Gregor Jordan Biography

Date of Birth: 1966

Born and raised in Australia, Gregor Jordan first worked as a production trainee at a Sydney television station. He studied film and television at the North Sydney Technical College. His first short film, Swinger (1995), won the Jury Prize for Best Short Film at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. From there, he went on to direct an episode of the television series Twisted Tales (1996), then directed episodes of two more series: Big Sky (1997) and Raw FM (1997).

Jordan wrote and directed his first feature film, Two Hands (1999), and cast rising star Heath Ledger as a teenager who finds himself in debt to the mob. The film was a smash hit, winning five Australian Film Institute awards, including Best Feature, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. Next up for Jordan was Buffalo Soldiers, a movie filmed in Germany about a young American soldier (Joaquin Phoenix) who spends his time cooking cocaine and flaunting the rules of the U.S. Army. Originally scheduled for release in 2001, it was held back after the attack on the World Trade Center and didn't come out until 2003. Jordan then returned to Australia to make Ned Kelly (2004). He insisted on having Heath Ledger play the role, because he wanted an Australian who was the right age to play the real-life Australian icon of the late 1800s, rather than an American or British actor.

Filmography:

Ned Kelly (2004)
Buffalo Soldiers (2003)
Two Hands (1999)