Happy Birthday Betty White!

Veteran actress Betty White celebrates the beginning of her last year as an octogenarian as the beloved funnywoman turns 89 today.

The Emmy award-winning star rose to fame hosting her own radio shows before moving into TV with hit programmes including The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Golden Girls.

Recently she's enjoyed a career revival, appearing in The Proposal alongside Sandra Bullock in 2009 and hosting comedy favourite Saturday Night Live last year after a Facebook.com campaign by fans.

To celebrate White's birthday and as a toast to her return to success, here are 10 fascinating facts about the star who keeps on shining:

- White moved to Los Angeles when she was two years old during America's Great Depression.

- She attended the Horace Mann School - the same high school as Angelina Jolie, Nicolas Cage, Lenny Kravitz and David Schwimmer.

- The actress is of German and Greek ancestry.

- In 1955 White was made the honorary mayor of Hollywood.

- When Rue McCLanahan died last summer, she became the last surviving member of the four The Golden Girls.

- The veteran star admitted to having cosmetic surgery before starring in 1985's The Golden Girls, despite the show being about growing old.

- She is an avid animal welfare activist and works with a number of organisations.

- In November, the Usda Forest Service, along with Smokey Bear, made her an honorary forest ranger - one of her lifelong ambitions.

- White received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1988 - placed next to the star bearing the name of her late husband, Allen Ludden.

- She has guest starred on shows including Ally McBeal, That '70s Show, Joey, My Name Is Earl and Malcolm in the Middle.

Happy 62nd Birthday to Donna Summer!

Donna Summer’s career might have cooled off after her stupendous run in the 70s and 80s, but what a mighty run it was.

She accumulated a stellar string of hits including Bad Girls, Hot Stuff, MacArthur Park, Love to Love You Baby, Heaven Knows, Enough is Enough, On the Radio, She Works Hard for the Money, Dim All the Lights, This Time I Know It’s For Real and Last Dance, among others. Earlier this year she released her latest CD, Crayons.

Donna turns 62 today and she not only has kept working, she’s still in magnificent form.

Donna sold out The Hollywood Bowl back in 1979 and has continued to do so as recently as 2008. Here she is from an earlier concert performing Last Dance.

Ian Somerhalder Spends Birthday 'Naked with a Beautiful Girl'

How did Ian Somerhalder spend his birthday?

"I was naked with a beautiful girl all day," the star of The Vampire Diaries, who turned 32 on December 8th, stated. "I had a shower scene that led into another scene were I was kind of half-naked and wet."

Though Somerhalder does confirm he was on the set of his hit CW show, he wouldn't say whether his character, the scumbag vampire Damon, finally scored with Elena, who is played by Nina Dobrev and definitely qualifies as a beautiful girl.

"Damon has a long way to go," he says of conquering Elena. "He tried to kill her brother."

So who was in the shower with the birthday guy? "It wasn't Stefan," he says of costar Paul Wesley's character. "I promise."

Though performing a steamy shower scene may be enough of a birthday present for most guys, Somerhalder is asking for more. On his big day, he also launched the IS Foundation, a non-profit that will "focus on biodiversity, reforestation, sustainable farming and green industries," the actor says.

For more information about the organization – and to help make Somerhalder's birthday wish come true! – fans can visit its Web site at http://www.isfoundation.com/.

Happy 65th Birthday to the Divine Bette Midler!

She’s been doing it all for more than 40 years and Bette Midler is still the wind beneath our wings.

She got her start on Broadway in the late 60s in Fiddler on the Roof then developed a huge gay fan base when she began performing at Continental Bath, a gay bath house in NYC, in 1970. She began working with Barry Manilow as her accompanist and he ended up producing her landmark 1972 album The Divine Miss M. It was a smash and won Bette the Grammy for best new artist.

More Grammys were to follow as did Emmys, Golden Globes and two Oscar nominations.

