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Geoffrey Rush (born 6 July 1951) is an Australian actor. Born in Toowoomba, Queensland, he began his acting career with the Queensland Theatre Company in Brisbane. He also has an Arts Degree from the University of Queensland. While at university, he roomed with Mel Gibson.

Geoffrey Rush has appeared on stage in the Brisbane Arts Theatre, as well as in many other theatre venues, and has worked as a theatre director.

Geoffrey Rush also appeared in the William Shakespeare plays, "The Winter's Tale" with the South Australia Theatre Company in 1987 (at The Playhouse in Adelaide, South Australia), and "Troilus and Cressida" (at the Old Museum Building in 1989). He also appeared in an on-going production of "The Importance of Being Earnest" as "John Worthing".

Geoffrey Rush's film debut was in the Australian film Hoodwink in 1981. His next film was in Gillian Armstrong's Starstruck, the following year. In 1996, he starred in Shine, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. From that point on, his career skyrocketed.

In 1998 he appeared in three major films:Les Misérables, in which he played Inspector Javert; Elizabeth, in which he played the suspicious Sir Francis Walsingham; and Shakespeare in Love in which he played the acting company manager who remained calm in the midst of chaos (and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor).

In September, 1998, Geoffrey Rush played the title role in the Beaumarchais play "The Marriage of Figaro" for the Queensland Theatre Company. This was the opening production of the Optus Playhouse, at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre at South Bank in Brisbane. A pun on Geoffrey Rush's name (and the circumstances), was used in the opening prologue of the play with the comment that the "Optus Playhouse was opening with a Rush".

In 2000, he received his third Academy Award nomination, for Quills, in which he played the Marquis de Sade.

Rush's career continues at an amazingly fast pace, with nine films released from 2001 through 2003. He starred in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, as Captain Barbossa, and is also to appear in sequels.

Geoffrey Rush played actor Peter Sellers in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers. For this performance, he won an Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Mini-series or Movie.

In 2005, he starred in Steven Spielberg's film Munich as Ephraim, a cold Mossad officer.

Geoffrey Rush currently lives in Camberwell, a suburb of Melbourne. He has become involved in the preservation of heritage and architecture, becoming a figurehead for a campaign for the preservation of Camberwell Railway Station from demolition by developers and championing a National Trust of Australia (Victoria) poll for the Victorian Heritage Icons Awards.

Geoffrey Rush is married to Jane Menelaus, with whom he has a daughter, Angelica (b. 1992) and a son, James (b. 1995).

  Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2006) (pre-production) .... Sir Francis Walsingham
Pirates of the Caribbean 3 (2007) (filming)
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) (post-production) .... Captain Barbossa

Munich (2005) .... Ephraim
Kingdom Hearts II (2005) (VG) (voice) .... Captain Barbossa
Candy (2005) .... Casper
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004) .... Peter Sellers
Harvie Krumpet (2003) (voice) .... Narrator
Intolerable Cruelty (2003) .... Donovan Donaly
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) .... Barbossa
Finding Nemo (2003) (voice) .... Nigel
Ned Kelly (2003) .... Francis Hare
... aka Ned Kelly: Public Enemy No. 1 (Philippines: English title: poster title)
Swimming Upstream (2003) .... Harold Fingleton
The Banger Sisters (2002) .... Harry Plummer
Frida (2002) .... Leon Trotsky
Lantana (2001) .... John Knox
The Tailor of Panama (2001) .... Harold 'Harry' Pendel
The Magic Pudding (2000) (voice) .... Bunyip Bluegum
Quills (2000) .... The Marquis de Sade
... aka Quills - Macht der Besessenheit (Germany)

House on Haunted Hill (1999) .... Stephen H. Price
Mystery Men (1999) .... Casanova Frankenstein
Shakespeare in Love (1998) .... Philip Henslowe
Elizabeth (1998) .... Sir Francis Walsingham
... aka Elizabeth: The Virgin Queen (closing credits title)
Misérables, Les (1998) .... Inspector Javert
... aka Misérables, Les (Germany)
A Little Bit of Soul (1998) .... Godfrey Usher
Oscar and Lucinda (1997) (voice) .... Narrator
"Frontier" (1997) (mini) TV Series .... Soldier Administrator David Collins
Children of the Revolution (1996) .... Zachary Welch
"Mercury" (1996) TV Series .... Bill Wyatt
Shine (1996) .... David as an Adult
Call Me Sal (1996) .... Wal
Dad and Dave: On Our Selection (1995) .... Dave Rudd

Twelfth Night (1987) .... Sir Andrew Aguecheek
Starstruck (1982) .... Floor Manager
"Menotti" (1981) TV Series
Hoodwink (1981) .... Detective 1