Australia

Mr. Rush’s career spans over 40 years, ranging from theatre to television and films. Geoffrey Roy Rush was born on July 6, 1951 in Toowoomba, Australia, to parents Merle (née Kiehne), a department store sales assistant, and Roy Baden Rush, an accountant for the Royal Australian Air Force. At the age of five, his parents divorced. The young Geoffrey and his mother then moved to Brisbane to stay with his grandparents. Geoffrey attended Everton Park State High School and then onto the University of Queensland, where he received his arts degree. It was at the university, in 1971, when he was spotted by the Queensland Theatre Company (QTC) and his career took off. He appeared in 17 productions while with the QTC. In 1975, Geoffrey took time off and headed to Paris for further studies that included mime, movement, and theatre at the famed L’École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq. He returned to Australia two years later and continued his career with the QTC. As Geoffrey’s theatre career began to soar, his personal life also found light. Geoffrey married fellow actress Jane Menelaus in 1988 and together they have two children: Angelica, who was born in 1992, and James, who was born in 1995. They first acted together in a play called The Winter’s Tale in 1987. Geoffrey began to branch off to films in the early 1980s with his debut in the 1981 film, Hoodwink. But it was not until 1998 when his big break came in the film Shine, which not only earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor, but also international stardom.