birthdays: january 4 & january 5

Dyan Cannon, 74, '60s and '70s screen siren most well-known for her blonde bombshell good looks and her marriage to Cary Grant, she ended up with a lucrative critical career thanks to her Oscar nominated roles in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice and Heaven Can Wait and her 1978 live action short Number One; my fondest memory, though, is as cougar judge Whipper Cone in Ally McBeal
Dave Foley, 48, geeky actor with a comical (and often-used) speaking voice whose most famous efforts include playing station manager (and fittingly Canadian) Dave Nelson in the underrated Newsradio, sketch comedy troupe member in the Canadian answer to SNL, Kids in the Hall, the voice of ant hero Flik in Pixar's A Bug's Life, and one-time Jack McFarland beau Stuart in Will & Grace
Dot Jones, 47, though she got her start as an Olympic qualifying shot-putter in 1988, the all-around athlete has gone on to an acting career, guesting on countless TV series, most notably playing Coach Kelly on Lizzie McGuire, Tess on Nip/Tuck, ER clerk Dot on Hawthorne, and Coach Shannon Beiste on Glee
Julia Ormond, 46, English actress who rose to fame by romancing Brad Pitt in Legends of the Fall, she went on to star as the title character in the 1995 remake of Sabrina, portray suffragette Inez Millholland in Iron-Jawed Angels, and serve as Claire Danes' mother in Temple Grandin (for which she won an Emmy); next up - she's playing another real-life woman, Vivien Leigh, in My Week with Marilyn
Sterling Holloway, (1905-1992), heavily used voice actor whose famous work with Walt Disney Studios included voicing the narration of "Peter and the Wolf" in Make Mine Music, the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland, Kaa the snake in The Jungle Book, Roquefort in The AristoCats, and, most notably, Winnie the Pooh in a variety of films and shorts
Matt Frewer, 53, character actor who, at least for my generation, is best known as Russ Thompson Sr. in Honey I Shrunk the Kids, he did some television voice work for some cartoon shows including Gargoyles and Hercules (he also voiced the character of Panic in the Disney film version) and had regular roles on Eureka and the miniseries Taken
Charlyne Yi, 25, her most famous credit is probably as stoner girlfriend Jodi in Knocked Up, but she also guest-starred as the object of Kenneth's affection, Grace Park, in 30 Rock and co-starred with then-boyfriend Michael Cera in the romantic comedy Paper Heart
John Bennett Perry, 70, though his biggest contribution to show business later in his career was son and Friends star Matthew Perry, the former model (most famously for Old Spice) had parts in Falcon Crest, Independence Day, George of the Jungle, and Veronica Mars

Diane Keaton, 65, one of the all-time greats, she's received four Oscar nominations (remarkably all during different decades) for Annie Hall (for which she also won) in 1977, Reds in 1981, Marvin's Room in 1996, and Something's Gotta Give in 2003; she also notably played Kay Adams in the Godfather trilogy, schoolteacher Teresa in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, and, my personal favorites, business-savvy J.C. Wiatt in Baby Boom and soft-spoken divorcee Annie Paradis in The First Wives Club; though her filmography has suffered since 2003, hopefully her upcoming HBO series Tilda will change all that
Robert Duvall, 80, his debut film role in To Kill a Mockingbird has since become legendary, which is the best way to describe this constantly working actor; his six Oscar nominations (and one win) can attest to his lengthy career, which includes performances in the Godfather trilogy, True Grit (1969), MASH (the 1970 film), Network, Apocalypse Now, Tender Mercies (his Oscar-winning role), The Natural, Lonesome Dove, The Apostle, A Civil Action, and Get Low
Hayao Miyazaki, 70, legendary Japanese filmmaker whose movies have garnered him international claim (and one Oscar so far), his credits in the director's chair include My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, and Ponyo
Jane Wyman, (1917-2007), actress who famously married then-actor Ronald Reagan (his first wife, just prior to the future First Lady Nancy Davis), she was a star in her own right thanks to her Oscar-winning role as a deaf-mute in Johnny Belinda, her role in The Lost Weekend, her Oscar-nominated roles in Magnificent Obsession, The Blue Veil, and The Yearling, and her Golden Globe-winning role as matriarch Angela Channing in Falcon Crest
January Jones, 33, former model whose good looks garnered her roles in such duds as Anger Management and American Wedding before transitioning to film and becoming an Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated actress thanks to the hit series Mad Men; up next she has big expectations to exceed with a role in the upcoming X-Men: First Class
Bradley Cooper, 36, actor who's risen to fame in the past few years thanks to his suave, if unconventional, looks, he broke through in TV with regular roles in Touching Evil, Jack & Bobby, Alias, Kitchen Confidential, and Nip/Tuck before blowing up as a film star thanks to the indie box office hit The Hangover
George Reeves, (1914-1959), rose to fame for playing the title character in the 1950s series Adventures of Superman, his tragic gunshot death (later played out by Ben Affleck in Hollywoodland) remains a mystery today; his bit part as one of Scarlett O'Hara's suitors in Gone with the Wind is what first gained him attention in show business
Emma Bolger, 15, Irish child actress who gained critical attention as the youngest in the struggling family portrayed in In America, her most notable role sine was as the title character of an adaptation of Heidi alongside Max von Sydow
Suzy Amis, 49, though she infamously began dating her now-husband James Cameron on the set of Titanic (in which she played Gloria Stuart's granddaughter) while he was still married to Terminator actress Linda Hamilton, she additionally had a notable role as Edie Finneran in The Usual Suspects; since Titanic, she's largely retired from acting