Birthdays: May 25

Striking Irish actor Cillian Murphy was born in Douglas, Co Cork, the oldest child of Brendan Murphy, who works for the Irish Department of Education, and a mother who is a teacher of French. He has three younger siblings. Murphy was educated at Presentation Brothers College, Cork. He went on to study law at University College Cork, but dropped out after about a year. During this time, Murphy also pursued an interest in music, playing guitar in various bands. Upon leaving University, Murphy joined the Corcadorca Theater Company in Cork, and played the lead role in "Disco Pigs", amongst other plays.

Various film roles followed, including a film adaptation of Disco Pigs (2001). However, his big film break came when he was cast in Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later (2002), which became a surprise international hit. This performance earned him nominations for Best Newcomer at the Empire Awards and Breakthrough Male Performance at the MTV Movie Awards.

Murphy went on to supporting roles in high-profile films such as Cold Mountain (2003) and Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003), and then was cast in two villain roles: Dr. Jonathan Crane, aka The Scarecrow, in Batman Begins (2005) and Jackson Rippner in Red Eye (2005). Although slight in nature for a villain, Murphy's piercing blue eyes helped to create creepy performances and critics began to take notice. Manhola Dargis of the New York Times cited Murphy as a "picture-perfect villain", while David Denby of The New Yorker noted he was both "seductive" and "sinister".

Later that year, Murphy starred as Patrick "Kitten" Braden, an Irish transgender woman in search of her mother in Neil Jordan's Breakfast on Pluto (2005), a film adaptation of the Pat McCabe novel. Although the film was not a box office success, Murphy was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical and he won Best Actor for the Irish Film and Television Academy Awards.

The following year, Murphy starred in Ken Loach's The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006). The film was the most successful independent Irish film and won the Palm D'Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Murphy continued to take roles in a number of independent films, and also reprised his role as the Scarecrow in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight (2008). Nolan is known for working with actors in multiple films, and cast Murphy in Inception (2010) as Robert Fischer, the young heir of the multi-billion dollar empire, who was the target of DiCaprio's dream team. His most well-known work is starring as Thomas Shelby in the British TV show Peaky Blinders beginning in 2013.

Murphy continues to appear in high-profile films such as In Time (2011), Red Lights (2012), and The Dark Knight Rises (2012), the final film in Nolan's Batman trilogy.

Murphy is married to Yvonne McGuinness, an artist. The couple have two sons, Malachy and Aran.

Alan Sabbagh is known for The Tenth Man (2016), El sistema K.E.OP/S (2022) and Focus (2015).

Born in Cleveland, MS, but moved to San Antonio, TX with her mother and sister when she was age 6. She grew up splitting her time between these two homes before she moved to Los Angeles when she was age 18 to attend the University of Southern California. Received her MFA from Harvard University in 2012.

In addition to television and film, Alexandra is a classically trained stage actress, known specifically for Shakespeare. Totaling more than over 40 different stage productions, she has performed as Lady Macbeth in Scotland, Rosalind at American Repertory Theatre, Helena at the Los Angeles Philharmonic with Nancy Meckler from the RSC, Helena and Edmund at Theatricum Botanicum, and Pisanio and Thaisa with the Porters of Hellsgate.

Has been a spokesperson for Lenovo Computers and Proactiv, and has been in numerous commercial spots, including Blue Buffalo, Weight Watchers, and Osteo Bi Flex. Voice overs for Yelp, Service Titan, HopSkipDrive, and dozen other companies.

Aliona Munteanu is known for Revederea (2014).

Allan Trautman was born in Brooklyn, NY and moved to Miami Beach with his family at the beginning of 9th grade. He began acting in Miami Beach Senior High under the direction of famed drama teacher Jay Jensen. He spent four years in St. Louis at Washington University, earning a BA in Physics and Drama. He then earned an MFA in Acting from the California Institute of the Arts, where he met his wife, Diane. While in St. Louis, he began his puppetry career working on The Letter People at public TV station KETC. He performed in all 60 15-minute episodes, each one shot on a Friday (he skipped classes).

