Overview (3)

Mini Bio (1)

Humanitarian and actor Richard Gere was born on August 31, 1949, in Philadelphia, the second of five children of Doris Ann (Tiffany), a homemaker, and Homer George Gere, an insurance salesman, both Mayflower descendants. Richard started early as a musician, playing a number of instruments in high school and writing music for high school productions. He graduated from North Syracuse Central High School in 1967, and won a gymnastics scholarship to the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, where he majored in philosophy. He left college after two years to pursue acting, landing a lead role in the London production of the rock musical "Grease" in 1973. The following year he would be in other plays, such as "Taming of the Shrew." Onscreen, he had a few roles, and gained recognition in Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977). Offscreen, he spent 1978 meeting Tibetans when he traveled to Nepal, where he spoke to many monks and lamas. Returning to the US, on Broadway he portrayed a concentration-camp prisoner in "Bent," for which he received the 1980 Theatre World Award. Back in Hollywood, he played the title role in American Gigolo (1980), establishing himself as a major star; this status was reaffirmed by An Officer and a Gentleman (1982). In the early 1980s, Richard went to Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador (amidst ongoing wars and political violence); he traveled with a doctor and visited refugee camps. It is said that Richard was romantically linked with Tuesday Weld, Priscilla Presley, Barbra Streisand and Kim Basinger. In 1990 Richard teamed up with Julia Roberts to star in the blockbuster Pretty Woman (1990); his cool reserve was the perfect complement to Julia's bubbling enthusiasm. The film captured the nation's heart, and won the People's Choice award for Best Movie. Fans clamored for years for a sequel, or at least another pairing of Julia and Richard. They got that with Runaway Bride (1999), which was a runaway success (Richard got $12 million, Julia made $17 million, the box office was $152 million, which shows what happens when you give the public what it wants!). Offscreen, Richard and Cindy Crawford got married December 12, 1991 (they were divorced in 1995). Afterwards, Richard started dating actress Carey Lowell. They had a son, Homer James Jigme Gere, on February 6, 2000. Richard was picked by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the world in 1991, and as their Sexiest Man Alive in 1999. He is an accomplished pianist and music writer. Above all, Richard is a humanitarian. He's a founding member of "Tibet House," a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of Tibetan culture. He has been an active supporter of "Survival International" for several years, a worldwide organization supporting tribal peoples, affirming their right to decide their own future and helping them protect their lives, lands and human rights (these tribes are global, including the natives of the Amazon, the Maasai of East Africa, the Wichi of Argentina, and others). In 1994 Richard went to London to open Harrods' sale, donating his £50,000 appearance fee to Survival. He has been prominent in their charity advertising campaigns.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: kdhaisch@aol.com

Spouse (3)

Trivia (57)

Attended the University of Massachusetts. Dropped out to pursue acting.



Is the second of five children born to Doris Anna (Tiffany) and Homer George Gere.



In 1999 was named "People" Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive.



Graduated from North Syracuse Central High School in 1967.



Was a member of his high school's student council, gymnastics team, lacrosse team and ski team.



Received a gymnastics scholarship to the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, where he majored in philosophy; he dropped out in 1969 to pursue acting.



Was listed as one of 12 "Promising New Actors of 1977" in "John Willis' Screen World", Vol. 29.



A Buddhist for over a decade, he was banned from the Oscars once after making anti-China comments on the air at the 1993 ceremony.





Cindy Crawford and he were married 12 December 1991 by Rev. Wes McPherson at the Little Church of the West, Las Vegas., NV.

He appeared in the music video and sang in the choir on the song "Voices That Care."



In 1991 was chosen by "People" magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the world.





An accomplished pianist and music writer; in fact, he composed and performed the piano solo featured in Pretty Woman (1990).



Became a father for the first time at age 50 when his girlfriend [later wife] Carey Lowell gave birth to their son Homer James Jigme Gere on February 6, 2000.

When the Chinese government invited him to one of its film festivals, he agreed to go with two conditions: that he was allowed to bring his own interpreter and that he would stay in Taipei, Taiwan, during his visit. The government agreed and Gere went to the festival.



Named his son: Homer James Jigme. "Jigme" means "fearless" in Tibetan.





Turned down the lead role in Die Hard (1988) which went to Bruce Willis

Is referenced in the 2001 hit song "Crying at the Discothéque" by Swedish dance group Alcazar.



