Birthday's to share this week : 27th August - 2nd September 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Cameron Diaz does on 30th August - check out my tribute to this Birthday Girl 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 27th August

• Tuesday Weld - Born 1943, turns 74 - Actress
• Barbara Bach - Born 1947, turns 70 - Actress
• Peter Stormare - Born 1953, turns 64 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Tom Ford - Born 1961, turns 56 - Director | Writer | Producer
• Dean Devlin - Born 1962, turns 55 - Producer | Writer | Director | Actor
• Aaron Paul - Born 1979, turns 38 - Actor | Producer
• Ellar Coltrane - Born 1994, turns 23 - Actor | Producer  

Monday 28th August

• David Soul - Born 1943, turns 74 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Singer | Songwriter
• Luis Guzman - Born 1956, turns 61 - Actor | Producer
• Daniel Stern - Born 1957, turns 60 - Actor | Director | Producer
• David Fincher - Born 1962, turns 55 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Billy Boyd - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actor | Singer | Songwriter
• Jack Black - Born 1969, turns 48 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer | Songwriter | Composer
• Jason Priestley - Bron 1969, turns 48 - Actor | Director | Producer 
• Armie Hammer - Born 1986, turns 31 - Actor   

Tuesday 29th August

• William Friedkin - Born 1935, turns 82 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Elliott Gould - Born 1938, turns 79 - Actor | Producer
• Joel Schumacher - Born 1939, turns 78 - Director | Writer | Producer 
• Lenny Henry - Born 1958, turns 59 - Actor | Writer | Television Personality
• Rebecca De Mornay - Born 1959, turns 58 - Actress | Producer | Singer

Wednesday 30th August

• Cameron Diaz - Born 1972, turns 45 - Actress | Producer | Singer
• Timothy Bottoms - Born 1951, turns 66 - Actor 
• Michael Chiklis - Born 1963, turns 54 - Actor | Producer | Director   

Thursday 31st August

• Jack Thompson - Born 1940, turns 77 - Actor | Producer
• Richard Gere - Born 1949, turns 68 - Actor | Producer | Singer | Songwriter
• Jonathan LaPaglia - Born 1969, turns 48 - Actor | Producer | Television Personality
• Chris Tucker - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actor 
• Marc Webb - Born 1974, turns 43 - Director | Producer | Writer   

Friday 1st September

• Craig McLachlan - Born 1965, turns 52 - Actor | Producer | Singer | Songwriter
• Boyd Holbrook - Born 1981, turns 36 - Actor 
• Lily Tomlin - Born 1939, turns 78 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Singer  

Saturday 2nd September

• Salma Hayek - Born 1966, turns 51 - Actress | Producer | Singer
• Mark Harmon - Born 1951, turns 66 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Keith Allen - Born 1953, turns 64 - Actor | Director | Writer | Singer | Songwriter
• Keanu Reeves - Born 1964, turns 53 - Actor | Producer | Director  

Cameron Michelle Diaz was born in San Diego, California, USA to mother Billie Early, an import/export Agent and father Emilio Diaz who worked for a Californian based oil and exploration company as a Foreman. Cameron grew up with her older sister Chimene, in Long Beach, California and attended Los Cerritos Elementary School and then Long Beach Polytechnic High School. At the age of sixteen, Diaz began her career as a fashion model, and was contracted to Elite Model Management and in the ensuing months travelled the world on promotional work for the likes of Levi Jeans, Calvin Klein and Coca-Cola, shooting a commercial for the latter in Sydney in 1991. She featured on the front cover of 'Seventeen' magazine in the meantime.

On the recommendation of an Agent working for Elite Model Management, Diaz was cast in the feature film 'The Mask' even though she had hitherto no acting experience whatsoever. The would-be Actress, aged 21 at the time, auditioned twelve times for the role and was cast one week before shooting began. Upon being cast, she immediately took up acting lessons. The superhero fantasy comedy film starring Jim Carrey in the lead role, made US$352M off the back of a US$23M production budget and was nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, three BAFTA's amongst its six award wins and twenty nods. The film launched Diaz as a bona fide Actress and sex symbol almost overnight in 1994.

The following year saw 'The Last Supper' with Bill Paxton, Ron Perlman and Courtney B. Vance; then the Edward Burns Written, Directed and starring 'She's The One' also with Jennifer Aniston; then 'Feeling Minnesota' with Keanu Reeves, Vincent D'Onofrio and Dan Aykroyd. 'Head Above Water' followed with Harvey Keitel and Billy Zane; then 'Keys to Tulsa' with James Spader, James Coburn and Eric Stoltz; before Danny Boyle's 'A Life Less Ordinary' with Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci and Holly Hunter. This was followed up by 'My Best Friend's Wedding' as Directed by P.J. Hogan and also starring Julia Roberts, Dermot Mulroney and Rupert Everett. This film cost US$38M to make and brought in US$300M, was nominated for an Academy Award, three Golden Globes and a BAFTA from its total haul of twelve award wins and 23 total nominations, and is considered in various quarters as one of the best RomCom's of all time. 

1998 saw Terry Gilliam's big screen adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's book 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' opposite Johnny Depp, Tobey Maguire and Benicio Del Toro; then Peter Berg's 'Very Bad Things' with Christian Slater, Daniel Stern and Jon Favreau; 'Welcome to Hollywood'; and then RomCom 'There's Something About Mary' Directed by Peter and Bobby Farrelly with Diaz in the title role as Mary Jensen with Ben Stiller Matt Dillon and Lee Evans. The film cost US$23M and raked in US$370M, it picked up seventeen award wins and seventeen nominations in total including several for Diaz for Best Performance by an Actress, and it appeared on numerous Top Films of 1998 lists. Spike Jonze 'Being John Malkovich' followed in 1999 with John Cusack, Catherine Keener and . . .  John Malkovich to much critical praise picking up three Academy Award nominations, four Golden Globe nods, two BAFTA nominations and a win, and three SAG nominations from its total tally of 48 wins and 78 nods. The decade closed out with Oliver Stone's gridiron offering 'Any Given Sunday' with Al Pacino, James Woods, Dennis Quaid and Jamie Foxx.

