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Eric Bana
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Biography
Born: Eric Banadinovich on 9 August 1968 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Eric Bana is an Australian film and television actor, born in Melbourne, Australia, the younger of two brothers. His Croatian father Ivan was a logistics manager for Caterpillar, Inc., and his German-born mother Eleanor was a hairdresser.
Young Bana was popular among his schoolmates for his talent of making comic impressions of his teachers. At that time he was fond of Mel Gibson in Mad Max (1979) and also decided to become an actor. He moved to Sydney; there he studied acting at National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), and worked odd jobs to support himself. In 1991 he began a career as a stand-up comedian, while working as a barman. In 1993 Bana made his television debut on Steve Vizard's Tonight Live talk show, then joined the 'Full Frontal' TV-series. He gained popularity for making impressions of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Tom Cruse, and Colombo. In 1996 he started his own show titled 'Eric', then launched a comedy series titled 'The Eric Bana Show'. In 1997, Bana received the Logie Award for "Most Popular Comedian" for his work on the show.
I love being at home, being with friends and family. I'm of European stock, brought up in Australia. I'm a passionate guy. I just love life. 
He made his film debut in 'The Castle' (1997), in a supporting comic role. That same year he was cast to portray Read, the notorious Australian underworld figure in the film Chopper (2000). The film became an international success and won three Australian Film Institute Awards. Bana won the Best Actor at the 2000 Stockholm Film Festival and also the AFI 2000 Best Actor Award.
He co-starred in Black Hawk Down (2001), then starred in Hulk (2003). In 2002 he was cast as a Trojan Prince Hector in the historical epic Troy (2004), after being recommended by Brad Pitt, who admired Bana for his work in Chopper (2000). In 2005, Bana co-starred with Daniel Craig and Geoffrey Rush in the political drama Munich (2005) directed by Steven Spielberg.
In 1995 he began dating Rebecca Gleeson, a publicist and daughter of Australian High Court Chief Justice, Murray Gleeson. The following year he was named "Bachelor of the Year" by Cleo Magazine, and won a trip for two to the United States. He invited Gleeson, and proposed to her during that romantic trip. In 1997 the two were married; their son, Klaus, was born in 1999, their daughter, Sophia, was born in 2002. He currently resides in Melbourne with his wife and their two children.
