This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2012)

Len Wein
Len Wein (right), with fan dressed as Swamp Thing, at CONvergence 2005
Born	(1948-06-12) June 12, 1948 (age 64)
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Writer, Editor
Notable works	Swamp Thing Wolverine X-Men The Human Target Justice League of America
Awards	Shazam Award, 1972, 1973 Inkpot Award, 1979 Comics Buyers Guide Award, 1982 Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame, 2008

Len Wein ( /ˈwiːn/; born June 12,^[1] 1948, New York City, New York)^[2] is an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel superhero team the X-Men (including the co-creation of Nightcrawler, Storm, and Colossus). Additionally, he was the editor for writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons' influential DC miniseries Watchmen.

Wein was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2008.

Biography[link]

Early career[link]

In 2003 interview, Len Wein recalled that he "was a very sickly kid. While I was in the hospital at age seven, my dad brought me a stack of comic books to keep me occupied. And I was hooked. When my eighth grade art teacher, Mr. Smedley, told me he thought I had actual art talent, I decided to devote all my efforts in that direction in the hope that I might someday get into the comics biz."^[3]

Approximately once a month, as a teenager, Wein and his friend Marv Wolfman took DC Comics' weekly Thursday afternoon tour of the company's offices.^[3] Wolfman was active in fanzine culture, and together he and Wein produced sample superhero stories to show to the DC editorial staff. At that point, Wein was more interested in becoming an artist than a writer.^[4] In a 2008 interview, Wein said his origins as an artist have helped him "describe art to an artist so that I can see it all in my own head", and claimed he "used to have artists, especially at DC, guys like Irv Novick and a few of the others, who would come into the office waiting for their next assignment and ask [editor] Julie Schwartz, 'Do you have any Len Wein scripts lying around? He's always easy to draw.'"^[4]

Eventually, DC editor Joe Orlando hired both Wolfman and Wein as freelance writers.^[4] Wein's first professional comics story was "Eye of the Beholder" in DC's Teen Titans #18 (Dec. 1968), for which he created Red Star, the first official Russian superhero in the DC universe. Neal Adams was called upon to rewrite and redraw a Teen Titans story which had been written by Wein and Wolfman. The story, titled "Titans Fit the Battle of Jericho!", would have introduced DC's first African American superhero but was rejected by publisher Carmine Infantino.^[5] The revised story appeared in Teen Titans #20 (March–April 1969).

Later that year, Wein was writing anthological mystery stories for DC's The House of Secrets and Marvel's Tower of Shadows and Chamber of Darkness. He additionally began writing for DC's romance comic Secret Hearts and the company's toy-line tie-in Hot Wheels; Skywald Publications' horror-comics magazines Nightmare and Psycho and its short-lived Western comic books The Bravados and The Sundance Kid; and Gold Key's Mod Wheels, Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery, the toyline tie-in Microbots, and the TV-series tie-ins Star Trek and The Twilight Zone.

DC and Marvel Comics[link]

Wein's first superhero work for Marvel was a one-off story in Daredevil #71 (Dec. 1970) co-written with staff writer/editor Roy Thomas. Wein later began scripting sporadic issues of such DC superhero titles as Adventure Comics (featuring Supergirl and Zatanna), The Flash, and Superman, while continuing to write anthological mysteries, along with well-received stories for the semi-anthological occult title The Phantom Stranger #14–26 (Aug. 1971 – Sept. 1973).

Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson created the horror character Swamp Thing in The House of Secrets #92 (July 1971).^[6] Over the next several decades, Swamp Thing would star in DC series and miniseries — including an initial 1972–76 series begun by Wein and Wrightson,^[7] and the mid-1980s Saga of the Swamp Thing, edited by Wein and featuring early work by writer Alan Moore — as well as two theatrical films, and a syndicated television series. Abigail Arcane, a major supporting character in the character's mythos was introduced by Wein and Wrightson in Swamp Thing #3 (Feb.-March 1973).^[8] Wein wrote the second story featuring Man-Thing (written circa May 1971, published in June 1972), introducing Barbara Morse and the concept that "Whoever Knows Fear Burns at the Man-Thing's Touch", and later edited Steve Gerber's run on that title.