Two years after graduating from CalArts, while working full-time at Leo's Stereo in the San Fernando Valley, a friend told him about an audition notice for a "puppet school" sponsored by Sid and Marty Krofft. Allan spent the summer of 1980 at what were a series of workshops under the direction of Tony Urbano. There he met other young puppeteers who all became lifelong friends-Bruce Lanoil, Kevin Carlson, Tim Blaney, and others.

Much of the 1980s were spent working on projects for the Kroffts and for Dave Pavelonis and his Peppercorn Productions, as well as pursuing his acting career. During this time he was sent on an audition for Return of the Living Dead, and was cast as the Tarman, who went on to become an iconic zombie film character-among the first to ask specifically for "Brains!"

In 1990, as part of the then-pending purchase of The Muppets by the Walt Disney Company, Jim Henson came to Los Angeles to direct Muppetvision 3-D, an attraction for Disney's theme parks. Again, a friend was able to get Allan into the audition, and this was the beginning of Allan's career with The Jim Henson Company and the Muppets.

In 1991 Allan joined the cast of the ABC-TV series Dinosaurs as the animatronic puppeteer for Fran Sinclair. That show remained in production for 65 episodes, until the end of 1993, introducing Allan to sophisticated animatronics. This experience continued with movies like Babe, Men in Black, Doctor Dolittle, Jack Frost, The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, Monkeybone, Cats and Dogs, Men in Black II, and The Country Bears.

After Dinosaurs, two producers on that show requested his presence on their next show, Unhappily Ever After, a sitcom on the brand-new WB Network. Allan puppeteered Mr. Floppy, the lead character's wise-cracking (imaginary) talking bunny, voiced in front of a live audience by Bobcat Goldthwaite.

In the meantime, Allan's work with The Muppets included videos such as It's Not Easy Being Green and Muppet Classic Theatre, the movie Muppets from Space, and, for TV, Muppets Tonight, It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, and The Muppets' Wizard of Oz. In the summer of 2005, Allan became a founding member of Puppet Up!-Uncensored, Henson Alternative's puppet/improv show. He performed in the show off-Broadway, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, on tour throughout the U.S., and on the historic Chaplin Stage on The Jim Henson Company lot. He also acted as puppetry technique instructor. He was one of three on-set puppeteers during production of The Jungle Book (2016), and was a core puppeteer on The Happytime Murders. Allan continues to work in physical as well as digital puppetry, in shows such as Splash and Bubbles for PBS Kids, and has moved into directing for that show and others.

Aly Raisman, the daughter of Lynn and Rick Raisman, was born in Needham, Massachusetts, and graduated from Needham High School. She began taking gymnastics at the age of two. Raisman started her senior career in 2010, and that season, she helped the U.S. national team finish second at the World Championships. At the following year's Worlds, she helped the Americans finish first in the team competition and also finished third individually in the floor exercise event. Raisman was the women's national team captain at the 2012 Summer Olympics and led the U.S. to the team gold medal. She then won the bronze medal on balance beam and the gold medal on floor exercise. In 2013, Raisman was a contestant on season 16 of Dancing with the Stars (2005).

Andrew Golden and Mitchell Johnson stole nine weapons and 2,000 rounds of ammunition from their parents and grandparents homes, taking Johnson's stepfather's minivan and the next morning headed to Westside School, Jonesboro, Ark. on March 24,1998. After lunch the two middle school students lured the classes out. Golden ran inside and pulled the fire alarm and then ran back to the edge of a field where Johnson was hiding. As the children and teachers spilled out, the two boys began to shoot, using deer rifles, from 100 yards away, killing four students, all girls, and a teacher, wounding 10 others.

Golden and Johnson were tried as juveniles and were expected to remain in custody until the age of 21, in accordance with Arkansas law at the time. Johnson was released in 2005, and Golden was released in 2007. Because they were tried as juveniles, their records were sealed.

Drew Grant, at age 33, who had legally changed his name from Andrew Golden and had been living in Jackson, Missouri, died July 27,2019 when the vehicle he was driving crashed head-on into another vehicle on Highway 167 near Cave City, which is about 100 miles north of Little Rock. The other driver had crossed the divided road was killed in the crash.

