Hugh Jackman

Australian actor Hugh Michael Jackman was born on October 12, 1968 in Sydney, Australia. He is the youngest of the 5 children his English parentage had ever had before they got divorced when Jackman was eight years old. Since the divorce, her mother moved to England and left all of the five children in Australia to be raised by their accountant father.

After completed his education at Sydney University of Technology with a BA in Communications, having majored in journalism, Jackman joined "The Journey," a year acting program held at the Actors Centre in Sydney. Later on he studied drama at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), graduated in 1994 and was immediately offered a starring role in the ABC TV prison drama "Correlli" (1995).

During the filming of Correlli, where he portrayed an angry prisoner who falls in love with his counselor, Jackman met his co-star Deborra-Lee Furness, whom he married with in February 1996. After their four-year marriage, Jackman and Furness adopted a son named Oscar Maximilian Jackman, born on May 15, 2000.

Since his great performance in Correlli, Jackman was inundated with the many offers to perform in television guest roles, either as an actor or variety host. Later on he was well known for the role of Gaston he played in the Melbourne production of a traditional folktale "Beauty and the Beast" and Joe Gillis role he portrayed in the same city's production of "Sunset Boulevard." Outside Australia, Jackman became very popular for the leading role of Curly he played in the Royal National Theatre's acclaimed stage production of "Oklahoma!" in London, for which he was nominated for a 1999 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for the 1998 season for Best Actor.

In 2000, Jackman got the "gold" chance replacing Dougray Scott who was originally cast as Wolverine in "X-Men" but was tied up on the set of "Mission: Impossible 2" for two additional months of shooting. Such offer was shortly followed by another opportunity to portray an Australian songwriter and performer, Peter Allen in "The Boy From Oz" for which Jackman proudly took home a Tony Award and named Best Actor in a Musical by Drama Desk in New York.

Enjoy his spare time playing piano, golf, guitar and windsurfing, Jackman also "likes to collect" some awards, such as chosen as one of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" 5 years in a row, 2000-2004. Besides, he also once listed as a potential nominee on the 2005 Razzie Award nominating ballot as a suggestion in the Worst Actor category for his performance in the film Van Helsing (2004), though he didn't receive either one.

And to start his career in early 2005, Jackman has been chosen to be the next 007 agent, James Bond, replacing Pierce Brosnan who apparently has a "clash" with EON Productions. Later on he's planning to host the 59th Tony Awards, Broadway's biggest party of the year, which is scheduled to run on June 5, 2005 at Radio City Music Hall and will be broadcasted by CBS.