Wein wrote a well-regarded run of Justice League of America (issues #100–114) wherein, together with artist Dick Dillin, he re-introduced the Seven Soldiers of Victory in issues #100-102^[9] and the Freedom Fighters in issues #107-108.^[10] In the fall of 1972, Wein and writers Gerry Conway and Steve Englehart crafted a metafictional unofficial crossover spanning titles from both major comics companies. Each comic featured Englehart, Conway, and Wein, as well as Wein's first wife Glynis, interacting with Marvel or DC characters at the Rutland Halloween Parade in Rutland, Vermont. Beginning in Amazing Adventures #16 (by Englehart with art by Bob Brown and Frank McLaughlin), the story continued in Justice League of America #103 (by Wein, Dillin and Dick Giordano), and concluded in Thor #207 (by Conway and penciler John Buscema). As Englehart explained in 2010, "It certainly seemed like a radical concept and we knew that we had to be subtle (laughs) and each story had to stand on its own, but we really worked it out. It's really worthwhile to read those stories back to back to back — it didn't matter to us that one was at DC and two were at Marvel — I think it was us being creative, thinking what would be really cool to do."^[11][12][13] Libra, a supervillain created by Wein and Dillin in Justice League of America #111 (May–June 1974),^[14] would play a leading role in Grant Morrison's Final Crisis storyline in 2008.

Wein co-created the Human Target with artist Carmine Infantino^[15] and wrote the character's appearances as a backup feature in Action Comics, Detective Comics, and The Brave and the Bold. The character was adapted into a short-lived ABC television series starring Rick Springfield which debuted in July 1992,^[16] and was revived for a new two-season series on FOX that starred Mark Valley, Chi McBride and Jackie Earle Haley.

In the early 1970s, Wein began writing regularly for Marvel Comics. He succeeded Roy Thomas as editor-in-chief of the color-comics line in 1974, staying a little over a year before handing the reins to Wolfman. Remaining at Marvel as a writer, Wein had lengthy runs on Marvel Team-Up, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, The Mighty Thor and Fantastic Four, as well as shorter runs on such titles as The Defenders and Brother Voodoo.

In 1975, he and artist Dave Cockrum revived the Stan Lee / Jack Kirby mutant-superhero team the X-Men after a half-decade's hiatus, reformatting the membership. Among the characters the duo created for the series were Nightcrawler, Storm, Colossus, and Thunderbird. Wein had previously created Wolverine, with artists John Romita Sr. and Herb Trimpe, for The Incredible Hulk. Wein plotted the early "new X-Men" stories with artist Cockrum. These issues were then scripted as Uncanny X-Men #94 & 95 by Chris Claremont, who subsequently developed the title into one of Marvel's leading franchises.

In 2009, Claremont said, "The history of modern comics would be incredibly different if you took [Wein's] contributions out of the mix. The fact he doesn't get credit for it half the time is disgraceful. We owe a lot of what we are – certainly on the X-Men – to Len and to Dave [Cockrum]".^[17]

Return to DC[link]

At the end of the 1970s, following a dispute with Marvel management, Wein returned to DC as a writer and an editor.

He scripted Batman and collaborated on Green Lantern with artists Dave Gibbons and Mark Farmer. On his first issue of Batman, #307 (Jan. 1979), he created Wayne Foundation executive Lucius Fox,^[18] later portrayed by Morgan Freeman in the movies Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. With artist Marshall Rogers, Wein co-created the third version of the supervillain Clayface in Detective Comics #478 (July-Aug. 1978).^[19] He wrote The Untold Legend of the Batman, the first Batman miniseries, in 1980^[20] and the following year wrote a DC-Marvel crossover between Batman and the Hulk in DC Special Series #27 (Fall 1981).^[21] Pandora Pann was a proposed series by Wein and artist Ross Andru which was to have been published in 1982 but other commitments prevented Wein from writing it and the project was cancelled.^[22] As editor, he worked on the first twelve issue limited series Camelot 3000, and such successful series as The New Teen Titans, All-Star Squadron, Batman and the Outsiders, Who's Who in the DC Universe, and Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons's acclaimed and highly influential Watchmen.^[23] In 1986, he wrote a revival of the Blue Beetle^[24] and dialogued the miniseries Legends over the plots of John Ostrander.^[25] The following year, Wein scripted the rebooted Wonder Woman series over penciller George Pérez's plots. With artist Steve Erwin, Wein co-created the superhero Gunfire.