Andrew Lambrou is known for Andrew Lambrou: Take My Breath Away (2023), Andrew Lambrou: Break a Broken Heart (2023) and Eurovision Song Contest Liverpool 2023 (2023).

Angel Echevarria was born on 25 May 1971 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA. He died on 7 February 2020 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA.

Ann Crumb was born on 25 May 1950 in Charleston, West Virginia, USA. She was an actress, known for Aspects of Love (1993), Law & Order (1990) and Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001). She died on 31 October 2019 in Media, Pennsylvania, USA.

Ann Pirvu was born in Brasov, Romania. She is an actress and producer, known for Little Girl in the Window (2024), Learning to Love Again (2020) and Poly is the New Monogamy (2024). She has been married to Christopher Giroux since 23 November 2023.

Growing up in the proverbial shadow of the studios, California native Ann Robinson acted in grade-school plays and later fibbed her way into the movie business as a stunt woman on movies such as Black Midnight (1949), The Story of Molly X (1949), and Frenchie (1950). She was part of Paramount's golden circle of new stars in the early 1950s but had only one leading role at the studio, in producer George Pal's The War of the Worlds (1953).

In 1957, she ran off to Mexico to marry a famous matador, Jaime Bravo ("and blew my career right out of the water"). Their son Jaime Jr. became a director with ABC Sports and has won several Emmy awards. Since 1987, Robinson has been married to real estate broker Joseph Valdez. She is a fixture at sci-fi conventions and autograph shows.

Anne Consigny was born on 25 May 1963 in Alençon, Orne, France. She is an actress and director, known for Elle (2016), At Eternity's Gate (2018) and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007).

Anne Celeste Heche was an American actress, director, and screenwriter. She came to recognition portraying Vicky Hudson and Marley Love in the soap opera Another World (1964), which won her a Daytime Emmy Award and two Soap Opera Digest Awards. She came to mainstream prominence in the late 1990s with roles in the crime drama film Donnie Brasco (1997), the disaster film Volcano (1997), the slasher film I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), the action comedy film Six Days Seven Nights (1998), and the drama-thriller film Return to Paradise (1998).

Anselmo Marini was born on 25 May 1937 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He died on 13 October 2023 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Anthea Turner was born on 25 May 1960 in Stoke-on-Trent, England, UK. She is an actress, known for The Lily Savage Show (1997), Mongrels (2010) and Absolute Power (2003). She was previously married to Grant Bovey and Peter Powell.

Asia Jackson is an actress based in Los Angeles, CA. She is of African-American and Filipino descent. An Air Force brat, Asia moved from California to Mississippi when she was just two weeks old. Since then, she'd moved nine times around the world by the time she was thirteen. She spent two years of her elementary studies in Tokyo, Japan as well as Baguio City, Philippines. She discovered her passion for modeling and acting while attending college for computer science.

Barbara Luddy was an American actress and vaudeville singer from Great Falls, Montana. From the 1950s to the 1970s, Luddy regularly worked as a voice actress for the Walt Disney Animation Studios. Her best known role was voicing the co-protagonist Lady in the animated romance film "Lady and the Tramp" (1955). Her other prominent voice roles included the heroic fairy Merryweather in "Sleeping Beauty" (1959) and the maternal kangaroo Kanga in the featurettes "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree" (1966), "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day" (1968), and "Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too" (1974). Archive footage of Luddy's voice was also used for Kanga in the feature film "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" (1977).

In 1908, Luddy was born in Great Falls, Montana. The city was named for its proximity to the Great Falls of the Missouri River, a series of 5 waterfalls located in north-central Montana. The city was established in 1883 by the businessman and politician Paris Gibson (1830-1920), who planned to use the waterfalls as a source for hydroelectricity. Great Falls became the first city in Montana with its own hydroelectric dam. Luddy's parents were Will and Molly Luddy.

Luddy was educated in a convent for Ursulines, a Catholic religious order dedicated to the education of girls. Luddy started performing as a singer in the vaudeville circuit during her childhood. By the late 1920s, Luddy served as an actress in a touring company with fellow vaudevillian Leo Carrillo (1880-1961). In 1929, their company toured Australia. The press in Sydney praised Luddy for "her pert audacity and vivaciousness".

