Richard Gere

World Famous People

Richard Gere

Richard Gere (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.

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 enjoyed his greatest commercial success of the 1980s with "An Officer and a Gentleman" (1982), a surprisingly old-fashioned military romance pairing him with Debra Winger – a co-star with whom he famously fought with off camera. Despite the on-set rancor between the two leads, it did provide combustible chemistry onscreen, culminating with one of filmdom's most famous scenes: Gere carrying Winger out of the factory, to the tune of "Up Where We Belong." It had taken a mere five years to reach the top, but he would have little time to savor the altitude. Miscast as a British doctor who becomes involved with South American revolutionaries in "Beyond the Limit" (1983), an adaptation of Graham Greene's The Honorary Consul, Gere fared no better as an amoral punk in "Breathless" (1983) – his nonstop scenery-chewing and trouser-dropping growing tiresome at that time. Meanwhile, "The Cotton Club" (1984) proved disastrous from the word go, and a lack of screen chemistry between Gere and sexy co-star Kim Basinger doomed the mindless melodrama "No Mercy" (1986). He turned down blockbusters like "Wall Street" (1987) and "Die Hard" (1988), but his risk-taking – which had paid off with critical raves for his starring turn as a homosexual Holocaust victim in Broadway's "Bent" (1979) – backfired in failures like "King David" (1985) and "Miles from Home" (1988). In just a few short years, Gere suffered a string of failed movies, casting a spotlight on his early promise now unfulfilled.

But it took only two years before he reasserted his position as a bankable star with two change-of-pace roles. First, he painted a chilling portrait of corruption and misogyny with his portrayal of rogue cop Dennis Peck in Mike Figgis' sophisticated thriller "Internal Affairs” (1990), a film which returned him to the homoeroticism of "An American Gigolo.” He followed with the huge box-office success "Pretty Woman,” which allowed him to display a heretofore untapped Cary Grant-like comedic sensibility. There was also no lack of screen chemistry with co-star Julia Roberts; two beautiful people who allowed each other to shine in this updated take on "Cinderella." Gere went on to play a Eurasian who visits his Japanese relatives in Nagasaki in Akira Kurosawa's well-intentioned "Rhapsody in August" (1991) before making his executive producing debut with the psychological thriller, "Final Analysis;” a duty he also performed for "Sommersby" and "Mr. Jones" (both 1993). With the exception of "Sommersby,” which co-starred Jodie Foster, Gere was mired in feature failures throughout the early 90s, but his small role as a gay choreographer helped launch HBO's "And the Band Played On" (1993), earning him an Emmy nomination.

After the embarrassment of his contemporary American-sounding Lancelot in yet another telling of the Camelot story, "First Knight" (1995), Gere returned to form as a cocky attorney – for once without all the answers – defending accused killer Edward Norton in "Primal Fear" (1996). The courtroom thriller "Red Corner" (1997) addressed something close to his heart: the oppressive Chinese regime which had persecuted his beloved Tibet since 1949. Featuring an all-Chinese cast, whose involvement placed their families back home in danger, "Red Corner" told the story of an American entertainment lawyer (Gere) railroaded by a brutal, arcane judicial system. He followed quickly that same year with "The Jackal,” playing a former IRA commando hunting a noted terrorist (Bruce Willis) in this loose remake of Fred Zinneman's "The Day of the Jackal" (1973). Meanwhile, Gere’s continued promotion of Tibetan Buddhism and its spiritual leader while raising awareness of Chinese repression of the Tibetan culture made him the Hollywood "point man" for high-profile appearances and fundraisers involving the Dalai Lama.

Gere continued to act steadily in movies, though for a stretch his films were less than remarkable. He re-teamed with his "Pretty Woman" co-star Julia Roberts and director Garry Marshall for "Runaway Bride" (1999), a sort-of-sequel-in-spirit, in which he played a journalist investigating the story of a woman who has backed out of several marriages at the altar. The film did well enough at the box office, but the excitement was nowhere near the original Gere-Roberts-Marshall teaming. Worse was the May-December romantic tearjerker, "Autumn in New York" (2000), in which both he and Winona Ryder were seriously miscast against one another in a soggy "dying-girl-finds-love" melodrama. Gere fared much better under the direction of Robert Altman in the seriocomic "Dr. T and the Women" (2000), playing a handsome gynecologist who seems beset by the many demanding women – including his wife, daughters, office staff and patients – in his life. Gere was perfectly believable as a man who lures females into his orbit, yet fails to understand what drives them; nevertheless, it was one of Altman's entertaining but trifling efforts and never lured a large audience.

