By Eunice Charles
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Idrissa Akuna Elba OBE (/ˈɪdrɪs/ IH-driss; born 6 September 1972) is an English actor. He has received a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for three BAFTA Awards and six Emmy Awards. He was named in the Time 100 list of the Most Influential People in the World in 2016. His films have grossed over $9.8 billion at the global box office, making him one of the top 20 highest-grossing actors.
Elba studied acting at the National Youth Music Theatre in London. He rose to prominence playing Stringer Bell in the HBO series The Wire (2002–2004), and DCI John Luther in the BBC One series Luther (2010–2019), the latter of which earned him the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film as well as four nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. He was also Emmy-nominated for his guest role in Showtime comedy-drama series The Big C (2011) and for his leading role in Apple TV+ thriller series Hijack (2024). He is also known for his recurring guest role as Charles Miner in the NBC sitcom The Office (2009).
On film, he portrayed a ruthless and charismatic warlord in the Netflix drama Beasts of No Nation (2015) for which he received the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role as well as nominations for a British Academy Film Award and Golden Globe Award. He portrayed Nelson Mandela in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013) for which he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama. He has also acted in films such as American Gangster (2007), Obsessed (2009), Prometheus (2012), Pacific Rim (2013), Star Trek Beyond (2016), Molly’s Game (2017), The Dark Tower (2017), Hobbs & Shaw (2019), and The Harder They Fall (2021).
He joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) portraying Heimdall in six films beginning with Thor (2011), as well as the DC Extended Universe playing Bloodsport in The Suicide Squad (2021). He has voiced roles in Zootopia, The Jungle Book, and Finding Dory in 2016. He has voiced Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022), Knuckles (2024), and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024). He made his directorial debut with Yardie (2018). Apart from acting, Elba performs as a DJ under the moniker DJ Big Driis or Idris and as an R&B singer. Elba is a co-owner of the Formula E team, Kiro Race Co.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
In 1970, a West Virginia housewife, Marian Lucille Herndon McQuade, initiated a campaign to set aside a special day just for Grandparents. In 1978, the United States Congress passed legislation proclaiming the first Sunday after Labor Day as National Grandparents Day. The proclamation was signed by President Jimmy Carter. (September was chosen to signify the “autumn years” of life.) Read more about Grandparents Day here!
The Harvest Moon is the full Moon nearest the autumnal equinox and is bright enough to allow finishing all the harvest chores.
Question of the Day
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Born
- Queen Elizabeth I of England –
- Grandma Moses (painter) –
- J. P. Morgan Jr. (financier) –
- Elia Kazan (director) –
- Anthony Quayle (actor) –
- Buddy Holly (American musician; born in Lubbock, Texas) –
- Gloria Gaynor (singer) –
- Julie Kavner (actress) –
- Chrissie Hynde (singer) –
- Idris Elba (actor) –
- Devon Sawa (actor) –
- Evan Rachel Wood (actress) –
- Gracie Abrams (singer) –
Died
- Catherine Parr (widow of Henry VIII of England) –
- Maurice Duplessis (former premier of Quebec) –
- Keith Moon (musician) –
- Uzi Gal (invented the Uzi submachine gun) –
- Gregory Mcdonald (author) –
Events
- Edith Eleanor McLean was the first baby to be placed in an incubator –
- First automobile parade, Newport, Rhode Island –
- First international lifeboat race took place, New York City –
- First Canadian Official Languages Act went into effect –
- The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) made its debut –
- Google Inc. was founded –
Weather
- New England and New York experienced a widespread killing frost, resulting in a $1 million crop loss in Maine –
- 105 degrees F, Santa Ana, California –
- 109 degrees F in Weldon, North Carolina –
- Football players at Gibbs High School in St. Petersburg, Florida, were knocked off their feet by a violent bolt of lightning –
- Calgary was deluged by hail that caused approximately $350 million in insured losses, making this hailstorm the costliest on record in Canada. –
COURTESY www.almanac.com
