Geoffrey Rush
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| Geoffrey Rush | |
|---|---|
| Image:Geoffrey Rush.jpg Geoffrey Rush at the premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End with Jack the Monkey | |
| Birth name | Geoffrey Roy Rush |
| Born | 6 July 1951 Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia |
| Spouse(s) | Jane Menelaus |
Geoffrey Roy Rush (born 6 July 1951) is an Academy Award- and Emmy Award-winning Australian actor. He is the first Australian-born person to win an Academy Award for acting.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Rush was born in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia, the son of Merle (née Kiehne), a department store sales clerk, and Roy Baden Rush, an accountant for the Royal Australian Air Force.[1][2] His parents divorced when he was five, and his mother subsequently took him to live with her parents in the suburbs.[3] Before he began his acting career, he attended Everton Park State High School. He began his acting career with the Queensland Theatre Company in Brisbane. In 1975, Rush took off for Paris for a couple of years, and studied mime and pantomime at the famous Jacques Le Coq School Of Mime, then returned to Australia to resume his stage career. He also has an Arts Degree from the University of Queensland. While at university, he roomed with actor Mel Gibson.
[edit] Stage career
Rush has appeared on stage for Company B, and for the Queensland Theatre Company and the Brisbane Arts Theatre, as well as in many other theatre venues, and has worked as a theatre director.
Geoffrey Rush also appeared in the William Shakespeare plays, The Winter's Tale with the South Australia Theatre Company in 1987 (at The Playhouse in Adelaide, South Australia), and in Troilus and Cressida (at the Old Museum Building in 1989). He also appeared in an on-going production of The Importance of Being Earnest as John Worthing.
In September 1998, Rush played the title role in the Beaumarchais play "The Marriage of Figaro" for the Queensland Theatre Company. This was the opening production of the Optus Playhouse, at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre at South Bank in Brisbane. A pun on Geoffrey Rush's name (and the circumstances), was used in the opening prologue of the play with the comment that the "Optus Playhouse was opening with a Rush".
In 2007, he starred as King Berenger in a production of Eugene Ionesco's Exit the King at the Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne and Company B in Sydney, directed by Neil Armfield.
[edit] Film career
Rush's film debut was in the Australian film Hoodwink in 1981. His next film was in Gillian Armstrong's Starstruck, the following year. In 1996, he starred in Shine, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, becoming the first Australian actor to win an Oscar since Peter Finch. From that point on, his career skyrocketed.
In 1998, he appeared in three major films: Les Misérables, in which he played Inspector Javert; Elizabeth, in which he played the suspicious Sir Francis Walsingham; and Shakespeare in Love in which he played the acting company manager who remained calm in the midst of chaos (and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor). In 1999, Rush departured from his usual dramatic stint and took the lead role as Steven Price in the horror flick House on Haunted Hill. Many fans praised Rush for his dead-on portrayal of the late Vincent Price. In 2000, he received his third Academy Award nomination, for Quills, in which he played the Marquis de Sade.
Rush's career continued at a fast pace, with nine films released from 2001 through 2003. He starred in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, as Captain Hector Barbossa, also appearing in its sequel, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, and has reprised his role in the third title. Rush reprised his character's voice for the enhancements at the Pirates of the Caribbean attractions at Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom theme parks, which involved an Audio-Animatronic with Rush's likeness being installed. He also voiced Nigel the pelican in Finding Nemo.
Rush played actor Peter Sellers in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers. For this performance, he won an Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Mini-series or Movie. In 2005, he starred in Steven Spielberg's film Munich as Ephraim, a cold Mossad officer.
In 2006, Rush hosted the Australian Film Institute Awards for the Nine Network. He was the Master of ceremonies again at the 2007 AFI Awards broadcast on Channel Nine.
[edit] Personal life
Rush lives in Camberwell, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He has become involved in the preservation of heritage and architecture, becoming a figurehead for a campaign for the preservation of Camberwell Railway Station from demolition by developers and championing a National Trust of Australia (Victoria) poll for the Victorian Heritage Icons Awards.
Since 1988, Rush has been married to Jane Menelaus, with whom he has a daughter, Angelica (b. 1992) and a son, James (b. 1995).
Out of respect and admiration for his late father-in-law, Malcolm Menelaus, noted orthopedic surgeon and co-founding member of the Spina Bifida Foundation of Victoria, Geoffrey Rush became the Patron of the Spina Bifida Foundation of Victoria [1]. He and his wife Jane's family generously donate time and resources to the Foundation, continuing the legacy their father began and improving the lives of people living with spina bifida in Victoria.
