Hugh Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor who portrayed Wolverine in X-Men (2000), X2: X-Men United (2003) and X-Men 3 (2006). His other works include Swordfish (2001), Kate and Leopold (2001), Someone Like You (2001), and Van Helsing (2004).Biography
Hugh Jackman was born on 12 October 1968, 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. Jackman attended Knox Grammar School, an elite 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. In 1994, he graduated from WAAPA in Perth.
During Hugh Jackman's stage musical career in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, he hosted both Melbourne's Carols by Candlelight and Sydney's Carols in the Domain.
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. He and his wife adopted Oscar Maximilian Jackman, who was born on May 15, 2000. They adopted a second child, Ava Eliot Jackman, who was born on July 10, 2005.
Jackman played Gaston in the Melbourne production of Beauty and the Beast, and Joe Gillis in the same city's production of Sunset Boulevard. 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, demonstrating his talent as a singer as well as an actor. On 6 June 2002, Hugh Jackman sang the role of Billy Bigelow in Carousel in a special concert performance at Carnegie Hall in Manhatten, 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. Hugh 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 in plans to star in a spinoff film for Wolverine, slated for release in 2007 and has another Van Helsing movie probably soon to follow. He is also the name most commonly mentioned whenever talk of a Metal Gear Solid film has arisen.
In 2004, Jackman won a Tony Award for his Broadway portrayal of Australian songwriter and performer Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz. Jackman hosted the Tony Awards in 2004 and 2005, garnering very positive reviews. The televised hosting of the Tony Awards earned Jackman an Emmy Award win for Outstanding Individual Performer in a Variety, Musical or Comedy program in 2005.
2005 saw him cast in the lead role of The Fountain, directed by Darren Aronofsky. Jackman starred alongside Rachel Weisz and Ellen Burstyn.
In 2004, he was part of an advertising campaign for pay-tv company Foxtel. He was name Company Magazine's 35th Sexiest Man Alive in the same year.
Hugh Jackman currently lives in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
For more information about Hugh Jackman, please visit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Jackman
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