From Oz to Tinseltown Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cate Blanchett

Catherine Elise Blanchett was born in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1969. She studied in Sydney at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) and graduated in 1992. In her first major theatrical role in 1993, she appeared opposite Geoffrey Rush in "Oleanna". She also played in "Hamlet" with Geoffrey Rush and Richard Roxburgh in 1994-95. Over the next few years she appeared in numerous stage plays and TV shows. She made her international film debut in 1997 in the movie "Paradise Road" which starred Glenn Close and Frances McDormand. In 1997 she had the starring role in "Oscar and Lucinda" opposite Ralph Fiennes.

Cate has appeared in such films as "Elizabeth", "Pushing Tin", "The Talented Mr Ripley", "Bandits"," Charlotte Gray", "Babel", "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" and" The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", to name a few. She had been nominated four times for an Academy Award before she won her first, for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for "The Aviator". She won her first BAFTA Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for "Elizabeth". She won her first Golden Globe award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture for "Elizabeth". These are only a few of the multitude of Awards for which she was nominated and has won.

Answer: Eric Bana

Eric Banadinovic was born in Melbourne, Victoria in 1968 ofs Croatian/German ancestry. Whilst working as a barman in 1991 he was persuaded to try stand-up comedy. He first appeared on TV in 1993 in the comedy show "Full Frontal", and in 1997 he made his film debut in the popular Australian movie "The Castle." He has starred in such Hollywood movies as" Hulk", "Troy"," Munich", "The Other Boleyn Girl", "Star Trek", "Hanna" and "The Time Traveller's Wife" among others. Eric Bana won an Australian Film Institute award for Best Acot in a Leading Role for the role of Chopper Reed in "Chopper".

Answer: Errol Flynn

Errol Flynn was well known for his many films and playboy lifestyle. He lived in Sydney in his early life and attended school there. He was a classmate of a future Australian Prime Minister, John Gorton. He was expelled from several schools for, among other things, fighting. When he was 20 years old he bought a tobacco plantation in New Guinea, which failed, and then a copper mine, which also failed.

Moving to England in the 1930s, he began his acting career in the Northampton repertory company. He starred in his first movie in 1933 "In the Wake of the Bounty" an Australian film. Whilst appearing in an English film he was "discovered" by an executive from Warner Brothers who signed him to a contract and Flynn then emigrated to the USA. Some of his more famous films are "The Charge of the Light Brigade", "The Dawn Patrol", "The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex", "The Sea Hawk", "Gentleman Jim", and "Kim". He died of a heart attack in October 1959. He was married three times and his only son, Sean, disappeared during the Vietnam War in Cambodia in 1970 whilst working as a freelance photographer for "Time" magazine.

Answer: Toni Collette

Toni Collette has worked in theatre, films and TV and was the lead singer of the band "Toni Collette & The Finish." She started acting in films in the early 1990s and for her performance in "Muriel's Wedding" she was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress. She was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in "The Sixth Sense," which starred Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Osment.

For her role as Tara in the TV series "United States of Tara" Collette won a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress -Television Series Musical or Comedy. She has also won five Australian Film Institute Awards. She was nominated for a Tony Award for her role as Queenie in the Broadway play "The Wild Party." Some of her other films are "Shaft" (2000), "Changing Lanes", "The Hours", and "In Her Shoes".

Answer: Geoffrey Rush

Geoffrey Rush has won the "Triple Crown of Acting": an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role for "Shine", a Tony for Best Actor in "Exit the King" and an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for "The Life & Death of Peter Sellers". He is one of the few people who has achieved this. He also has won British Academy Film Awards, Golden Globe Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards. He was named the Australian of the Year in 2012.

Whilst at University pursuing an arts degree in 1971, he joined the Queensland Theatre Company, appearing in many of their productions. He studied mime, movement and theatre in Paris for two years and then returned to the Queensland Theatre Company. Geoffrey shared an apartment for four months with his co-star, Mel Gibson, whilst in a stage production of "Waiting for Godot". He appeared in theatre productions all over Australia and also worked as a theatre director. He made his Broadway debut in "Exit the King" which also starred Susan Sarandon.

Geoffrey Rush made his film debut in 1981 in the Australian film "Hoodwink". He had roles in several television dramas. In 1996 he starred in "Shine" and won an Academy Award for his performance. He is well-known for his role as Captain Hector Barbossa in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series of movies opposite Johnny Depp, and as Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue in "The King's Speech" opposite Colin Firth. He appeared on an Australian Postage stamp series in 2009, as did Cate Blanchett, Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman.

