Birthdays: January 14

Carl Weathers was born on January 14, 1948, in New Orleans, Louisiana. A famous and successful football star at San Diego State, he played with the Oakland Raiders and retired from the sport in 1974, in order to give full attention to his goal: to be a real actor.

Weathers first played small parts in two blaxploitation flicks, Friday Foster (1975) (in which he played "Yarbro") and Bucktown (1975) (playing "Hambone"), both made in 1975 and directed by Arthur Marks. However, his big break came the following year when producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff chose him to play "Apollo Creed" in the blockbuster "sleeper" Rocky (1976) (real-life boxing legend Ken Norton was originally signed for the part, but it eventually went to Weathers). He went on to play "Creed" in three other "Rocky" movies, and the characters' adversarial relationship eventually evolved into a warm friendship. After Creed's death in Rocky IV (1985), Weathers met with producer Joel Silver and agreed to play an important supporting role in Predator (1987), an action film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The following year, Silver produced Action Jackson (1988), a first starring role for Weathers, but it performed poorly at the box office and was panned by the critics.

During the 1990s, Weathers starred in four In the Heat of the Night (1988) two-hour TV specials that were much better received by critics and viewers alike. In 1996, he played the part of "Chubbs Peterson" in the blockbuster Adam Sandler comedy Happy Gilmore (1996). He returned to his "action roots" in two TV-movies with Hulk Hogan: Assault on Devil's Island (1997) and Assault on Death Mountain (1999).

In addition to his acting career, Weathers is also a member of the Big Brothers Association and the U.S. Olympic Committee, handling the career of athletes of various sports such as gymnastics, wrestling, swimming and judo.

Adiss Harmandian was born on 14 January 1945 in Beirut, Lebanon. He died on 1 September 2019 in Santa Monica, California, USA.

Adjoa Andoh was born on 14 January 1963 in Bristol, England, UK. She is an actress and writer, known for Bridgerton (2020), Invictus (2009) and Fractured (2019). She has been married to Howard Cunnell since March 2001. They have two children.

Alexander Flores was born and raised in New York City, to Vilma Figueroa. He is of Puerto Rican and Italian descent. Alexander started acting at a young age, studying theater for most of his life. He has performed at The Public Theater with The LAByrinth Theater Company and The Cherry Lane Theater in NYC. Alexander is known for The Maze Runner (2014), The Scorch Trials (2015) working along side Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, and Will Poulter.

New Orleans-based R&B singer/songwriter Allen Toussaint was born on January 14, 1938 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The son of Naomi and Clarence Toussaint, Allen grew up in a shotgun house in the New Orleans neighborhood of Gert Town. Toussaint started learning piano at age seven and began his music business career as a teenager playing piano for such artists as Fats Domino and Earl King. Allen initially wrote songs under the stage name Tousan. Come the early 1960's Toussaint had firmly established himself as an in-house producer, composer, and arranger for various record labels that included Minit and Instant. Among the many hit songs that Allen wrote were "Ya Ya," "Fortune Teller, " "Ride Your Pony," "Mother in Law," "Lipstick Traces (On a Cigarette)," "Working in a Coalmine," "Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues)," "Get Out of My Life, Woman," and "Ruler of My Heart" (this latter composition was changed to "Pain in My Heart" by Otis Redding). Moreover, Toussaint's song "Java" won jazz trumpeter Al Hirt a Grammy Award in 1964.

Following a stint in the US Army from 1963 to 1965, Allen returned to New Orleans and formed the production company Sansu Enterprises as well as established the city's famous Sea-Saint Studio. During this time Toussaint produced the Top 10 hit "Right Time, Wrong Place" for Dr. John and Patti LaBelle's disco sensation "Lady Marmalade," played with Paul Simon, Joe Cocker, and Paul McCartney, and wrote the #1 country smash 'Southern Nights" for Glen Campbell. He formed the label NYNO in 1996 and was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 in the non-performer category. Toussaint was subsequently inducted into The Louisina Music Hall of Fame in 2009 and The Blues Hall of Fame in 2011. In the wake of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, Allen relocated to New York City and became an advocate for the musical legacy of New Orleans. Toussaint eventually returned to New Orleans and was awarded with the National Medal of Arts in 2013 (he was also honored with a bronze statue on Bourbon Street that same year). He died of a heart attack at age 77 while touring in Madrid, Spain on November 10, 2015.

