People (Births)

• 1914 – John Ireland, Canadian-American actor and director (d. 1992).
• 1920 – Michael Anderson, English director and producer (d. 2018).
• 1930 – Gene Hackman, American actor and author.
• 1974 – Christian Bale, British actor.

John Ireland

John Benjamin Ireland (30 January 1914 to 21 March 1992) was a Canadian actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in All the King’s Men (1949), making him the first Vancouver-born actor to receive an Oscar nomination.

Ireland was a supporting actor in several Western films such as My Darling Clementine (1946), Red River (1948), Vengeance Valley (1951), and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957). His other film roles include A Walk in the Sun (1945), Joan Of Arc (1948), Spartacus (1960), 55 Days at Peking (1963), The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964), The Adventurers (1970), and Farewell, My Lovely (1975).

Ireland also appeared in many television series, notably The Cheaters (1960-1962). He was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to the television industry.

Michael Anderson

Michael Joseph Anderson (30 January 1920 to 25 April 2018) was an English film director, best known for directing the World War II film The Dam Busters (1955), the epic Around the World in 80 Days (1956) and the dystopian sci-fi film Logan’s Run (1976).

Gene Hackman

Eugene Allen Hackman (born 30 January 1930) is an American retired actor and former novelist. In a career that has spanned more than six decades, Hackman has won two Academy Awards, four Golden Globes, one Screen Actors Guild Award, two BAFTAs and one Silver Bear. Hackman won two Academy Awards, one for Best Actor for his role as Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle in William Friedkin’s acclaimed thriller The French Connection (1971) and the other for Best Supporting Actor playing “Little” Bill Daggett in Clint Eastwood’s Western film Unforgiven (1992). His other Oscar-nominated roles were in Bonnie and Clyde (1967), I Never Sang for My Father (1970), and Mississippi Burning (1988).

Hackman’s other major film roles included The Poseidon Adventure (1972), The Conversation (1974), French Connection II (1975), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Superman (1978) and its sequels Superman II (1980) and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987), Hoosiers (1986), No Way Out (1987), Another Woman (1988), Bat*21 (1988), The Firm (1993), The Quick and the Dead (1995), Get Shorty (1995), Crimson Tide (1995), Enemy of the State (1998), Absolute Power (1997), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), Runaway Jury (2003) and Welcome to Mooseport (2004).

Christian Bale

Christian Charles Philip Bale (born 30 January 1974) is an English actor. Known for his versatility and physical transformations for his roles, he has been a leading man in films of several genres. He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Forbes magazine ranked him as one of the highest-paid actors in 2014.

Born in Wales to English parents, Bale had his breakthrough role at age 13 in Steven Spielberg’s 1987 war film Empire of the Sun. After more than a decade of performing in leading and supporting roles in films, he gained wider recognition for his portrayals of serial killer Patrick Bateman in the black comedy American Psycho (2000) and the titular role in the psychological thriller The Machinist (2004). In 2005, he played superhero Batman in Batman Begins and again in The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012), garnering acclaim for his performance in the trilogy, which is one of the highest-grossing film franchises.

Bale continued in starring roles in a range of films outside his work as Batman, including the period drama The Prestige (2006), the action film Terminator Salvation (2009), the crime drama Public Enemies (2009), the epic film Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014) and the superhero film Thor: Love and Thunder (2022). For his portrayal of boxer Dicky Eklund in the 2010 biographical film The Fighter, he won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Further Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations came for his work in the black comedy American Hustle (2013) and the biographical dramedies The Big Short (2015) and Vice (2018). His performances as politician Dick Cheney in Vice and race car driver Ken Miles in the sports drama Ford v Ferrari (2019) earned him a second win and a fifth nomination respectively at the Golden Globe Awards.