milestones
Year
Milestone
 
Raised in Brisbane, Australia after his parents' divorce
1971 
Joined Queensland Theatre Company in Brisbane; made stage debut in "Wrong Side of the Moon"
1972 
Scored a hit as Snoopy in "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown"
1975 
Moved to France to study
1977 
Returned to Australia
1978 
Made stage directing debut with Queensland Theatre Company, "Clowneroonies"; also acted in production
1979 
Appeared alongside Mel Gibson in "Waiting for Godot"; during the production, the actors shared an apartment for four months
 
Became ensemble performer with Jim Sharman's Lighthouse troupe in the early 1980s
1981 
Feature film debut as Detective 1 in "Hoodwink"
1982 
Portrayed Floor Manager in Gillian Armstrong's "Starstruck"
1986 
Had first major film role as Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Neil Armfield's "Twelfth Night"
1989 
Won praise for stage role in Nikolai Gogol's "The Diary of a Madman", directed by Armfield
1991 
Co-translated Gogol's "The Government Inspector" and gave acclaimed performance in title role on the Sydney stage
1992 
Appeared in Australian documentary, "The Burning Bed", directed by Sharman
1992 
Adapted (with John Clarke) and directed Australian stage production of Aristophanes' "The Frogs"; did not act in production
1992 
Had a breakdown attributed to a taxing performance schedule; was unable to work for two months (date approximate)
1993 
Acted with Cate Blanchett in Sydney stage production of David Mamet's "Oleanna"
1994 
Played Horatio in Australian stage production of "Hamlet", starring Richard Roxburgh
1995 
First leading role in features, "Dan and Dave - On Our Selection"
1996 
Cast as a crusty newspaper editor in the Australian TV production "Mercury"
1996 
Appeared in Peter Duncan's "Children of the Revolution" (released in the USA in 1997)
1996 
Won international acclaim (and a Best Actor Oscar) for his performance as the adult pianist David Helfgott in Scott Hicks' "Shine"
1997 
Co-starred in the historical Australian miniseries "Frontier"
1998 
Dogged Liam Neeson as Inspector Javert in dramatic adaptation of "Les Miserables"
1998 
Portrayed the mysterious Sir Francis Walsingham, the Master of Spies and royal court enforcer of "Elizabeth", starring Blanchett
1998 
Played the Bard's "scabby little theatrical producer" in "Shakespeare in Love"; garnered second Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor
1998 
Reteamed with Duncan for "A Little Bit of Soul" (released theatrically in 1999)
1999 
Appeared as the villainous Cassanova Frankenstein in "Mystery Men"
2000 
Returned to the Sydney stage in "Small Poppies"
2000 
Cast as the Marquis de Sade in the feature adaptation of "Quills", co-starring Kate Winslet; receieved Best Actor Academy Award nomination
2000 
Provided a character voice for the Australian animated film "The Magic Pudding"
2001 
Had title role in the John Boorman-directed adaptation of the spy novel "The Tailor of Panama", playing a man who isn't quite what he seems
2001 
appeared in the critically hailed Austrian indie "Lantana"
2002 
co-starred as Goldie Hawn's nebbishy love interest Harry in "The Banger Sisters"
2002 
Portrayed Leon Trotsky in "Frida"
2003 
Cast as Captain Barbossa in "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" a film based on the popular Disney theme ride
2004 
Starred with Heath Ledger, Orlando Bloom, Naomi Watts and Rachel Griffiths in the Australian gangster biopic "Ned Kelly"
2004 
Starred in "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers," which premiered at at the Cannes film festival
2005 
Portrayed Harold Fingleton, the overbearing, alcoholic father of champion swimmer Tony Fingleton in the true story "Swimming Upstream"
2005 
Cast in Steven Spielberg's "Munich," which centers on the aftermath of the tragic massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics
2006 
Reprised role as the ghostly Captain Barbossa in Gore Verbinski's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"
2007 
Reprised role of Captain Barbossa in "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End"
2007 
Reprised the role of Sir Francis Walsingham in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," a sequel to the award winning feature "Elizabeth"
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Lauren and Heidi of MTV's "The Hills"
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