Bruce Greenwood shares more than a first name and astrological sign with Bruce Beresford, an important Australian filmmaker, who burst onto the international scene in 1980 with Breaker Morant, a powerful account of the Boer War that swept the Australian Academy Awards, won the Palme d'Or at Cannes and was subsequently nominated for an Academy Award. Excelling at intimate character studies and vitally concerned with injustices, Beresford's 1989 masterpiece, Driving Miss Daisy won the Oscar for Best Picture and all his recent films -- Paradise Road, Last Dance, Silent Fall and A Good Man in Africa have dealt with various violations of personal rights.

Bruce Beresford's Big Star biography follows:

Leading Australian-born director whose contributions to his country's film renaissance of the 1970s include "Don's Party" (1975), a grim comedy-drama about a group of chums whose friendly veneer fades away during a get-together, and the internationally praised "Breaker Morant" (1979), a powerful account of a true incident during the Boer War.

Often writing his own screenplays, Beresford also collaborated with comedian Barry Humphries (a.k.a. Dame Edna Everage) on several outlandish farces centered around the cartoon character Humphries co-created, Barry McKenzie.

Beresford's reputation for finely etched character studies made him an ideal choice for "Tender Mercies" (1982), a subtle, superbly realized drama that marked his US debut. Generally not writing the screenplays for his American films (unlike many of his Australian projects), he found less success with the vapid, large-scale rendering of the life of "King David" (1985) and the uninspired action romance "Her Alibi" (1989). Beresford regained his earlier form, however, with the Oscar-winning adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Driving Miss Daisy" (1989), a sensitive portrait of an aging Jewish woman and her gently wise black chauffeur.

He has returned to Australia to make occasional films, most memorably with "The Fringe Dwellers" (1985), a study of the racism confronting Aborigines.

The 90s saw Beresford attempt to recreate the depth and intimacy of his best work with the "Daisy" producing team of Richard and Lili Fini Zanuck in "Rich in Love" (1993), but he had better luck with another historical drama, "Black Robe" (1991), set in northern Canada and one of a spate of genre films that underline the tragic denouement of Native American culture. Beresford continued his interest in the clash between "native" cultures and the forces of "Civilization" that invade them in a more satirical vein with "A Good Man in Africa" (1994), combining sexual intrigue and political corruption, but to mixed reviews. Also in 1994, he helmed "Silent Fall", a well-made, but lackluster thriller that featured Richard Dreyfuss as a psychiatrist working with an autistic child who witnessed a murder.

Beresford's next venture, "Last Dance" (1996), suffered comparisons with the similarly-themed "Dead Man Walking" (1995). Featuring a strong central performance by Sharon Stone, the film was another display of Beresford's craftsmanship. His follow-up "Paradise Road" (1997) found him on slightly more familiar turf. Set in Singapore during WWII, the film focused on a group of European women imprisoned by the Japanese who use music as means of coping. The high-powered cast featured Glenn Close, Jean Simmons, Frances McDormand and Julianna Margulies.

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Bruce Beresford's IMDb entry