Later career[link]

Following his second stint at DC and a move to the West Coast, Wein served as editor-in-chief of Disney Comics for three years in the early 1990s. After leaving Disney, Wein began writing and story editing for such animated television series as X-Men, Batman, Spider-Man, Street Fighter, ExoSquad, Phantom 2040, Godzilla, Pocket Dragon Adventures, Reboot and War Planets: Shadow Raiders. In 2001, he and Wolfman wrote the screenplay Gene Pool for the production company Helkon, and later wrote a prequel to the screenplay for a one-shot comic book for IDW Publishing.

Wein collaborated with writer Kurt Busiek and artist Kelley Jones on the four-issue miniseries Conan: The Book of Thoth for Dark Horse Comics. He has scripted the comics series The Victorian for Penny-Farthing Press and has written comic-book stories for Bongo Comics' TV-series tie-ins The Simpsons and Futurama.

From 2005 to 2008, Wein appeared as a recurring panelist on the Los Angeles-based revival of the TV game show What's My Line? He has written episodes of the Cartoon Network animated series Ben 10: Alien Force, "Ben 10: Ultimate Alien", "Ben 10: Omniverse"^[26] and the Marvel Super Hero Squad.^[26]

Wein has been interviewed for commentary tracks on comics-related DVDs, including the animated Justice League: The New Frontier film, the live-action Spider-Man, Fantastic Four and X-Men films, the X-Men Origins: Wolverine film, the Watchmen film, the Swamp Thing TV-series sets, the Human Target first season TV series, and the July 2008 History Channel specials Batman Unmasked and Batman Tech.^[27]

He wrote the storyline for the Watchmen video game, The End Is Nigh, which serves as a backstory to both the comic and the film adaptation.^[28]

Wein returned to comics writing for DC in the late 2000s,^[29] where he has recently collaborated in the DC Comics nostalgic event DC Retroactive writing stories for the one-shot specials Batman - The '70s (September 2011) drawn by Tom Mandrake^[30] and Green Lantern - The '80s (October 2011) drawn by Joe Staton. The hardcover collection of his 10-issue DC Universe: Legacies was published in August 2011.^[31]

Personal life[link]

Wein's first wife was Glynis Oliver,^[32] a comics colorist who spent years on the X-Men titles. His second wife is Christine Valada, a photographer and attorney.^[33]

On April 6, 2009, Wein's California home burned down with considerable loss of property and mementos, including his Shazam Awards. He and his wife also lost their dog, Sheba, to the fire.^[34]

Beginning October 26, 2009, Valada appeared on and won the television game show Jeopardy!, becoming a four-time champion with winnings of over $60,000. She indicated on the show that she would use the money to recover or replace much of the artwork and books the couple lost in the fire.^[35]

Awards[link]

• Won Shazam Awards for Best Writer (Dramatic) for Swamp Thing and for Best Individual Story (Dramatic), for "Dark Genesis" in Swamp Thing #1 (with Berni Wrightson) in 1972.^[36]
• Nominated in the same categories in 1973. He and Wrightson won the Shazam Award that year for Best Continuing Feature again for Swamp Thing.^[37]
• Won an Inkpot Award in 1977.^[38]
• Won the 1982 Comics Buyers Guide Award as Best Editor.
• Nominated in 1998 for the Bram Stoker Award, given by the Horror Writers Association, for the one-shot The Dreaming: Trial and Error, from DC's Vertigo Comics imprint.^[39]
• Inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2008.^[40]
• Won First Place Award from First Comics News.com for Best Miniseries 2010 for DC Universe Legacies

References[link]

External links[link]

• Len Wein at the Grand Comics Database
• Len Wein at the Comic Book DB
• Len Wein at the Internet Movie Database
• Roots of the Swamp Thing

Hugh Jackman
Jackman at the Sydney premiere for Real Steel, September 2011
Born	Hugh Michael Jackman (1968-10-12) 12 October 1968 (age 43) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1994–present
Spouse	Deborra-Lee Furness (1996–present)

Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor and producer who is involved in film, musical theatre, and television.

Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, notably as action/superhero, period and romance characters. He is known for his role as Wolverine in the X-Men film series, as well as for his leads in Kate & Leopold, Van Helsing, The Prestige, Australia, and Real Steel. Jackman is a singer, dancer, and actor in stage musicals, and won a Tony Award for his role in The Boy from Oz.

