Hugh Jackman was born on October 12, 1968. He is an Australian film and stage actor, probably most famous for playing Wolverine in X-Men and its sequels. His other works within the United States include Swordfish, Van Helsing and Kate & Leopold (for which Hugh Jackman was nominated in 2001 for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy).
Hugh Jackman was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, the youngest of five children of English-born Anglican parents. 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 Knox Grammar School, an all-boys school in Wahroonga, New South Wales 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 film work includes 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 seaons' in 1996).
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 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 2 for two additional months of shooting. Jackman stands a foot taller than Wolverine, who is reported by Marvel Comics to be 5' 3". Despite this, Jackman's performance was highly praised and the film's success immediately made him a star. Jackman is currently plans to star in a spinoff film for Wolverine, slated for release in 2007.
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 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, he was part of an advertising campaign for pay-tv company Foxtel. He was named Company Magazine's 35th Sexiest Man Alive in the same year.
2005 saw him cast in the lead role of The Fountain, directed by Darren Aronofsky. Jackman starred alongside Rachel Weisz and Ellen Burstyn.
He has three movies which he will produce, curently in production.
Jackman married actress Deborra-Lee Furness in February of 1996. They met on the set of his first TV acting job in Corelli, an Australian television program. Jackman played an angry prisoner who fell in love with his counsellor, played by Furness. The couple have two adopted children: Oscar Maximilian Jackman (born on May 15, 2000) and Ava Eliot Jackman (born on July 10, 2005) They currently live in Melbourne.
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