Celebrity Birthday of the Day – June 21

Lana Wachowski was born Laurence “Larry” Wachowski in 1967, and along with her brother Andy Wachowski, the two of them created one of the most culturally impactful films of the 1990s: The Matrix. Their debut film was 1996’s Bound, which Robin has written about in an Underrated Gems column. The Matrix was the Wachowskis’ second film, and instantly became a huge hit, spawning two sequels – The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions – as well as several video games such as Enter the Matrix and The Matrix: The Path of Neo, and spinoffs such as The Animatrix, a collection of animated shorts inspired by the world of the film. After the conclusion of the Matrix trilogy, Lana Wachowski both wrote and produced V for Vendetta with her brother, and in 2008 the duo wrote and directed the big-screen adaptation of the anime Speed Racer, which I actually quite enjoyed. In 2012, shortly before the release of their most recent film Cloud Atlas, Lana’s gender transition was made public, and if you watch Cloud Atlas, you’ll understand why she found the source material appealing. Lana Wachowski turns 46 today.