Answer: Guy Pearce

Guy Edward Pearce was born in England in 1967 and moved with his family to Geelong, Melbourne, Australia when he was three years old. He joined a Junior Players theatre group when he was 15 and also participated in body-building and fencing. In 1985 he won a role in the Australian soap opera "Neighbours" and then appeared in "Home and Away" and "Snowy River: The McGregor Saga."

He played the role of Andy Warhol in "Factory Girl" and Harry Houdini in "Death Defying Acts". He also played the role of the Prince of Wales (who became King Edward VIII) in "The King's Speech." In 2011 he won an Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries for his role of Monty Beragon in "Mildred Pierce" opposite Kate Winslett. He has appeared in over 45 movies and TV series productions.

Answer: Hugh Jackman

Hugh Jackman commenced his acting career whilst still at school and he became the School Captain of Knox Grammar in 1986. He spent a gap year in England and then returned to his studies in Sydney and graduated with a BA in Communications from UTS Sydney. To complete his credits he took a drama course and then did a year's course at an actors' centre. He turned down a role in the soap opera "Neighbours" to attend the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts and graduated in 1994.

He was offered a role in an ABC TV series "Corelli" where he met his wife, Debra-Lee Furness. He then went on stage in the Walt Disney production of "Beauty and the Beast" in the role of Gaston, followed by "Sunset Boulevard". In 1998 he appeared in London's West End in the role of Curly in "Oklahoma" when he was nominated for an "Olivier" award for his performance.

He was cast as the now-famous "Wolverine" in "X-Men" and the sequels. He won a Tony Award in 2004 for Outstanding Actor in a Musical for his role of Australian singer/songwriter Peter Allen in "The Boy From Oz." He hosted the 81st Academy Awards in 2009 and the Tony Awards on several occasions. In 2008 he replaced Russell Crowe in Baz Luhrman's "Australia" opposite Nicole Kidman. He was named the "Sexiest Man Alive" by "People" magazine in 2008.

Answer: Bryan Brown

Bryan Brown started his working life as an actuarial student with AMP, a large Australian insurance company, and he also began to act in amateur theatre. In 1964 he travelled to England and had minor roles at the Old Vic. Upon his return to Australia he again worked in theatre. In 1977 he commenced his film career in a few Australian films.

He became known internationally through his role in "Breaker Morant" in 1980 and "A Town Like Alice" in 1981. He was nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his role as Luke O'Neil in the TV series "The Thorn Birds" which starred Richard Chamberlain and Brown's now wife, Rachel Ward. Some of his other films are "Tai-Pan" with Joan Chen and "Gorillas in the Mist" with Sigourney Weaver. He has won two Australian Film Institute Awards -- Best Actor in a Supporting Role for "Breaker Morant" (1980) and for "Two Hands" (1999).

Answer: Rod Taylor

Rod Taylor appeared in over 50 films and he is fairly well known for his role in Alfred Hitchcock's movie "The Birds". After leaving school (Parramatta High School) he worked as a commercial artist for a short while before deciding to become an actor. He worked in serials on Australian radio and acted in theatre. His first feature film was an Australian movie "King of the Coral Sea" in 1954.

Upon travelling to Los Angeles, he found work in several TV shows and movies and was contracted to MGM where he played a supporting role in several films. His first starring role was in the science-fiction classic "The Time Machine". He starred in the ABC TV drama series "Hong Kong" and several more movies such as "Sunday in New York" with Jane Fonda, "Young Cassidy" with Julie Christie and Maggie Smith, and "Darker Than Amber." In 2010 he shared an Oscar for Outstanding Performance by a cast in a Motion Picture - "Inglorious Basterds."

Answer: Simon Baker

Simon Baker began his career by appearing in a few music video clips and then won roles in the Australian soapies "E Street", "Home and Away" and "Heartbreak High". He moved to the United States in about 1995 and landed a small role in "LA Confidential" starring two other Australian actors, Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce. He then began appearing in more Hollywood movies.

He starred in TV's "The Guardian" in 2001-2003 and then, in 2008 he won the lead role as Patrick Jane in "The Mentalist" for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award. He has also been nominated for two Golden Globe awards and a Screen Actors' Guild Award for the same role. He has appeared in over 30 movies and TV series.