On October 12, 1968, Hugh Michael Jackman was born.1)
Jackman was born in Sydney, New South Wales, the son of Grace McNeil (née Greenwood) and Cambridge-educated accountant Christopher John Jackman.2)
His parents were English and came to Australia as part of the “Ten Pound Poms” immigration in 1967.3)
He is an actor, singer, and producer from Australia.4)
Jackman has received international acclaim for his appearances in major motion pictures, most notably as superhero, period, and romantic characters.5)
He is best known for his long-running role as Wolverine in the X-Men film series, as well as his lead roles in the romantic comedy fantasy Kate & Leopold (2001), the action-horror film Van Helsing (2004), the magic-themed drama The Prestige (2006), the epic historical romantic drama Australia (2008), the sci-fi sports drama Real Steel (2011), the film adaptation of Les Misérables (2012), and the thriller Prisoners (2013).6)
In 2013, he received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his role in Les Misérables, as well as his first Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.7)
He earned a Tony Award for his performance in The Boy from Oz.8)
Jackman, a four-time Tony Award host who won an Emmy Award for one of his performances, also presented the 81st Academy Awards on February 22, 2009.9)
Jackman rose to prominence outside of Australia in 1998, when he starred as Curly in the Royal National Theatre's celebrated stage version of Oklahoma! in London's West End.10)
Jackman is the second of his parents' children to be born in Australia, and he has four elder siblings. From his mother's remarriage, he also has a younger half-sister.11)
Jackman attended Pymble Public School for elementary school and Knox Grammar School on Sydney's Upper North Shore for secondary school, where he featured in the school's production of My Fair Lady in 1985 and was elected school captain in 1986.12)
On his return, he studied at the University of Technology, Sydney, earning a BA in Communications in 1991. He attended a theatre course in his final year of university to make up credits. The class performed Václav Havel's The Memorandum, starring Hugh Jackman.13)
He was a last-minute addition to the cast of X-Men (2000). Dougray Scott was originally slated as Wolverine, but Mission: Impossible II (2000) necessitated an additional two months of filming.14)
He sang “People Will Say We're in Love” from “Oklahoma!” with Shirley Jones during the inauguration of Fox Studios in Sydney, where they repeated their respective roles of Curly and Laurie.15)