Deborra-Lee Furness

Deborra-Lee Furness Jackman, AO (born 30 November 1955)^[1][2] is an Australian actress and producer.

Deborra-Lee Furness AO
Furness in 2018
Born	(1955-11-30) 30 November 1955 (age 68) Annandale, New South Wales, Australia
Years active	1975–present
Spouse	Hugh Jackman ​ ​ (m. 1996; sep. 2023)​
Children	2

Early life

Furness was born in Annandale, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, and raised in Melbourne, Victoria.^[3] At the age of 18, Furness attended secretarial school to learn shorthand and typing after her mother advised her to have a back-up career if her acting ambitions didn't eventuate to anything.^[4] She then got a job as the assistant to John Sorell, the news director at Channel 9.^[4] Despite describing herself as "such a bog secretary", Furness has said she thoroughly enjoyed the urgency, the fast action and the high energy of the newsroom.^[4] After working in the newsroom for a year, Furness was asked to work on No Man's Land, the station's daytime current affairs program which was produced exclusively by women and hosted by Mickie de Stoop.^[4] Furness started working on the show as a researcher before becoming an on-air reporter.^[4] After her work at Channel 9, Furness then travelled through Europe for one year.^[4]

She studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, where she graduated in either 1981^[5] or 1982.^[3] She performed on the stage in New York and played Kathleen,^[6] the Australian wife of Cole Gioberti (Billy Moses) on the television series Falcon Crest before returning to Australia to continue her acting career.^[3]

Career

Furness rose to fame in 1988 when she starred in the movie Shame, for which she won Best Actor awards from the Film Critics Circle of Australia and the Golden Space Needle Award from the Seattle International Film Festival. Other roles included an episode of Halifax f.p. and The Flying Doctors.^[7] In 1993, Furness appeared as Chrissy in the television mini-series Stark starring Ben Elton and Jacqueline McKenzie.^[8] In 1995 she featured in the film Angel Baby directed by Michael Rymer and starring Jacqueline McKenzie and John Lynch.^[9] The film followed the story of two schizophrenic people who met during therapy and fell passionately in love.^[9]

In 1995, she starred in the title role in the television series Correlli, where she met her future husband, Hugh Jackman. From 1995 to 1996, Furness starred in television series Fire alongside Andy Anderson and Wayne Pygram. Furness played the role of Dolores Kennedy.^[10]

An adoptive mother of two, Furness is known for her work assisting orphans globally and streamlining international adoptions, especially in her native Australia where she is a patron, and one of the creators, of National Adoption Awareness Week.^[7][11][12] She has addressed the National Press Club of Australia on the subject of adoption laws in Australia.^[13][14] Furness is a patron of the Lighthouse Foundation for displaced children and International Adoption Families for Queensland.^[15][16] She is also a World Vision ambassador and serves on the Advisory Committee for Film Aid International, working with refugees throughout the world.^[17][18]

Personal life

Furness met actor Hugh Jackman on the set of Australian TV show Correlli in 1995.^[19] Their wedding ceremony took place on 11 April 1996 at St. John's in Toorak, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne.^[20] After going through two miscarriages,^[19] she adopted two children with Jackman: a boy born in 2000^[21] and a girl born in 2005.^[22] A portrait of Furness and Jackman by Paul Newton was a finalist in the 2022 Archibald Prize.^[23] In September 2023, the couple announced their separation.^[24][25]

Honour

In 2014, Deborra-Lee Furness was named as the New South Wales Australian of the Year for her work in adoption campaigning.^[26][27][28]

Filmography

Film

Film

Year	Film	Role	Type
1985	Crossover Dreams	Statue of Liberty
	Jenny Kissed Me	Carol Grey
	Cool Change	Lee
1986	The Humpty Dumpty Man	Carmel DeVries
1987	The Bit Part	Acting Teacher
1988	Shame	Asta Cadell
	Evil Angels	Magazine Reporter
	Two Brothers Running	Silver's Secretary
	Celia	Miss Greenaway
1990	Blue Heat aka 'The Last of the Finest'	Linda Daly
1991	Voyager aka 'Homo Faber'	Ivy
	Waiting	Diane
1992	Newsies	Esther Jacobs
1995	Angel Baby	Louise Goodman
	When Harry Coached Sally	Sally	Short
1998	The Real Macaw	Beth Girdis
2006	Jindabyne	Jude
2008	Sleepwalking	Danni
2009	Beautiful	Mrs. Thomson
	Blessed	Tanya
2010	Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole	Barran (Voice)
2014	Dukale's Dream	Herself	Documentary
2023	Force of Nature: The Dry 2	Jill Bailey

