From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hugh Jackman
Hugh Jackman visiting with Marines and Sailors during the opening day of Fleet Week New York 2006.
Born	October 12, 1968 (age 38) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Notable roles	Wolverine in X-Men, X-Men 2, X-Men 3 and Wolverine Curly in Oklahoma! Leopold in Kate & Leopold Van Helsing in Van Helsing Robert Angier in The Prestige Tommy/Tomas/Tom Creo in The Fountain
Emmy Awards
Individual Performance In A Variety Or Music Program 2005 58th Annual Tony Awards
Tony Awards
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical 2004 The Boy From Oz.

Hugh Michael Jackman (born October 12, 1968) is an Australian film producer, film and stage actor, known for playing Wolverine in X-Men and its sequels, and his Tony Award-winning performance in The Boy from Oz. In 2005 he won an Emmy for hosting the Tony awards.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Career 1.3 Personal life 2 Awards and nominations 2.1 Awards 2.2 Nominations 3 Filmography 4 References 5 External links

Jackman was born in Pymble, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, the youngest of five children of English-born Anglican parents Chris Jackman and Grace Watson. His mother left the family and went back to England when he was eight years old, and he remained behind with his father (an accountant with a degree from Cambridge), and his siblings. Jackman attended Pymble Public School and Knox Grammar School, an all-boys school in Wahroonga, where he was Head of School in 1984, and graduated from the University of Technology, Sydney with a BA in Communications, having majored in journalism. Jackman's introduction to acting was by accident, as he had to take an acting class as part of the requirements for a college diploma. He became interested in the craft and used some money inherited from a relative to attend the WAAPA of Edith Cowan University in Perth, from which he graduated in 1994.

Jackman's early film work includes Erskineville Kings and Paperback Hero (1999), while his television work includes Law of the Land, Halifax f.p., Blue Heelers, and Snowy River: The McGregor Saga (in which he appeared in the recurring guest starring role of Duncan Jones during the seasons' in 1996).

On stage, Jackman played Gaston in the Melbourne production of Beauty and the Beast, and Joe Gillis in the same city's production of Sunset Boulevard. During his stage musical career in Melbourne, 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.

He first became known outside of Australia when he played the leading role of Curly in the Royal National Theatre's acclaimed stage production of Oklahoma! in the West End of London in England. His performance was filmed for television broadcast and DVD release. On 6 June 2002, Jackman sang the role of Billy Bigelow in Carousel in a special concert performance at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan, New York City. He was a last-minute addition to the X-Men cast. Dougray Scott was originally cast as Wolverine, but Scott was tied up on the set of Mission: Impossible II for two additional months of shooting. According to a CBS interview in November 2006, even his own wife told him not to take the role, a comment she later told him she was glad he ignored. Jackman, at 6' 2 1/2" tall,^[1] 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 make him appear shorter than he actually was. In an interview with Men's Health magazine, he stated that he was also required to add a great deal of muscle for the role, and noted that at the end of his preparatory physical training, he could bench press 315 lbs. and leg press 1000 lbs. An instant star upon the film's release, Jackman later reprised the role of Wolverine in in 2003's X2: X-Men United, and 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand. The trilogy ultimately garnered over a billion dollars worldwide. He is producing a Wolverine spin-off, to be released sometime in 2008.

In 2004, Jackman won a Tony Award for his Broadway portrayal of Australian songwriter and performer Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz. He hosted the Tony Awards in 2003, 2004 and 2005, garnering very positive reviews. The televisation of the these awards earned him an Emmy Award win for Outstanding Individual Performer in a Variety, Musical or Comedy program in 2005.

In 2004 and 2005, it was rumoured that he was being considered for the next James Bond, succeeding Pierce Brosnan. The role went to Daniel Craig.

In 2006 he was cast to replace Russell Crowe in Baz Luhrmann's Australia, starring opposite Nicole Kidman. He is now preparing a number of movies which he will both produce and star in, including Wolverine, estimated to begin filming around Summer 2007 and a remake of Carousel.