In November 2008, Open Salon named Jackman one of the sexiest men alive.^[1] Later that same month, People magazine named Jackman "Sexiest Man Alive."^[2]

A three-time host of the Tony Awards, winning an Emmy Award for one of these appearances, Jackman also hosted the 81st Academy Awards on 22 February 2009.^[3]

Early life[link]

Jackman was born in Sydney, New South Wales, the youngest of five children of English parents Chris Jackman and Grace Watson, and the second child to be born in Australia (he also has a younger half-sister, from his mother's re-marriage).^[4] One of his paternal great-grandfathers was Greek.^[5] His parents divorced when he was eight, and he remained with his accountant father and siblings, while his mother moved back to England.^[6] As a child, Jackman liked the outdoors, spending a lot of time at the beach and on camping trips and vacations all over Australia. He wanted to see the world: "I used to spend nights looking at atlases. I decided I wanted to be a chef on a plane. Because I'd been on a plane and there was food on board, I presumed there was a chef. I thought that would be an ideal job."^[7]

Jackman went to primary school at Pymble Public School and later attended the all-boys Knox Grammar School, where he starred in its production of My Fair Lady in 1985, and became the captain of the school in 1986.^[8] Following graduation, he spent a gap year working at Uppingham School in England.^[9] On his return, he studied at the University of Technology, Sydney, graduating in 1991 with a BA in Communications.^[10] In his final year of university, he took a drama course to make up additional credits. The class did Václav Havel's The Memorandum with Jackman as the lead.^[4] He later commented, "In that week I felt more at home with those people than I did in the entire three years [at university]".^[11]

After obtaining his BA, Jackman completed the one-year course "The Journey" at the Actors' Centre in Sydney.^[4] About studying acting full-time, he stated, "It wasn't until I was 22 that I ever thought about my hobby being something I could make a living out of. As a boy, I'd always had an interest in theater. But the idea at my school was that drama and music were to round out the man. It wasn't what one did for a living. I got over that. I found the courage to stand up and say, 'I want to do it'."^[7] After completing "The Journey", he was offered a role on the popular soap opera Neighbours but turned it down^[12] to attend the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts of Edith Cowan University in Perth, Western Australia, from which he graduated in 1994.^[13]

Jackman has said he "always loved acting but when I started at drama school I was like the dunce of the class. It just wasn’t coming right to me. Everyone was cooler, everyone seemed more likely to succeed, everyone seemed more natural at it and in retrospect I think that is good. I think it is good to come from behind as an actor. I think it is good to go into an audition thinking 'Man I’ve got to be at my best to get this gig.'"^[14]

Career[link]

Early work[link]

On the night of his final Academy graduation performance, Jackman received a phone call offering him a role on Correlli: "I was technically unemployed for thirteen seconds." Correlli, devised by Australian actress Denise Roberts, was a 10-part drama series on ABC, Jackman's first major professional job, and where he met his future wife Deborra-Lee Furness: "Meeting my wife was the greatest thing to come out of it."^[7] The show lasted only one season.

After Correlli Jackman went on the stage in Melbourne. In 1996, Jackman played Gaston in the local Walt Disney production of Beauty and the Beast, and Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard.^[4] During his stage musical career in Melbourne, he starred in the 1998 Midsumma festival cabaret production Summa Cabaret. He also hosted Melbourne's Carols by Candlelight and Sydney's Carols in the Domain.

Jackman's early film work includes Erskineville Kings and Paperback Hero (1999), and his television work includes Law of the Land, Halifax f.p., Blue Heelers, and Banjo Paterson's The Man from Snowy River.

[edit] Oklahoma!

Jackman became known outside of Australia in 1998, when he played the leading role of Curly in the Royal National Theatre's acclaimed stage production of Oklahoma!, in London's West End.^[4] The performance earned him an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. Jackman said "I totally felt like it can't get any better than this. On some level that production will be one of the highlights of my career."^[7] He also starred in the 1999 film version of the same stage musical, which has been screened in many countries.

[edit] X-Men

Jackman at the X-Men Origins: Wolverine premiere, April 2009.

In 1999, Jackman was cast as Wolverine in Bryan Singer's X-Men (2000), replacing Dougray Scott. His co-stars included Patrick Stewart, James Marsden, Famke Janssen, and Ian McKellen. According to a CBS interview in November 2006, Jackman's wife Deborra-Lee Furness told him not to take the role, a comment she later told him she was glad he ignored.

