People | August 04, 2015 01:56 PM EDT
50 Facts About Geoffrey Rush - “Captain Barbossa” From "Pirates of Caribbean"
He is an actor and a producer who is among the very few to win “Triple Crown of Acting.” He is famously known for his performance in “Shine.” Here are some interesting facts about him.
- He was born as Geoffrey Roy Rush on July 6, 1951 in Toowoomba, Queensland.
- Born to Merle and Roy Boden Rush. His mother worked as a sales assistant in a department store and his father was an accountant for Royal Australian Air Force.
- His father was from English, Irish and Scottish ancestry, while his mother was from German Descent.
- His parents got divorced when he was five years old. He went with his mother to live in Brisbane.
- During his stay in Brisbane he attended Everton Park State high School. The school was previously known as Stafford State High School.
- He completed his arts degree from the University of Queensland.
- While at the University, Queensland Theatre Company (QTC) spotted his talent and thus began his acting career.
- He went to Paris in 1975 and studied Mime, movement and theatre at “L’Ecole Internationale de Theatre Jacques Lecoq”.
- In 1979, while starring in the stage production “Waiting For Godot” he shared the apartment with his co-star Mel Gibson.
- Rush married actress Jane Menelaus in 1988.
- They have a daughter named Angelica born in 1992 and a son named James born in 1995.
- Rush presently resides in Camberwell, Victoria.
- His debut in stage plays started with the production of “Wrong Side of the Moon.”
- He made his film debut with Australian movie “Hoodwink” in 1981 in which he played as a corrupt cop.
- He has acted in two of Shakespeare’s plays, “The Winter’s Tale” in 1987 and “Troilus and Cressida” in 1989.
- In 1993, he appeared as a dentist in one episode of British TV series “Lovejoy.”
- His breakthrough performance was in the 1996 movie “Shine” where he played as a pianist.
- He had studied piano earlier in his life and hence it was easy for him to perform as a pianist without a body double. He played all of the pieces himself in the movie.
- He won his first Academy awards for Best Actor for his Performance in “Shine.”
- He became the 12th Actor to receive an Award for playing a real person in the movie “Shine” in 1996.
- He appeared in three major films in 1998: “Les Miserable’s,” “Elizabeth” and “Shakespeare in Love.”
- He received his second nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars for his performance in “Shakespeare in Love.”
- In the same year he played the title role in QTC’s “Marriage of Figaro.” This was the opening production of the Optus Playhouse at Queensland performing Arts Centre in Brisbane.
- In the opening prologue a pun on Rush’s name was created with the comment “Optus playhouse was opening with a Rush.”
- In 2000 he starred as Marquis de Sade in the movie “Quills” for which he received another nomination for Academy awards.
- His real wife Jane Menelaus played as the wife of his character in the movie “Quills.”
- He starred as Hector Barbossa in “Pirates of the Caribbean- Curse of the Black Pearl.”
- In the movie, Rush made it a point to stay at the left side of the screen. According to his theory people watch the screen from left to right just like they write.
- His favourite co-actor is Johnny Depp and about him he added, “We’ve been together for four-and-a-half years now on these films; he's one of the great character actors in a leading man's body who constantly surprises himself and his audience with his capabilities and imagination.”
- He also voiced his character in Pirates of the Caribbean Attractions in Disneyland and Magic Kingdom theme parks.
- He also provided his voice to a pelican in the animation movie “Finding Nemo.”
- In 2004 he played as “Peter Sellers” in the movie “Life and Death of Peter Sellers.”
- For his performance as Peter Seller he won Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie, SAG award for Best performance by an Actor in TV Movie, and Golden Globe award for Best Actor in Motion Picture in Television.
- He hosted Australian Film Institute Awards in 2006 for Network Nine.
- In 2007 he starred in Eugene Lonesco’s play “Exit the King” as King Berenger, for Malthouse theatre and Company B.
- He received a nomination for Best Male actor in a play at “Helpmann Award” for his performance as King Berenger.
- Rush made his debut in Broadway with restaging the play “Exit the King” on March 26, 2009.
- For his performance he won Outer Critics Circle Award, Theatre World Award, Drama Desk Award and Drama League Award.
- He also won Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play in 2009.
- He received BAFTA Award for his performance as Lionel Logue in “The King’s Speech” in 2010.
- He also received nominations for Academy Awards and Golden Globe Awards for Best supporting Actor for The King’s Speech.
- About his role in “The King’s Speech” he said, “I first got the script in a fairly unorthodox way. It was in a brown paper package at my front door, like an orphaned child. A neighbour of mine knew this woman in London who wanted to produce it as a play, and on the coverlet it said, "Please forgive me, Mr. Rush, for sending this to your home, blah blah blah", and I read it and I went wow, great story.”
- Both Rush and Collin Firth had acted together in “Shakespeare in Love” where Mark Williams played the character with a horrible Stammer.
- He is one of the eleven actors to receive Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Critics Choice Award, Golden Globe Award and SAG Award for the same performance.
- He became the 19th actor to win Triple Crown of Acting: Oscar Award in 1997, Emmy Award in 2004 and Tony Award in 2009.
- He considers “City Lights” to be the best and his favourite movie and often shows it at parties.
- He is the first actor from southern part of the world to have featured in more than one movie that has grossed over 1 billion dollars: Pirates of Caribbean- Dead Man’s Chest and Pirates of the Caribbean – On Strangers Tide.
- He was honoured with Australian of the year 2012 by Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
- In 1998 he was named as Alumnus of the year by the Queensland University.
- He is the founding president of Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts in 2011.
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