14 May 1969, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Catherine Elise Blanchett
5' 8½" (1.74 m)
Cate Blanchett graduated from Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1992 and, in a little over a year, had won both critical and popular acclaim. On graduating from NIDA, she joined the Sydney Theatre Company's production of Caryl Churchill's "Top Girls", then played Felice Bauer, the bride, in Tim Daly's "Kafka Dances", winning the 1993 Newcomer Award from the Sydney Theatre Critics Circle for her performance. From there, Blanchett moved to the role of Carol in David Mamet's searing polemic "Oleanna", also for the Sydney Theatre Company, and won the Rosemont Best Actress Award, her second award that year. She then co-starred in the ABC Television's prime time drama "Heartland" (1994), again winning critical acclaim. In 1995, she was nominated for Best Female Performance for her role as Ophelia in the Belvoir Street Theatre Company's production of "Hamlet". Other theatre credits include Helen in the Sydney Theatre Company's "Sweet Phoebe", Miranda in "The Tempest" and Rose in "The Blind Giant is Dancing", both for the Belvoir Street Theatre Company. In other television roles, Blanchett starred as Bianca in ABC's "Bordertown" (1995), as Janie Morris in "G.P." (1989) and in ABC's popular series Police Rescue (1994). She made her feature film debut in Paradise Road (1997), and, in 1998, she played the title character in Elizabeth (1998), winning numerous awards for her performance, including the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama. Cate was also nominated for an Academy Award for the role but lost out to Gwyneth Paltrow. 2001 was a particularly busy year, with starring roles in Bandits (2001), The Shipping News (2001), Charlotte Gray (2001) and playing Elf Queen Galadriel in the "Lord Of The Rings" trilogy.
Andrew Upton (29 December 1997 - present) 3 children
Local Shire hobbit Bilbo Baggins, uncle of Frodo Baggins, is living a quiet, peaceful life until Gandalf the Grey knocks on his door. A band of wandering dwarves shows up one or two at a time. The goal? To hire poor Bilbo for a quest (as a burgler) that entails defeating a dragon and recovering (burgling) a treasure. Along the way there are adventures with trolls and elves, a battle with goblins, the naming of Bilbo's sword as Sting after a battle with some spiders, escaping from Wargs, and a barrel ride in a river. There is a great battle, The Battle of Five Armies, which includes men, dwarves, elves, goblins with Wargs, and more. Most importantly of all, part of this story leads Bilbo into Riddles in the Dark where he meets Gollum and in the process acquires a peculiar ring that has had and will have a great impact on the future of their world.
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