He's so unusual

Always a striking-looking chap, yet too unusual to really be described as "totty", the super-cool Keanu Reeves turns 50 years old today!

Born of an English theatrical mother and a father whose family origins included Chinese, Hawaiian and Portuguese genes, young Keanu - much like his contemporaries the Phoenix clan - was treated to a bit of an itinerant upbringing: born in Beirut, he lived in Australia, New York, the UK and finally Canada, and his mother married four times.

None of the above prevented the young Keanu seeking, and achieving, the idiosyncratic stardom he enjoys today - from such contrasting, yet enduring classics as My Own Private Idaho and Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure to blockbusters like Speed and The Matrix, he has largely (unlike others in his generation) avoided the archetypal roles offered by Hollywood's staple of "rom-com" and "street-cop" movies.

Often perceived as a moody, reclusive type (he's had more than his fair share of personal tragedy, and has avoided the melee of continually-photographed celebrity parties in favour of fronting his own grunge band "Dogstar"), he nevertheless retains huge respect in Hollywood, and has lately turned his hand to producing and directing his own films.

Forget the grunge - he can also turn his hand to "proper" singing. And here he is in a very early role alongside Jill Schoelen and Googy Gress ("Whoooooo?") in Babes In Toyland:

Keanu Reeves sings - Babes in Toyland (1986)

Many happy returns, Keanu Charles Reeves (born 2nd September 1964)