Anastasiya Tolmacheva was born on 14 January 1997 in Kursk, Russia. She is an actress, known for Korolevstvo krivykh zerkal (2007), One to One! (2013) and Junior Eurovision Song Contest (2010).

Anders Juul was born on 14 January 1981. He is an actor, known for Ronal the Barbarian (2011), A Horrible Woman (2017) and Borgen (2010).

Andy Freire is known for El Emprendedor del millón (2013), Almorzando con Mirtha Legrand (1968) and Pura Química (2010).

Andy Rooney was born in Albany in January 1919 and grew up in the Capital District (of NYS), the son of Walter and Elinor (Reynolds) Rooney. He attended Colgate Academy. In 1941, at the age of 22 he was drafted into the Army and was posted to London, where he began writing for Stars and Stripes, the US armed forces newspaper and later in the war he became one of the first US journalists to report on the Nazi concentration camps. He began working as a broadcast journalist in 1949 for CBS. He established a name for himself over many years as a correspondent and commentator. He is probably best remembered by TV audiences for his regular closing segment on 60 Minutes (1968), "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney". He died in November 2011, aged 92, having continued working until just a few weeks earlier.

Victoria's Secret Angel and supermodel Angela Lindvall has been the host for Project Runway, has graced the covers of every major magazine Vogue, Elle, W, etc. Angela starred in Roman Coppola's CQ launching her film debut. She took time off from acting to raise her two sons, focus on her modeling career, and work on her personal passions. She is also a yoga/ meditation teacher, and creator of Peace Begins In Me. She actively trains in the Meisner Technique and Woller Technique with Kirk Woller (The Chosen) and is ready to relaunch her career on the silver screen.

Anne Kulle was born on 14 January 1944 in Stockholm, Sweden. She was an actress, known for One Swedish Summer (1968), Polare (1976) and Good-Bye Nana (1970). She was married to Jarl Kulle. She died on 25 January 2020 in Stockholm, Sweden.

Anthony Meindl is an award-winning director, writer, actor, and acting coach.

The script for his upcoming feature film, "The Wonder Girls", was the Grand Prize-Winning Feature Screenplay in the Slamdance Film Festival Screenplay Competition, was a semifinalist at the Vail Film Festival Screenplay Competition, and was listed in the top 10% of all screenplays entered in the prestigious Nicholl Fellowship.

Anthony wrote and directed "Where We Go From Here", which premiered at Outfest in 2019 at the famous Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. It won Best Screenplay at Q-Films Long Beach and the Jury Award at NYC's East Village Queer Film Festival, and was acquired by HULU.

His other recent feature, "Sum of Us", starring Brianne Howey ("Ginny & Georgia") and Isidora Goreshter ("Shameless) won Best Screenplay at the Picasso Einstein Buddha International Film Festival after premiering at the Downtown LA Film Festival. Concurrently, his short film "Is This You, Too?" screened at a dozen film festivals and took home Best Director and twice Best Short Film.

His first ever feature film, "Birds of a Feather", won numerous awards including Best Director from both the DTLA Film Festival and the Golden Door International Film Festival, the Audience Choice Award from the Northeast Film Festival, and the Special Jury Award from the Honolulu Rainbow Festival. His first short, "Ready? OK!" sold to MTV's LOGO Network as part of their "Best in Short Film" series.

His achievements as a director arose in part from a long history of coaching Hollywood's rising stars. He founded Anthony Meindl's Actor Workshop, now in its 24th year with nine locations around the world. He has taught such actors as two time Golden Globe nominee Shailene Woodley, Oscar winning "Moonlight" Trevante Rhodes, Marvel franchise favorite Pom Klementieff, Netflix's "Bridgerton" break out star Phoebe Dynevor, pop sensation and star of "Cinderella" Camila Cabello, and hundreds of others.

Anthony guest taught for Directing at David Lynch's Master of Filmmaking Program and has been featured in Netflix's "Travels With My Father."

He is the author of four books; the best-selling creativity book "At Left Brain Turn Right", self-improvement "Alphabet Soup for Grown-Ups", acting guide "Book the F#©king Job!", and the latest, his memoir, "You Knew When You Were 2."

