Geoffrey Rush (born July 6, 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 in college, he roomed with Mel Gibson.

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 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. Rush also starred in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, as Captain Barbossa. He also played actor Peter Sellers in the TV movie The Life and Death of Peter Sellers .

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