The new decade launched with the big screen adaptation of the popular television series 'Charlie's Angels' which ran for five seasons of 110 episodes between 1976 and 1981. Diaz teamed up with Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu as the three women working in a private detective agency in Los Angeles. Directed by McG the film cost US$90M to bring to the big screen and it grossed US$264M and co-starred Bill Murray, Sam Rockwell, Tim Curry and Matt LeBlanc. These factors were enough to spawn a sequel which saw McG return to the Director's chair, the three girls reprising their roles, and an all star cast joining the fray in 'Charlie's Angels : Full Throttle' in 2003 including Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, Shia Labeouf, John Cleese, Robert Patrick, Robert Forster, Rodrigo Santoro and Justin Theroux. This second instalment cost US$120M and returned US$259M. It seems that a reboot film is in production, due for release in 2019.

After 'The Invisible Circus' in 2001, Diaz lent her voice talents to the Dreamworks animated feature film 'Shrek' as Princess Fiona alongside Mike Myers (voicing Shrek), Eddie Murphy, John Lithgow and Vincent Cassel. The film cost US$60M and brought home US$485M, for which Diaz was paid a cool US$10M. The film picked up the Best Animated Feature Film Award at the Academy Awards amongst its haul of 37 total wins and a further sixty nominations. Needless to say, this success saw several sequels - the thirteen minute short film in 2003 'Shrek 4-D', ten minute short film 'Far Far Away Idol' in 2004 before 'Shrek 2' that same year, then 'Shrek the Third' in 2007, then the 21 minute short film 'Shrek the Halls' also in 2007, followed by 'Shrek Forever After' in 2010, then the 26 minute short film 'Scared Shrekless' in 2010 and the eight minute short 'Donkey's Christmas Shrektacular' too in 2010, and closing out in 2012 with the 31 minute 'Shrek's Thrilling Tales'. Diaz reprised her voice work on all of these films, as did the principal cast. The four feature length films in the series cost a combined US$535M and raked in between them a cool US$2.96B making them the second highest grossing animated franchise in the history of cinema so far. A fifth feature length film in the series is slated for release in 2019 or 2020.

In between all these 'Shrek' outings were Cameron Crowe's 'Vanilla Sky' with Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz, 'Slackers', 'The Sweetest Thing', and then the highly acclaimed Martin Scorsese historical crime drama 'Gangs of New York' with Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day Lewis, Liam Neeson, Jim Broadbent, Brendan Gleeson, and John C. Reilly. The film was critically acclaimed being nominated for ten Academy Awards, five Golden Globes of which it won two, twelve BAFTA Awards of which it won one, and a SAG win, amongst its total award claim of fifty wins and 134 other nominations. Curtis Hanson's 'In Her Shoes' with Toni Collette; 'The Holiday' with Kate Winslet and Jude Law; 'What Happens in Vegas' with Ashton Kutcher; drama 'My Sister's Keeper' with Abigail Breslin and Alec Baldwin; and 'The Box' with James Marsden and Frank Langella closed out 2009.

2010 launched with the action comedy romance offering from Director James Mangold, 'Knight and Day' with Tom Cruise; followed up by action comedy crime offering 'The Green Hornet' Directed by Michel Gondry with Seth Rogen in the title role and Christoph Waltz. Comedy feature 'Bad Teacher' with Jason Segel and Justin Timberlake, then 'What to Expect When You're Expecting' and then comedy crime caper 'Gambit' with Colin Firth and Alan Rickman.



2013 saw Diaz star in the Cormac McCarthy adaptation of 'The Counsellor' as Directed by Ridley Scott and also starring Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz. Here Diaz plays against type in a role the like of which you have never seen her before play and will make you think very differently about her on-screen persona.

2014 saw a return to familiar territory with RomCom 'The Other Woman' with Leslie Mann, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Don Johnson; and then RomCom 'Sex Tape' with Jason Segel; and then family comedy drama in this remake of 'Annie' with Jamie Foxx, Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale. This brings us up to date so far in terms of television and film output, with nothing published as being in the works.

All up Diaz has 57 Acting credits to her name and two as Producer, on the short lived documentary series from 2005 'Trippin' and the 2014 television series spin-off from the feature film 'Bad Teacher' across one season so far of thirteen episodes. She has so far amassed 29 award wins and a further 82 nominations including four Golden Globe nods, one BAFTA nomination, and three SAG nominations. In 2013 Diaz published a health book which made it to #2 on the New York Times Best Seller List - 'The Body Book : Feed, Move, Understand and Love Your Amazing Body' and in 2016 she released 'The Longevity Book : The Science of Ageing, the Biology of Strength and the Privilege of Time'.

Diaz has in the past been romantically linked to Matt Dillon, Justin Timberlake, Jared Leto, baseball star Alex Rodriguez, and British model, television and film Actor Paul Sculfor, but, in early January 2015, she tied the knot with Benji Madden, of 'Good Charlotte' and 'The Madden Brothers' fame, after a seventeen day engagement. Diaz is well known for her environmental activism and worked with Al Gore in promoting his 'Live Earth' campaign helping to raise awareness on climate change. She has also involved herself with the 'Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America', and has been a spokesperson for military families. She also practises Transcendental Meditation which she says allows her to recharge her battery within herself.

