|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Richard Tiffany Gere (born August 31, 1949) is a Golden Globe- and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning American actor. The prototypical dark, handsome leading man of romantic and dramatic films, he first became famous during the 1980s, and has since retained his status as a leading man. During the 1990s and 2000s, he starred in several well-received films, Pretty Woman, Primal Fear, and Chicago, for which he won a Golden Globe award as Best Actor. A talented musician who found his way into musical theater in New York City during the early 1970s, Richard Gere parlayed his photogenic sullenness into a Hollywood career, becoming one of the biggest male screen attractions of the late 70s and early 80s before falling off the A-list, following a long series of critical and commercial flops. He had made a convincing mixed-up young man, but the transition to adulthood was not easy for the brooding actor with an infamous penchant for shedding his clothes onscreen. Proving the naysayers wrong, the all-but-forgotten Gere roared back into the public's consciousness with a stunning comeback in the instant classic, "Pretty Woman" in 1990 and from that moment on, maintained his second chance at stardom. His pretty face was still in tact, but his public persona had undergone a radical makeover. The sulky young bad-boy narcissist had transformed into an elegant silver-haired advocate for Buddhism, Tibetan culture and progressive political causes. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Gere is a descendant of Mayflower Pilgrims Francis Eaton, John Billington, George Soule, Richard Warren, Degory Priest, William Brewster and Francis Cooke. Gere's mother, Doris Anna (née Tiffany), was a homemaker, and his father, Homer George Gere, was an insurance agent for the Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company and had originally intended to become a minister. Gere has three sisters and a brother. In 1967, he graduated from North Syracuse Central High School, where he excelled at gymnastics and music, playing the trumpet. He attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst on a gymnastics scholarship, majoring in Philosophy, but did not graduate, leaving after two years. Gere was born on Aug. 31, 1949 in Philadelphia, PA, but grew up in upstate New York where his father, Homer, sold insurance and his mother, Doris, worked as a homemaker. Finding his way to the University of Massachusetts on a gymnastics scholarship, Gere studied philosophy and drama, only to drop out after two years to pursue acting. Gere spent a season each with the Provincetown Playhouse and Seattle Repertory Company before settling in NYC, where he eventually starred on Broadway as Danny Zuko in "Grease" (1973). He continued to work in theater while securing his first film parts, making his debut in "Report to the Commissioner" (1975), before finally gaining notice as Diane Keaton's hustler beau in "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" (1977). He landed his first leads in two films released a week apart in the fall of 1978: Terrence Malick's lyrical "Days of Heaven" and Robert Mulligan's urban working class family drama "Bloodbrothers.” Stardom came two years later with "American Gigolo" (1980), Paul Schrader's ambitious updating of Robert Bresson's film "Pickpocket" (1959) to a contemporary Californian milieu. Playing a cocky prostitute, decked out in Armani suits and driving a fancy car, Gere's character became not only a fashion statement but a symbol for the Reagan years about to come. Gere first worked professionally at the Provincetown Playhouse on Cape Cod in 1971 where he starred in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Gere's first major acting role was in the original London stage version of Grease in 1973. He began appearing in Hollywood films in the mid 1970s, co-starring in the thriller Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977) and playing the leading role in director Terrence Malick's well-reviewed 1978 film, Days of Heaven. In 1980, Gere appeared in the Broadway production of Bent. His acting career took off that year with the successful film American Gigolo, followed by the popular romantic drama An Officer and a Gentleman, which had grossed over $100 million in 1982. Subsequently, he was the first man ever to appear on the cover of Vogue magazine. Gere's career in the 1980s alternated between box office successes and failures. After the release of both Internal Affairs and the box office hit Pretty Woman in 1990, Gere's status as a leading man was again solidified, and he continued starring in solidly performing films throughout the 1990s, including Sommersby (1993), Primal Fear (1996), and Runaway Bride (1999), which paired Gere with his Pretty Woman co-star, Julia Roberts. In Mr. Jones, Gere accurately portrayed a high-functioning, creative, and intellectual man with bipolar disorder. The movie was not a commercial success, but was well-received by the mental health community. It is frequently utilized as a training tool to acquaint students and families with the disorder. People magazine named Gere the "Sexiest Man Alive" in 1999. In 2002, he appeared in three major releases: the horror thriller The Mothman Prophecies, the drama Unfaithful, and the Academy Award-winning film version of Chicago, for which he won a Golden Globe as "Best Actor - Comedy or Musical". Gere's 2004 ballroom dancing drama, Shall We Dance, was also a solid performer, although his next film, Bee Season, failed to find an audience amid the Oscar-contenders of November 2005. Gere was Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals' "Man of the Year" for 2006. In July 2006, he was cast opposite Jesse Eisenberg and Terrence Howard in The Hunting Party, a comic thriller in which he played a journalist in Bosnia; the film was released in September of 2007. Now in his mid-50s, Gere still cut a dashing enough figure to be believably paired opposite Jennifer Lopez for the romantic comedy, "Shall We Dance?" (2004), playing a family man who becomes obsessed with reigniting the passion inside Lopez's chilly dance instructor, while simultaneously discovering the joy of dance himself. He then received mixed reviews for his role in "Bee Season" (2005), playing Saul Naumann, a family man previously distracted by his religious studies of the traditional cabala who bonds with his daughter (Flora Cross) when she becomes a champion speller. Though many critics admired the film and the performance, some took Gere to task for not convincingly portraying the character's intellectual inner life, as well as not making a convincing Hebrew due to his WASP-y looks and his famous Buddhist beliefs. The actor made yet another return to form with his next film, “Hoax” (2007), the true story of faux Howard Hughes biographer Clifford Irving (Gere). In 1970, Irving claimed he had permission to be the biographer of the reclusive and enigmatic Hughes, landing a six-figure advance from publisher McGraw-Hill. Irving later handed the publisher a finished manuscript, which was eventually snuffed out by journalists – and later Hughes himself – as being fraudulent. Gere was persuasive – if not superb – as Irving, a performance that earned the actor critical kudos. Meanwhile, Gere made headlines around the world in April 2007, after an incident involving Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty at an AIDS awareness event in New Delhi. In an impromptu moment, Gere embraced an unsuspecting Shetty, then bent her backwards while profusely kissing her. “The Kiss,” as it was henceforth called, ignited fury across India – groups of men burned and kicked effigies of Gere in public. Even a judge from the northwestern city of Jaipur issued an arrest warrant for both stars for violating obscenity laws. While Gere apologized as profusely as he had kissed Shetty, the actress expressed concern that her countrymen were overreacting. The arrest warrant was later rescinded after the furor died down. Gere was married to supermodel Cindy Crawford from 1991 to 1995. In 2002, he married actress Carey Lowell. They have a son, Homer James Jigme Gere, who was born in 2000 and is named after Gere's father. Gere was raised by Methodist parents; his interest in Buddhism began when he traveled to Nepal in 1978 with the Brazilian painter, Sylvia Martins. He is a practicing Buddhist and an active supporter of the Dalai Lama. Gere is also a persistent advocate for human rights in Tibet; he is a co-founder of the Tibet House, creator of The Gere Foundation, and he is Chairman of the Board of Directors for the International Campaign for Tibet. Because he strongly supports the Tibetan Independence Movement, he is permanently banned from entering The People's Republic of China. Gere was banned as an Academy Award presenter in 1993 after he used the opportunity to condemn the Chinese government. In September 2007, Gere called for the boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games to put pressure on China to make Tibet independent. Gere campaigns for ecological causes and AIDS awareness. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Healing the Divide, an organization that supports global initiatives to promote peace, justice and understanding, and he also actively supports Survival International, an organization dedicated to protecting the rights and lands of tribal peoples throughout the world. He helped to establish the AIDS Care Home, a residential facility in India for women and children with AIDS, and also supports campaigns for AIDS awareness and education that country. In 1999 he created the Gere Foundation India Trust to support a variety of humanitarian programs in India. On April 26, 2007 an Indian court in Rajasthan issued a warrant for Shetty and Gere's arrest. The legal action against both Shetty and Gere has been suspended by the Indian Supreme Court until the court decides on the case's proper jurisdiction. Gere has since expressed regret for causing any offense and Shetty has stated, "So much has been blown out of proportion." A two-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice of India, KG Balakrishnan described the case as "frivolous" and believed that such complaints (against celebrities) were filed for "cheap publicity" and have brought a bad name to the country. They ruled that "Richard Gere is free to enter the country. This is the end of the matter." Richard Gere is the most common subject of a popular urban myth which involves the forcing of a gerbil into the anus for pleasure and its later embarrassing removal at hospital. This myth, and its association with Gere, is referred to onstage by the comedian Ricky Gervais in his Fame stage show. A reference to the rumours is also made in British sitcom The Vicar of Dibly, with a hamster substituted for the more common gerbil and on the British comedy show This Morning With Richard Not Judy. However, as verified by snopes.com these rumours have no basis in fact. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Celebrities Guide 
| WhoABC
Home : Disclaimer
: Terms
: Privacy
Policy : Contact
Us : Links All original content Copyright Celebrities Guide, WhoABC.com © 2004 - 2008. All Rights Reserved |