In 2002, Gere starred in "The Mothman Prophecies," a horror thriller pairing him with Laura Linney that disappeared from theaters with nary a ripple. His next project, "Unfaithful” (2002), brought Gere back to the fore, playing the loving, attentive and dashing husband whose beautiful wife (Diane Lane) nevertheless cheats on him with a sensual Frenchman (Olivier Martinez). The film offered one of the best, most measured performances of the actor's career, particularly when the truth is finally revealed to him. Gere next got to display his oft-ignored musical talents in the much-anticipated movie version of the musical "Chicago” (2002), playing the slick huckster of a lawyer Billy Flynn, in a role that earned him several award wins, including a Golden Globe for Best Actor – Musical or Comedy. Around this same time, he married his companion of seven years and the mother of his son, actress Carey Lowell. His previous marriage to supermodel Cindy Crawford – while perfect fodder for the tabloids, what with the natural beauty of both on full display on red carpets and in photo spreads – had shockingly ended in 1994 after the couple had been together since 1988.

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.

* Also Credited As:
Richard Tiffany Gere
* Born:
Richard Tiffany Gere on August 31, 1949 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
* Job Titles:
Actor, Producer, Musician

Family

* Father: Homer Gere. Was an insurance agent for the Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company
* Mother: Doris Gere.
* Son: Homer James Jigme Gere. Born Feb. 6, 2000; mother, Carey Lowell
* Step-daughter: Hannah Dunne. Born April 1990; daughter of Carey Lowell and Griffin Dunne

Significant Others

* Companion: Penelope Milford. Played Jane Fonda s friend in Coming Home (1978); conducted five-year relationship with Gere
* Wife: Cindy Crawford. Met at a barbeque given by photographer Herb Ritts in 1988; married Dec. 12, 1991 in Las Vegas; separated in 1994 and divorced the following year
* Companion: Dawn Steel. dated from 1975 to c. 1978
* Companion: Penelope Milford. played Jane Fonda s friend in Coming Home ; conducted five-year relationship with Gere
* Companion: Sylvia Martins. lived together in the 1980s; no longer together

Education

* North Syracuse Central High School, North Syracuse, NY, 1967
* University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, philosophy

Milestones

* 1969 Spent one season each at Provincetown Playhouse and Seattle Repertory Theatre
* 1973 Broadway debut as Danny Zuko in the hit musical Grease ; recreated role for the London production
* 1973 First studied the Middle Way of Siddhartha Gotama Buddha as preached by a Japanese sect
* 1975 Film acting debut in Report to the Commissioner
* 1977 Garnered attention for a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, opposite Diane Keaton
* 1978 First leading role in a feature, Days of Heaven
* 1978 Visited Tibetan refugee camps in Nepal
* 1979 Returned to Broadway in Bent, playing homosexual inmate of Dachau
* 1982 Starred in his greatest commercial success of the decade, An Officer and a Gentleman
* 1986 Made a lengthy fact-finding trip through then war-torn Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador
* 1990 Made a commercial comeback with his starring role in Garry Marshall s Pretty Woman opposite Julia Roberts
* 1992 First film as executive producer, Final Analysis ; also starred
* 1993 Appeared as a character loosely based on Broadway director-choreographer Michael Bennett in the HBO film And the Band Played On ; earned Emmy nomination
* 1993 Executive produced and starred in Mr Jones (directed by Mike Figgis) and Sommersby
* 1996 Delivered solid performance in one of his very best roles, as a cocky attorney defending former altar boy Edward Norton against allegations of murder in Primal Fear
* 1997 Starred in Jon Avnet s Red Corner, a project particularly close to his heart for its attack on the repressive Chinese regime
* 1999 Re-teamed with Julia Roberts and director Garry Marshall for the romantic comedy Runaway Bride
* 2000 Co-starred with Winona Ryder in Autumn in New York, directed by Joan Chen
* 2000 Starred in Robert Altman s Dr. T and the Women
* 2002 Cast opposite Diane Lane as an unsuspecting husband whose wife if having an affair in Unfaithful
* 2002 Had singing and dancing role as sleazy lawyer Billy Flynn in the film musical of the hit Broadway show Chicago ; received a SAG nomination for Best Actor
* 2004 Co-starred with Jennifer Lopez in Shall We Dance?
* 2005 Starred with Juliette Binoche in the family drama Bee Season, based on the Myla Goldberg novel
* 2006 Starred in Andrew Lau s first American film The Flock
* 2007 Played a discredited journalist embarking on an unauthorized mission to find a war criminal in The Hunting Party
* 2007 Portrayed Bob Dylan at one distinct stage of his life, in Todd Haynes film, I m Not There
* 2007 Portrayed Clifford Irving, a bogus biographer of Howard Hughes in Lasse Hallström s The Hoax
* 2008 Re-teamed with Diane Lane for Nights in Rodanthe ; based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks
* 2009 Portrayed George P. Putnam, Earhart s husband (played by Hilary Swank), in Mira Nair s biopic, Amelia
* 2010 Cast as a veteran cop in Antoine Fuqua s Brooklyn s Finest
* Became a student of the exiled Dalai Lama
* Raised on a farm in upstate New York near Syracuse
* Switched his faith to Tibetan school of Buddhism
* Won a gymnastics scholarship to the University of Massachusetts

Richard Gere , actor, world famous people