Thank God this huge talent also made it big in movies starting with 1979′s The Rose. Other films have included Beaches, For the Boys, The First Wives Club, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Big Business, Hocus Pocus, Stella, Ruthless People and Outrageous Fortune.

And she’s still going strong. Happy birthday Bette!

Happy 50th Birthday to RuPaul!

The world’s most famous drag queen, RuPaul, reaches the half-century mark today!

The host of RuPaul’s Drag Race is an actor, drag queen, author and model who first gained fame in the early 90s after years as a fixture on the clubs scenes in New York and Atlanta.

RuPaul spoke earlier this year with Fancast.com about the secret to his success:

“For the first 10 years of my career, I could have been arrested but I was doing it anyway,” he said. “No one has come close to what I have done. I really am surprised. I think honestly I was very lucky, I think it’s my work ethic. I love to stay busy and work, I love the creativity of it even when I wasn’t making a damned dime. But it’s harder when you don’t have competition. Once you get successful, once you hit your mark and find yourself, there’s the act of maintaining it. Given a male dominated society where you behave in a feminine manner or take on femininity you will be up against a lot of people’s negative conditioning.”

You better work!

Paparazzi!: Birthday Girl

Just days before she turns 52, Madonna shows off her youthful glow as she arrives for a birthday celebration at East London's trendy, private club Shoreditch House on Friday.

Paparazzi!: Takes The Cake

Is that part of his "GTL" plan? Jersey Shore's Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino compares six packs with a cake in his likeness on Tuesday night while celebrating his 28th birthday at Tenjune nightclub in New York City.

Happy Birthday to Neil Patrick Harris!

Neil Patrick Harris turns 37 years old today and like fine wine, he just seems to just get finer with each passing year.

The thrice-Emmy nominated star of CBS’s How I Met Your Mother has been busier than ever with his series, a guest spot on Glee, directing a production of Rent at Hollywood Bowl this summer, and an increasing amount of movie work.

Neil has already filmed the features The Best and the Brightest and Beastly and is in New York City now shooting The Smurfs. He stars as a father-to-be who comes across the li’l blue creatures in Central Park.

E! Online’s Marc Malkin asked Neil Patrick Harris if he planned on returning to Glee next season:”I doubt it,” he said. “I loved doing it but I’m very contractually obligated to a different network. … As much as I’m sure they like the recognition of my name involved with Glee, I think they’d prefer my name be involved with How I Met Your Mother. I can hardly blame them.”

Remembering Judy Garland on Her Birthday

Judy is a FOREVER STAR! Had she lived, the great star and gay icon would have been 88 years old today.

But Judy Garland, star of The Wizard of Oz, Meet Me In St. Louis, A Star is Born and scores of other movies during the golden age of Hollywood, died much too soon – she was just 47 when she passed away in 1969.

But it is her life we celebrate today.

She left behind not only the wonderful movies, but so many recordings, dozens of episodes of TV’s The Judy Garland Show, and three children: Liza Minnelli, Lorna Luft and Joe Luft. It’s quite a legacy.

Lorna recently said at the Turner Movie Classics Film Festival: "Every time that my mother is celebrated, it’s wonderful. Every time that someone celebrates her, every time some mom and dad sits their little boy or little girl down in front of a television to watch The Wizard of Oz, how great is that? What an honor that is.”

Dorothy will always live in our hearts!

Marilyn Monroe was Born 84 Years Ago Today

She is long gone but never forgotten.

Marilyn Monroe, star of such classic films as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Seven Year Itch, Some Like It Hot, How to Marry a Millionaire and Bus Stop, was born born Norma Jeane Mortenson on June 1, 1926 in Los Angeles.

She signed her first studio contract with Twentieth Century Fox on August 26, 1946. Earned $125 a week, Norma Jeane dyed her hair blonde and changed her name to Marilyn Monroe (her grandmother’s last name).

On the early morning of August 5, 1962, 36-year-old Marilyn died in her sleep at her Brentwood, California home.

The world was stunned.

