Did you know? Fun mini biography about them. 1.) Hugh Jackman Born in Sydney, to English parents, and the youngest of five children, Jackman has a communications degree with a journalism major from the University of Technology Sydney. After graduating, he pursued drama at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, immediately after which he was offered a starring role in the ABC-TV prison drama Correlli (1995), opposite his future wife Deborra-Lee Furness. Several TV guest roles followed, as an actor and variety compere. An accomplished singer, Jackman has starred as Gaston in the Australian production of Beauty and the Beast. He appeared as Joe Gillis in the Australian production of Sunset Boulevard. In 1998, he was cast as Curly in the Royal National Theatres production of Trevor Nunns Oklahoma. Jackman has made two feature films, the second of which, Erskineville Kings (1999), garnered him an Australian Film Institute nomination for Best Actor in 1999. Recently, he won the part of Logan/Wolverine in the Bryan Singer- directed comic-book movie X-Men (2000). In his spare time, Jackman plays piano, golf, and guitar, and likes to windsurf. 2.) Keith Urban a New Zealand-born and Australian-raised country music musician, songwriter, guitarist, and television music competition judge. When he was 2 years old, his parents moved the family to Australia, where his career eventually began. In 1991, he released a self-titled debut album, and charted four singles in Australia before moving to the United States in 1992. Eventually, he found work as a session guitarist before starting a band known as The Ranch, which recorded one studio album on Capitol Records and charted two singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. 3.) Olivia Newton-John Actress/singer Olivia Newton-John was born on September 26, 1948, in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. She lived there until she was five years old, and her family relocated to Australia when her father was offered a job as the dean of a college in Melbourne. When she was a teen she returned to live in England with her mother, after winning a singing talent contest. She had many hit singles and appeared on TV series with Cliff Richard as well as in the film Toomorrow (1970). For a while she was engaged to Bruce Welch, a member of The Shadows, who backed Richard. 4.) Paul Hogan Paul Hogan became a worldwide success with his irresistible comic performance in Crocodile Dundee (1986), which he created and co-wrote. It earned him a Golden Globe for Best Actor as well as an Oscar (nomination for Best Screenplay). The versatile actor got his start in Australian television in a recurring role as comic relief on A Current Affair (1971). An expanded version entitled The Paul Hogan Show (1973) premiered on Australias Nine Network and quickly propelled him to the top of the ratings chart. His dramatic role in the critically acclaimed television series Anzacs (1985) and his work in promoting Australia worldwide invested him into the Order of Australia and led to his appointment as Australian of the Year. Hogan was the executive producer/writer/star of the feature films Almost an Angel (1990) and Lightning Jack (1994) and starred in Flipper (1996) and Floating Away (1998) (TV). American audiences also remember Hogan from his now legendary commercials for the Australian Tourist Commission in which he invited us to say gday and come down under so he could slip another shrimp on the barbie. 5.) Russell Crowe Born in New Zealand, Russell has made his home in Australia since he was a small child. The son of movie set caterers, Russell got the acting bug early in life. Beginning as a child star on a local Australian TV show, Russells first big break came with two films ... the first, Romper Stomper (1992), gained him a name throughout the film community in Australia and the neighboring countries. The second, The Sum of Us (1994), helped put him on the American map, so to speak. Sharon Stone heard of him from Romper Stomper (1992) and wanted him for her film, The Quick and the Dead (1995). But filming on The Sum of Us (1994) had already begun. Sharon is reported to have held up shooting until she had her gunslinger-Crowe, for her film. With The Quick and the Dead (1995) under his belt as his first American film, the second was offered to him soon after. Virtuosity (1995), starring Denzel Washington, put Russell in the body of a Virtual Serial Killer, Sid6.7 ... a role unlike any he had played so far. Virtuosity (1995), a Sci-Fi extravaganza, was a fun film and, again, opened the door to even more American offers. L.A. Confidential (1997), Russells third American film, brought him the US fame and attention that his fans have felt he deserved all along. Missing the Oscar nod this time around, he didnt seem deterred and signed to do his first film with The Walt Disney Company, Mystery, Alaska (1999). He has recently achieved even more success and awards for his performances in Gladiator (2000) and A Beautiful Mind (2001). 6.) Julian Assange Julian Paul Assange is an Australian editor, activist, publisher and journalist. He is known as the editor-in-chief and founder of WikiLeaks, which publishes submissions of secret information,[6] news leaks and classified media from anonymous news sources and whistleblowers. 7.) Chris Hemsworth Though born in Melbourne, Australia, Chris Hemsworth saw quite a bit of the country in his youth when his family moved first to the Northern Territory before finally settling on Phillip Island to the south of Melbourne. He is brother to actors Liam Hemsworth and Luke Hemsworth. In 2004, he unsuccessfully auditioned for the role of Robbie Hunter in the Australian soap opera Home and Away (1988) but was recalled for the role of Kim Hyde which he played until 2007. In 2006, he entered the Australian version of Dancing with the Stars (2004) and his popularity in the soap enabled him to hang on until show 7 (Dancing with the Stars: Episode #5.7 (2006) when he became the fifth contestant to be eliminated. His first Hollywood appearance was in Star Trek (2009), but it was his titular role in Thor (2011) which propelled him to prominence worldwide. He reprised the character in the science fiction blockbuster The Avengers (2012). His American representative, the management company ROAR, also manages Elsa Pataky and it was through them that the couple met, marrying in 2010. The couple have a daughter together, India Rose Hemsworth, who was born on May 11, 2012. 