QUICK FACTS
- Born in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia.
- His birthday is July 6, 1951.
- He is married to actress Jane Menelaus since 1988.
- He has two children: one daughter, Angelica (born 1992), and a son, James (born 1995).
- Once shared an apartment with Mel Gibson in 1979 (for four months); they were performing a stage production of Waiting for Godot.
- Is the first Australian-born actor to win an Oscar.
- Doesn’t drive.
- Studied mime in Paris.
- He stopped playing piano at the age of 14. He resumed for the role of David Helfgott in Shine.
- He can air-drum and air-piano. (Now, go watch his appearance on Spicks and Specks!)
- He is one of the few to have won the “Triple Crown of Acting,” with an Oscar, a Tony, and an Emmy.
- He won the Best Actor Oscar for Shine, Best Actor in a Mini-series or Movie Emmy for The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, and the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play for Exit the King.
- Considers The Life and Death of Peter Sellers one of his best work.
- His (#1) favorite film is City Lights (1931), starring Charlie Chaplin.
- Persona (1966), Amarcord (1973), Zelig (1983), and War and Peace (1967) are also some of his favorites.
- Colin Firth considers him one of his best friends.
- He is an avid music fan; he likes classical, pop, jazz, and broadway.
- Considers Johnny Depp to be the best actor he has ever worked with.
- He likes to read biographies.
- He has two “beautiful un-raced” Greyhounds.
