Ben Mendelsohn Biography

Ben Mendelsohn is an Australian actor and musician.

Life

Mendelsohn was born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He attended Heidelberg Primary School and Eltham High School. His father, Frederick Mendelsohn, is a prominent medical researcher who heads the Howard Florey Institute in Melbourne. Ben and his two brothers Tom and David as well as his mother, Carole (deceased), a registered nurse, lived in Europe and the US for long periods of time, and returned to Melbourne in high school.

Mendelsohn is of German descent and was raised Jewish. He took drama because he thought it was an easy class, and was the only one of his friends to follow up an audition for Crawford Productions which was being advertised.

Career

After several early television roles, including The Henderson Kids, he attracted notice in his breakout film, The Year My Voice Broke (1987), winning him the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Supporting Actor. His next major role was in The Big Steal, in 1990, playing Danny, this was followed by 1996's Idiot Box. In 2000, he was in two contrasting films, the Australian Mullet and the Hollywood Vertical Limit.

Like many involved in Australian films, Mendelsohn's relative longevity and occasional obscurity have been a blessing and a curse.

As of 2005, he was preparing to play Mark Antony in the Sydney Theatre Company-produced Julius Caesar, and he is in the Terrence Malick-directed film The New World.

In 2007, Mendelsohn starred in the third season of the TV series Love My Way and in 2008, he appeared in Baz Luhrmann's Australia and filmed the 10-part Melbourne series Tangle, which is set to premiere on Showcase in 2009.

As of 2009, Mendelsohn is also due to start filming Beautiful Kate in the role of Ned. The film will be directed by Rachel Ward. The film is set in the outback of South Australia. Other Actors joining this cast include Bryan Brown, Rachel Griffiths, Eve Burner (young Kate) and Sophie Lowe (Kate).