In the late 1930s and early 1940s, cute little Baby Sandy was Universal's answer to Shirley Temple, and after appearances in a few films, she was given her own series. They were very popular with the public and made a ton of money for the studio. Her last picture was made at the ripe old age of 5, and she had no desire to become an adult actress. She married and had three children, and started a new career as a legal secretary for the county government in Los Angeles.

Born in 1939 in Carterton, New Zealand, she and her two younger brothers grew up in the city of Wellington. After graduating from Victoria University with a BA in English and Maori, Barbara Ewing left her homeland in 1962 on a government scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Since then, she has played leads in the theatre all over Great Britain including plays by Shakespeare, Shaw, Ibsen, Tennessee Williams, and many others. Her one-woman-show, "Alexandra Kollontai", about the only woman in Lenin's cabinet in 1917 was a great hit in London and at the Edinburgh and Sydney Festivals. She has had an impressive career on the small screen appearing on many programs including Peak Practice, Casualty, The Bill and Ruth Rendell Mysteries. Barbara Ewing has also written nine novels: One of which, "A Dangerous Vine", was a finalist on the long list for the Orange Prize in Great Britain, 2000.

Barry Jenner was born on 14 January 1941 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for Family Matters (1989), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) and Enough Said (2013). He was married to Suzanne Hunt and Susan Harney. He died on 9 August 2016 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Bebe Daniels already had toured as an actor by the age of four in a stage production of "Richard III". She had her first leading role at the age of seven and started her film career shortly after this in movies for Imperial, Pathe and others. At 14 she was already a film veteran, and was enlisted by Hal Roach to star as Harold Lloyd's leading lady in his "Lonesome Luke" shorts, distributed by Pathe. Lloyd fell hard for Bebe and seriously considered marrying her, but her drive to pursue a film career along with her sense of independence clashed with Lloyd's Victorian definition of a wife. The two eventually broke up but would remain lifelong friends. Bebe was sought out for stardom by Cecil B. DeMille, who literally pestered her into signing with Paramount. Unlike many actors, the arrival of sound posed no problem for her; she had a beautiful singing voice and became a major musical star, with such hits as Rio Rita (1929) and 42nd Street (1933). In 1930 she married Ben Lyon, with whom she went to England in the mid-'30s, where she became a successful West End stage star. She and her husband also had their own radio show in London, and became the most popular radio team in the country--especially during World War II, when they refused to return to the US and stayed in London, broadcasting even during the worst of the "blitz".

They later appeared in several British films together as their radio characters. Her final film was one in that series, The Lyons Abroad (1955).

Bent Mejding was born on 14 January 1937 in Svendborg, Syddanmark, Danmark. He was an actor and director, known for A Royal Affair (2012), Brothers (2004) and We Shall Overcome (2006). He was married to Susse Wold and Susanne Theil. He died on 12 November 2024 in Denmark.

Bill Plante was born on 14 January 1938 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He is known for The CBS Evening News (1941), Inside Hurricane Katrina Update (2006) and Jim and Sarah Brady: A Tribute (2015). He was married to Robin Smith and Barbara Anne (Barnes) Ortieg. He died on 28 September 2022 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA.

Blake Ritson started acting when he was 13, debuting in White Chameleon at the Royal National Theatre, directed by Sir Richard Eyre for which he received rave reviews. He worked with Sir Richard Eyre again two years later on Macbeth, and went on to appear in the original West End run of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia. He won an academic scholarship to St.Paul's School in London before attending Cambridge University, where he studied English and Medieval Italian. Following University, he studied physical theatre at Ecole Philippe Gaulier in Paris.

He has appeared in numerous TV shows and films and played a number of leads for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 and on American TV. In recent years, he has become particularly well known for his work portraying a variety of villainous characters, following his celebrated portrayal of Riario in three seasons of Da Vinci's Demons. He was subsequently cast by Warner Brothers to portray the Supervillain Brainiac, one of Superman's most famous nemeses.

He is also a much in demand voice actor, having starred in dozens of plays and narrated numerous audio books for BBC radio, narrated a series of children's books and played leading characters in some of the biggest selling computer games of all time, for which he has been nominated for five awards.