[edit] Awards won
- 1996 - Best Actor in a Lead Role at the Australian Film Institute Awards, for his role in Shine
- 1996 - Best Actor in a Leading Role at the BAFTA Awards, for his role in Shine
- 1997 - Best Actor in a Leading Role at the Academy Awards, for his role in Shine
- 1997 - Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama at the Golden Globes, for his role in Shine
- 1999 - Best Actor in a Supporting Role at the BAFTA Awards, for his role in Elizabeth
- 2003 - Global Achievement Award at the AFI Awards
- 2005 - Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television at the Golden Globes for his role in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
- 2005 - Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie at the Emmy Awards for his role in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
[edit] Awards nominated
- 1998 - Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role at the AFI Awards, for his role in A Little Bit of Soul
- 1999 - Best Actor in a Supporting Role at the Academy Awards, for his role in Shakespeare in Love
- 1999 - Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture at the Golden Globes, for his role in Shakespeare in Love
- 1999 - Best Actor in a Supporting Role at the BAFTA Awards, for his role in Shakespeare in Love (He won for his supporting role in Elizabeth)
- 2000 - Best Actor in a Leading Role at the BAFTA Awards, for his role in Quills
- 2001 - Best Actor in a Leading Role at the Academy Awards, for his role in Quills
- 2001 - Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama at the Golden Globes, for his role in Quills
- 2002 - Best Actor in a Leading Role at the AFI Awards, for his role in Swimming Upstream
- 2006 - Best Supporting Actor at the AFI Awards, for his role in Candy
[edit] Filmography
- "Menotti" (1981) (TV Series)
- Starstruck (1982) as the Floor Manager
- Twelfth Night (1987) as Sir Andrew Aguecheek
- Dad and Dave: On Our Selection (1995) as Dave Rudd
- Call Me Sal (1996) as Wal
- Shine (1996) as David Helfgott (adult)
- "Mercury" (1996) TV Series as Bill Wyatt
- Children of the Revolution (1996) as Zachary Welch
- "Frontier" (1997) (mini TV Series) as Soldier Administrator David Collins
- Oscar and Lucinda (1997) (voice) as Narrator
- A Little Bit of Soul (1998) as Godfrey Usher
- Les Misérables (1998) as Inspector Javert
- Elizabeth (1998) as Sir Francis Walsingham
- Shakespeare in Love (1998) as Philip Henslowe
- Mystery Men (1999) as Casanova Frankenstein
- House on Haunted Hill (1999) as Stephen H. Price
- Quills (2000) as the Marquis de Sade
- The Magic Pudding (2000) (voice) as Bunyip Bluegum
- The Tailor of Panama (2001) as Harold 'Harry' Pendel
- Lantana (2001) as John Knox
- Hoodwinked (2001) as Detective 1
- Frida (2002) as Leon Trotsky
- The Banger Sisters (2002) as Harry Plummer
- Swimming Upstream (2003) as Harold Fingleton
- Ned Kelly (2003) as Francis Hare
- Finding Nemo (2003) voice of Nigel
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) as Captain Barbossa
- Intolerable Cruelty (2003) as Donovan Donaly
- Harvie Krumpet (2003) (voice) as Narrator
- The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004) (TV) as Peter Sellers
- Candy (2006) as Casper
- Munich (2005) Mossad case officer Ephraim
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) as Captain Barbossa (uncredited cameo)
- Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) as Captain Barbossa
- Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) as Sir Francis Walsingham
- Laundry Warrior (2008) as Town Drunk (Filming)
- His return as Hector Barbossa in a possible 4th PotC movie remains in question.
[edit] Further reading
- Geoffrey Rush - Stage acting credits
- "The Winter's Tale" - The Playhouse, Adelaide (1987)
- "Troilus and Cressida" - Old Museum Building, Brisbane (1989)
- "The Marriage of Figaro" - (the play) - Playhouse at QPAC, Brisbane (1989)
- "The Importance of Being Earnest" — (information and photos) —
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Geoffrey Rush at the Internet Movie Database
- Geoffrey Rush — Alumni at the University of Queensland
- Geoffrey Rush — Australian Film Commission
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Categories: 1951 births | Australian film actors | Australian stage actors | Australian voice actors | BAFTA winners (people) | Best Actor Academy Award winners | Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) | Best Miniseries or Television Movie Actor Golden Globe | Emmy Award winners | Living people | People from Queensland