Television

Year	Film	Role	Type
1975	The Box	Office Girl	6 episodes
1975	Division 4	Junior 1	Episode: "The Human Factor"
1979	Prisoner	Connie (uncredited)	3 episodes
1980	Cop Shop	Trisha Clarke	1 episode
1983	All the Rivers Run		Miniseries
1983-1984	Kings	Frances Dalton	Recurring role
1984	Carson's Law		1 episode
1984	Special Squad	Liz Jenkins	Episode: "The Long Secret"
1985	Neighbours	Linda Fielding	5 episodes
	The Flying Doctors	Fran	Miniseries
	Glass Babies	Joan Simpson
1986	The Fast Lane	Guest role: Stella	1 episode
1987	Falcon Crest	Kathleen Gioberti	Episode: "The New Faces"
	A Matter of Convenience	Valma	TV film
1988	Sentiments
	The Flying Doctors	Sapphire	Episode: "Sapphire"
	Act of Betrayal	Kathy	TV film
	Fields of Fire II	Cloris	Miniseries
1993	Stark	Chrissie
	Singapore Sling	Annie	TV film
1994	G.P.	Guest role: Kate Morrison	Episode: "All of Me"
1995	Halifax f.p.	Brigit Grant	Episode: "The Feeding"
	Correlli	Louisa Correlli	Recurring role
	Populate or Perish	Narrator	Documentary
1995–1996	Fire	Dolores Kennedy	Recurring role
1997	Roar	Guest role: Agrona	Episode: "The Cage"
2000	SeaChange	Vicki Drury	Episode: "Hungi Jury"
2007	Raising Children: A Guide to Parenting From Birth to Five	Narrator	Documentary
2009	The Beautiful Vision	Herself
2013	Phineas and Ferb	Additional voices	Episode: "Primal Perry"
2016	Hyde & Seek	Claudia Rossini	Miniseries
2020	Misunderstandings of Miscarriage	Herself	Documentary

Television appearances

Year	Film	Role	Type
1974	No Man's Land	Herself - Reporter
1989	The Media Show	Guest	1 episode
1991 & 1992	Tonight Live with Steve Vizard		2 episodes
1992	The Morning Show		1 episode
	In Sydney Today
1994	Level 23
	Sale of the Century	Contestant	2 episodes
1994-2005	Good Morning Australia	Guest
1994; 1995 & 1998	Hey Hey It's Saturday		3 episodes
1994 & 1995	TVTV	Herself	2 episodes
1995	Ernie and Denise	Guest	1 episode
1995 & 1997	Midday	Guest (1997 episode with Hugh Jackman)	2 episodes
1995	The Australia Remembers Tribute Gala	Herself	TV special
	World Vision Appeal: Vision For a Better World
1996	Witness		1 episode
	This Is Your Life
1997	Mouthing Off	Guest
1998	The Making of 'The Real Macaw'	Herself	TV special
	Saturday Night Fever
	Carols in the Domain
1999	Fox Studios Australia: The Grand Opening	Guest (with Hugh Jackman)
2003	Australian Story	Herself	1 episode
	Rove Live	Guest
2004	Enough Rope with Andrew Denton
2006	At the Movies	Herself
	Jindabyne: The Process		Documentary
2006 & 2024	Sunrise	Guest	2 episodes
	Today	Guest (2024 episode with Eric Bana)
2006 & 2008	Mornings with Kerri-Anne	Guest
2007	Dancing with the Stars	Herself	1 episode
	The 2007 Australian Film Institute Awards	Presenter	TV special
	The Directors' Series	Herself
2008	9am with David & Kim	Guest	1 episode
2009	Australia Unites: The Victorian Bushfire Appeal	Herself	TV special
	20 to 1		2 episodes
2009; 2021 & 2024	The Project	Guest	3 episodes
2009	Artscape	Herself - Interviewee	1 episode
2010	Seeds of Hope	Herself	Documentary
	This Is Your Life		1 episode
2011 & 2012	The Circle	Guest	2 episodes
2011	Mornings		1 episode
	Kimchi Chronicles	Herself	Documentary
2012	The 66th Annual Tony Awards	Presenter	TV special
	Can of Worms	Herself	1 episode
	The Living Room
	60 Minutes	Herself (segment "Hugh Jackman")
2013	The Tonight Show With Jay Leno	Herself (at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party)
	Jimmy Kimmel Live!	Guest
	The View	Guest Co-hostess
	Oprah's Next Chapter	Herself
2013; 2016; 2018 & 2019	Global Citizen Festival	Herself (2018 as host)	TV special
2014	Family Confidential	Herself
	The Talk	Guest Co-hostess	2 episodes
2014 & 2018	NBC Today Show	Guest
2015	CBS This Morning	Herself – Co-Founder, Global Citizen	1 episode
2017; 2021; 2022 & 2023	Studio 10	Guest (2022 episode with Hugh Jackman)	4 episodes
2018	E Live from the Red Carpet	Herself
	Entertainment Tonight Canada
	Entertainment Tonight		1 episode
2020	Anh's Brush with Fame	Interviewee
2021 & 2024	The Project	Guest	2 episodes
2022	This Is Your Life: Rebecca Gibney	Herself (with Hugh Jackman)	1 episode
2024	Sunrise	Guest (with Eric Bana)
	News Breakfast	Guest (with Jacqueline McKenzie)
	Weekend Today	Guest (with Eric Bana)

