Many Happy Returns!!

Well, today we celebrate an absolute favorite of mine!  Yes, Benedict Cumberbatch turns 37 today!

My faithful readers already know that I like him and many reasons why.  If you're new or have been living on a desert island and haven't heard of Mr. C or his merits, start with my post for his birthday last year or check out his tag on my blog.  Or read my favorite interview with him to-date (thank you, Caitlin Moran!)

But yes, there is no denying I'm rather fond of the man and his work.  Even were I to try to deny it... the evidence suggests otherwise.

[to be fair... all but one of those was  a gift!]

Yep, I think he's pretty amazing. "Absolutely amazing!  Brilliant!"

[Benedict at 4 days old with parents Timothy Carlton and Wanda Ventham, July 1976]

[Benedict at Star Trek premiere, May 2013]

36 has been a busy and breakthrough year for him!  The year began (literally on his birthday) with his first Emmy nomination (Sherlock, Season 2); it ended yesterday with another Emmy nomination (Parade's End).  As far as TV goes, he had the aforementioned release of Parade's End, a guest role on The Simpson's, and had a bit of fun just the other week on Top Gear.  He also appeared on several late-night shows including David Letterman's, Jimmy Fallon's, and (my personal favorite) Graham Norton's.  His radio work this year included Season 4 of Cabin Pressure as well as a star-studded production of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere (which will be available later this year - and Gaiman has hopes to make a film version with the same cast ;).  He's been slightly too busy to pursue any serious stage-work this year.  But, of course, the big event of the year was Star Trek: Into Darkness.  It served as a lot of people's introduction to him and he got rather better reviews than the film did.  As a personal aside, I thought he did quite fine - but it wasn't even near his top works.  However, it is just wonderful that he got into his first leading role in a blockbuster.

The past few weeks have served as a fantastic set-up for his 37th year as the final 2 trailers for his 2013 films were released.  This fall, 4 films in which Cumberbatch stars will be hitting the big screen.  A brief rundown:

October 18 - 12 Years a Slave

October 18 - The Fifth Estate

December 13 - The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

[221B convention]

And, on Christmas Day - August: Osage County

Hopefully we'll also be viewing Sherlock Season 3 before the end of the year (or at least by January 2014).  He did help play a little joke on the Comic-Con panel yesterday - explaining how Sherlock survived the fall:




Ah... cheeky!

As busy and successful and brilliant as he is... my wish for his 37th is actually that he'd be able to take a breather and settle down.  Here's hoping he finds "the right one" - and that this would become a reality:

[Benedict with a friend's newborn... and one of my favorite pics of him ever!]

I'll keep hoping for that.  But in all his ventures and doings I do wish him luck and many happy returns!

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