Cameron Diaz - has been voted on numerous 'Top Lists' over the years including Sexiest Female Movie Star, Most Beautiful People in the World, Sexiest Stars in Film History and the Hot 100 and multiple times over successive years; became only the second Actress to join the $20M Club after signing on for that pay cheque to do 'Charlie's Angels : Full Throttle' in 2003 - the first was Julia Roberts; her films have grossed over US$3.5B making her the highest grossing Actress of all time; has a reputation for starring in RomCom's but occasionally breaks out of the frame with a stunning dramatic performance; is renowned for being late, allegedly only washes her face using Evian Mineral Water, and doesn't wear deodorant; and possesses an infectious smile, is naturally blonde with blue eyes. Cameron Diaz - ageing gracefully, keeping us entertained with a strong back catalogue, and currently 'on leave' from Hollywood films and television - we await your return with eager anticipation. In the meantime, Happy Birthday to you Cameron, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 19th March - 25th March 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Edgar Ramirez does on 25th March - check out my tribute to this Birthday Lad turning 40, 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 19th March

• Ursula Andress - Born 1936, turns 81 - Actress
• Glenn Close - Born 1947, turns 70 - Actress | Producer | Singer
• Harvey Weinstein - Born 1952, turns 65 - Producer | Director | Writer
• Bruce Willis - Born 1955, turns 62 - Actor | Producer | Singer  

Monday 20th March

• Carl Reiner - Born 1922, turns 95 - Director | Producer | Actor | Writer
• William Hurt - Born 1950, turns 67 - Actor
• Spike Lee - Born 1957, turns 60 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• David Thewlis - Born 1963, turns 54 - Actor | Writer | Director
• Michael Rappaport - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Holly Hunter - Born 1958, turns 59 - Actress | Producer
• Ruby Rose - Born 1986, turns 31 - Actress

Tuesday 21st March

• Rosie O'Donnell - Born 1962, turns 55 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Singer
• Timothy Dalton - Born 1946, turns 71 - Actor
• Gary Oldman - Born 1958, turns 59 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Matthew Broderick - Born 1962, turns 55 - Actor | Producer | Director | Singer
• Scott Eastwood - Born 1986, turns 31 - Actor | Producer  

Wednesday 22nd March

• William Shatner - Born 1931, turns 86 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Singer
• M. Emmet Walsh - Born 1935, turns 82 - Actor
• Bruno Ganz - Born 1941, turns 76 - Actor
• Matthew Modine - Born 1959, turns 58 - Actor | Producer | Director | Cinematographer
• Reese Witherspoon - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actress | Producer | Singer   

Thursday 23rd March

• Amanda Plummer - Born 1957, turns 60 - Actress
• Catherine Keener - Born 1959, turns 58 - Actress | Producer
• Michelle Monaghan - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actress | Producer
• Jaume Collet-Serra - Born 1974, turns 43 - Director | Producer
• Daniel Espinosa - Born 1977, turns 40 - Director | Producer | Writer  

Friday 24th March

• Patrick Malahide - Born 1945, turns 72 - Actor | Writer
• Jim Parsons - Born 1973, turns 44 - Actor | Producer
• Kelly LeBrock - Born 1960, turns 57 - Actress
• Lara Flynn Boyle - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actress | Producer
• Jessica Chastain - Born 1977, turns 40 - Actress | Producer
• Keisha Castle-Hughes - Born 1990, turns 27 - Actress 

Saturday 25th March

• Sarah Jessica Parker - Born 1965, turns 52 - Actress | Producer | Singer 
• Paul Michael Glaser - Born 1943, turns 74 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Edgar Ramirez - Born 1977, turns 40 - Actor | Producer
• Lee Pace - Born 1979, turns 38 - Actor

Edgar Filiberto Ramirez Arellano was born in San Cristobal, Tachira, Venezuela, South America to mother Soday Arellano, a lawyer, and father Filbert Ramirez, an officer in the military service. He graduated from the Andres Bello Catholic University - a private and one of the largest universities in Venezuela, with its main campus in Caracas, in 1999 with a degree in mass communication. He had intended to pursue a career in international relations, and whilst at university he worked as a would-be journalist, reporting mainly on politics. He then became an Executive Director of 'Dale al Voto' - a foundation in Venezuela set up to engage and build the political understanding and reach of young people. For this, Ramirez and his team created campaigns that would appear on radio, television and in cinema. He also took charge of international promotions for the Viart Film Festival - a short film festival held in Caracas open to all students from Spanish speaking countries. Around about that time, Screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga was invited to attend the Viart Film Festival, and he saw Ramirez work in a short film being presented. He was so impressed that he offered Ramirez the chance to audition for 'Amores Perros' which he declined. The film Directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu went on to international acclaim. Hindsight is a wonderful thing! At this point Ramirez decided to reignite his interest in an acting career.

During the '90's Ramirez appeared sporadically in a number of television and film roles locally in Venezuela - kicking off with short lived television series 'Cuando Ilega el amor' in 1990, then 'Aqui esp-p-pantan', a horror fantasy comedy from 1993 involving ghosts terrorising a young couple who have recently moved into their house, and this was followed up in 1999 by '. . . sol y lluvia' about a young Venezuelan woman's dreams and aspirations of becoming Miss Venezuela. 2002 saw 'Plan B' a Venezuelan action crime drama in which Ramirez gained his first lead role. In 2003 he followed this up with a string of appearances on the romantic drama telenovela 'Cosita Rica' which ran from 2003 through 2004 for a total 270 episodes. In 2003 there was also Christmas drama 'Yotama se va volando', and then 'A Dot and a Line' the following year,

2005 saw Ramirez break into the Hollywood scene with his appearance in Tony Scott's 'Domino' inspired by the bounty hunting exploits of Domino Harvey, with Keira Knightley in the lead role, with Mickey Rourke, Delroy Lindo, Lucy Liu, Christopher Walken, Jacqueline Bisset, Mo'Nique and Ramirez as Choco - Domino's love interest. In 2006 he appeared in action crime offering 'El Don' and then Mexican film 'Elipsis' with Ramirez in the lead role once more.