Awards

• 1988 SIFF Award for the best actress in Seattle International Film Festival.
• 1988 Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for the best actress.
• 1991 Silver Shell for the best actress in San Sebastián International Film Festival.^[29]

References

1. Jackman, Hugh (29 November 2018). Hugh Jackman Announces World Arena Tour on TODAY. Today. Event occurs at 03:50. Retrieved 4 December 2018. By the way, it's her birthday tomorrow
2. Jackman, Hugh [@RealHughJackman] (30 November 2018). "Happy birthday to my smart, sassy, sexy bride" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 December 2018 – via Twitter.
3. Dunning, Jennifer (29 July 1988). "New Face: Deborra-Lee Furness; Bringing 'Shame' to the City". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
4. Jones, Kate (10 March 2014). "My first job: Deborra-lee Furness". The New Daily. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
5. "Alumni Spotlight - 1980s" (PDF). The Journal of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Fall–Winter 2008. p. 15 (unnumbered). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 April 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
6. "Falcon Crest" (PDF).
7. Lee, Sandra (10 November 2012). "Deborra-Lee Furness spills on life with Hugh Jackman". ews.com.au (NewsLifeMedia, News Corporation). Archived from the original on 11 June 2015. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
8. Stark, Colin Friels, Ben Elton, Derrick O'Connor, retrieved 12 February 2018{{citation}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
9. Rymer, Michael (24 January 1997), Angel Baby, John Lynch, Jacqueline McKenzie, Colin Friels, retrieved 12 February 2018
10. Fire, Andy Anderson, Wayne Pygram, Tayler Kane, retrieved 12 February 2018{{citation}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
11. National Adoption Awareness Week: Key People. Accessed 2 January 2013 Archived 16 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine
12. Silverman, Stephen (5 September 2013). "Hugh Jackman's Wife Reveals Just How She Likes Him". People Magazine. Retrieved 13 September 2013. Furness serves as a board member of the Worldwide Orphan Foundation to help create a National Adoption Awareness Week, "to shine a light on the fact that there are 153 million orphans in the world," she says: "If that were a country, it would be the ninth-largest in the world, just ahead of Russia."
13. Vasek, Lanai (9 November 2011). "Deborra-Lee Furness calls for uniform laws, stronger voice on adoption". The Australian. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
14. "Deborra-Lee Furness". National Press Club. 9 November 2011. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2013. Deborra-Lee Furness is an internationally acclaimed actress as well as a passionate supporter of children and defender of their human rights across the globe.
15. "Lighthouse Patrons". Lighthouse Foundation. Archived from the original on 16 May 2013. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
16. "Bone Marrow Donor Institute". Bmdi.org.au. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
17. "Advisory Board". Film Aid International. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
18. "Deborra-Lee Furness spills on life with Hugh Jackman". News.com.au (NewsLifeMedia, News Corporation). 10 November 2012. Archived from the original on 11 June 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
19. "Deborra-Lee Furness". Enough Rope with Andrew Denton / Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 29 March 2004. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
20. "The Wedding of the Year 1996". Trumpet Events. Archived from the original on 31 December 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
21. Schafer, Jenny (16 May 2010). "Hugh Jackman & His Birthday Boy". CelebrityBabyScoop.com. Archived from the original on 18 November 2010. Retrieved 6 March 2011. ...Oscar's 10th birthday, which was yesterday.
22. "Hugh Jackman & His Wife Adopt a Daughter". People. 27 July 2005. Archived from the original on 8 March 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
23. "Archibald Prize Archibald 2022 work: Portrait of Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness by Paul Newton". Art Gallery of New South Wales. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
24. France, Lisa Respers (15 September 2023). "Hugh Jackman and wife Deborra-Lee Furness announce separation". CNN. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
25. "Hugh Jackman and Deborra-lee Furness split after 27 years of marriage". The Sydney Morning Herald. 16 September 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
26. "Deborra-Lee Furness named NSW Australian of the Year". Sydney Morning Herald. 10 November 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
27. "Deborra-Lee Furness Honoured as NSW Australian of the Year". ABC Online. 10 November 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
28. "NSW government congratulates Furness". news.com.au. 11 November 2014. Archived from the original on 12 April 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
29. Internet, Unidad Editorial (27 September 2013). "Hugh Jackman: 'Es un oficio arriesgado, pero hay que hacer cosas nuevas cada vez'".

External links

• National Adoption Awareness Week
• World Wide Orphans Foundation
• Deborra-Lee Furness at IMDb