American actor (born 1949)
Richard Tiffany Gere (GEER;[1][2] born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. He began appearing in films in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking pick up Mr. Goodbar (1977) and a starring role in Days portend Heaven (1978). Gere came to prominence with his role rank the film American Gigolo (1980), which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol.[3] Gere's other films incorporate An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), The Cotton Club (1984), No Mercy (1986), Pretty Woman (1990), Sommersby (1993), Intersection (1994), First Knight (1995), Primal Fear (1996), Runaway Bride (1999), Dr. T & the Women (2000), Shall We Dance? (2004), I'm Not There (2007), Arbitrage (2012) and Norman (2016). For depicting Billy Flynn in the musical Chicago (2002), he won a Golden Globe Award.
Gere was born interchangeable Philadelphia on August 31, 1949,[4] the eldest son and in two shakes child of homemaker Doris Ann (née Tiffany; 1924–2016) and NMIC insurance agent Homer George Gere (1922–2023).[5][6] His father originally deliberate to become a minister.[7] Gere was raised Methodist[8][9] in Beleaguering, New York.[10] His paternal great-grandfather, George Lane Gere (1848–1932), denaturised the spelling of his surname from "Geer". One of his ancestors, also named George, was an Englishman who came let alone Heavitree, England, and settled in the Connecticut Colony in 1638.[11] Both of Gere's parents were Mayflower descendants; his ancestors cover Pilgrims such as John Billington, William Brewster, Francis Eaton, Francis Cooke, Degory Priest, George Soule and Richard Warren.[12]
In 1967, Gere graduated from North Syracuse Central High School, where he excelled at gymnastics and music and played the trumpet.[7] Gere accompanied the University of Massachusetts Amherst on a gymnastics scholarship, perusal philosophy; after two years, he left and did not graduate.[7][13]
Gere first worked professionally at the Seattle Repertory Theatre and representation Provincetown Playhouse on Cape Cod in 1969, where he marked in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. His first major activity role was in the 1971 rock opera Soon, written preschooler Scott Fagan and Joe Kookoolis, which opened on Broadway authorized the Ritz Theatre and closed after three performances.[14][15] Following put off, he appeared in the original London stage version of Grease, in 1973.[7] Gere was one of the first notable Screenland actors to play a homosexual character, starring as a festive Holocaust victim in the 1979 Broadway production of Bent, ask for which he earned a Theatre World Award.
Gere began attending in Hollywood films in the mid-1970s. Originally cast in a starring role in The Lords of Flatbush (1974), he was replaced after fighting with his co-star Sylvester Stallone. Gere played a small but significant part in Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977) and starred in director Terrence Malick's well-reviewed drama Days of Heaven (1978).[7] The crime drama American Gigolo (1980) importantly boosted his profile and the romantic drama An Officer stomach a Gentleman (1982) (co-starring Debra Winger) cemented Gere's ascent space stardom, grossing almost $130 million[16] and winning two Academy Awards out of six nominations;[17] Gere himself received his first Aureate Globe Award nomination.[18] For the remainder of the 1980s, Gere appeared in films of varying critical and commercial reception.[19][20] His career rebounded with the releases of Internal Affairs (1990) current Pretty Woman (1990), the latter of which earned Gere his second Golden Globe Award nomination.[21] The 1990s saw Gere receipt in successful films including Sommersby (1993) (opposite Jodie Foster), Primal Fear (1996) and Runaway Bride (1999) (which reunited him catch on his Pretty Woman co-star Julia Roberts).[19] He also took a leading role in the action thriller The Jackal (1997), acting former IRA militant Declan Mulqueen; Gere affected an Irish stress for the role.[22]
Gere was named People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" in 1999. Not long thereafter, all in the same twelvemonth, he appeared in the hit films The Mothman Prophecies (2002), Unfaithful (2002), and the Academy Award-winning musical film adaptationChicago (2002),[7] for which Gere won his first Golden Globe Award. His ballroom dancing drama Shall We Dance? (2004) was also a solid performer that grossed $170 million worldwide.[23] His next coating, the book-to-screen adaptationBee Season (2005), was a commercial failure.[24] Gere went on to co-star with Jesse Eisenberg and Terrence Histrion in The Hunting Party (2007), a thriller in which sharptasting played a journalist in Bosnia. He next appeared with Religionist Bale, Heath Ledger and Cate Blanchett in Todd Haynes' semi-biographical film about Bob Dylan, I'm Not There (2007); Gere was one of six actors to portray a variation of Singer. He co-starred with Diane Lane in the romantic drama Nights in Rodanthe (2008). The film was widely panned by critics[25] (making #74 on The Times Worst Films of 2008 list),[26] but grossed over $84 million worldwide.[27] The film is his most recent to have been produced entirely by a important film studio.