8.) Liam Hemsworth Born on January 13, 1990, in Melbourne, Australia, Liam Hemsworth is the younger brother of actors Chris Hemsworth and Luke Hemsworth and the son of Leonie, an English teacher, and Craig Hemsworth, a social-services counselor; the Hemsworth family lived primarily on Phillip Island, a small island located south of Melbourne. Following in the footsteps of his older brothers, who went into acting in their teens, Liam scored his first audition at age 16 and appeared on the Australian TV series Home and Away (1988) and McLeods Daughters (2001) before taking on a recurring character role on the soap opera Neighbours (1985), in which his brother Luke had also appeared. Roles on TV shows The Elephant Princess (2008) and Satisfaction (2007) followed before Liam moved to the United States to pursue a big-screen career. After suffering two setbacks - his character was written out of the script for The Expendables (2010) days before filming and he lost the title role of Thor (2011) to his brother Chris - Liam was cast opposite Miley Cyrus in the Nicholas Sparks drama The Last Song (2010). The two, who played love interests in the film, soon started dating, and Liam appeared in Cyrus music video When I Look at You. Following that films modest commercial success, and the attendant press coverage of his rising career and high-profile romance, he was almost immediately thrust into leading man status, and was cast as Gale Hawthorne in the big-screen adaptation of the best-selling novel The Hunger Games (2012). Following the blockbuster success of that film, Liam nabbed a number of roles, including a supporting part in The Expendables 2 (2012) and leading roles in the war drama Love and Honor (2013), the crime drama Empire State (2013), and the thriller Paranoia (2013/I). He will also star as Ali Baba in a 3D production of Arabian Nights (2014) and will reprise the role of Gale Hawthorne in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013). In June of 2012, Hemsworth and Miley Cyrus announced their engagement. 9.) Isabel Lucas Isabel was born in Melbourne, Australia. Her father is Australian and her mother is Swiss. When she was age 6, her family moved to Switzerland for a year. They moved back to Melbourne for a while before moving to a very small mining town in the Northern Territory (population 1,000). Along with her sister, she attended the Jabiru Area School, which included both white and Aboriginal children. Isabel was always involved in drama during her time at school. She went on to study drama at the Victorian College of Arts and Queensland University of Technology. She never auditioned for roles until she was discovered by her agent in 2002. She auditioned for the part of Kit Hunter on Home and Away (1988). They felt she wasnt right for the part but were sufficiently impressed and created a new role for her, Tasha. She spent 3 years playing her first television role and won a Logie Award (for new popular talent) for her performance. In 2008, she moved to Los Angeles. Her breakthrough role came in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009). 10.) Cate Blanchett Cate Blanchett was born on May 14, 1969 in Australia to an American father and an Australian mother. She has an older brother and an younger sister. When she was ten years old, her 40-year old father died of a sudden heart attack. Her mother never remarried, and her grandmother moved in to help her mother. Cate graduated from Australias National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1992 and, in a little over a year, had won both critical and popular acclaim. On graduating from NIDA, she joined the Sydney Theatre Companys production of Caryl Churchills Top Girls, then played Felice Bauer, the bride, in Tim Dalys Kafka Dances, winning the 1993 Newcomer Award from the Sydney Theatre Critics Circle for her performance. From there, Blanchett moved to the role of Carol in David Mamets searing polemic Oleanna, also for the Sydney Theatre Company, and won the Rosemont Best Actress Award, her second award that year. She then co-starred in the ABC Televisions prime time drama Heartland (1994), again winning critical acclaim. In 1995, she was nominated for Best Female Performance for her role as Ophelia in the Belvoir Street Theatre Companys production of Hamlet. Other theatre credits include Helen in the Sydney Theatre Companys Sweet Phoebe, Miranda in The Tempest and Rose in The Blind Giant is Dancing, both for the Belvoir Street Theatre Company. In other television roles, Blanchett starred as Bianca in ABCs Bordertown (1995), as Janie Morris in G.P. (1989) and in ABCs popular series Police Rescue (1994). She made her feature film debut in Paradise Road (1997). She also married writer Andrew Upton in 1997. She had met him a year earlier on a movie set, and they didnt like each other at first. He thought she was aloof, and she thought he was arrogant, but then they connected over a poker game at a party, and she went home with him that night. Three weeks later he proposed marriage and they quickly married before she went off to England to play her breakthrough role in films: the title character in Elizabeth (1998) for which she won numerous awards for her performance, including the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama. Cate was also nominated for an Academy Award for the role but lost out to Gwyneth Paltrow. 2001 was a particularly busy year, with starring roles in Bandits (2001), The Shipping News (2001), Charlotte Gray (2001) and playing Elf Queen Galadriel in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. She also gave birth to her first child, son Dashiell, in 2001. In 2004, she gave birth to her second son Roman. Also, in 2004, she played actress Katharine Hepburn in Martin Scorseses film Aviator (2004), for which she received an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress. Two years later, she received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress for playing a teacher having an affair with an underage student in Notes on a Scandal (2006). In 2007, she returned to the role that made her a star in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007). It earned her an Oscar nomination as Best Actress. She was nominated for another Oscar that same year as Best Supporting Actress for playing Bob Dylan in Im Not There (2007). In 2008, she gave birth to her third child, son Ignatius. She and her husband became artistic directors of the Sydney Theatre Company, choosing to spend more time in Australia raising their children.
Posted on: Mon, 18 Nov 2013 15:02:33 +0000
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