The following year saw Ramirez appear alongside Matt Damon in the hugely successful Jason Bourne series in 'The Bourne Ultimatum', Directed by Paul Greengrass, in the role of Paz, a Blackbriar assassin, and later that same year in 'Cyrano Fernandez' in the lead role in this romantic action drama offering loosely based on the French play 'Cyrano de Bergerac'. The year after, 2008, he appeared in Steven Soderbergh's 'Che' - the biopic of the Argentine Marxist revolutionary Ernesto 'Che' Guevara with Benicio del Toro in the title role, and Ramirez appearing with an all star cast as Ciro Redondo (a Cuban revolutionary who fought amongst Ché Guevara). 'Vantage Point' followed that same year with again an all star cast including William Hurt, Matthew Fox, Forest Whittaker, Dennis Quaid and Sigourney Weaver, with Ramirez cast as Javier, an ex-special forces soldier forced to kidnap the American President in order to get his brother back.

Ramirez saw the decade out with his turn as 'Carlos' about the life of the 1970's Venezuelan revolutionary Carlos the Jackal (Ilich Ramírez Sánchez), covering his first series of attacks in 1973 until his arrest in 1994. This highly acclaimed three part mini-series which ran out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010 for its full five and half hour run time, garnered many award wins and nominations along the way, including Best Actor Golden Globe, Primetime Emmy, and SAG nods for Ramirez and multiple wins too, including France's Cesar Award for Most Promising Actor.

Up next in 2011 was Colombian vengeance action drama 'Greetings to the Devil', followed by the sequel to 2010's 'Clash of the Titans' with 'Wrath of the Titans' in which Ramirez plays Ares, the God of War, alongside Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Toby Kebbel, Bill Nighy and Rosamund Pike. French film 'An Open Heart' was next in 2012 with Juliette Binoche, before his turn in Kathryn Bigelow's multiple award winning 'Zero Dark Thirty' with Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Mark Strong and James Gandolfini.

2013 saw Ramirez star in Venezuelan historical biopic 'The Liberator' - the story of Simon Bolivar as portrayed by Ramirez, who fought in over one hundred battles against the Spanish Empire in South America, rode over seventy thousand miles on horseback in the process and his military campaigns covered twice the territory of Alexander the Great. He never once conquered in battle, instead, he liberated, believing in freedom for all! Working with Director Ridley Scott came next in 'The Counsellor' with Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem, Brad Pitt, Bruno Ganz, Cameron Diaz and Penelope Cruz, and then 'Deliver Us from Evil' for Director Scott Derrickson with Eric Bana playing real life New York Police Officer Ralph Sarchie investigating a number of paranormal crimes who joins forces with Ramirez Mendoza character - a somewhat unconventional Priest versed in the way of exorcism and demonic possession.

Extreme sport crime drama actioner remake of the classic Kathryn Bigelow 'Point Break' opened 2016, with Ramirez playing the Bodhi character previously portrayed by Patrick Swayze, with Luke Bracey playing Johnny Utah as played by a young Keanu Reeves back in 1991. The film received less that favourable Reviews generally and made US$134M from its US$105M budget outlay. David O'Russell's biographical dramedy 'Joy' followed with Jennifer Lawrence as Joy Mangano the inventor of the miracle mop, Robert De Niro and Bradley Cooper with Ramirez playing Tony Miranne, Joy's ex-husband.

'Hands of Stone' was released last year with Ramirez playing Panamanian former professional boxer Roberto Duran. The film received a fifteen minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival last year, but this and Robert De Niro, John Turturro, Usher and Ellen Barkin also starring wasn't enough to save it from mixed critical Reviews and poor Box Office taking back just a quarter of its US$20M budget. Also last year came 'The Girl on the Train' with Emily Blunt and most recently 'Gold' with Matthew McConaughey bringing us up to date.



Next up for Ramirez is Sci-Fi crime fantasy 'Bright' for Director David Ayer and with Will Smith, Joel Edgerton and Noomi Rapace due later this year, then 'Love Child' for Director Todd Solondz with Penelope Cruz, and then television true crime series 'American Crime Story' with Ramirez set to play Gianni Versace in Season Three. Recently announced for 2018 is the pilot season for 'Black or White, Never Grey' running over thirteen episodes of the crime drama offering set in 1989.

Ramirez supports the 'Don't Shoot' campaign for Amnesty International which strives to eliminate the number of injuries and deaths caused by the irresponsible use of guns. He also took part in '5 Senses of Action' - an organisation which benefits children with special needs, and he has acted as the United Nations Children's Fund Goodwill Ambassador in the past too. All up Ramirez has 34 acting credits to his name and five as Producer. He has eleven award wins and a further ten nominations including Golden Globe, Primetime Emmy and SAG nods for 'Carlos'.

Edgar Ramirez - fluent in five languages - Spanish, English, French, Italian and German; had his US$150K watch collection stolen from his home in Caracas; has a deep fascination with human nature and all its virtues and flaws; is disciplined, structured, organised; believes in God, kindness and love; and is able to channel his personal feelings and beliefs into the roles he portrays with a convincing realism. Happy 40th Birthday to you Edgar, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 29th March - 4th April 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Michael Fassbender does on 2nd April - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 38, at the end of this feature.

