Happy 50th, Jane Horrocks!

IMDb --> Jane Horrocks --> trade mark: “Very strong Lancashire accent”. The specificity of that might not mean much to anyone outside of the UK (no judgment; I can’t locate Maine on a map), but you’ll know the voice whenever you hear it.

The piercing, excessively rounded vowels are unmistakably Horrocks, unique in the global film industry that so frequently sands off regional accents into indistinguishable homogeneity. Maybe that’s why Horrocks’ career hasn’t ever reached the peak she did in 1998, with a Golden Globe nomination for Little Voice – she simply sounds too strange for a Hollywood career. On her fiftieth birthday, let me, David, take you on a little highlight reel tour of this superb performer’s career.

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Happy Birthday, Dick Van Dyke

Tim here. Saving Mr. Banks opens in New York and Los Angeles today, and Mary Poppins made its debut on Blu-ray this past Tuesday in a "50th Anniversary" edition bumped up a year for maximum cross-promotion effectiveness. Doubtlessly, neither of those events was timed to coincide with the birthday of Mary Poppins co-star Dick Van Dyke, who turns 88 years old today, but the confluence of events was just too perfect to pass up. Let us then spare a moment to thank one of the greatest avuncular figures in American pop culture in this moment when his most important film role has been brought back into the limelight so enthusiastically (though Van Dyke, as a character, is barely a blip in the context of Saving Mr. Banks, taking the form of an unbilled performance by Kristopher Kyer).

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Rita Moreno turns 82

Anne Marie here with some happy news: It's Rita Moreno's birthday! The Puerto Rican showbiz legend has a list of awards as long as her gorgeous legs, and soon she's going to add to it! As Nathaniel reported earlier, the Screen Actors Guild is adding the SAG Lifetime Achievement Award to her much-deserved accolades in January.

In addition to being the third Triple Crown winner (Emmy, Tony, Oscar) and one of twelve EGOT winners (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony), Rita Moreno has had an absolutely fascinating career for its depth and diversity. She's said that her success in West Side Story was actually a double-edged sword, after winning an Oscar in 1962 for her firey performance as Anita, most of the film roles offered to her were as the token minority. As a result, she refused to appear in film for another seven years. Moreno instead turned to television and theater. As part of the cast of The Electric Company (along with a very young Morgan Freeman), Moreno won her Grammy in 1972. In 1975, Moreno won a Tony for the play The Ritz. Then she completed her EGOT with two Emmy wins: first in 1977 for The Muppet Show, and again in 1978 for The Rockford Files. But her career didn't stop there. She's done everything from voice work (Carmen Sandiego in Where On Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?) to TV Drama (Oz), and even an occasional Law And Order episode in the past few years. One thing she's never been in is a rut.

Today in honor of Rita's birthday, here are clips from her EGOT winning performances.

Emmy: The Muppet Show (1977)

Grammy: The Electric Company (1972)

Oscar: Anita in West Side Story (1961)

And finally her incredible Tony acceptance speech for The Ritz (1975)

What's your favorite performance by Miss Moreno?

Happy Birthday, Goldie!

She definitely doesn't look it, but Goldie Hawn is turning 68 today! She has many roles worth celebrating - The First Wives Club, Death Becomes Her, Private Benjamin, this jazzy Beatles cover - but today I'd like to shine a light on that zany show where she first got her start, the short-lived but always incredible Laugh In.

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In Clip #6 Goldie... by RetroCafe

Like Judy Holliday before her, Goldie Hawn turned Blonde Ditz into an artform. Happy Birthday, Goldie, no matter what time zone you're in!

Happy Birthday, Leo! (And a Monologue)

Andrew here  to join the Wheeler clan in wishing Leonardo DiCaprio a happy birthday…

…although, he doesn’t seem especially delighted at the well-wishes.

Is that image from Revolutionary Road a dismal birthday scene or what, though? Sometimes I imagine if I had a bloggers' party to celebrate Leo's actorly talents the soiree would be just as dismally attended. Am I wrong?

As odd as it may sound, I often find myself feeling sorry for Leonardo DiCaprio. Sure he's got good-looks, money and the perceived love of millions of fans, yes, but of the actors in his demographic he always seems the least likely to be considered a good actor. If I were to say that he’s my favourite actor under forty, I always expect raised eyebrows in response, and they are generally forthcoming. DiCaprio is not the most diverse actor in his demographic, but I'm often suspicious of attaching quality necessarily to variation. He has specific gifts and even more specific flaws. Many actors are at their best when they exploit their gifts but considering my favourite performance of his for today's monologue, I find I like Leo best when he exploits his flaws.

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