To mark the "leap date" of February 29, 2012 - the rarest of all birth dates - we've tracked down the celebrities who get to bask in their extended adolescence. So who celebrates their birthday just once every four years? Who can claim to be just 10-years-old when their friends of (apparently) the same age after tuning forty?
Born Jeffrey Atkins on February 29, 1976, rapper Ja Rule is officially celebrating his 9th birthday today. The 'Always on Time' fame unfortunately has to spend the day behind bars - he's holed up in New York's Mid-State Correctional Facility on a gun-possession conviction. Elsewhere, Gretchen Christopher, the co-founder of soft-pop vocal trio THE FLEETWOODS, was born on February 29, 1940. Gretchen marked the occasion back in 2004 by releasing her record 'Gretchen's Sweet Sixteen' to celebrate her 16th birthday (or 64th). Elsewhere, things start to take on a darker tone as Ailen Wuornos is next on the list. The serial killer shot numerous men to death, claiming self-defense in each case - she was executed for her crimes in 2002. In 2003, Hollywood actress Charlize Theron played Aileen in the hit movie 'Monster', going on to win the Academy Award for Best Actress, the Golden Globe for Best Actress and the Screen Actors Guild for Outstanding Lead Actress.
Others celebrating their birthday of "leap day "include the American baseball player Terrence Long and the New Zealand swimmer Zoe Baker.