THIS WEEK’S BIRTHDAYS
TODAY
Sile de Valera, former Fianna Fail politician, is 63. Craig Doyle, TV presenter, is 47. Tommy Steele, song and dance man, is 81. Manny Pacquiao, boxing champion, is 39. Bill Pullman, actor, is 64. Paula Radcliffe, British long-distance runner, is 44. Pope Francis is 81. Bradley Manning, imprisoned American whistleblower now known as Chelsea, is 30. Noel McGrath, All-Ireland winning Tipperary hurler, is 27. Stephen Cluxton, Dublin GAA goalkeeper, is 37.
MONDAY, DEC 18
Brad Pitt, actor, is 54. Keith Richards, Rolling Stone, is 74. Steven Spielberg, film director-producer, is 71. Robson Green, actor and half of singing duo Robson & Jerome, is 53. Ray Liotta, actor star of Goodfellas, is 63. Christina Aguilera, pop singer, is 37. ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, WWE wrestler, is 53. Katie Holmes, actress and ex-wife of Tom Cruise, is 39. David O’Doherty, comedian, is 42.
TUESDAY, DEC 19
Syd Little, half of the Little & Large comedy duo, is 75. Jake Gyllenhaal, star of Donnie Darko and Brokeback Mountain, is 37. Karim Benzema France and Real Madrid footballer, is 30. Richard ‘The Hamster’ Hammond, TV presenter and former co-host of Top Gear, is 48. Ricky Ponting, former Australian cricket captain, is 43.
WEDNESDAY, DEC 20
Tom McGurk, TV journalist, is 71. Billy Bragg, singer/ songwriter, is 60. Todd Phillips, comedy writer/director, is 47. Ashley Cole, English footballer and ex-husband of Cheryl Cole, is 37. Uri Geller, Israeli spoon-bending illusionist, is 71. Jonah Hill, actor who starred in Superbad and Moneyball, is 34. David Forde, Republic of Ireland goalkeeper, is 38.
THURSDAY, DEC 21
Kiefer Sutherland, actor who starred in TV series 24, is 51. Jane Fonda, actress turned political activist, is 80. Samuel L Jackson, actor who starred in Pulp Fiction, is 69. Chris Evert, three-time Wimbledon champion, is 63.
FRIDAY, DEC 22
Noel Edmonds, UK TV personality, is 69. Diane Sawyer, legendary ABC news anchorwoman, is 72. Paul Wolfowitz, former president of the World Bank, is 74. Ralph Fiennes, actor, is 55. Vanessa Paradis, French singer, model, and actress, is 45. Marcus O’Sullivan, Irish former athlete, is 56.
SATURDAY, DEC 23
Carla Bruni, Italian ex-model and pop singer and wife of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, is 50. Eddie Vedder, singer of rock band Pearl Jam, is 53. Harry Shearer, actor/ writer and voice of numerous Simpsons characters, is 74. Jodie Marsh, model, bodybuilder and reality TV star, is 39.