Julian McMahon was the second of three children born to Sir William and Lady Sonia McMahon. The late Sir William was the former Prime Minister of Australia. Julian studied law at the University of Sydney, but he became bored after one year and began a career in modeling, working primarily in commercials. In 1987, he headed began print modeling assignments in Los Angeles, New York, Milan, Rome and Paris. His appearance in a TV commercial promoting jeans in his home country made him popular enough to be cast as the lead in The Power, the Passion, an Australian "Dynasty"-like series. After 18 months on the series, he starred in Home and Away, another successful series, where he won a best actor award from a national magazine.

McMahon later performed on stage, appearing in a musical version of "Home and Away" in Britain as well as in "Love Letters" in Sydney and Melbourne. After a lead role in the feature film Wet and Wild Summer! with Elliott Gould, he went to Hollywood to read for American projects. In 1992, he was cast as Ian Rain on NBC's daytime drama Another World. After two years, he left to appear in several plays in Los Angeles. He also appeared in the feature film Magenta before landing a role on Profiler.

In his free time, McMahon enjoys surfing, biking, and cooking. He is a fan of baseball, football and basketball, and he collects classic books.


Was once quoted in an Australian magazine article as saying that acting was just another job to bring in money. Has an older sister Melinda and a younger sister Deborah Is fluent in Spanish (as in "Nip/Tuck" (2003) pilot). His character, Cole Turner, was killed off in the landmark 100th episode of "Charmed" (1998). He later returned for a guest appearance in the 150th episode, "The Seven Year Witch". Was being considered to take over the role of James Bond from Pierce Brosnan but lost out to Daniel Craig. Is a militant non-smoker. Was listed as one of "Fun Fearless Males" by Cosmopolitan Magazine in 2007. Won the "Breakthrough of the Year Award" as outstanding male performance for "Nip/Tuck" (2003) in 2003. Has worked as gardener and ice cream salesman. Was rugby player in Rugby Union team and captain of rowing team in Australia. Listed #13 top highest earner (with $6.7 million) on BRW Top 50 Aussie Entertainers List (2008). When he made a guest appearance on "The View" (1997) in October, 2006, he presented a rug to Rosie O'Donnell as a joke. The rug was used in a love scene between the two in the fourth season of "Nip/Tuck" (2003). Celebrated his 40th birthday (July 27, 2008) with some friends in L.A. by taking a pub crawl through the city aboard a London-style, double-decker bus. Listed #10 Fox Tops Favourite TV Medics for his role on "Nip/Tuck" (2003) (in 2009). He filmed his last episode of "Nip/Tuck" (2003) (landmark 100th episode) on Friday, June 19, 2009.