In addition to acting, he has also co-directed and co-written four prize-winning short films with his brother Dylan, another Cambridge graduate and ex-member of the Footlights company. He also plays various musical instruments and played banjolele on the album 'Cowley Road' by fellow thespian - and 'Mansfield Park' co-star - Douglas Hodge.

Brad Martin is a native of Sun Valley, Idaho. He grew up alpine ski racing on an international level and practicing martial arts (he has his Black Belt Tae Kwon Do and well versed in numerous other styles) as well as mastering other sporting and athletic endeavors. After graduating with a degree in Philosophy from the University of Washington, Brad made the move to Los Angeles to pursue his lifetime passion of becoming a Hollywood stuntman. Through hard work and dedication, Brad quickly became one of the top stunt professionals in the business. He has stunt doubled for some of the industry's elite actors, including exclusive stunt double for George Clooney in movies: Batman & Robin, The Perfect Storm, Three Kings, Out of Sight, O Brother, Where Art Thou? and The Peacemaker. Along with Batman, Brad has also doubled for a several other superheroes: Chris O'Donnell in Batman Forever, Ben Affleck in Daredevil and Toby Maguire in Spider-Man 2.

Since the early 2000's Brad began focusing on stunt coordinating, action directing and action design. He is best recognized for his work designing, coordinating and directing the action units in Underworld, Underworld Evolution and Underworld Awakening. Brad has also stunt coordinated countless other blockbusters like Live Free or Die Hard, Tropic Thunder, The Other Guys and Expendables 3 to name a few. In 2008, Brad won the Red Bull Taurus Stunt Award for best Stunt Coordinator for his work in Live Free or Die Hard.

2nd Unit directing is really Brad's main focus nowadays. With the Underworld franchise, Total Recall, I, Frankenstein and most recently, Night at the Museum 3, Brad is finding a new niche in the action film genre.

Brenda Forbes was best known for her distinguished career on Broadway, where she first made an indelible impression as Elizabeth Barrett (Katharine Cornell)'s maid Wilson in 'The Barretts of Wimpole Street' (1935). Born to a theatrical family, Brenda left her native England while in her teens to join her mother (Mary Forbes), who already worked in Hollywood as a character actress.

After making her stage bow at the Vine Street Theatre, she went on to Broadway playing quintessential British parts in classical plays such as 'Pride and Prejudice' and 'My Fair Lady' (in 1976, as Mrs. Higgins). In 1967, she was nominated for a Tony Award for 'The Loves of Cass McGuire', and, in 1975, for a Joseph Jefferson Award as Best Actress in a Principal Role for 'The Sea' at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago.

Brenda was also acclaimed for her satirical performances in revue, but neither her comedic flair nor her eccentric characterizations came to the fore during her desultory motion picture carer. She only made six films in the course of nine years, including two big budget productions at MGM (Mrs. Miniver (1942) and The White Cliffs of Dover (1944)); the roles were small, i.e. as maids or nurses. In the 1950s, she returned to the celluloid medium in meatier roles, albeit as a character actress, and on the small screen. She appeared three times opposite Katharine Hepburn in made-for-TV movies.

Caleb Followill was born on 14 January 1982 in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, USA. He is an actor and composer, known for I Am Number Four (2011), Cloverfield (2008) and Disturbia (2007). He has been married to Lily Aldridge since 12 May 2011. They have two children.

Carol Morley was born in Manchester, England. She attended Central St Martins College of Art, where she graduated with a first class degree in fine art film and video. Her films include The Alcohol Years, a BAFTA nominated film about her scurrilous teenage past, Dreams of a Life, which went behind the anonymous newspaper headline about Joyce Vincent who lay dead in her flat for three years, and The Falling, a BBC Films/BFI backed film, set in a girls' school in England in 1969, which revolved around an outbreak of mass psychogenic illness, featuring Maisie Williams, Florence Pugh and Maxine Peake.

Actress Carole Cook showed a knack for comic timing from early on, so much so that the legendary Lucille Ball took her on as a protégée. Cook would make many appearances on Ball's TV shows The Lucy Show (1962) and Here's Lucy (1968), as well as other shows like Magnum, P.I. (1980), Dynasty (1981), and Grey's Anatomy (2005). She would also appear in several movies, like Sixteen Candles (1984) and Home on the Range (2004), while maintaining an active stage career and supporting many AIDS charities.