Born in Hawaii in 1967, Nicole moved with her family to Sydney when she was four. She became a ballet dancer and by the age of 17 had appeared in Australian films and TV series. Both her career and personal life blossomed after starring with Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder (1990): the couple went on to marry and make other films together, such as Far and Away (1992) and Eyes Wide Shut (1999). Since their divorce Nicole has become one of the world's most famous actors, with acclaimed performances in Moulin Rouge (2001) and The Hours (2003) for which she won an Oscar for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf.

Most of the the nation's talented classical performers are little known outside Australia, but Dame Joan Sutherland is a remarkable exception. This highly acclaimed Sydney-born opera singer made her debut at London's Covent Garden in 1952, and went on to spend 20 years there as a leading soprano. Her performances drew rave reviews in the USA and Europe, and she was given the name `La Stupenda' by Italian audiences. Ms Sutherland was made a dame in 1979 and gave her glittering farewell performance at the Sydney Opera House in 1990.

Renowned for movies such as The Bounty (1984), Hamlet (1990) and Maverick (1994), Mel Gibson's laid back attitude to film-making and his approachability ensure his status as one of the mega-stars of Hollywood. Although he was born in New York in 1956, Mel grew up in Australia, where he attended drama school. He first made a name for himself in George Miller's Mad Max in 1979. One of his most popular roles has been the unstable Martin Riggs in the Lethal Weapon movies, the fourth of which was released in 1998. Mel made his directorial debut with The Man Without a Face, in 1996 he won an Oscar as Best Director for Braveheart, a movie which received four other awards, including Best Picture, and 2004 saw the release of his controversial film The Passion of The Christ.