Do you also share your birthday with a well known, highly regarded & famous Actor or Actress; share your special day with a Director, Producer, Writer, Cinematographer, Singer/Songwriter or Composer of repute; or 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 29th March

• Elle Macpherson - Born1964, turns 51 - Actress | Producer | Supermodel
• Lucy Lawless - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actress
• Brendan Gleeson - Born 1955, turns 60 - Actor
• Christopher Lambert - Born 1957, turns 51 - Actor | Producer
• Michael Winterbottom - Born 1961, turns 54 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Eric Idle - Born 1943, turns 72 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Comedian | Singer | Songwriter

Monday 30th March

• Warren Beatty - Born 1937, turns 78 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Robbie Coltrane - Born 1950, turns 65 - Actor | Writer
• Paul Reiser - Born 1957, turns 58 - Actor  | Producer | Writer
• Richard Dysart - Born 1929, turns 86 - Actor

Tuesday 31st March 

• Ewen McGregor - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Christopher Walken - Born 1943, turns 72 - Actor
• Richard Chamberlain - Born 1934, turns 81 - Actor
• Paul Mercurio - Born 1963, turns 52 - Actor
• Howard Gordon - Born 1961, turns 54 - Producer | Writer

Wednesday 1st April

• David Oyelowo - Born 1976, turns 39 - Actor | Producer
• Barry Sonnenfeld - Born 1953, turns 62 - Director | Producer | Actor | Cinematographer
• Asa Butterfield - Born 1997, turns 18 - Actor
• Ali McGraw - Born 1939, turns 76 - Actress

Thursday 2nd April

• Linda Hunt - Born 1945, turns 70 - Actress
• Christopher Meloni - Born 1961, turns 54 - Actor
• Michael Fassbender - Born 1977, turns 38 - Actor | Producer

Friday 3rd April

• Eddie Murphy - Born 1961, turns 54 - Actor | Producer | Director | Comedian | Singer
• Alec Baldwin - Born 1958, turns 57 - Actor | Producer
• Ben Mendelsohn - Born 1969, turns 46 - Actor

Saturday 4th April 

• Robert Downey Jnr. - Born 1965, turns 50 - Actor | Producer
• Hugo Weaving - Born 1960, turns 55 - Actor | Producer
• Barry Pepper - Born 1970, turns 45 - Actor | Producer
• Craig T. Nelson - Born 1944, turns 71 - Actor | Producer
• David E. Kelley - Born 1956, turns 59 - Writer | Producer

Michael Fassbender was born in Heidelberg, Germany to mother Adele from Larne, County Antrim, in Northern Ireland originally, and father Josef, a German. At the age of two the family moved to Killarney in County Kerry where his parents operated 'The West End House' - a restaurant where Josef worked as a Chef. He has an older sister Catherine, with whom he spent many a Summer Holiday in Germany where he learned to speak the language fluently. In Killarney he attended the Fossa National School and then St. Brendan's College - a Catholic School for boys. At 17 he discovered his love for acting in a school play, and at 19 he relocated himself to London to study at The Drama Centre where he subsequently dropped out in 1999 and toured instead with the Oxford Stage Company. 

As a budding young Actor, like many before him, he supported himself initially by working jobs such as bartending and delivering the post while auditioning for screen roles. His first screen role came in the acclaimed Tom Hanks/Steven Spielberg Co-Production 'Band of Brothers' before going on to 'Hex' for Sky One Television. In late 2003 he starred in a radio serialisation of 'Dracula' and in 2006 starred in a stage production of Quentin Tarantino's 'Reservoir Dogs' which he also Produced and Directed.

His first big screen role came in 2006 in the heavily stylised but lauded fantasy action sword & sandal drama '300' as Directed by Zack Snyder. Next up in 2008 he played the infamous Irish Prisoner on hunger strike, Bobby Sands, in 'Hunger' for Director Steve McQueen - a role for which he slimmed down dramatically on a 600 calorie a day diet. Next up came his role as a British Officer in Quentin Tarantino's 'Inglorious Basterds' in 2009 and then 'Fish Tank' that same year - both well received and applauded for his performances. Less so however, was 'Blood Creek' also in 2009 and Directed by Joel Schumacher.

A comic book adaptation came next in 2010 with 'Jonah Hex' starring Josh Brolin, John Malkovich and Will Arnett and with such a strong cast it should have done better, but it did nothing to ignite the critics or the Box Office. Following this was the war torn bloody Roman era slaughter fest  'Centurion', and then the complete polar opposite alongside Mia Wasikowska in 2011's 'Jane Eyre' adaptation.

Returning to comic book fare but this time with much more success, came 'X-Men : First Class' in 2011 playing the young Magneto of 1962 era. That year he also worked with David Cronenberg playing Dr. Carl Jung in 'A Dangerous Method'. Closing out the year with his second collaboration with Steve McQueen in 'Shame' for which he gained much critical acclaim with nominations from the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, the BAFTA's and more.

In 2012 he worked with Steven Soderbergh on 'Haywire' and then Ridley Scott on 'Prometheus' as android David. The following year he reteamed with Scott on 'The Counselor', and thereafter on his third outing with Steve McQueen on the award winning '12 Years a Slave' which garnered him further critical acclaim and awards nominations.








