born Jan. 3, 1956, Peekskill, N.Y, U.S.
U.S.-born Australian film actor and director.
He moved with his family to Australia at age 12. After his screen debut in 1977, he won a following in the futuristic action film Mad Max (1979), which was followed by the sequels Road Warrior (1981) and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985). He won international acclaim for his roles in Gallipoli (1981), The Year of Living Dangerously (1983), and The Bounty (1984), played a tough cop in the violent Lethal Weapon (1987) and its sequels (1989, 1992, 1998), and directed and starred in The Man Without a Face (1993) and Braveheart (1995, Academy Awards for best picture and director).