Wolverine was tough for Jackman to portray because he had few lines, but a lot of emotion to convey in them. To prepare, he watched Clint Eastwood in the Dirty Harry movies and Mel Gibson in Road Warrior. "Here were guys who had relatively little dialogue, like Wolverine had, but you knew and felt everything. I'm not normally one to copy, but I wanted to see how these guys achieved it."^[7] Jackman was adamant about doing his own stunts for the movie. "We worked a lot on the movement style of Wolverine, and I studied some martial arts. I watched a lot of Mike Tyson fights, especially his early fights. There's something about his style, the animal rage, that seemed right for Wolverine. I kept saying to the writers, 'Don't give me long, choreographed fights for the sake of it. Don't make the fights pretty."^[7]

Jackman also had to get used to wearing Wolverine's claws. "Every day in my living room, I'd just walk around with those claws, to get used to them. I've got scars on one leg, punctures straight through the cheek, on my forehead. I'm a bit clumsy. I'm lucky I didn't tell them that when I auditioned."^[7]

Jackman, at 6 feet 2.5 inches (1.89 m),^[15] stands a foot taller than Wolverine, who is said in the original comic book to be 5 feet 3 inches (1.60 m).^[16] Hence, the filmmakers were frequently forced to shoot Jackman at unusual angles or only from the waist up to make him appear shorter than he actually is, and his co-stars wore platform soles. Jackman was also required to add a great deal of muscle for the role, and in preparing for the fourth film in the series, he bench-pressed over 300 pounds.^[17] An instant star upon the film's release, Jackman later reprised his role in 2003's X2: X-Men United, 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand, and 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine. He also cameos as Wolverine in 2011's X-Men: First Class.

2001[link]

Jackman starred as Leopold in the 2001 romantic comedy film Kate & Leopold, a role for which he received a Best Actor Golden Globe nomination.^[4] Jackman plays a Victorian English duke who accidentally time-travels to 21st-century Manhattan, where he meets Kate (Meg Ryan), a cynical advertising executive. In 2001, Jackman also starred in the action/drama Swordfish with John Travolta and Halle Berry. This was the second time Jackman worked with Berry, and the two have worked together twice more in the X-Men movies.

He hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live in 2001.^[18]

2002–2011 (Stage)[link]

Local advertising for the musical The Boy from Oz starring Jackman in New York City (2004)

In 2002, Jackman sang the role of Billy Bigelow in the musical Carousel in a special concert performance at Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St. Luke's.

In 2004, Jackman won the Tony Award and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical for his 2003–2004 Broadway portrayal of Australian songwriter and performer Peter Allen in the hit musical The Boy from Oz, which he also performed in Australia in 2006.^[4] In addition, Jackman hosted the Tony Awards in 2003, 2004, and 2005, garnering positive reviews. His hosting of the 2004 Tony Awards earned him an Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Performer in a Variety, Musical or Comedy program.

Jackman co-starred with Daniel Craig on Broadway at the Schoenfeld Theatre in a limited engagement of the play A Steady Rain, which ran from 10 September 2009 to 6 December 2009.^[19]

He returned to Broadway in a new show, Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre, which began performances on 25 October 2011 and concluded on 1 January 2012.^[20]

2003–2008 (Films)[link]

After 2003's X2: X-Men United, Jackman played the title role of monster killer Gabriel Van Helsing in the 2004 film Van Helsing.^[4] Jackman and the film were noted in Bruce A. McClelland's book "Slayers and Their Vampires: A Cultural History of Killing the Dead".

Jackman was one of the choices to play James Bond in 2006's Casino Royale, but eventually lost out to Daniel Craig.^[21] Jackman starred in the 2006 film The Prestige, directed by Christopher Nolan and co-starring Christian Bale, Michael Caine, and Scarlett Johansson. As Robert Angier, Jackman portrayed a magician who built up a rivalry with contemporary Alfred Borden in attempt to one-up each other in the art of deception. Jackman stated that his main reason for doing The Prestige was to work with the musician David Bowie, who played scientist Nikola Tesla.

Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds (right) at the X-Men Origins: Wolverine premiere in Tempe, Arizona (2009)

Jackman portrayed three different characters in Darren Aronofsky's science-fiction film The Fountain: Tommy Creo, a neuroscientist, who's torn between his wife, Izzi (Rachel Weisz) who is dying of a brain tumor, and his work at trying to cure her; Captain Tomas Creo, a Spanish Conquistador in 1532 Seville; and a future astronaut, Tom, travelling to a golden nebula in an eco-spacecraft seeking to be reunited with Izzi. Jackman said The Fountain was his most difficult film thus far due to the physical and emotional demands of the part.

Jackman also starred in Woody Allen's 2006 film Scoop opposite Scarlett Johansson. That year he also reprised the role of Wolverine in X-Men: The Last Stand. He rounded out 2006 with two animated films: Happy Feet, directed by George Miller, in which he voiced the part of Memphis, an emperor penguin; and Flushed Away, where Jackman supplied the voice of a rat named Roddy who ends up being flushed down a family's toilet into the London sewer system. Flushed Away co-starred Kate Winslet and Ian McKellen (Jackman's fourth time working with him).

In 2007, Jackman produced and guest-starred in the television musical-dramedy series Viva Laughlin, which was canceled by CBS after two episodes. Jackman's 2008 movies included Deception (which he starred in and produced), Uncle Jonny, and Australia.

[edit] Australia

In 2008, director Baz Luhrmann cast Jackman to replace Russell Crowe as the male lead in his much-publicized epic film, Australia, which co-starred Nicole Kidman. The movie was released in late November 2008 in Australia and the U.S.

Jackman played a tough, independent cattle drover, who reluctantly helps an English noblewoman in her quest to save both her philandering husband's Australian cattle station and the half-caste Aboriginal child she finds there.

Of the movie, Jackman said, "This is pretty much one of those roles that had me pinching myself all the way through the shoot. I got to shoot a big-budget, shamelessly old-fashioned romantic epic set against one of the most turbulent times in my native country's history, while, at the same time, celebrating that country's natural beauty, its people, its cultures.... I'll die a happy man knowing I've got this film on my CV."^[22]

2009 to present[link]

Jackman's X-Men sequel film, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, opened in 2009.

Jackman had a one-man show at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco from 3–15 May 2011.^[23] The production was a mixture of his favorite Broadway and Hollywood musical numbers, backed by a 17-piece orchestra, from shows including Oklahoma and The Boy from Oz. The show had a run-time of approximately 100 minutes, and also included slide shows of Jackman's youth, family, and work, as well as some one-on-one interaction with the audience. Jackman was backed by fellow musical theatre veterans Merle Dandridge and Angel Reda.^[24][25]

Future projects[link]

• Director Lee Daniels has confirmed Jackman has joined the cast of his upcoming film Selma, a film about Martin Luther King Jr. and Lyndon Baines Johnson and the civil rights marches.^[26]
• On 27 January 2011, DreamWorks announced that Jackman will star in the film Rise of the Guardians, scheduled to be released on 21 November 2012.^[27]
• Jackman has been cast in Movie 43, an upcoming 2012 ensemble comedy.^[28]
• Jackman will star as Jean Valjean in the film Les Misérables, an adaptation of the musical.^[29][30][31]
• Jackman will reprise his role as Logan/Wolverine from the X-Men film series in the 2013 film "The Wolverine"^[32]
• Jackman will feature in the film "The Greatest Showman on Earth"^[33]

Production company[link]

In 2005, Jackman joined with longtime assistant John Palermo to form a production company, Seed Productions, whose first project was Viva Laughlin in 2007. Jackman's wife Deborra-Lee Furness is also involved in the company, and Palermo had three rings made with a "unity" inscription for himself, Furness, and Jackman.^[34] Jackman said, "I'm very lucky in the partners I work with in my life, Deb and John Palermo. It really works. We all have different strengths. I love it. It's very exciting."^[35]

The Fox-based Seed label has grown in size to include execs Amanda Schweitzer, Kathryn Tamblyn, Allan Mandelbaum and Joe Marino, with Alana Free operating the Sydney-based production office whose goal is to mount modest-budget films to harness local talent in Jackman's home country.

