David Helfgott David Helfgott David Helfgott (born 19 May 1947) is an Australian concert pianist. Helfgott's life inspired the Academy Award-winning film "Shine", in which he was portrayed by actors Geoffrey Rush and Noah Taylor. Helfgott was born in Melbourne to Polish Jewish parents Rachel (née Granek) and Elias Peter Helfgott. He won the state final of the ABC Instrumental and Vocal Competition six times. The awards he won at the Royal College of Music included the Dannreuther Prize for Best Concerto Performance, for his performance of Rachmaninoff's "Piano Concerto No. 3", and the Marmaduke Barton Prize. During his time in London,
Richard Shine science research) in 2011, and a third Eureka Prize (as an outstanding mentor of young researchers) in 2013. He is the only person to have won three Eureka Prizes in different categories. Shine won the NSW Science and Engineering Award for Plant and Animal Research in 2011 (awarded by the NSW Government), and in the same year, his research team won the Environment section of the inaugural Australian Innovation Challenge Awards. In 2012 Shine was elected as an Honorary Fellow of the Ecological Society of America, and the same organisation presented him with the Robert Whittaker Distinguished Ecologist Award in