Jackman was born in Sydney, Australia, the youngest of five children of English-born parents. His parents separated when he was young, he lived with his father, who was an accountant. He was married to actress Deborra-Lee Furness in February of 1996. They met on the set of his first TV acting job in Corelli, an Australian TV series. Jackman played an angry prisoner who fell in love with his counselor, Furness. He and his wife adopted Oscar Maximilian Jackman, who was born on May 15, 2000. He graduated from the University of Technology in Sydney with a Bachelor of Arts (Communications) with a journalism major. He also graduated from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) in 1994. Hugh is left handed.
Hugh Jackman played the leading role of Curly in the National Theatre's acclaimed stage production of Oklahoma in London, demonstrating his talent as a singer as well as an actor.
He was a last-minute addition to the X-Men cast. Dougray Scott was originally cast as Wolverine, but Scott was tied up on the set of M:I-2 for two additional months of shooting. Hugh stands a foot taller than Wolverine, who is reported by Marvel Comics to be 5' 3".