Jackman married actress Deborra-Lee Furness in April 1996. They met on the set of his first TV acting job in Correlli, an Australian television program. Jackman played an angry prisoner who fell in love with his counsellor, played by Furness. The couple suffered through two miscarriages, after which they adopted two children, son Oscar Maximillian (b. May 15, 2000) and daughter Ava Eliot (b. July 10, 2005) They currently live in Melbourne.

In 2005, Jackman joined with longtime assistant John Palermo to form a production company, Seed Productions, whose first project will be Wolverine in 2008. Furness is also involved in the company, and Palermo had three rings made with an inscription meaning "unity" for himself, Furness, and Jackman.[1] About the trio's collaboration Jackman reports "I'm very lucky in the partners I work with in my life, Deb and John Palermo. It really works. We all have different strengths. I love it. It's very exciting." [2]

According to NNDB, "Jackman has very poor vision, and is unable to even read a menu when he is not wearing his contact lenses. He is left-handed, loves windsurfing, plays the piano, guitar, and violin, and sushi is his favorite comfort food."[3] He also knows how to juggle 5 balls in the air at the same time. He does not smoke in real life, and hates having to do so in films. In real life he is described as a very polite and friendly man, unlike the belligerent, anti-social Wolverine.

He sang the Australian National Anthem in front of 100,000 people at the Melbourne Cricket ground before the 1998 Bledisloe Cup. Also sang the National Anthem at the 1999 NRL Grand Final in front of 108,000 people at Stadium Australia.

He is a known supporter of the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League. He also rteportedly supports English soccer team Norwich City FC due to his mother hailing from Norfolk, UK. Jackman is frequently mentioned in NBC's "Scrubs" by John C. McGinley's character Dr. Perry Cox.

On 1st April 2007, Jackman was awarded an honorary fellowship at WAAPA of Edith Cowan University in Perth.

• Winner of the Mo award for Best Actor in a Musical for Sunset Boulevard
• Winner of the Australian Film Critics Circle award for Best Actor in a Drama for Erskineville Kings
• Named Australian Star of the Year at the 1999 Australian Movie Convention
• Winner of the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for The Boy from Oz
• Winner of an Emmy award for hosting the Tony awards

• Nominated for the Mo award for Best Actor in a Musical for Beauty and the Beast
• Nominated for the Australian Film Industry for Erskineville Kings
• Nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Kate & Leopold

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	Erskineville Kings	Wace
	Paperback Hero	Jack Willis
2000	X-Men	Logan/Wolverine
2001	Kate & Leopold	Leopold
	Swordfish	Stanley Jobson
	Someone Like You...	Eddie Alden
2003	X2	Logan/Wolverine
2004	Van Helsing	Gabriel Van Helsing
	Standing Room Only	Roger
2005	Stories of Lost Souls	Roger
2006	Happy Feet	Memphis (voice)
	Flushed Away	Roddy (voice)
	The Prestige	Robert Angier
	The Fountain	Tomas / Tommy / Tom Creo
	Scoop	Peter Lyman
	X-Men:The Last Stand	Logan/Wolverine
2007	The Tourist	Wyatt	Filming (Also Producer)
	If You Could See Me Now		Pre-Production (Also Producer)
	A Plumm Summer	Adult Elliot	Pre-Production
	Rebound Guy		Pre-Production (Also Producer)
2008	The Beatle	John Lennon	Rumored
	Australia		Pre-Production
	Wolverine	Logan/Wolverine	Pre-Production (Also Producer)
	Drive		Pre-Production (Also Producer)
	The Amateur	CIA Agent (main character, name unknown)	Pre-Production (Also Producer)
2009	The Coming		From 20th Century Fox and Spyglass Entertainment

Preceded by Harvey Fierstein for Hairspray

Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical 2004 for The Boy From Oz

Succeeded by Norbert Leo Butz for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

• Hugh Jackman interview at www.sci-fi-online.com
• Hugh Jackman at the Internet Movie Database
• Video interview with Hugh Jackman on movies.com
• Hugh Jackman at the Notable Names Database
• Fansite at Hugh-Jackman.com