MariNisia

Gérard Depardieu, the famous and notable French actor, one of the best French actors of all time, who began acting at a young age and has racked up an impressive number of films in four different languages, is 74 today. Larisa Latýnina, the exceptional Ukrainian artistic gymnast, one of the most decorated athletes worldwide, winner of 14 individual Olympic medals, and 4 team medals, including 9 golds, over 3 different Olympics between 1956 and 1964, is 88 today. Her medal total was surpassed only, after 48 years, by Michael Phelps in 2012.

Thomas Linke, the noted German professional footballer who played as a central defender in 13 Bundesliga seasons, 249 competitive matches for his most successful team, FC Bayern Munich, and 43 for his national team; is 53 today. John Lynch, the excellent Irish actor and novelist, his first novel was "Torn Water", and his second, "Falling Out of Heaven"; who was born of an Irish father and an Italian mother in Corrinshego, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, is 61 today.

Ingrid Betancourt, French-Colombian politician who was running for President when she was kidnapped, in 2002, by members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and spent six and a half years in captivity, is 61 today. Before her capture, one of the highest-profile captives during the country's 52-year conflict with the FARC, Ingrid Betancourt was a notable voice of hope for the Colombian people, leading a fight against political corruption. In 2008, Betancourt and 14 other FARC hostages were rescued by the Colombian security forces in "Operation Jaque", having spent a total of 2321 days in captivity. Sissy Spacek, the exceptional American actress, one of the most respected actresses of her generation and a personal favourite of mine, who won a Golden Globe Award and the Oscar for her notable performance as Loretta Lynn in the biopic "Coal Miner's Daughter", is 73 today.

Sharon Farrell, American film and television actress who made her acting debut at age 18 in the 1959 drama film "Kiss Her Goodbye", and probably remembered for her role as Florence Webster on the CBS daytime soap opera "The Young and the Restless", is 82 today. At age 23, Farrell suffered an embolism after the birth of her son, which caused her to lose her memory. Sharon Farrell kept her illness a secret and worked to regain her memory. After extensive sessions of re-learning, Sharon Farrell returned to acting in the early 1970s. Nicholas Meyer, American author, director, producer and screenwriter, widely known for his successful novel "The Seven-Per-Cent Solution", and for directing the films "Time After Time" (1979), "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" (1982), "The Deceivers" (1988), "Company Business" (1991), and "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" (1991), is 77 today. "The Seven-Per-Cent Solution" related the collaboration of Sigmund Freud and Sherlock Holmes in the solution of a mystery.

Joan Severance, the attractive American actress who was a notable supermodel in the 1980s; appearing in ads, landing in the pages of Vogue, and scoring fashion campaigns for Giorgio Armani, Chanel, Maybelline, Revlon, and Versace; is 64 today. Silvia Renate Sommerlath, the admirable Queen consort of the current King of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf, who was born in Heidelberg, Germany, to a German father and a Brazilian mother; and met her future husband in 1972 at the Summer Olympics in Munich, is 79 today.

Hector Elizondo, the prolific character actor who was born in New York to Puerto Rican immigrants, who started his acting career in the late 1960s, and probably remembered for his roles as Dr. Phillip Watters in the CBS medical drama series "Chicago Hope" and Barney Thompson, the manager at the hotel Vivian stays at with Edward in the hit film "Pretty Woman", is 86 today. Vanessa Paradis, the acclaimed French actress, model, and singer, a superstar in France, who first found fame at the age of 14 with the success of her 1987 summer hit single, "Joe Le Taxi", one of the biggest-selling songs of all time in France, is 50 today.

Congratulations, @arghton! 1922 Mildred T. Stahlman / Ronald Blythe 1923 Judith Hemmendinger / Bob Barker 1924 Countess Marianne Bernadotte of Wisborg / Tomiichi Murayama 1925 Ruth Slenczynska / Johnny Lujack 1926 Gudrun Ure / David Frankham 1927 Barbara Rush / Harry Belafonte 1928 Ruth Westheimer / Shimon Baadani 1929 Joan Plowright / Don January 1930 Sandra Day O'Connor / Thomas Patten Stafford 1931 Barbara Barrie / James Earl Jones

Jane Fonda, the admired American actress and political activist, the daughter of actor Henry Fonda and socialite Frances Ford Seymour, winner of two Academy Awards for her lead roles in "Klute" (1971) and "Coming Home" (1978), is 85 today. Kiefer Sutherland, the excellent British-Canadian actor and musician, the son of acting legend Donald Sutherland and actress Shirley Douglas, who was Jack Bauer, the lethal and troubled counter-terrorist agent of the hit television series "24", is 56 today.

Kate Atkinson, one of Britain's greatest contemporary novelists and playwrights, who is the author of the excellent Jackson Brodie detective series, which was adapted for the notable BBC television series "Case Histories", is 71 today. Gigliola Cinquetti, the admired Italian singer and television presenter who won, with the same song, the Sanremo Music Festival and the Eurovision Song Contest, first Eurovision success for Italy, in 1964, is 75 today.

I know who he is. It's easy.