It was announced last month at the Cannes Film Festival that Naomi Watts will play Monroe in a biopic based on author Joyce Carol Oates’s controversial, fictionalized memoir, 2000’s Blonde. The movie, also called Blonde, is reportedly slated to start filming in January.

Meanwhile, Michelle Williams is in active negotiations to play Monroe in a film directed by Simon Curtis, which focuses on the late screen legend’s time spent in England while filming 1957’s The Prince and the Showgirl with Laurence Olivier.

Happy 45th Birthday to Billy Bean!

It’s been 11 years since former major league baseball player Billy Bean came out of the closet with a heart-breaking memoir Going the Other Way.

In an interview with Diane Sawyer when he was coming out, Billy cried on the air. He spoke of how when he was playing for the San Diego Padres as a closeted young man, his lover died unexpectedly and he could not mourn him for fear of being outed. It took an emotional toll on him that resulted in his baseball career ending prematurely after 12 years in the major leagues.

Billy, who turns 45 years old today, came out after his playing days but is still one of the very few former pro athletes to do so. He’s gone on to have a successful real estate career in South Florida, plays serious competitive tennis and has remained in the spotlight as a public speaker telling his story.

Billy was interviewed by Greg in Hollywood two years ago for an article on Coming Out Day and here's what he had to say:

On his own coming out: “It was just really empowering…When I was in a position emotionally to make it happen, .the relief of living honestly and being able to give my family and friends and people who care about me the opportunity to know me completely, I just became so much closer to them.”

On gays and lesbians coming out younger these days: “I think kids at this generation are light years ahead of where we were. They are so much more aware because of the Internet and blogs. We had to interact face to face which kept us from doing that. They are so much more progressive in so many ways.”

On professional athletes being out: “We just have to embrace the few images that we have and keep building positive images to create a more diverse group of people. As their lives allow it, it will just keep happening. Slowly, but it will.”

Happy Birthday Billy!

Happy Birthday to Cynthia Nixon

Cynthia Nixon is one of those amazing people who seems to just get better with age.

The Tony, Grammy and two-time Emmy winning actress turns 44 today and is at the peak of her profession with acclaimed roles on stage, television and movies.

She, of course, is best known for her role as Miranda on Sex and the City and reunites next month with her TV co-stars for the second feature film based on the much-loved series.

She had spent more than a decade with the man who is the father of her two children but she came out publicly in 2006 after falling in love with activist Christine Marinoni.

She has become an articulate and fearless voice for LGBT equality most recently making a video for Fight Back New York which seeks to vote out of office state senators who voted against same-sex legislation last

Happy 66th Birthday to Diana Ross!

The supreme diva turns 66 years old today and thank God she is still going strong – and getting ready to tour again!

Diana Ross is a superstar and has been for more than 45 years. Not very many people can say that unless their name is Cher, Paul McCartney, Barbra Streisand, Mick Jagger or Tina Turner.

This is an exclusive group can still sell out stadiums in the year 2010 just as they could back in the 60s.

Including her work with The Supremes, Diana has released 67 albums but has dramatically cut back her output since the early 90s with just four new albums in the past 20 years. Her 2006 release, I Love You, was her biggest hit since 1984’s Swept Away.

I hope she records again soon – the voice is still in excellent shape.

Happy Birthday to "The Boss", Diana Ross!

Happy Birthday to Elton John!

The pop music icon and AIDS activist turns 63 today and he is still going strong!

Sir Elton Hercules John, was born on March 25, 1947 as Reginald Kenneth Dwight. He changed his name in 1972.

In his four-decade career, John has sold more than 250 million records,making him one of the most successful artists of all time.

His single "Candle in the Wind 1997" sold over 37 million copies, becoming the best selling single of all time.

He has more than 50 Top 40 hits, including seven consecutive No. 1 U.S. albums, 56 Top 40 singles, 16 Top 10, four No. 2 hits, and nine No. 1 hits.

Elton has won five Grammy awards, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Tony Award.

In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him Number 49 on its list of the 100 greatest artists of all time.