2014 brought 'Frank' and 'X-Men : Days of Future Past' in which he reprised his role as Magneto, the younger. Next up this year is 'Slow West' with 'Trespass Against Us', 'The Light Between Oceans' and 'Macbeth' currently in post-productions for a later in 2015 release, as is an as yet untitled Terrence Malick production based around the country music scene that has a huge all star cast! He plays too the lead role of Steve Jobs in the Danny Boyle film 'Steve Jobs' currently filming, and then Magneto for a third time in 'X-Men : Apocalypse' and 'Assassins Creed' due for release in 2016, as is the recently announced 'Prometheus 2' which will see him playing the android David once more.

Fassbender has 48 acting credits to his name and four Producer credits. He has 66 award wins and another 68 nominations which all up include the Best Supporting Actor nomination at the Academy Awards for '12 Years a Slave', two Golden Globe nominations for '12 Years a Slave' and 'Shame' and the BAFTA nomination for '12 Years a Slave' and 'Shame' also.


Michael Fassbender - just 38 years of age, on the big screen for just ten years, but already a solid portfolio of films, much in demand, highly lauded and very watchable - Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 14th - 20th December 2014.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week? 

Brad Pitt does, on 18th 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 14th December

• Sophie Monk - Born 1979, turns 35 - Actress
• Rebecca Gibney - Born 1964, turns 50 - Actress

Monday 15th December

• Don Johnson - Born 1949, turns 65 - Actor | Producer
• Alex Cox - Born 1954, turns 60 - Actor | Director | Writer

Tuesday 16th December

• James Mangold - Born 1963, turns 51 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Ben Cross - Born 1947, turns 67 - Actor
• Shane Black - Born 1953, turns 53 - Producer | Writer | Director | Actor
• Benjamin Bratt - Born 1963, turns 51 - Actor | Producer
• Miranda Otta - Born 1967, turns 47 - Actress

Wednesday 17th December

• Milla Jojovich - Born 1975, turns 39 - Actress | Singer
• Giovanni Ribisi - Born 1974, turns 40 - Actor
• Bill Pullman - Born 1953, turns 61 - Actor
• Eugene Levy - Born 1946, turns 68 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director | Singer | Songwriter
• Bernard Hill - Born 1944, turns 780 - Actor
• Peter Farrelly - Born 1956, turns 58 - Writer | Producer | Director

Thursday 18th December

• Brad Pitt - Born 1963, turns 51 - Actor | Producer
• Steven Spielberg - Born 1946, turns 68 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Ray Liotta - Born 1954, turns 60 - Actor | Producer
• Casper Van Dien - Born 1968, turns 46 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Steve Austin - Born 1964m turns 50 - actor | Producer | WWF Wrestler
• Keith Richards - Born 1943, turns 71 - Singer | Songwriter | Producer | Actor
• Robson Green - 1964, turns 50 - Actor | Television Personality | Extreme Fisherman
• Rachel Griffith - Born 1968, turns 46 - Actress
• Katie Holmes - Born 1978, turns 36 - Actress | Producer

Friday 19th December

• Jennifer Beals - Born 1963, turns 51 - Actress
• Jake Gyllenhaal - Born 1980, turns 34 - Actor | Producer

Saturday 20th December 

• Jonah Hill - Born 1983, turns 31 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Todd Phillips - Born 1970, turns 44 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Jenny Agutter - Born 1952, turns 62 - Actress

William Bradley Pitt was born in Shawnee, Oklahoma and raised in Springfield, Missouri and is the eldest of brother Douglass and sister Julie. His mother, Jane Etta Hillhouse was a school counsellor, and father William Alvin Pitt was a trucking company manager. He attended Kickapoo High School where he was an active participant in golf, swimming, tennis and the school debating society. After graduating from school he attended the University of Missouri majoring in journalism and advertising. Two weeks before graduating he left to relocate to California, to Los Angeles where he took acting lessons and worked odd jobs to sustain himself. 

During his early career in Los Angeles toward the end of the 80's Pitt struggled to establish himself. In 1987 he had uncredited roles in 'No Way Out', 'No Mans Land' and 'Less Than Zero' as well as TV appearances in 'Another World', 'Growing Pains', 'Dallas' and '21 Jump Street'. His first leading film role came in 1988 in 'The Dark Side of the Sun' although the film was not released for another ten years - as being a Yugoslavian/US co-production it was mothballed due to the war in Croatia. In 1989 he had support roles in 'Happy Together' and 'Cutting Class', and a handful of other television appearances.

The early 90's brought TV Movie 'Too Young To Die' which gave him some acclaim followed by 'The Image' and 'Across The Tracks' in 1991 and six episodes of the short-lived 'Glory Days'. His breakout role though was in Ridley Scott's 'Thelma & Louise' opposite Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis in 1991 and charted him on a course as a bonafide sex symbol. That year came too 'Johnny Suede' and 'Cool World' the year after. Robert Redford cast him in 'A River Runs Through It' that was described by one critic as 'career defining'.

'Kalifornia' followed in 1993 and a small part in 'True Romance'. As the mid-90's approached so Pitt's career notched up to top gear with 'Interview with the Vampire' in 1994 and then 'Legends of the Fall' for which he garnered his first Golden Globe nomination. 1995 saw him team up with Morgan Freeman and Gwyneth Paltrow in David Fincher's 'Seven' which brought much critical and Box Office acclaim. That same year Terry Gilliam cast him with Bruce Willis in the SciFi '12 Monkeys' where he was lauded for his performance which in turn won him his first Golden Globe Award and his first Academy Award nomination.

In the latter half of the 90's there was 'Sleepers' with Kevin Bacon, Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman; then 'The Devil's Own' with Harrison Ford; then 'Seven Years in Tibet' with David Thewlis, and 'Meet Joe Black' with Anthony Hopkins. Closing out the decade he worked with David Fincher again on the now cult-classic 'Fight Club' with Edward Norton.

