Karl Urban

Karl Urban married Natalie Wihongi in September 2004. Wihongi was his makeup artist for the film ‘The Privateers’. The couple was blessed with two sons, Hunter and Indiana.

In 2014, he announced his separation from Wihongi. Thereafter, he started dating actress Katee Sackhoff.

Besides acting, he is an active philanthropist. He serves as a celebrity ambassador for KidsCan, a charitable organization that supports over 16,000 disadvantaged children in New Zealand by providing them with essentials such as food, clothing, and shoes.

Karl Urban was born on June 7, 1972 in Wellington, New Zealand to a German immigrant father. His father owned a leather goods store, and his mother worked for the Film Facilities in Wellington.

Urban attended St Mark's Church School. In school, he showed interest in public performance and articipated in numerous school plays and stage productions.

From 1986 to 1990, Karl Urban attended Wellington College. He then enrolled at the Victoria University of Wellington for a degree in BA but discontinued the same after a year to pursue a career in acting.

Karl Urban’s first ever acting role came at the age of eight. He had a single line in one of the episode of the New Zealand television series ‘Pioneer Woman’. Following this, Urban did not pursue acting professionally until he finished high school.

After leaving college, he appeared in several theatre productions and local TV commercials. He moved to Auckland where he was offered guest roles in several TV shows. He then located to Bondi Beach, Sydney before finally settling down in New Zealand in 1996.

Immediately after coming to New Zealand, Urban bagged himself a big project, the internationally syndicated American/New Zealand TV series ‘Hercules: The Legendary Journeys’ and its spin-off ‘Xena: Warrior Princess,’ playing the recurring role of Cupid and Julius Ceasar. He played the characters from 1996 until 2001.

In 2000, Urban appeared in offbeat rural romance ‘The Price of Milk’. The film won him a nomination at New Zealand Quantas Film and Television Awards. He next appeared as policeman Nick Harvey in ‘Out of the Blue’. His perfect portrayal of the character earned him widespread acclaim and appreciation from the critics and audience.

His growing popularity soon helped him make his Hollywood debut with the horror flick ‘Ghost Ship’. ‘Ghost Ship’ not just opened the gateway to Hollywood for Urban but also earned him numerous prestigious film offers that turned fruitful for his career.

Karl Urban’s most popular work came with his character of Eomer for the second part of the ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy, ‘The Two Towers’ in 2002. The film proved to be the biggest breakthrough of his career, giving him a global platform, a global audience and a global fan following.