The University of Queensland's 1998 Alumnus of the Year is arts graduate, honorary doctor of letters and multi-award-winning actor Dr Geoffrey Rush.
The announcement was made today following his selection by the University's Alumni Association, which funds the award.
This is the second recent honour the University has accorded Dr Rush who won the 1997 Golden Globe Award, 1997 Academy Award and 1997 British Association of Film and Television Award for his portrayal of pianist David Helfgott in Shine.
Last year Dr Rush received an honorary doctorate at a University of Queensland ceremony in December.
Born in Toowoomba in 1951, Dr Rush moved to Brisbane in 1968 and performed with the College Players, a theatrical group formed by Bryan Nason at the University of Queensland.
While studying at the University between 1969 and 1971, Dr Rush was also active in the drama society he and Bille Brown, later also an internationally renowned actor, renamed "Unique". Dr Rush graduated bachelor of arts from the University in 1972.
In a letter to the University, Dr Rush said he "fondly recalled the heady days of 69-71, a key period in theatrical activity on campus."
Professor Graeme Turner of the English Department said the University could claim to be the first drama school in the country to have produced an Oscar winner. Previous Australian best actor Oscar recipient, the late Peter Finch, did not undertake formal acting lessons.
During his undergraduate stage career, Dr Rush was invited to join the Queensland Theatre Company (QTC) by its director Alan Edwards. He accepted the offer at the end of 1971 and became one of the Company's most talented, dedicated and imaginative performers.
His career has included leading roles in works by playwrights ranging from Chekhov to Oscar Wilde, directing the Magpie youth theatre company in Adelaide in 1984 and 1985 and an association with the production of classic plays performed at Sydney's Belvoir Street Theatre.
Dr Rush has appeared in 13 films, his recent busy schedule of performances including Shakespeare in Love (1998), Elizabeth I, Les Miserables, Oscar and Lucinda and A Little Bit of Soul (all 1997), Children of the Revolution and Shine (1995).
His Shine performance also attracted other industry recognition. It was nominated for the 1998 London Film Critics' Circle, won the 1997 USA Screen Actors Guild Award, 1997 Broadcast Film Critics Association Award, 1997 Golden Satellite Award, 1996 Australian Film Institute Award, and individual awards in 1996 and 1997 by film critic associations in Los Angeles, New York, Boston and Texas.
His theatrical awards include the 1993 Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award (Individual), and the Sydney Theatre Critics' Circle Award and Variety Club of Australia's Award for Stage Actor of the Year (1989) in The Diary of a Madman.
Dr Rush is expected to receive his Alumnus of the Year title and trophy at a University of Queensland Faculty of Arts graduation ceremony later this year. The Alumni Association will also hold a grand Alumnus of the Year dinner.
For further information, contact the University Alumni office (telephone 07 3365 1561).
