Celebrity Birthdays, March 21: Gary Oldman and Diggy Simmons

Actor Gary Oldman and rapper Diggy Simmons are celebrating their birthdays today, March 21.

Gary Oldman, 57

Actor, filmmaker, and musician Gary Oldman turns 57 today. Oldman started his career working behind the scenes in theater productions. He later transitioned into film acting with notable early role in Sid and Nancy, Prick Up Your Ears, The Firm and JFK.

Oldman played Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's Dracula. He went on to play an array of popular villains in films including True Romance, Murder in the First, The Fifth Element, Lost in Space and Air Force One.

After a short flop in his career, Oldman was brought back into the spotlight with his role as Sirius Black in the Harry Potter film franchise. He also gained more prominence with his role as James Gordon in Batman Begins, reprising his role for the sequels The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. Oldman voiced three roles in A Christmas Carol alongside Jim Carrey and starred alongside Denzel Washington in The Book of Eli. Oldman voiced the villain Lord Shen in Kung Fu Panda 2 and earned an Annie Award nomination.

For his role in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Oldman earned his first Academy Award nomination. In 2012, he starred alongside Tom Hardy, Shia LeBouf, Guy Pearce and Jessica Chastain in Lawless. He went on to star in Paranoia, RoboCop and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

Future projects of Oldman include Child 44 alongside Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace and Joel Kinnaman, Criminal alongside Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, Ryan Reynolds and Alice Eve and Man Down alongside Shia LaBeouf and Kate Mara. Oldman will also direct a biopic about Eadweard Muybridge entitled Flying Horse.

image courtesy of INFphoto.com

Diggy Simmons, 20

Rapper, singer and actor Diggy Simmons turns 20 today. Born Daniel Dwayne Simmons III and the fourth child of Run DMC's Joseph "Rev. Run" Simmons. Simmons released his debut mixtape, The First Flight, in 2009. He later signed to Atlantic Records.

In 2011, Simmons was named one of Billboard's "Artists to Watch." He joined Tyga, Mindless Behavior, Lil Twist, Jawan Harris and Trevante for his first tour, BET's 106 & Park Closer To My Dreams tour. His first major-label single, "Copy, Paste," peaked at No. 24 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. He later joined Mindless Behavior, Jacob Latimore and The New Boyz for the Scream Tour's Next Generation tour.

Simmons released his debut album, Unexpected Arrival, in 2012. The album peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard 200 chart. He headlined the Life of The Jetsetter Tour and was joined by Jacob Latimore, The OMG Girlz, Jawan Harris and TK-N-Cash.

Aside from rapping, Simmons launched a line of sneakers called Chivalrous Culture. Simmons and his family were the subjects of the MTV reality television show Run's House. In 2012, Simmons won Outstanding New Artist at the NAACP Image Awards. That same year, he won the YoungStars Award at the BET Awards.

image courtesy of Roger Wong/INFevents.com