2000 saw Guy Ritchie's 'Snatch' in which Pitt almost steals the show with his broad gypsy accent in this boxer diamond heist film. This was followed up by 'The Mexican' with Julia Roberts; 'The Spy Game' reuniting him with Robert Redford again, and then in 2001 Pitt was cast in the remake of the 60's Rat Pack film of the same name 'Ocean's Eleven' with an ensemble cast including Clooney, Damon, Garcia, Gould, Cheadle and Roberts. This was well received by critics and Box Office alike eventually spawning two sequels - 'Ocean's Twelve' and 'Ocean's Thirteen' which between all three took a global Box Office haul of over US$1.1B. In the meantime Pitt starred as Achilles in 'Troy'.

'Mr. & Mrs. Smith' with future wife Angelina Jolie came along in 2005, with 'Babel' in 2006 opposite Cate Blanchett gaining a Golden Globe nomination for Pitt and a swag of other Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations. What followed were more noteworthy roles too in the likes of 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford'; 'Burn After Reading' Directed by the Coen Brothers; 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' Directed by David Fincher again and starring Cate Blanchett with whom he had worked before too. This film received thirteen Academy Award nominations with Pitt receiving Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Academy Award nominations for his performance. Quentin Tarrantino cast him next up in 2009's 'Inglorious Basterds' which received eight Academy Award nominations.

'The Tree of Life' with Sean Penn won Director Terrence Malick the Palme D'or at Cannes, and 'Moneyball' received six Academy Award nominations including a Best Actor nod for Pitt. 'Killing Them Softly' followed, as did zombie apocalypse 'World War Z' grossing US$540M and giving Pitt his biggest commercial Box Office success to date off a US$190M budget. A sequel has been announced with Pitt's Production Company 'Plan B Productions' involved. '12 Years a Slave' and 'The Counsellor' saw him reunite with Ridley Scott in the latter film, and World War II actioneer 'Fury' is his most recent release so far earning US$181M off US$68M. He has lent his voice talents to 'Megamind', 'Happy Feet 2' and an episode of 'King of the Hill'.

Pitt has 71 acting credits to his name so far, thirty Producer credits, 54 Award wins and another 93 nominations. He shared the Academy Award for Best Motion Picture as Producer for '12 Years a Slave' and has four other nominations to his name; he won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for '12 Monkeys' and has four other nominations; and won the BAFTA for Best Film again as Producer for '12 Years a Slave' and has four other nominations.

He had a relationship with Gwyneth Paltrow and was married to 'Friends' star Jennifer Aniston from 2000 - 2005, and has been in a long term relationship with Angelina Jolie eventually marrying earlier this year. They have six children - Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox and Vivienne.

Pitt is active in humanitarian, charitable and political causes including the support for 'Proposition 71' into stem-cell research; the 'ONE Campaign' combating AIDS and poverty; he has personally with Jolie donated US$1M to those effected by the crisis in Darfur; he founded the 'Make It Right' Foundation to build sustainable housing in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina; he and Jolie founded the 'Jolie-Pitt Foundation' to aid humanitarian causes around the world donating to 'Global Action for Children', 'Doctors Without Borders', 'The Daniel Pearl Foundation', the Haiti Earthquake fund and a U.N. Refugee agency supporting Pakistanis displaced by the Taliban. He also supports same sex marriage.

Brad Pitt - bonafide movie mega star, Actor, Producer, supporter of worthy causes, married to one of the world's most beautiful women, family man, diverse, daring and outspoken - Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 30th November - 6th December 2014.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week? Ridley Scott does, on 30th November - 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 30th November

• Mark Forster - Born 1969, turns 45 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Mandy Patinkin - Born 1952, turns 62 - Actor
• Ben Stiller - Born 1965, turns 49 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Ridley Scott - Born 1937, turns 77 - Director | Producer | Production Designer
• Terrence Malick - Born 1943, turns 71 - Director | Producer | Writer
• David Mamet - Born 1947, turns 67 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Gael Garcia Bernal - Born 1978, turns 36 - Actor | Producer | Director

Monday 1st December

• Woody Allen - Born 1935, turns 79 - Director | Producer | Actor | Writer
• Treat Williams - Born 1951, turns 63 - Actor
• Bette Midler - Born 1945, turns 69 - Actress | Producer

Tuesday 2nd December

• Lucy Liu - Born 1968, turns 46 - Actress | Producer | Director
• Britney Spears - Born 1981, turns 33 - Singer | Songwriter | Producer | Actress

Wednesday 3rd December

• Julianne Moore - Born 1960, turns 54 - Actress | Producer
• Daryl Hannah - Born 1960, turns 54 - Actress | Producer
• Amanda Seyfried - Born 1985, turns 29 - Actress | Producer
• Brendan Fraser - Born 1968, turns 46 - Actor | Producer
• Jean-Luc Godard - Born 1930, turns 84 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Editor | Cinematographer

Thursday 4th December

• Jeff Bridges - Born 1949, turns 65 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Jay Z - Born 1969, turns 45 - Singer | Songwriter | Producer | Actor
• Marisa Tomei - Born 1964, turns 50 - Actress
• Tyra Banks - Born 1973, turns 41 - Actress | Producer | Writer

Friday 5th December 

• Frankie Muniz - Born 1985, turns 29 - Actor | Producer
• Nick Stahl - Born 1979, turns 35 - Actor

Saturday 6th December

• Judd Apatow - Born 1967, turns 47 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• Nick Park - Born 1958, turns 56 - Director | Producer | Writer

Ridley Scott was born in the north-east of England in South Shields, and is the middle of three sons born to mother Elizabeth and father Colonel Francis Percy Scott. Frank was the eldest of the three, and Tony the youngest - both of whom are deceased. Scott's father was an officer in the Royal Engineers, and therefore absent from for much of the boys younger lives. He attended Grangefield Grammar School and then West Hartlepool College of Art where he graduated with a Diploma in Design. From there he went on to the Royal College of Art in London where he was instrumental in establishing a film department.

