Early life

Furness was born in Sydney, Australia, and raised in Melbourne. She studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, where she graduated in either 1981 or 1982. She performed in the United States on the stage in New York and as Kathleen, the Australian wife of Cole Gioberti (Billy Moses) on the television series Falcon Crest before returning to Australia to continue her acting 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 Golden Space Needle. Other roles included an episode of Halifax f.p. and The Flying Doctors. In 1995, she starred in the title role in the television series Correlli, where she met her future husband, Hugh Jackman.

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. She has addressed the National Press Club of Australia on the subject of adoption laws in Australia. Furness is a patron of the Lighthouse Foundation for displaced children and International Adoption Families for Queensland. She is also a World Vision ambassador and serves on the Advisory Committee for Film Aid International, working with refugees throughout the world.

Personal life

She is married to fellow actor Hugh Jackman. They met on the set of Australian TV show Correlli in 1995. The ceremony took place on 11 April 1996 at St. John's in Toorak, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne. After suffering two miscarriages, she adopted two children with Jackman: son Oscar Maximillian (born 15 May 2000) and daughter Ava Eliot (born 10 July 2005).

Honour

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

Filmography

Film

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1985	Crossover Dreams	Unknown role
1986	Jenny Kissed Me	Carol Grey
1986	Cool Change	Lee
1986	The Humpty Dumpty Man	Carmel DeVries
1987	The Bit Part	Acting Teacher
1988	Shame	Asta Cadell
1988	Evil Angels	Magazine Reporter
1988	Two Brothers Running	Silver's Secretary
1988	Celia	Miss Greenaway
1990	The Last of the Finest	Linda Daly
1991	Voyager	Ivy	Also known as Homo Faber
1991	Waiting	Diane
1992	Newsies	Esther Jacobs
1995	Angel Baby	Louise Goodman
1998	The Real Macaw	Beth Girdis
2006	Jindabyne	Jude
2008	Sleepwalking	Danni
2009	Beautiful	Mrs. Thomson
2009	Blessed	Tanya
2010	Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole	Barran	Voice role
2014	Dukale's Dream	Herself	Documentary

Television

Television

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1975	Division 4	Junior 1	Episode: "The Human Factor"
1979	Prisoner	Connie	3 episodes; one uncredited role
1983	Kings	Unknown role
1985	Neighbours	Linda Fielding	5 episodes
1985	The Flying Doctors	Fran	TV miniseries
1985	Glass Babies	Joan Simpson	Television film
1987	Falcon Crest	Unknown role	Episode: "The New Faces"
1987	The Flying Doctors	Sapphire	Episode: "Sapphire"
1987	A Matter of Convenience	Valma	Television film
1988	Act of Betrayal	Kathy	Television film
1993	Stark	Chrissie	3 episodes
1993	Singapore Sling	Annie	Television film
1994	G.P.	Kate Morrison	Episode: "All of Me"
1995	Halifax f.p.	Brigit Grant	Episode: "The Feeding"
1995	Correlli	Louisa Correlli	5 episodes
1995-1996	Fire	Dolores Kennedy	17 episodes
1997	Roar	Agrona	Episode: "The Cage"
2000	SeaChange	Vicki Drury	Episode: "Hungi Jury"
2010	This Is Your Life	Herself
2011	Kimchi Chronicles	Herself
2013	Phineas and Ferb	Additional Voices	Episode: "Primal Perry"

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.

Charities

Deborra-Lee Furness supports the following charitable causes: Homeless, Hunger, Children.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]