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| Hugh Jackman in an unknown location in September, 2009. |
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| Hugh Jackman |
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Forecourt Ceremony held on Tuesday, April 21, 2009
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Born: October 12, 1968, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Age at the time of the ceremony: 40
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Hugh Jackman is one of a newer generation of stars. Handsom and somewhat laconic, Jackman stumbled into the X-Men franchise, but has since wowed the world with his abilities as a song-and-dance man. Who knew?
Hugh Jackman's father was an accountant; both his parents emmigrated to Australia after WWII in the "Ten Pound Poms" program, which encouraged emmigration to Australia and New Zealand. They had both been converted by Billy Graham, and so, Hugh and his five siblings were raised as strict Christians.
With his parents divorcing when he was eight, Hugh remained in Australia with his father, learning to love the outdoor life. As a youngster, he thought that the best job would be to a chef on an airplane — eat and see the world. He went to primary school and in grammer school, he starrred as Henry Higgins in a production of My Fair Lady in 1985. After graduating, Jackman worked as a PE teacher in England, where his mother was living. Returning to Sydney, he worked toward a BA in communications at the University of Technology. To earn extra credits, Jackman took a drama course, where he starred in Václav Havel's The Memorandum. To Hugh, the stage seemed like home. He graduated in 1991.
More schooling followed after his decision to become a professional actor. A year at the Actor's Centre in Sydney, and two years at the Australian Academy of Performing Arts in Perth, where he finished his studies in 1994. He was immediately offered the lead role of Kevin Jones on ten episodes of Corelli, aired over ABC (that's the Australian Broadcasting Company, mate) with his wife, Deborra-Lee Furness, from July 1995 to September 1995.
After this, Jackman starred as Gaston in the stage version of Beauty and the Beast and as Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard — both productions touring Australia. Jackman played Duncan Jones in five episodes of Snowy River: The McGregor Saga with Guy Pearce, aired over The Family Channel (in the US, anyway) in 1996.
An early film role came as the second lead in the prisoner-returning-home film Erkinville Hero (released in September 1999) with Marty Deniss. Later that year, he played Curly in a production directed by Trevor Nunn at the National Theatre in England of Oklahoma! for which he recieved the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical. It was video recorded and aired over both the BBC and PBS November 2003.
Initially, Russell Crowe was asked to play the Wolverine character for director Bryan Singer, but Crowe suggested they try Jackman, who was cast as the lead as Logan / Wolverine in X-Men (released in July 2000) with Patrick Stewart; the film was a hit, and Jackman was now a movie star.
Jackman got second billed to John Travolta in Swordfish (released in June 2001). He was cast in the rom-com Kate & Leopold (released in December 2001) with Meg Ryan, then returned as Wolverine in X2: X-Men United (which played the Chinese in May 2003) with Patrick Stewart.
Jackman made his Broadway debut and won a Tony Award for his role in The Boy from Oz for 364 performances, from October 2003 to September 2004; he has hosted the Tony Awards four times. Producers offered him the title role in Van Helsing (released in May 2004) with Kate Beckinsale. For a change of pace, Jackman worked for director Darren Aronofsky in The Fountain (which had its West Coast Premiere at the Chinese on November 11, 2006) with Rachel Weisz.
Jackman did the voice for Memphis in Happy Feet (which had its Wolrd Premiere at the Chinese on November 12, 2006). He guested as Nicky Fontana in the pilot of Viva Laughlin, aired over CBS in October 2007. He then took his first effort at producing while starring in Deception (released in April 2008) with Ewan McGregor.
For Australian director Baz Luhrmann, Jackman starred in the wildly unusual historical epic Australia (released in November 2008) with Nicole Kidman. Just before the opening of his latest film, Jackman came down to the Chinese to do his footprints in the Forecourt. His film, X-Men: Origins: Wolverine (which played the Chinese in May 2009) with Liev Schreiber, was also produced by Jackman.
Returning for a short time to Broadway, Jackman shared the stage with Daniel Craig in the two-man drama A Steady Rain for 80 performances, from September to December 2009. Jackman ventured into action movie stardom in Real Steel (released in October 2011) with Evangeline Lilly. He then headed to Broadway once more for a short engagement of Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway for 61 perfs, from November 2011 to January 2012.
For his most ambitious film yet, he starred as Jean Valjean in the film version of the great stage musical success Les Misérables (released in December 2012) with Russell Crowe as Inspector Javert. He returned to X-Men territory in The Wolverine (released in July 2013) with Will Yun Lee, and X-Men: Days of Future Past (released in May 2014) with Ian McKellen.
Jackman returned to Broadway for
The River for 97 perfs, from November 2014 to February 2015, then starred in the odd sci-fi movie Chappie (which played the Chinese for only three days in March 2015) with Dev Patel. He played Blackbeard in Pan (released in October 2015) with Garrett Hedlund.
He did another Wolverine picture with Logan (which played the Chinese in March 2017) with Patrick Stewart, then enjoyed a major success with him playing P T Barnum in the surprise hit The Greatest Showman (which played the Chinese in February 2018) with Zac Efron.
Jackman played ill-fated presidential candidate Gary Hart in The Front Runner (released in November 2018) with Vera Farmiga, and did the voice for Sir Lionel Frost in Missing Link (released in April 2019). Jackman headlined the HBO movie Bad Education in April 2020. He got to be the star in the sci-fi mystery Reminiscence (which played the Chinese in August 2021. He has the lead in The Son with Laura Dern (released in September 2022). |
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| Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, California. Hugh Jackman Forecourt block. Executed by unknown, Tuesday, April 21, 209. 48 x 37 inches. |
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| Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, California. Hugh Jackman Forecourt ceremony, Tuesday, April 21, 2009. Hugh Jackman flashes a million-dollar smile as he presses his hands into the wet cement. |
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