@chilean way... Encarna Hernández has died at the age of 105. She is a hit here: https://elpais.com/deportes/2022-12-19/muere-a-los-105-anos-la-nina-del-gancho-la-mama-del-baloncesto-espanol-jugado-por-mujeres.html

Jennifer Beals, the multiracial American film and television actress, her father was African American, and her mother is Irish American, who is well known for her iconic role as Alex Owens in the 1983 film "Flashdance", is 59 today. Miguel Bernardo Bianquetti, known as Migueli, Spanish professional footballer who spent most of his career at FC Barcelona, 549 matches for the Catalans, in the final of the 1978-79 European Cup Winners' Cup he played on with a broken collarbone, a brave player who was nicknamed Tarzan due to his immense physical power, is 71 today.

Congratulations to @diego for his massive victory. Thanks for this and for everything else, @Paul Bearer. I had a really good time, and great to get 15 points.

Rolf Harris is a good candidate, too.

Gianluca Pagliuca, the notable Italian professional footballer, one of the best goalkeepers of his generation and an undisputed number one for Italy in the mid nineties, whose performances earned him the nickname 'The Wall', is 56 today. Alan Rudolph, the renowned American film director and screenwriter, a pioneer in the American independent film movement, who was mentored by his most important influence, the master Robert Altman, for whom he worked as an assistant director, is 79 today. Alan Rudolph, one of the most important talents of the seventies, is the director of such notable films as "Welcome to L.A.", "Remember My Name", "Choose Me" (his splendid masterpiece), "Made in Heaven", "The Moderns", "Mortal Thoughts", "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle", "Afterglow" and "Breakfast of Champions".

France: 2 - Argentina: 2 Yellow cards: 2

Croatia: 0 - Morocco: 0 Yellow cards: 0

Armin Mueller-Stahl, the extraordinary German actor who began his career in East Germany, who made his American film debut as Jessica Lange's father in "Music Box", and best known for his roles in "Eastern Promises" and "Shine", is 92 today. Paula Radcliffe, the noted long-distance runner, one of the most well-known British athletes in history, who is a three-time champion of the London, and New York marathon, and was born in Davenham near Northwich, Cheshire, England, is 49 today. She won gold medals at both the Commonwealth and European championships. Paula Radcliffe also received numerous accolades, including an OBE and being crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2002. Her remarkable career is fully chronicled in her inspiring and interesting autobiography: "Paula: My Story So Far".

James Mangold, American film and television director, the new filmmaker behind the camera for the next Indiana Jones film, who is best known as the director of the films "Heavy", "Cop Land", "Girl, Interrupted", "Kate & Leopold", "Identity", "Walk the Line", "3:10 to Yuma", "The Wolverine", "Logan", and "Ford v Ferrari", is 59 today. Miranda Otto, Australian actress who is best known for playing Eowyn, the undaunted warrior maiden of Rohan, in the famed films "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King", is 55 today.

Elisa Montés, the stupendous Spanish film, stage and television actress, the sister of Spanish actresses Emma Penella and Terele Pávez, who took her artistic surname from an opera of her grandfather, Manuel Penella, is 88 today. Her father, the politician Ramón Ruiz Alonso, was involved in the arrest and execution of the excellent Spanish playwright and poet Federico García Lorca. In the 1960s and 1970s, Elisa Montés was especially popular for her starring roles in numerous spaghetti westerns. Edna O'Brien, the distinguished Irish memoirist, novelist, playwright, poet and short-story writer, one of the most talented authors of her generation, who is well-known for her exceptional literary career, is 92 today.

I'm working on it, but I do need a bit more time. Too many pools with the same starting date. Thanks for hosting and running this interesting competition, @Bibliogryphon. Good luck to everyone.

France: 3 - Morocco: 1 Yellow cards: 6

Bob Paris, the famed American-Canadian former professional bodybuilder, one of the greatest athletes in his sport's history, who was Mr. America, and Mr. Universe in 1983, is 63 today. Dee Wallace-Stone, American actress, best known for her role as Elliot's mother in the famous film "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial", and a "scream queen" for her starring roles in horror films, such as "The Hills Have Eyes", "The Howling", and "Cujo", is 74 today.

Maria Riva, the only child of the charismatic star of screen and stage, Marlene Dietrich, who was born in Berlin, Germany, as Maria Elisabeth Sieber, is 98 today. Dick Van Dyke, the distinguished American actor, who began his phenomenal career as an entertainer on radio and television, in nightclubs, and on the Broadway stage, is 97 today.

Congratulations, @Summer in Transylvania! 1922 Mildred T. Stahlman / Ronald Blythe 1923 Judith Hemmendinger / Bob Barker 1924 Countess Marianne Bernadotte of Wisborg / Tomiichi Murayama 1925 Ruth Slenczynska / Johnny Lujack 1926 Judith Magre / David Frankham 1927 Barbara Rush / Harry Belafonte 1928 Ruth Westheimer / Shimon Baadani 1929 Joan Plowright / Don January 1930 Sandra Day O'Connor / Thomas Patten Stafford 1931 Barbara Barrie / Malachy McCourt