Hugh Michael Jackman (born October 12, 1968) is an Australian actor and producer who is involved in film, musical theatre and television. He is also a global advisor for the Australian initiative the Global Poverty Project. Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, notably as action/superhero, period and romance characters. He is well known from his role as Wolverine in the X-Men series, plus Kate & Leopold, Van Helsing, The Prestige, and Australia. Jackman is a singer, dancer and actor in stage musicals, and won a Tony Award for his role in The Boy from Oz. In November 2008, Open Salon named Hugh Jackman one of its sexiest men living. Later that same month, People magazine named Jackman "Sexiest Man Alive." A three-time host of the Tony Awards, Jackman hosted the 81st Academy Awards on February 22, 2009. Jackman will become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in a ceremony to be held in September 2009.