Baz Luhrmann
Baz Luhrmann
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Baz Luhrmann

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Baz Luhrmann

Bazmark Anthony "Baz" Luhrmann AC (born 17 September 1962) is an Australian film director, producer, writer and actor whose various projects extend from film and television into opera, theatre, music and the recording industries. He is regarded by some as a contemporary example of an auteur for his style and deep involvement in the writing, directing, design and musical components of all his work. He is the most commercially successful Australian director, and four of his films are in the top ten highest worldwide grossing Australian films ever.

On the screen, he is best known for his Red Curtain Trilogy, comprising the romantic comedy film Strictly Ballroom (1992) and the romantic tragedies William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet (1996) and Moulin Rouge! (2001). Following the trilogy, projects included Australia (2008), The Great Gatsby (2013), Elvis (2022) and the television period drama The Get Down (2016) for Netflix. Additional projects include stage productions of Giacomo Puccini's La bohème for both Opera Australia and Broadway, and Strictly Ballroom the Musical (2014). In September 2025 he is expected to release his first documentary, EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert.

Luhrmann is known for his Grammy Award-nominated soundtracks for Moulin Rouge! and for The Great Gatsby, as well as his record label House of Iona, a co-venture with RCA Records. Serving as producer on all his musical soundtracks, he also holds writing credits on many of the individual tracks. His album Something for Everybody features music from many of his films and also includes his hit "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)".

Mark Anthony Luhrmann was born in Sydney, New South Wales, on 17 September 1962. His mother, Barbara Carmel (née Brennan), was a ballroom dance teacher and dress shop owner, and his father, Leonard Luhrmann, ran a petrol station and a cinema. He was raised in Herons Creek, a tiny rural settlement in mid-northern New South Wales. He attended St Joseph's Hastings Regional School, Port Macquarie (1975–1978); St Paul's Catholic College, performing in the school's version of Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1; and Narrabeen Sports High School, where he met his future collaborator Craig Pearce.

Luhrmann received the nickname "Baz" at school, given to him because of his hairstyle, the name coming from the puppet character Basil Brush. While still in high school, Luhrmann changed his name by deed poll to Bazmark, joining his nickname and birth name together. In 1980 Luhrmann graduated from high school, and in the same year was cast opposite Judy Davis in the Australian film Winter of Our Dreams. In 1982, using the money he had earned from film and television work, he funded his own theatre company, The Bond Theatre Company.[citation needed] The company performed at the pavilion at Sydney's Bondi Beach. At the same time, he conceived and appeared in a controversial television documentary, Kids of the Cross, where Luhrmann, embedded as a character, lived with a group of street kids. In 1983 he enrolled in an acting course at the National Institute of Dramatic Art. He graduated in 1985 alongside Sonia Todd, Catherine McClements and Justin Monjo.

On 26 January 1997 he married Catherine Martin, a production designer, costume designer and film producer; the couple have two children. When asked in interviews about his sexuality, Luhrmann has said that he sees all sexual possibilities.

Luhrmann supports the Melbourne Demons in the Australian Football League.

After theatrical successes, including the short play Strictly Ballroom which premiered at the Wharf Theatre, Luhrmann moved into film. He made his directorial debut with the 1992 film version of Strictly Ballroom.

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