Other interests[link]

Charity work[link]

Jackman aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge in New York (2006)

As a philanthropist, Jackman is a longtime proponent of microcredit – the extension of very small loans to prospective entrepreneurs in impoverished countries. He is a vocal supporter of Muhammad Yunus, microcredit pioneer and the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner.^[36][37][38]

Jackman is a global advisor of the Global Poverty Project, for which he narrated a documentary;^[39] and he and the project's founder Hugh Evans visited the UN for the cause in 2009.^[40] Jackman hosted a preview of the Global Poverty Project Presentation in New York together with Donna Karran, Lisa Fox and his wife Deborra-Lee.^[41] He is also a World Vision ambassador and participated in the climate week NYC ceremony on 21 September 2009.^[42][43]

Jackman supports The Art of Elysium^[44] and the MPTV Fund Foundation,^[45] and he and his wife Deborra-Lee Furness are patrons of the Bone Marrow Institute in Australia.^[46] Jackman also narrated the 2008 documentary about global warming, The Burning Season.^[47]

Jackman also uses his Twitter account for charity. On 14 April 2009 Jackman posted on his Twitter page that he would donate $100,000 to one individual's favorite non profit organization.^[48] On 21 April 2009 he revealed his decision to donate $50,000 to Charity:Water and $50,000 to Operation of Hope.^[49][50]

Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig made a unique place for themselves in the history of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS fundraising 8 December 2009, when it was announced that they had raised $1,549,953 in the 21st annual Gypsy of the Year competition, from six weeks of curtain appeals at their hit Broadway drama, A Steady Rain.^[51]

Sports and other activities[link]

Jackman and Furness at Mumbai International Airport to attend FICCI – Frames film convention, 2011^[52]

Jackman has shown keen interest in sports. In high school, he played rugby union and cricket, took part in high jumping and was on the swimming team.^[4] He enjoys basketball and kayaking.^[53] He has expressed an interest in football, committing his support to Norwich City FC.^[54] In the United States, Jackman supports the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer, attending a game at PPL Park in June 2010.^[55] On 22 June 2011, Jackman again attended a home Union match against Sporting KC, sitting in front of the Sons of Ben supporters section, nicknamed "The River End".

Jackman is a longtime fan and supporter of the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, a NRL club based in Sydney's north.^[56] He sang the national anthem at the 1999 NRL Grand Final.^[57]

Jackman also guest starred on the 19 September 2011 edition of WWE Monday Night Raw, assisting Zack Ryder in a win over WWE United States Champion Dolph Ziggler. Jackman helped "Long Island Iced Z" get the 3 count in a non-title match by punching the champion in the jaw whilst the referee was not looking.^[58][59]

Jackman plays the piano,^[60] does yoga,^[61] and has been a member of the School of Practical Philosophy since 1992.^[62]

Personal life[link]

Jackman married Deborra-Lee Furness on 11 April 1996. They met on Correlli, an Australian television series. Jackman personally designed an engagement ring for Furness, and their wedding rings bore the Sanskrit inscription "Om paramar mainamar", translated as "we dedicate our union to a greater source".^[63]

Furness had two miscarriages,^[64] following which she and Jackman adopted two children, Oscar Maximillian (born 15 May 2000)^[65] and Ava Eliot (born 10 July 2005).^[66]

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

Awards[link]

Jackman's signature at Grauman's Chinese Theatre

• 1997 Variety Club Award for Best Actor in a Musical – Sunset Boulevard
• 1998 Mo Award for Best Actor in a Musical – Sunset Boulevard
• 1999 Australian Movie Convention, Australian Star of the Year
• 2000 Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards for Best Actor Erskineville Kings
• 2000 Saturn Award for Best Actor – X-Men
• 2001 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films - X-Men
• 2004 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical – The Boy from Oz
• 2004 Theatre World Award – The Boy from Oz
• 2004 Broadway Audience Award – The Boy from Oz
• 2004 Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance of the Year – The Boy from Oz
• 2004 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Actor in a Musical – The Boy from Oz
• 2004 TDF-Astaire Award for Best Male Dancer in Theatre – The Boy from Oz
• 2004 Theater Fan's Choice Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical – The Boy from Oz
• 2004 Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical – The Boy from Oz
• 2004 New York International Independent Film & Video Festival – Short Film Award for Best Actor – "Making the Grade"
• 2004 Australian Showbusiness Ambassador of the Year
• 2005 Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program – 58th Annual Tony Awards Ceremonies
• 2006 ShoWest Award for Male Star of the Year
  