During the 1930s, Luddy started regularly performing as a voice actress in radio shows. From 1936 to 1943, Luddy was part of the main cast in the anthology series "The First Nighter Program" (1930-1953). Most of the series' episodes featured romantic-comedy plots. In 1937, Luddy signed a long-term contract for her exclusive services in this series.

During World War II, Luddy was part of the main cast in the radio soap opera "Lonely Women" (1942-1943). It was one of the many soap operas created by scriptwriter Irna Phillips (1901-1973), who typically focused on depicting the complexities of modern life. Luddy voiced Judith Clark, a lovesick secretary. The cast of characters in this series was originally all-female, but male characters were among the late additions to the series.

By the 1950s, Luddy started regularly working for Disney Animation as a voice actress. By the 1960s, she started having minor roles in television. She appeared in then-popular series, such as the sitcom "Hazel" (1961-1966), and the soap opera "Days of Our Lives" (1965-).

In April 1979, Luddy died due to lung cancer. She was 70-years-old at the time of her death, dying a month before her 71st birthday. She is still fondly remembered by animation fans for her voice roles, long after her heyday. Her character of Lady became a regular supporting character in the Disney comic strip "Scamp" (1955-1988), where the eponymous protagonist was Lady's son.

Benjamin Melniker was born on 25 May 1913 in Bayonne, New Jersey, USA. He was a producer, known for National Treasure (2004), Batman Begins (2005) and Batman & Robin (1997). He was married to Shirley Gross and Jean Brody. He died on 26 February 2018 in Roslyn Harbor, Long Island, New York, USA.

Best known as publisher and founder of Random House. Published many giants of 20th century American literature, including William Faulkner, James Michener, and Ayn Rand. Published James Joyce's Ulysses in the US after winning landmark Supreme Court obscenity case. Edited compilations of humor and joke books. Appeared regularly on "What's My Line?" and other TV shows.

This vibrant, fine-humored coloratura was able to accomplish what most others of her ilk could or would not do -- she humanized opera and made it approachable to the masses. There were no diva-like traits in this star and the public absolutely adored her for it. Dubbed "America's Queen of Opera" in 1971 by Time magazine, Beverly Sills, the lovely blonde with the toothy smile and fireplace-warm personality, also gained notice for her rise to stardom without benefit of European training, eventually paving the way for other American-trained singers to succeed without the accustomed "Met certification". During her career she recorded 18 full-length operas as well as numerous recital discs. A Victor Herbert album she recorded won a Grammy Award in 1978. If not one of its most distinctive and charismatic voices, she certainly became opera's most accessible figurehead and with it enticed a surprisingly wide audience who would have typically turned away from the long-haired art form.

Brooklyn-born Belle Miriam Silverman arrived on May 25, 1929, to Russian-Jewish émigrés and the good humor already started at birth when she was nicknamed "Bubbles" due to bubbles emanating from her mouth as she arrived. At age 3 she made her debut on a kiddie show and won a Brooklyn "beautiful baby" contest as well. Her singing gifts were detected early on and she began to study at age 7. Performing increasingly on various radio shows well into her teen years, she made her operatic debut at age 18 singing the role of Frasquita in "Carmen" with the Philadelphia Civic Opera.

In the early 1950s Beverly toured with the Charles L. Wagner Opera Company and established herself in the roles of Violetta in "La Traviata" and Micaela in "Carmen". The highlight during this time came with her role as Helen of Troy in "Mephistopheles" with the San Francisco Opera in 1953. She met future husband Peter Greenough, an associate editor, while touring with the New York City Opera in 1955 (she had auditioned unsuccessfully for the company for nearly 4 years). The couple married a year later and went on to have two children: Meredith and Peter Jr. Despite her sunny, optimistic demeanor, Beverly had her fair share of misfortune. Her daughter was born deaf and son born autistic. For the remainder of her life she became an avid spokesperson for children with particular needs.

Her buildup on the opera scene was surprisingly gradual. Over the years she developed a strong repertoire of leading roles in the works of Mozart, Handel, Offenbach, Donizetti, Rossini and Verdi. Stardom came with the role of Cleopatra in Handel's "Julius Caesar" in 1966 at Lincoln Center, and she confirmed it with subsequent roles in "Le Coq d'Or, "Mamon", "Lucia di Lammermoor" "The Siege of Corinth" and "Il Trittico".

