HUGH JACKMAN (Charlie Kenton) is a native of Australia. He made his first major U.S. film appearance as Wolverine in the first installment of the "X-Men" franchise, a role he reprised in the enormously successful "X2" and "X-Men: The Last Stand" in 2006. Most recently, he played Wolverine in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," which serves as a prequel to the popular series. In the fall of 2009, Jackman made a return to Broadway in the Keith Huff penned "A Steady Rain." Co-starring Daniel Craig, the play tells the story of two Chicago cops who are lifelong friends and whose differing accounts of a few traumatic days change their lives forever. On February 22, 2009, Jackman took on the prestigious role of hosting the 81st Annual Academy® Awards. Live from the Kodak Theater, he wowed those in attendance and helped ABC score a 13% increase in viewership from the previous year. This wasn't, however, Jackman's first foray into Awards show hosting. Previously, Jackman served as host of the Tony® Awards three years in a row from 2003 – 2005, earning an Emmy® Award for his 2004 duties at the 58th Annual ceremony, and a nomination for his 2005 appearance at the 59th Annual ceremony. In late 2008, Jackman appeared in 20th Century Fox's romantic action-adventure epic "Australia," directed by Baz Luhrmann. The film, set in pre-WWII northern Australia, sees Jackman as a rugged cattle driver who assists an English aristocrat (played by Nicole Kidman) in driving a herd of 2000 cattle across hundreds of miles of rough terrain, where they must also face the Japanese bombing of Darwin, Australia. In early 2008, Jackman was seen in the 20th Century Fox film "Deception" opposite Ewan McGregor. The dark film explores the mystery of a woman's disappearance and a multi-million dollar heist. Jackman has also starred in Darren Aronofsky's "The Fountain," Christopher Nolan's "The Prestige" and Woody Allen's "Scoop." He has lent his voice to the animated features "Happy Feet" and "Flushed Away." Other films in which he has had leading roles include "Someone Like You," "Swordfish," "Van Helsing" and "Kate and Leopold," for which he received a 2002 Golden Globe® nomination. For his portrayal of the 1970's singer-songwriter Peter Allen in "The Boy From Oz," Jackman received the 2004 Tony® Award for Best Actor in a musical as well as Drama Desk, Drama League, Outer Critics Circle and Theatre World awards. Previous theater credits include "Carousel" at Carnegie Hall, "Oklahoma!" at the National Theater in London (Olivier Award nomination), "Sunset Boulevard" (for which he won a MO Award, Australia's Tony® Award) and Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" (MO Award nomination). Jackman's career began in Australia in the independent films "Paperback Hero" and "Erskineville Kings" (for which he won the Australian Film Critics' Circle Best Actor award and a Best Actor nomination from The Australian Film Institute). In 1999, he was named Australian Star of the Year at the Australian Movie Convention.