Stage and screen actor David Alan Grier welcomes 56 today. The Detroit native and Yale Drama School graduate received a Tony nomination for playing Jackie Robinson in the Broadway musical The First. He’s appeared in dozens of productions including A Different World, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, Alf, Equal Justice, Boomerang, Blankman, Jumanji, Martin, In Living Color, Life with Bonnie, Crank Yankers, Bewitched, Law & Order and Bones. His next film appearance will be in the upcoming We The Peeples alongside Kerry Washington, Craig Robinson and Kali Hawk.

Director and producer Paris Barclay turns 55. A native of Illinois, his endless list of productions include Diagnosis Murder, Clueless, Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood, NYPD Blue, City of Angels, ER, The West Wing, Law & Order, Numb3rs, Weeds, The Shield, The Good Wife, Sons of Anarchy, CSI and The Mentalist.