Graduating in 1963 he had already made a short film, 'Boy and Bicycle' starring both brother Tony and father Francis, before joining the BBC in set design work. Attending a trainee Directors course while there his first Directing role was on an episode of the iconic BBC Police drama of the time 'Z-Cars'. In 1968 he and Tony founded Ridley Scott Associates - a film and television commercial company who amongst many others brought the iconic 1974 'Hovis' bread commercial to our TV screens.

His film Directorial debut came in 1977 in 'The Duellists' and is set in the Napoleonic Wars period and stars Harvey Keitel and Keith Carradine - it won an award at the Cannes Film Festival for Best Film. Next up was 1979's iconic 'Alien' which made for just US$11M brought in US$105M globally and gave him international success both commercially and critically; it spawned three sequels; a spin off series with 'Predator'; the recent prequel (of sorts), 'Prometheus' also Directed by Scott in 2012; and made a cinematic icon of Sigourney Weaver in the role of Ellen Ripley. Sticking with the Sci-Fi theme Scott gave us 'Blade Runner' as his next offering in 1982 with Harrison Ford based on the Philip K. Dick novel; 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep'. Costing US$28M to make and grossing just US$33M it was not a commercial success, but time has been very kind to this outstanding film, and it now regarded a classic and the touchstone of the genre.

With all the hoo-haa surrounding 1984 and the Orwellian angst propagated at the time, Scott Directed a US$900K television commercial for the new Apple Macintosh computer which aired during the SuperBowl of that year. That advertisement was seen too as the cornerstone and a masterpiece of modern televised advertising. As the 80's played out Scott Directed 'Legend' in 1985 with Tom Cruise and Tim Curry; 'Someone to Watch Over Me' with Tom Berenger and Mimi Rogers in 1987; and 'Black Rain' with Michael Douglas and Andy Garcia in 1989.

The 90's brought 'Thelma & Louise' in 1991 with Geena Davis, Susan Sarandon and a young Brad Pitt and was a critical and commercial success, unlike the Christopher Columbus Americas discovery telling '1492' in 1992, which cost US$47M to make and grossed just over US$7M. 'White Squall' followed with Jeff Bridges and then 'G.I.Jane' with Demi Moore and Viggo Mortensen.

As the new century clicked over, so came 'Gladiator' with Russell Crowe giving Scott one of his biggest critical and commercial successes with a worldwide gross of US$458M off a US$103M budget, and five Academy Awards including Best Film and Best Actor for Crowe. In the wake of this came 'Hannibal' in 2001 - the follow up to 'Silence of the Lambs', and then 'Black Hawk Down' later that same year with Eric Bana amongst a big name cast.

From here came more modest success with 'Matchstick Men', 'Kingdom of Heaven' and 'A Good Year' before 'American Gangster' with Russell Crowe again and Denzel Washington in 2007 bringing  critical and commercial acclaim once more. 'Body of Lies' featured next with Leonardo DiCaprio and acting stablemate Russell Crowe, and then a retelling of the much told 'Robin Hood' with Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett making US$322M off a US$155M budget. In 2012 Scott returned to Sci-Fi for the first time in almost 30 years with a 'Alien' origin story with 'Prometheus' starring Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender which again gave him critical success and a box office haul of $403M from a production cost of US$120M. 2013 saw 'The Counsellor', a relatively low budget offering at just US$25M but with an all start cast taking in Diaz, Bardem, Pitt, Fassbender and Cruz and based on a Cormac McCarthy story, it made a return of US$71M.

Being a very busy man, even at 77 this week, Scott has 97 Producer credits to his name, 34 as Director, and ten as Production Designer. Directorially, he has 'Exodus : Gods & Kings' about to hit our cinemas and starring Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, Ben Kingsley and Sigourney Weaver; and 'The Martian' is currently filming with Matt Damon, Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sean Bean, Kristin Wiig and Jessica Chastain and is due for release in 2015; and a TV mini-series 'The Hot Zone' has been announced. As Producer, 'Prometheus 2' is in pre-production for 2016, with a 'Blade Runner' sequel, 'Potsdamer Platz', 'Emma's War' and 'David' all announced for future release.

Nominated as Best Director for Academy Awards for 'Black Hawk Down', 'Gladiator', and 'Thelma & Louise' but has yet to win  golden statue; he also has two Golden Globe nominations and a win for 'RKO-281' in the mini-series or TV movie category; and four BAFTA nominations and recipient in 1995 of the Michael Balcon Award - in total then 23 award wins and 48 other nominations throughout his illustrious career. He was awarded a KBE (Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire) in 2003 by HRH Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his services to the film industry.

He was married to Felicity Heywood from 1964 to 1975 and to Sandy Watson from 1979 to 1989 with whom he has three children between the two marriages - Jake (born 1965), Luke (born 1968) and Jordan (born 1978) - all of them work in the film & TV business either behind or in front of the camera. His current partner is actress Giamina Facio whom Scott has cast in the majority of his films since 2000. In 1995 he and brother Tony purchased London's Shepparton Studios which subsequently merged with Pinewood Studios and set about upgrading and expanding the facilities and studios into the renowned production centre it is today.

Ridley Scott - still going strong after all these years; diverse film and television portfolio; highly regarded as the Actors Director; maker of several classic movies; and a keen eye for detail and stunning visuals of the past and the future, we continue to eagerly await your next offering! Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-