  

  Jackman and Halle Berry visiting with sailors and Marines during the opening day of Fleet Week New York 2006
• 2006 Mo Award for Australian Performer of the Year
• 2008 WAAPA – Chancellor's Alumni Award for Excellence, UTS Towering Achievement Award
• 2008 Australian Dance Award for Outstanding Performance in a Stage Musical – The Boy from Oz
• 2008 Australian Film Institute Award Readers' Choice
• 2008 People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive Award
• 2008 Australian GQ Man of the Year
• 2008 Teen Choice Award for Choice Actor in an Action Adventure X-Men Origins: Wolverine
• 2009 Jackman had his hand and footprint ceremony on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 21 April 2009.^[68]
• 2009 Best Performance By A Human Male at the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards as Wolverine in X-Men Origins: Wolverine
• 2010 People's Choice Award for Favorite Action Star – X-Men Origins: Wolverine
• 2011 Scream Award for Best Cameo - X-Men: First Class
• 2012 People's Choice Award for Favorite Action Movie Actor - Real Steel

Nominations[link]

• 1997 Mo Award for Best Actor in a Musical – Beauty and the Beast
• 1998 Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical – Oklahoma!
• 1999 Australian Film Institute for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role - Erskineville Kings
• 2001 Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy – Kate & Leopold
• 2001 CFCA Award for Most Promising Actor
• 2001 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards for Favorite Male - X-Men
• 2001 MTV Movie Awards for Best On-Screen Team - X-Men
• 2001 MTV Movie Awards for Breakthrough Male Performance - X-Men
• 2002 Golden Globes for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Kate & Leopold
• 2003 Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor - X-Men 2
• 2004 Empire Awards for Best Actor - X-Men 2
• 2004 MTV Movie Awards for Best Fight - X-Men 2
• 2004 Teen Choice Awards for Choice Movie Actor - Van Helsing
• 2004 Teen Choice Awards for Choice Movie Chemistry - Van Helsing
• 2005 People's Choice Awards for Favorite Male Action Movie Star
• 2005 Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program - [[58th Tony Awards|58th Annual Tony Awards Ceremonies
• 2006 Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program – 59th Annual Tony Awards Ceremonies
• 2006 Green Room Award for Best Male Artist in a Leading Role – The Boy from Oz
• 2006 Teen Choice Awards for Choice Actor - X-Men: The Last Stand
• 2006 Teen Choice Awards for Choice Liplock - X-Men: The Last Stand
• 2007 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films for Best Actor - The Fountain
• 2007 Australian Film Institute for Best Actor - The Prestige
• 2009 Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Programs - 81st Academy Awards
• 2009 Teen Choice Awards for Choice Movie Drama Actor - Australia
• 2009 Teen Choice Awards for Choice Movie Hissy Fit - X-Men Origins: Wolverine
• 2009 Teen Choice Awards for Choice Movie Rumble - X-Men Origins: Wolverine
• 2010 MTV Movie Awards for Best Fight - X-Men Origins: Wolverine
• 2010 People's Choice Awards for Favorite Movie Actor
• 2010 People's Choice Awards for Favorite On-Screen Team - X-Men Origins: Wolverine
• 2010 SFX Awards for Best Actor - X-Men Origins: Wolverine
• 2012 People's Choice Awards for Favorite Movie Actor

Mentions in popular culture[link]

• Jackman was chosen as People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive of 2008.^[2]
• In the ABC comedy-drama Scrubs, one of the more prominent running gags is Dr. Cox's (John C. McGinley) seemingly irrational hatred of Jackman.
• In the 7th season of Punk'd, Jackman was led to believe that he had accidentally blown up director Brett Ratner's house.^[69]
• On the Season 6, Episode 13 of Will & Grace, which aired on 10 February 2004, the character Jack McFarland (Sean Hayes), mentions he is going to see The Boy From Oz, because he can not wait to see Hugh Jackman.^[70] He later discusses wanting to sue Jackman for stealing some of his dance moves.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hugh Jackman

• Hugh Jackman at the Internet Movie Database
• Hugh Jackman at the Internet Broadway Database
• Hugh Jackman at People.com
• 'A Steady Rain' Rules Broadway – opening night blog at broadway.tv
• Jackman, Hugh National Library of Australia, Trove, People and Organisation record for Hugh Jackman