Celebrity Birthdays: Happy Birthday, Lee Daniels!

Denzel Washington, John Legend and more also celebrate.

Lee Daniels: December 24 - The A-list director of The Butler celebrates his 54th birthday on Christmas Eve.(Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

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Lee Daniels: December 24 - The A-list director of The Butler celebrates his 54th birthday on Christmas Eve.(Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

CCH Pounder: December 25 - The veteran actress and star of The Shield, ER and Avatar celebrates her 61st birthday.(Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

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CCH Pounder: December 25 - The veteran actress and star of The Shield, ER and Avatar celebrates her 61st birthday.(Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

John Amos - TV audiences first saw John Amos on the Mary Tyler Moore Show and later on Maude (as Henry Evans, but still the husband of Florida). But Amos made the biggest impact as television’s first Black TV dad, James Evans. Amos’ tough love, take-no-mess stern portrayal wasn’t regulated to his performance. His criticism of Good Times scripts and the overall direction of the series, plus his “disruptive” presence on set, led to his untimely firing from the sitcom in 1976. Amos has since starred on television in Roots, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and The West Wing. He’s also appeared in such films as Let’s Do It Again, Coming to America, Die Hard 2 and Dr. Doolittle 3. (Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

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John Amos: December 27 - The star of Good Times, The West Wing and Coming to America turns 74.(Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

Denzel Washington: December 28 - The Oscar-winning actor celebrates his 59th birthday.(Photo: Monica Schipper/Getty Images)

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Denzel Washington: December 28 - The Oscar-winning actor celebrates his 59th birthday.(Photo: Monica Schipper/Getty Images)

Gayle King: December 28 - Oprah Winfrey's bestie turns 59 years old this week.(Photo: Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images)

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Gayle King: December 28 - Oprah Winfrey's bestie turns 59 years old this week.(Photo: Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images)

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John Legend @johnlegend - Tweet: "@angiemartinez New York will miss you, Angie! You are an institution!"(Photo: Lisa Lake/Getty Images for Philadelphia Style Magazine)

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John Legend: December 28 - The newlywed crooner will celebrate his 35th birthday with wife Chrissy Teigen.(Photo: Lisa Lake/Getty Images for Philadelphia Style Magazine)

Nichelle Nichols: December 28 - Star Trek's original Lt. Uhura turns 81 this week.(Photo: Cindy Ord/Getty Images)

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Nichelle Nichols: December 28 - Star Trek's original Lt. Uhura turns 81 this week.(Photo: Cindy Ord/Getty Images)

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Mekhi Phifer: December 29 - The 8 Mile actor celebrates his 39th birthday.(Photo: Araya Diaz/Getty Images for Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films)