Cool Cate is top of her class

As a young schoolgirl on stage, Cate Blanchett stood out.

From: Herald Sun, 2005-03-01
Date added: 2004-03-04

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She is one of three children and has an older brother, Bob, a computer programmer, and a younger sister, Genevieve, who is a theatre set designer.

Blanchett studied fine arts and economics at Melbourne University before graduating from the National Institute of Dramatic Arts in Sydney in 1992.

Blanchett was first nominated for an Oscar for her performance in Elizabeth in 1999.

But she won best actress awards for her performance in the same film at the Golden Globes and at the BAFTAs -- the British Academy of Film and Television Awards.

Blanchett is married to screenwriter Andrew Upton and has two sons, Dashiell, 3, and Roman, 10 months.

Blanchett and her family live in England but have plans to move back to Australia next year.

Blanchett's former drama teacher, now head of acting at NIDA, Tony Knight, said the accolade was no surprise.

"We all thought she should have won for Elizabeth and the academy thought that too, so it (the award) was overdue," Mr Knight said.

"We are just so excited, it's absolutely terrific."

Blanchett's performance in The Aviator was "outstanding".

Mr Knight said the Academy Award seemed to reflect Blanchett's extraordinary body of work, which included her 1998 international breakthrough performance in the period film Elizabeth.

After graduating from NIDA Blanchett in little over a year had won both critical and popular acclaim. She joined the Sydney Theatre Company's production of Caryl Churchill's Top Girls, then played Felice Bauer, the bride, in Timothy Daly's Kafka Dances, winning the 1993 Newcomer Award from the Sydney Theatre Critics Circle for her performance.

Her first big stage role was opposite Geoffrey Rush in the 1993 David Mamet play Oleanna and she featured in many Australian plays before landing a role in the TV film Police Rescue in 1994.

Blanchett maintained her stage career while playing in TV series such as Heartland, Bordertown and Parklands.

Her first big break in film came with her performance in Oscar and Lucinda, and got her the part in Elizabeth which catapulted her to the A-list of actors.

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