Geoffrey Rush

Infobox actor


imagesize = 200px
caption = Rush at the premiere of "", May 2007
birthname = Geoffrey Roy Rush
birthdate = birth date and age|1951|07|6|df=yes
birthplace = Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia
academyawards = Best Actor
1996 "Shine"
afiawards = Best Actor in a Leading Role
1996 "Shine"
Global Achievement Award
2003 Lifetime Archievement
emmyawards = Outstanding Lead Actor in a Mini-Series or a Movie
2005 "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers"
baftaawards = Best Actor
1996 "Shine"
Best Supporting Actor
1998 "Elizabeth"
goldenglobeawards = Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
1997 "Shine"

2005 "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers"
sagawards = Best Cast - Motion Picture
1998 "Shakespeare in Love"
Best Actor - Motion Picture
1996 "Shine"
spouse = Jane Menelaus (1988-)

Geoffrey Roy Rush (born 6 July 1951) is a Golden Globe-, BAFTA-, Emmy-, AFI- and Academy Award-winning Australian actor. He is the first Australian-born person to win an Academy Award for acting. He is also the only Australian person to win it playing an Australian character (although American Linda Hunt won one for playing an Australian character in "The Year of Living Dangerously").

Originally a Queenslander from regional Toowoomba, Rush moved to Melbourne in the early 1990s via Brisbane and Sydney [ [http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200705/20070514_rush.html Travis Smiley's interview transcript with Geoffrey Rush] ] and currently lives in the suburb of Camberwell, Victoria. [http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23419798-5000107,00.html Rush to flat earth] from heraldsun.com.au]

Biography

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. [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/79/Geoffrey-Rush.html "Geoffrey Rush biography"] . Film Reference.com.] [http://www.tiscali.co.uk/entertainment/film/biographies/geoffrey_rush_biog.html "Geoffrey Rush Biography"] . Tiscali.film & tv.] His parents divorced when he was five, and his mother subsequently took him to live with her parents in the suburbs. [http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800018920/bio "Geoffrey Rush biography"] . Yahoo! Movies.] Before he began his acting career, Rush 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 L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq School of Mime, before returning to Australia to resume his stage career. He also has an Arts Degree from the University of Queensland. [http://www.alumni.uq.edu.au/index.html?page=286 "Geoffrey Rush, 1997Academy award winner"] . Alumni at University of Queensland.] In 1979, he shared an apartment with actor Mel Gibson for four months, while they co-starred in a stage production of "Waiting for Godot".

tage 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.

His credits include William Shakespeare's plays, "The Winter's Tale" (with the South Australia Theatre Company in 1987 at The Playhouse in Adelaide), and "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 WorthingFact|date=June 2008.

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.

Film career

Rush's film debut was in the Australian film "Hoodwink" in 1981. His next film was 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 film 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 Philip Henslowe, 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". 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 ', as Captain Hector Barbossa, also appearing in its sequels, ' and "". 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 (including one at Tokyo Disneyland).Fact|date=January 2008 He also voiced Nigel the pelican in "Finding Nemo".

Rush played actor Peter Sellers in the television film "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.

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 [ [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/10/17/1097951560203.html Actor Rush lifts lid on Camberwell station plan] from theage.com.au] and championing a National Trust of Australia (Victoria) poll for the Victorian Heritage Icons Awards. [ [http://www.nattrust.com.au/header/news_archive/2006_heritage_icon_anounced 2006 Heritage Icon announced | National Trust of Australia (Victoria) ] ]

Since 1988, Rush has been married to actress Jane Menelaus, with whom he has a daughter, Angelica (born 1992) and a son, James (born 9th Sep 1995). [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/79/Geoffrey-Rush.html Geoffrey Rush Biography — Theatre, Television and Film Biographies] ] [ [http://www.tiscali.co.uk/entertainment/film/biographies/geoffrey_rush_biog.html Geoffrey Rush Biography — Tiscali] ] [ [http://www.tribute.ca/people/bio/1683 Geoffrey Rush Biography — Tribute] ] [ [http://www.hollywood.com/celebrity/Geoffrey_Rush/187684 Geoffrey Rush Biography — Hollywood.com] ] [ [http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film-and-tv/features/geoffrey-rush-how-he-relished-his-starring-role-in-the-sequel-to-elizabeth--even-if-his-demise-came-too-soon-396607.html Geoffrey Rush interview — The Independent] ]

Filmography and awards

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0001691|name=Geoffrey Rush
* [http://www.afc.gov.au/faqs/osaustralians/actors/geoffrey_rush.aspx Geoffrey Rush] — Australian Film Commission
* [http://www.ausstage.edu.au/indexdrilldown.jsp?xcid=59&f_contrib_id=482&f_event_id=14306 Geoffrey Rush] - Stage acting credits
*http://www.93950.com/rush/ - The Cinematic Hats of Geoffrey Rush