Happy Birthday Harry Potter!

RISMEDIA, July 23, 2007—Daniel Jacob Radcliffe was born on this day in 1989. An English film, television and stage actor, he is best known for playing school-aged wizard Harry Potter in each of the first five films based on the best-selling Harry Potter book series, and will also appear in the final two films of that series. Harry Potter is a series of seven children’s books by English author J. K. Rowling about an adolescent boy named Harry Potter. The story is mostly set at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a school for young wizards and witches, and focuses on Harry Potter’s fight against the evil wizard Lord Voldemort, who killed Harry’s parents as part of his plan to take over the wizarding world.

Radcliffe was asked to audition for the role of Harry Potter in 2000 by producer David Heyman, while in attendance at a play named Stones in His Pockets in London. After several auditions, he was selected to play the role in the big-budget adaptation.

The latest book in the Harry Potter Series debuted on Saturday, July 21, but did you know the following about the boy behind the infamous glasses:

- Radcliffe made his film debut in 2001 with a supporting role alongside Pierce Brosnan in The Tailor of Panama
- Radcliffe has also starred in the four subsequent Harry Potter film adaptations. He has signed on for the sixth and seventh films; Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, scheduled for release in November 2008 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows expected sometime in 2010. The films continue to produce high box office results worldwide.
- He opened on in a revival of Peter Shaffer’s play Equus as Alan Strang, a stable boy who has an obsession with horses. The role generated significant pre-opening media interest and advance sales topped two million pounds, as Radcliffe appeared nude in one scene in the play.
- At the age of sixteen, Radcliffe became the youngest non-royal ever to have an individual portrait in Britain’s National Portrait Gallery. His portrait was drawn by Stuart Pearson Wright.
- Radcliffe plays bass guitar (taught by Gary Oldman) and is a fan of punk rock music
- On July 9th 2007, Radcliffe and fellow cast members left imprints of their hands, feet and wands in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater.
- Radcliffe appeared on the Sunday Times Rich List in 2006, which estimated his personal fortune to be GB£14 million, making him one of the richest young people in the United Kingdom

Source: www.wikipedia.org