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s she made herself available to the public in lighter forums at such open venues as the Hollywood Bowl. She willingly shared both the stage and small screen with such unlikely co-stars as Carol Burnett ("Sills and Burnett at the Met"), Danny Kaye, John Denver, Tony Bennett, Johnny Carson and even the Muppets. She won four Emmys for her interview show "Lifestyles with Beverly Sills" in the late 70s. On the operatic side, some of her televised performances included that of "The Barber of Seville", "La Traviata" and "Manon".

Beverly's lyric soprano began to falter at around age 50 in the late 1970s. She bid her audiences adieu in a 1980 performance of "Die Fledermaus" with Joan Sutherland for the San Diego Opera. Later that decade she was the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980 and was paid tribute at the 1985 Kennedy Center Honors for her lifetime of contribution to the arts.

In later years Beverly worked behind the scenes after taking over the mismanaged City Opera Company and turning things around as its general director. She retired successfully from that leadership post in 1989 and five years later became chairman of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Retiring in 2002, she took over the chair for the Metropoliatan Opera itself until 2005 due to family obligations and health issues. Her husband Peter died in September of 2006; ten months later Beverly would follow.

(Obviously) a non-smoker all her life, Beverly nevertheless developed lung cancer. Her father had died of the same disease back in 1947. She died on July 2, 2007 at her Manhattan residence. Her two children and one grandchild survive.

Bill Robinson quit school at age seven and began work as a professional dancer the following year. Bojangles (the name referred to his happy-go-lucky ebullience) starred in vaudeville, musical stage and movies. He invented the stair tap routine and was considered one of the world's greatest tap dancers. His film debut was in Dixiana (1930). He worked in fifteen movies, but his movie fame came primarily from the films he made with Shirley Temple -- The Little Colonel (1935), The Littlest Rebel (1935), and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938). In 1989 the US Congress named his birth date as National Tap Dancing Day.

Bill was born and bred in the North-East town of Middlesbrough, close to the North Yorkshire border, and trained at the Guildford drama school in the early Eighties.

Amongst his many Theatre credits are Mickey in the West End production of Blood Brothers, alongside Stephanie Lawrence, Tony Harrison's Trackers at the Royal National Theatre, Pastoral at the Soho Theatre.

Bill has been seen on television many times, most recently in Ted Lasso starring Jason Sudeikis, This Time with Alan Partridge starring Steve Coogan, Vera with Brenda Blethyn, the hugely popular drama Broadchurch with Olivia Colman and in the multi award-winning Downton Abbey opposite Phyllis Logan - as well as starring in Alan Bleasdale's Monicled Mutineer with Paul McGann, Hallmark's Blackbeard with Stacy Keach and Jessica Chastain, and the role of Stu Carpenter in Coronation Street for ITV.

His film credits include Lady Macbeth with Florence Pugh, Final Score with Pierce Brosnan, The Tournament with Robert Carlyle, In Our Name with Joanne Froggatt, United, the story of the Munich air disaster, with Jack O'Connell and David Tennant, Harrigan with Stephen Tompkinson and Extremis with David O'Hara.

Bob Gale is an Oscar-nominated screenwriter-producer-director, best known as co-creator, co-writer and co-producer of Back to the Future (1985) and its sequels. Gale was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Cinema from the University of Southern California in 1973. He has written over 30 screenplays; his other film credits include 1941 (1979), I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978), Used Cars (1980), Trespass (1992) and Interstate 60 (2002), the last which he directed. In addition to writing movies and occasionally television, Gale has written comic books including Spider-Man, Batman and the IDW Back to the Future title, thus proving to his father that he did not waste hours and hours reading comics in his youth. He has also served as an expert witness in over 25 plagiarism cases, even though this has occasionally required him to wear a suit and tie (oh, the horror!). When he's not in production, writing, shooting off his mouth or wasting time on the internet, he actually does take out the trash even when his wife doesn't ask. Well, sometimes he does...