birthdays: july 4

Eva Marie Saint, 88, hasn't been an Oscar nominee in ages.  In fact, her first and only nomination was in 1954 for On the Waterfront, but the iconic actress has stayed active through the decades, most notably North by Northwest in the '50s, Exodus in the '60s, Moonlighting in the '80s and, most recently, Superman Returns in 2006, playing Superman mother figure Martha Kent.  Heck she even voiced a couple of episodes of Nickelodeon's Legend of Korra earlier this year.  Who's feeling a career-capping nod soon?  Let's get her in back in theaters!
Neil Simon, 85, one of theaters' most noted playwrights, has racked up Tonys, Emmys, Globes and, most recently, the Mark Twain Prize for Humor, and he still keeps busy with work.  Amongst his 17 Tony-nominated plays, Lost in Yonkers nabbed the Pulitzer, and countless ones were adapted into films.  In fact, he wrote one-time muse and wife Marsha Mason to three of her four Oscar nominations, landing four nods himself.
Becki Newton, 34, rose to fame, though not nearly enough, by playing self-centered but lovable Amanda Tanner on Ugly Betty, and has been a pilot season darling ever since. Though she's yet to find another role as memorable as Mode assistant Amanda, she headlined the short-lived Love Bites and is currently recurring on How I Met Your Mother as stripper Quinn.
Gloria Stuart, (1910-2010), became well-known to the world thanks to playing "Old Rose" in the mega-hit Titanic. And the Oscar nomination certainly didn't hurt. But Stuart eked out a lengthy (clearly) career in her 100 years on earth.  Perhaps most notably starring in the 1933 flick The Invisible Man, Stuart additionally headlined Gold Diggers of 1935, The Three Musketeers and My Favorite Year, among nearly 100 credits.
Bill Withers, 74, though many have tried to recreate the magic and heartbreak of his most noted hit, has cornered the market on expressing the torture of loneliness in the all-time great "Ain't No Sunshine." He got his recording start later than the norm, nabbing a Best New Artist Grammy nomination in 1972 at the age of 33, and his work has been featured on many a soundtrack ever since.
Tahar Rahim, 31, dazzled critics (though unfortunately not many awards bodies) with his work in foreign fave A Prophet, and has enjoyed a heightened profile ever since.  Those his most notable credit since was playing a prince in the historical action movie The Eagle, he's got a drama opposite Marion Cotillard in the works.
Tracy Letts, 47, got his start on stage acting, but has since become a well-regarded playwright, penning the eerie paranoia drama Bug and the sensational dark comedy August: Osage County. His film credits now include adapting both, as well as his play Killer Joe, with August poised for a much-buzzed-about 2013 premiere.
David Kross, 22, had some credits to his name before the showy 2008 role that made him recognizable, but the German actor's role as Kate Winslet's much-younger paramour in The Reader gave him an international audience.  Since, he's had a small role in War Horse and has a few German films coming up in the next few years.