acting as Writer, Producer and lead Actor with a production budget of US$120M. Although the film was not a critical success it did rake in US$225M and opened at #1 at the Box Office.

'Kung Fu Panda 2' came in 2011 to which Rogen gave his voice talents again to the character 'Mantis' and then 'Take this Waltz' and '50/50'  that year too. The next year saw 'The Guilt Trip' with Barbra Streisand, some TV work on 'Eastbound & Down', 'The Mindy Project', 'Arrested Development' before 'This is the End' in 2013 which once again he wrote and Produced too and which starred many of his movie buddies from over the years - James Franco, Jonah Hill, Danny McBride, and Jay Baruchel. 'Bad Neighbours' came next in 2014, an uncredited role on '22 Jump Street', 'The Sound and the Fury' and then the much hyped controversial 'The Interview' with James Franco once again and which Rogen also took Writing, Producer and Director credits. In the meantime there was more TV work with the likes of 'The League', 'The Comeback', 'Saturday Night Live' and the 'Kroll Show'.

Coming up Rogen is working with Evan Goldberg on a screen adaptation of the book 'Console Wars : Sega, Nintendo and the Battle that Defined a Generation', as well 'Zeroville', 'Kung Fu Panda 3' and an as yet untitled 'Christmas Eve Project' - with the latter three currently in post-production. Filming there is 'B.O.O. : Bureau of Otherworldly Operations', 'Steve Jobs' in which Rogen plays Steve Wozniak,  and 'Sausage Party' due for release later in 2015 and 2016.

So far Rogen has 69 acting credits to his name, sixteen Writer credits, eighteen as Producer and three as Director. He has eight award wins and 24 other nominations. In 2011 Rogen married his long term girlfriend of seven years Lauren Miller who has starred in a number of his films too. He is active in speaking out about Alzheimer's Disease and raising awareness of it given that his wife's mother is a sufferer and he can speak therefore from first hand experience. He is a member of 'NORML' (National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws') and an open user.

Seth Rogen - talented movie multi-tasker; often plays unshaven, unkempt man child characters; can play it straight but more often finds himself in comedic situations that start out straight; collaborates often on screen and off it with his own Frat-Pack with whom he has risen through the ranks; and keeps his humour grounded and real and has been very successful in the process - Happy Birthday to you Seth from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-