Luhrmann, Baz << LOOR muhn, bahz >> (1962-…), is an Australian screenwriter and motion-picture director known for his visually striking productions. Luhrmann has written and directed for both the screen and the stage. He also has acted in several motion pictures and television programs.
Mark Anthony Luhrmann was born on Sept. 17, 1962, in Sydney, Australia. He received the nickname Baz, short for Basil, because some people thought he resembled Basil Brush, a fox sock-puppet character from a 1960’s British children’s TV show. Luhrmann attended the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Kensington, a suburb of Sydney. He began his career as an actor and made his motion-picture debut in the Australian film Winter of Our Dreams (1981).
In 1986, Luhrmann directed a production of the play Strictly Ballroom in Sydney and in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia (now Bratislava, Slovakia). He also wrote the play, a romantic comedy about ballroom dancing. In 1990, Luhrmann directed an adaptation of the tragic opera La Bohème, by the Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, for the Australian Opera in Melbourne, Australia. In 2002, he directed a Broadway production of La Bohème in New York City. Luhrmann’s other notable stage productions include Crocodile Creek (1987), Dance Hall (1989), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1994).
Luhrmann’s first movie as a screenwriter and director was a film version of Strictly Ballroom (1992). Together with the films Romeo + Juliet (1996) and Moulin Rouge! (2001), it forms what is known as his Red Curtain Trilogy. Romeo + Juliet is a modernization of a famous tragedy by the English playwright William Shakespeare. Moulin Rouge! is a musical set in Paris, France, in the 1800’s. Luhrmann’s other movies include Australia (2008), an epic romance set during World War II (1939-1945); The Great Gatsby (2013), based on a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald; and Elvis (2022), about the American rock star Elvis Presley.
Luhrmann also has written and directed for television. With the American playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis, he created the musical Netflix series “The Get Down” (2016-2017).
