Celebrity Birthdays, February 14: Danai Gurira, Simon Pegg and Freddie Highmore

Actors Danai Gurira, Simon Pegg and Freddie Highmore are all celebrating their birthdays today, February 14.

Danai Gurira, 37

Actress and playwright Danai Gurira turns 37 today. Gurira started her career as a playwright. In 2006, she won an Obie Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for writing in the off-Broadway play In the Continuum and also won a Helen Hayes Award for Best Lead Actress. She served as a writer for the production The Convert and starred in Joe Turner's Come and Gone and Measure for Measure.

Gurira made her film debut in the 2007 film The Visitor. She went on to appear in the films Ghost Town, My Soul to Take, Restless City and Mother of George. She also made numerous television appearances in Law & Order: Criminal Intent, American Experience and Lie to Me. From 2010 to 2011, she had a recurring role on the HBO series Treme.

In 2012, Gurira joined the cast of the AMC series The Walking Dead in the third season as the character Michonne.

Gurira speaks four languages; French, Shona, basic Xhosa and English.

image courtesy of Jennifer Graylock/INFphoto.com

Simon Pegg, 45

Actor, comedian, screenwriter and film producer Simon Pegg turns 45 today. Pegg started his career in comedy while still in school and later transitioned into acting, appearing in numerous television shows and was regularly featured on BBC Radio 4's The 99p Challenge. Pegg also appeared in the World War II mini-series Band of Brothers.

Pegg gained international fame with the zombie mock horror film Shaun of the Dead in 2004. Pegg also starred in Mission: Impossible III as Benji Dunn and reprised his role in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. He co-wrote and starred in the film Paul. He and Shaun of the Dead co-writer and director, Edgar Wright, worked together to release Hot Fuzz in 2007 and The World's End in 2013.

In 2009, Pegg played Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in Star Trek and reprised his role for Star Trek Into Darkness in 2013. Pegg and his friend Nick Frost, whom often collaborates with him in his films, played the characters Thompson and Thompson in the 2011 Steven Spielberg film The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.

Pegg is married to music industry publicist Maureen McCann. They have a daughter, Matilda.

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Freddie Highmore, 23

Actor Freddie Highmore turns 23 today. Highmore began his career on television, appearing in a few minor roles since the age of 7. He played a young King Arthur in the television miniseries, The Mists of Avalon and appeared in another television miniseries Happy Birthday Shakespeare.

Highmore made his film debut in 1999 in Women Talking Dirty. His breakthrough role came in the 2004 drama Finding Neverland. He received several nominations and awards for the role including a Screen Actors Guild nomination.

In 2005, Highmore starred in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, winning a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Young Performer, and went on to appear in August Rush (winning a Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor), The Spiderwick Chronicles, Toast and The Art of Getting By. Highmore also had voice roles in numerous films including The Golden Compass, A Fox's Tale, Astro Boy, Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard and Justin and the Knights of Valour.

Highmore currently plays Norman Bates in the series Bates Motel, a prequel to the Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho.

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