Elton John was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He has been heavily involved in the fight against AIDS since the late 1980s, and was knighted in 1998.

He entered into a civil partnership with David Furnish on December 2005 and continues to be a champion for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender social movements.

In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked him as the most successful male solo artist on "The Billboard Hot 100 Top All-Time Artists" (Third overall, behind only The Beatles and Madonna).

Happy Birthday to the legendary Elton John!

Karen Carpenter Would Have Turned 60 Today

She died far too young, at the age of 32 in 1983, but the gorgeous voice of Karen Carpenter lives on through the extensive body of work she and brother Richard created over a 12-year period.

Karen would have been 60 years old today.

Here's a clip of "Close to You", one of my many favorite hits from the Carpenters which also include: Top of the World, Testerday Once More, Rainy Days and Mondays, We’ve Only Just Begun, and many more.

Thank you Karen for your entertainment!

Today is Adam Lambert’s 28th birthday!

A year ago, Adam Lambert marked his birthday by competing in the early rounds of American Idol.

Twelve months later, he’s king of the pop world.

Adam, who was runner-up to Kris Allen on Idol, has certainly been a breath of fresh air with his ability to entertain and shock and the best part about it all is he has the talent to back it up.

Did he go a little too far at the American Music Awards with his naughty performance? Of course! But the controversy that followed was as interesting as the performance itself. ABC banning him, fans embracing him and his album For Your Entertainment continuing to sell, sell, sell.

He may not be selling as many CDs as that other famous TV talent show runner up, Susan Boyle, but Adam seems to be here to stay.

Adam paid a visit to The Ellen DeGeneres Show this week – Ellen also had a birthday – and gave an amazing performance of Strut which is the video below.

Greg Louganis Turns 50 Today!

The great diving legend (four Olympic gold medals and one silver medal) is a half century young today. He is such an inspiration and authored one of the most moving memoirs I’ve ever read: Breaking the Surface.

Breaking the Surface is so deeply moving and inspiring due to his honesty about being gay, his abusive boyfriends, a distant father, his low self-esteem despite being the very best in his sport and about living with HIV.

Greg is a true survivor.

Greg has been living with HIV for decades and, thankfully, has remained healthy and productive and handsome. We hope he has a wonderful birthday.

Mary Tyler Moore Turns 73 Today

Mary Tyler Moore’s first television job came just after high school graduation and by the age of 24, she was playing Laura Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show, one of the best television comedies of all time.

Then came a glorious seven year run as single working gal Mary Richards on another classic comedy: The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Many Emmys were won for the show including four by Moore herself (She had won two for Van Dyke and won a seventh in 1994 for the TV film Stolen Babies.

Mary, who turns 73 today, made several stabs at other series but none could match her two classics and were short-lived. But she was nominated for an Oscar for Ordinary People and won a Tony Award for the play Whose Life is It Anyway. She has shined in both comedy and drama with my favorite Mary roles including playing Ben Stiller’s Jewish mother in Flirting With Disaster and the television films The Last Best Year and Heartsounds.

Mary is still going strong with guest spots on such series as That 70s Show and Lipstick Jungle and this year had a role in the feature film Against the Current.

Happy 40th Birthday to Gerard Butler!

The hollywood sensation is celebrating the "BIG 40" today somewhere in "Star" land. We wish Gerard the very best on his special day.

Matthew McConaughey at 40: I'm a Late Bloomer

Bang a drum: Matthew McConaughey is 40 years old.

"The 30's were good to me and I'm really looking forward to my 40's, 'cause I'm a late bloomer," the actor writes on his Celebrity MySpace page. "Got everything I need for a perfect 40th ... a happy and healthy lady, son, and another baby on the way."

McConaughey celebrated the milestone Tuesday night at a big birthday party featuring country musician Jamey Johnson. The bash went on until 4:30 a.m. "There were some epic stories told, lot of laughs and definitely some roasting," he writes. "Somehow, no blood or glass broken.