Radcliffe Turns 21

Happy birthday Harry!

It’s true, the boy who became Harry Potter is now a man. Daniel Radcliffe is 21 today! (23Jul10)

From his big breaks as a 10 year old in an epic TV adaptation of Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield and Pierce Brosnan’s Tailor of Panama - a film he has never seen - to landing the coveted title role in the Harry Potter franchise, we’ve seen young Dan grow up before our very eyes on the big screen.

In between his Potter outings, Radcliffe has stripped onstage in London and New York, found success as a poet and enjoyed romance onscreen with Hollywood’s new it girl Teresa Palmer.

To celebrate his 21st, WENN dug deep and used more than a little magic to come up with 21 facts about the man:

- he’ll be celebrating turning 21 with a tequila - his favourite tipple.

- his favourite book from the Harry Potter series is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

- he was voted Person of the Year 2002 by Time Kids magazine.

- he can rotate his arm 360 degrees.

- he was, at one point, Britain’s richest teenager.

- a lock of his hair sold for $1,125 (£750) at auction during a Comic Relief fundraiser in 2003.

- he is an atheist

- he writes poetry under the pseudonym Jacob Gershon. Jacob is his middle name.

- at the age of 16, he became the youngest non-royal ever to have an individual portrait in Britain’s National Portrait Gallery.

- he suffers from a mild form of the neurological disorder dyspraxia, which affects his hand-eye co-ordination.

- he supports Fulham Football Club.

- His favourite film is courtroom drama 12 Angry Men.

- Radcliffe is terrified of spiders, snakes and clowns.

- his favourite TV show is The Simpsons.

- he speaks fluent Spanish.

- Radcliffe’s parents turned down the Harry Potter role twice, fearing the film fame could wreck their son’s childhood.

- he reportedly earned $110,000 (£73,300) for the first Harry Potter film. His pay packet grew to $14 million (£9.3 million) for his role in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

- he has two dogs called Binka and Nugget.

- he attended the 2009 Reading Festival in England wearing a Batman mask disguise.

- he shares his birthday with former Destiny’s Child star Michelle Williams, David Essex, Travis singer Fran Healy, Slash, Woody Harrelson and actor Philip Seymour Hoffman.

- his big day also falls on two notorious women’s birthdays - Monica Lewinsky and late Moors Murderer Myra Hindley.