Geoffrey Rush
Biography
Actor Geoffrey Rush was little known outside his native Australia when he soared to international prominence on the wings of his remarkable portrayal of eccentric pianist David Helfgott in Scott Hicks' acclaimed biopic "Shine" (1996), for which he won a slew of awards, including an Oscar for Best Actor.
Arguably his country's top stage actor, he had struggled for years to achieve recognition, but post-Shine," Rush would remain both prolific and highly regarded as a film presence.
Rush chewed the scenery with relish in the Academy Award-winning "Shakespeare in Love" (1998), opposite Gwyneth Paltrow, and brought the depraved Marquis de Sade to life with unsettling voracity in "Quills" (2000).
He played brilliantly off of a cast-against-type Pierce Brosnan in the spy thriller "The Tailor of Panama" (2001) before taking to the high seas in the mega-franchise "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" (2003), as the ghost pirate Barbossa, who Rush would portray several more times.
He went on to win awards for his title performance in the cable biopic "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" (HBO, 2004), and won critical praise for his role as an early 20th-century vocal therapist in "The King's Speech" (2010).
Always unconventional, Rush excelled in essaying characters who were alternately eccentric, cowardly, brilliant, or insane - sometimes a combination of all four - creating one of the most impressive résumés of any actor of his generation.
Known for
Actor
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales as Hector Barbossa
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides as Barbossa
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End as Captain Hector Barbossa
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl as Barbossa