Short Biography

Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Emmy Award-and Tony Award-winning Australian actor of film, musical theatre, and television. He is known internationally mostly for his starring roles in several major films, including action/superhero roles and films, period roles, and romance roles. Some of his well-known films include the X-Men series, Kate & Leopold, Van Helsing, The Prestige, and Australia. A former three-time host of the Tony Awards, Jackman will host the Academy Awards on February 22, 2009. He will also be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2009.

Early life

Jackman was born in Sydney, New South Wales, the youngest of five children of English parents Chris Jackman and Grace Watson, and the second of his siblings to be born in Australia. His mother left the family when he was eight years old, and he remained behind with his father, an accountant with a degree from Cambridge, and siblings.

Jackman attended Pymble Public School and Knox Grammar School, an all-boys school, where he starred in the school`s production of the musical My Fair Lady in 1985. Jackman was School Captain in 1986 and his favourite subject was Ancient History.[citation needed] The following year he spent a gap year working at Uppingham School in England. Upon his return to Australia he worked at a Shell service station in Wahroonga,[citation needed] and worked as a part-time clown for children`s parties while studying at the University of Technology, Sydney. In 1989, Jackman participated in a Christian workcamp on Haast`s Bluff and Areyonga Aboriginal land in the Western Desert in Central Australia. He then graduated with a BA in Communications, having majored in journalism.[citation needed] He later used his inheritance from his grandmother to attend the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts of Edith Cowan University in Perth, Western Australia, from which he graduated in 1994.

Career

Early stage, film, and television work
On stage in Melbourne, Jackman played Gaston in the city`s production of Beauty and the Beast, and Joe Gillis in the city`s production of Sunset Boulevard. During his stage musical career in Melbourne, also he starred in the 1998 Midsumma festival cabaret production Summa Cabaret. He also hosted both Melbourne`s Carols by Candlelight and Sydney`s Carols in the Domain.

Jackman`s early film work includes Erskineville Kings and Paperback Hero (1999), while his television work includes Correlli (where he met his wife Deborra-Lee Furness), Law of the Land, Halifax f.p., Blue Heelers, and Banjo Paterson`s The Man from Snowy River.
International stardom
Jackman first became known outside of Australia in 1998, when he played the leading role of Curly in the Royal National Theatre`s acclaimed stage production of Oklahoma!, in London`s West End. He also starred in the 1999 film version of the same stage musical, which has been broadcast on television internationally.

X-Men
In 2000, Jackman was cast as Wolverine in Bryan Singer`s X-Men, replacing Dougray Scott. According to a CBS interview in November 2006, Jackman`s wife Deborra-Lee Furness told him not to take the role, a comment she later told him she was glad he ignored.

Jackman, at 6` 2", stands nearly a foot taller than Wolverine, who is said in the original comic book to be 5` 3". Hence, the filmmakers were frequently forced to shoot Jackman at unusual angles or only from the waist up to

Miscellaneous Information

Friends and Family

Grace Watson [Mother]

Chris Jackman [Father]

Zoe Jackman [Sister]

Sonya Jackman [Sister]

Ralph Jackman [Brother]

Ian Jackman [Brother]

Rupert Murdoch [Friend]

Nicole Kidman [Friend]

Keith Urban [Friend]

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