He has English and small/distant amounts of Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, Welsh, Dutch, Scottish, German, and French ancestry. He has deep roots in the state of Pennsylvania, and is also a Mayflower descendant, with American roots going back to Massachusetts of the 1600s.





Trained for five months for the tap-dance scene in Chicago (2002).



Some of his earliest photos, known as "head shots" were taken by boyhood friend and struggling photographer Herb Ritts . The people handling Gere were so impressed with the photos that they began hiring Ritts for other assignments, and he is now a top photographer.

Visited Kosovo's fugitives in F.Y.R.O.M., during the Kosovo crisis in 1999.





On the November 16, 2007, episode of Live with Kelly and Ryan (1988) (aka "Live with Regis & Kelly"), he cleared up the fact he is not vegetarian but has not eaten red meat for 30 years.

President of The Gere Foundation, founded in 1991. The non-profit organization focusing on international humanitarian issues, with emphasis on Tibet.





In a "London Evening Standard" interview to promote Chicago (2002), he claimed to have brought a 750cc Triumph T140V Bonneville from Triumph's Meriden factory with his first paycheck while touring with the stage production of "Grease". He also rode the same updated model, a 1978 T140E, in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) and an even earlier model, a 1960s 650cc T120R Bonneville. in Mr. Jones (1993).

Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals' 2006 Man of the Year





Turned down the role of Gordon Gekko in Wall Street (1987). Has since said that is the role he regrets passing on the most.



For his role as Clifford Irving in The Hoax (2006), he shaved back his hairline, got a perm and even altered the appearance of his nose to fit the part.



In 1993 "People" Magazine didn't name a "Sexiest Man Alive", but named he and his then-wife Cindy Crawford as "Sexiest Couple'.

Is very active in AIDS fundraising.





Co-owner, with wife Carey Lowell , of the "Bedford Post Inn" in Bedford, NY. The Inn has eight rooms, two restaurants, a yoga studio a meditation center.



Family friend of the Thurmans, i.e.: Robert Thurman , with whom he founded New York City's Tibet House (a nonprofit institution devoted to preserving the living culture of Tibet) in 1987, Uma Thurman , etc.

Though he's been nominated multiple times for a Golden Globe and once for a Screen Actors Guild Award (two common indicators for an Academy Award nomination), he has never been nominated for an Oscar.



Gere's middle name, Tiffany, is from his mother's maiden name.



As of December 2009 was living in Westchester, NY.





On an episode of The Graham Norton Show (2007), he recounted a trip he made to Borneo to visit the Dayak tribe. It was in the desolate part of the jungle with a treacherous drop-off from the plane. When he arrived, they excitedly greeted him by exclaiming "Officer, gentleman!" repeatedly.

Jodie Foster said of him, "A lot of actors think acting is a girl's job, but Richard finds something sensuous in acting".



Susan Sarandon said of him, "Richard has been in a lot of good films, but he's never been in a great one".





He didn't get along with his leading lady Debra Winger during the making of the hit film An Officer and a Gentleman (1982). She publicly called him a "brickwall", while he said there was "tension" between them. He played the title role, had top billing, had more screen time and earned a larger salary than her, while hers was just a love interest role. Still, he reacted badly when he realized that she was stealing every scene; she was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar while he wasn't nominated at all. Thirty years later they patched things up when she presented him with an award at the Rome Film Festival.

By the age of 14 he was a great trumpet player and gymnast.



His first break came in 1973 as "Danny Zuko" in the British stage version of "Grease".



Ex-wife Cindy Crawford used to collect the clothes he wore in his early films and bought the white naval uniform he wore in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) at a celebrity auction.



He and ex-wife Cindy Crawford had a mansion in Malibu, an apartment in Manhattan and a ranch in Connecticut.





A guitar aficionado since his youth, he is an avid collector of electric and acoustic guitars. Some of the ones he has are a 1958 Gibson Flying V Prototype (formerly owned by Albert King ), 1935 John D'Angelico Exel (formerly owned by James D'Aquisto ), 1931 Martin D-28, 1953 Fender Telecaster, 1960 Gibson ES-335 TD, 1954 Fender Stratocaster.

Has twice played a fame-hungry lawyer based in Chicago, first in Primal Fear (1996) as Marty Vail, then again in Chicago (2002) as Billy Flynn.





