Australian by birth Mark Anthony “Baz” Luhrmann he’s the son of a dance teacher and a cinema/theater manager (tied to a gas station: country specific, Australia), and that already says everything about the path he’ll take. A passion for performing, dancing and singing immediately accompanied him. Baz is a nickname his father gave him and it became his legal name in 2008.
His debut film Ballroom – Dance Competition (1992), was a big success in Australia and with its intense, kitsch, explosive style, it immediately caught his attention in Hollywood, which gave him the opportunity to revisit the classic classics, namely Romeo and Juliet, and he does the same operation performed Robert Wise in the 60s with West Side Storythat is, it modernizes it, making it again urban and attractive to a young audience: its Romeo + Juliet 1994 (from this point on the “+” sign replaces the “&” for at least a decade) is not only fun, intense, it is exciting and uplifting camp that period (after all Priscilla, Queen of the Desert that was 2 years ago!) and is definitely starting Leonardo DiCaprio like a teen idol. The Red Carpet trilogy (as it is now known) concludes with perhaps his greatest success, i.e. Moulin rouge! 2001 (also awarded 8 nominations and 2 Oscar wins), an intense musical with Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman.
From this point on, his activities as a feature film director became more rare: Australiatribute to the motherland (starring Australian actors, namely Kidman and Hugh Jackman) since 2008, and The Great Gatsbyhis latest work to date is dated 2013. His failure is historic. Come down (2016) on Netflix, the most expensive series ever made, which only lasted one season. His latest remains a colossal (could it be otherwise?) biopic of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Elvis Presley (2022), television mini-series with the proven Kidman/Jackman pairing: Distant Downs.
Other anniversaries
- 1964was born Bryan Singer Director usual suspects AND X-Men
- 1965was born Kyle Chandleractor Super 8 AND Argon
- 1975was born Alessandro Sianiactor Offensive Prince AND welcome to the south