Celebrity Birthdays, July 18: Vin Diesel and Kristen Bell

Actors Vin Diesel and Kristen Bell are celebrating their birthdays today.

Vin Diesel, 47


image courtesy of INFphoto.com

Actor, producer, screenwriter and director Vin Diesel turns 47 today. Diesel gained recognition after appearing in Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan in 1998. In 1999, he earned critical acclaim for his voice work as the title character in the animation film The Iron Giant. Diesel got his breakthrough role as the anti-hero Riddick in the science-fiction film Pitch Black. Diesel became a action star after appearing in The Fast and the Furious in 2001, and the action thriller xXx in 2002. In 2004, Diesel reprised his role as Riddick in The Chronicles of Riddick. In 2005, he played a more lighthearted role in the comedy film The Pacifier, which became a box office success.

In 2006, he played real-life mobster Jack DiNorscio in Find Me Guilty, and received critical acclaim for his performance. Later that year, Diesel made a cameo appearance in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. He was originally offered the lead but turned it down. He was also offered the chance to reprise his role for xXx: State of the Union, but turned it down as well.

Diesel returned to the The Fast and The Furious series, alongside all the actors from the original film, in Fast & Furious, which was released in April 2009. He went on to star in Fast Five and Fast & Furious 6. He reprised his role as Riddick in the third film of the Riddick in 2013. later that year, Diesel received an honorary star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame .

Diesel has a daughter, Hania Riley, and a son Vincent with his girlfriend, Mexican model Paloma Jimenez.

What's next for Diesel? He will star in the upcomming Fast & Furious 7, and will be voicing the character Groot in the Marvel film Guardians of the Galaxy, scheduled to hit theaters August 1.

Kristen Bell, 34


image courtesy of Kristin Callahan/ACE/INFphoto.com

Actress and singer Kristen Bell turns 34 today. In 2001, Bell made her Broadway debut as Becky Thatcher in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. After moving to Los Angeles, she landed various television guest appearances and small film parts before appearing in a lead role in the film Spartan. She later gained fame and critical praise as the title character on the television series Veronica Mars from September 2004 to May 2007. She reprised the eponymous role in the 2014 film continuation of the series.

During her time on Veronica Mars, Bell appeared as Mary Lane in the film Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical, a reprise of the role she had played in the New York theatrical production of the musical upon which the film was based. She also portrayed the lead role in the 2006 film Pulse. In 2007, Bell joined the cast of the sci-fi television series Heroes, playing the character Elle Bishop, and the drama series Gossip Girl.

In 2008, she played Sarah Marshall in the comedy film Forgetting Sarah Marshall. She has since appeared in a various number of comedy films, such as Fanboys, Couples Retreat, You Again and When in Rome. Bell also voices Lucy Stillman in the Assassin's Creed video game series and Princess Anna in the 2013 Disney animated film Frozen, the highest-grossing animated film of all time.

Bell has been the recipient of a Satellite Award and a Saturn Award, and has been previously nominated several times for Television Critics Association Awards and Teen Choice Awards, among other accolades.

Bell married actor Dax Shepard in October 2013. They have one daughter, Lincoln Bell Shepard, and in June 2014, it was announced that they were expecting their second child. Since 2012, Bell has starred as Jeannie van der Hooven in the Showtime series House of Lies.

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