Counts Julie Christie as the cinematic crush of his youth.



Mentioned (apparently because of his pro-Tibetan, anti-Chinese activism) in the song "Freedom of Speech Won't Feed My Children" by Manic Street Preachers

Became a father for the second time at age 69 when his third wife Alejandra Silva gave birth to their son Alexander Gere in early February 2019.





Older brother of UCLA professor David Gere

Personal Quotes (16)

I don't want to be a personality.





When I am there [Tibet], I am very happy. The Tibetans radiate. They literally send out light. His Holiness [ The Dalai Lama ] generates love and compassion to every human being. He has committed himself to that. I haven't made that leap yet. I haven't given up self-aspiration. I still love making movies.



[on George W. Bush ] We have a President right now who lies constantly and gets away with it, apparently.



[on agent Ed Limato ]: He was the bridge between old-time Hollywood and Hollywood present. Ed was a master at orchestrating all of the feelings correctly. He had a rare ability to read a script and see what could be.

I'm still like this guy who, like, washed his dad's car. I don't feel like I'm some sort of rarefied species of creature.





[on Brooklyn's Finest (2009)] I read the script and I thought, "This is really unusual. These three interlinking short stories that don't really interact. But [they] somehow, like music, contrapuntally inform each other, in kind of a mysterious way."



[on his character Jesse Lujack from Breathless (1983)] Basically the root of him is music--music manifested by his moods. He uses the energy and emotions of the things around him to his own purposes. There's not guilt in him. He refuses guilt, he refuses despair. He turns despair around. He's a funny kind of character; he's not the kind of person you'd bring home to your mother and father. He'd be pocketing things; he doesn't see possessions as being personal. He has an outlaw mentality we haven't seen for a while.



[on why he starred in The Mothman Prophecies (2002)] The emotional stuff was rich. In the beginning, my character's in the perfect job, he has a beautiful wife, they're talking about babies, they're buying a house, everything's great and then literally in the middle of laughing, there's a car accident and she's gone. Now if you put that on top of the metaphysical story of "Is there anything out there?", then you have something that has a lot of power.



[on Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009)] Reading it captivated me immediately. It was very emotional and tense, even though I'd never heard of the story before that. My first thought was, "I don't know if I want to act in this, but I certainly want to make it and help it along".

[in 1993] I've always maintained that actors are best when they find characters that are congruent with the emotions they're going through at the moment.



[in 1993] My wife doesn't understand why I'm a sex symbol. She says I don't look different from a guy on the street.





[In 2012, reflecting on working with Debra Winger in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)] I was delighted, she was perfect for the part . . . She has a really interesting quality. Again, I haven't seen this film in 30 years. But she is, she's really a kind of true heart in the camera. It's very hard to be as kind of open and unguarded and nice. You know, a nice person and kind of a genuine person and true heart on camera. That's not an easy thing to do. She's able to pull that off. I could never be that way. I was too complicated. There were too many things going on. Just the straightforward presence is an extremely difficult thing to do.

There doesn't appear to be any sort of basis for any of this. I have a feeling something hidden is at work here that will someday see the light of day. I keep asking myself where all this personal enmity between George Bush and Saddam Hussein comes from. It's like the story of Captain Ahab and the great white whale from "Moby Dick". We have to say, "Stop". There's no reason for a war. At the moment Hussein is not threatening anybody. It'd be different if he was staring somebody down with a loaded gun in his hand. But there doesn't seem to be any indications whatsoever that this man poses an immediate threat to anybody. America has never paid any attention to other people, so it's absurd for Bush to say that it's all in the best interests of the Iraqi people. If the United States marches into Iraq without the backing of the United Nations, that will be done entirely without the backing of the American people.



[on US President Donald Trump] Here's a guy who's obviously [Benito] Mussolini. How is it possible that people would be supporting this guy? You can try to find reasons. It's about how disillusioned they are, how afraid, how confused. Trump is a demagogue, a clown--but people like clarity. Here's this guy who says, "I'm going to fix this problem for you. It doesn't matter how, I'll just take care of it". He's finding villains everywhere and then telling people he'll get rid of them: "We'll get rid of the Jews, the blacks. Anyone that we perceive as a problem, we'll get rid of". This is how it starts. Intelligent people aren't seeing this--don't make the mistake of thinking it's just idiots who are backing Trump--this kind of thinking is a slippery slope.



Salary (8)