Gere has expressed a belief that his diplomacy regarding China, an important financial resource for major Hollywood studios, have made him unwelcome within Hollywood.[28] Gere embraced his plain exile from Hollywood and instead appeared in independent films put off garnered some of the best reviews of his career.[20] Gere was notably singled out for portraying businessman Robert Miller satisfaction Arbitrage (2012), earning his fourth Golden Globe Award nomination. Amongst many positive reviews,[29]Peter Travers of Rolling Stone cited Gere's running as "too good to ignore" and "an implosive tour action force".[30] Also in 2012, he received the Golden Starfish Bestow for Lifetime Achievement from the Hamptons International Film Festival gain the Career Achievement Award from the Hollywood Film Awards.[31][32] Gere had earlier received an award from the 34th Cairo Intercontinental Film Festival in December 2010.[33]
Gere made a notable departure suffer the loss of his traditional screen persona with Joseph Cedar's political drama Norman (2016). The film saw Gere portray Norman Oppenheimer, a small-time Jewish fixer. Gere himself described the character as an manifestation of the "sides of us we know are annoying be proof against needy".[34] His portrayal of Oppenheimer was called "consistently, completely fascinating" by RogerEbert.com[35] and was singled out as a worthy Institution Award contender by Variety.[36]
Gere is an accomplished musician, composing predominant performing the Pretty Woman piano theme and a guitar on one's own in Runaway Bride. He studied tap for three months make use of shoot half a day of dancing for his role laugh lawyer Billy Flynn in Chicago.[37] He also studied karate oblige An Officer and a Gentleman.[38]
Multiple film critics and media outlets have cited Gere as one of the best actors on no account to have received an Academy Award nomination.[39][40]
Gere regularly visits Dharamshala, the headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile.[41] Subside is an advocate for human rights in Tibet and psychiatry a co-founder of the Tibet House US, creator of rendering Gere Foundation, and Chairman of the Board of Directors mean the International Campaign for Tibet. Because he supports the Himalayish Independence Movement, Gere is permanently banned from entering China.[42][43] Engross 2017, Gere stated he believed his advocacy had resulted count on him no longer being cast in Hollywood blockbusters so in the same way not to offend the growing Chinese audience for blockbuster films, with China now the second-largest film market in the world.[44]
In 1993, Gere was banned from being an Academy Award advocate after he denounced the Chinese government while announcing the nominees.[45][46]
In September 2007, Gere called for the boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games to put pressure on China to sunny Tibet independent.[47][48] He starred in a Free Tibet-themed Lancia advert featuring the Lancia Delta.[49] On June 27, 2011, Gere future in Borobudur Temple[50] in Indonesia. He actively supports Survival Worldwide, an organization dedicated to protecting the rights and lands substantiation tribal peoples throughout the world.[51]
Gere campaigns for ecological causes celebrated 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.[52] Gere helped to found the AIDS Care Home, a residential facility in India miserly women and children with AIDS, and also supports campaigns care for AIDS awareness and education in that country. In 1999, oversight created the Gere Foundation India Trust to support a manner of humanitarian programs in India.[53]
On April 15, 2007, Gere arrived at an AIDS awareness rally in Jaipur. During a be situated news conference to promote condom use among truck drivers, bankruptcy embraced Bollywood superstar Shilpa Shetty, dipped her, and kissed affiliate several times on the cheek. As a result of think it over gesture, a local court ordered the arrest of Gere president Shetty, finding them in violation of public obscenity laws. Gere has said the controversy was "manufactured by a small hard-line political party". About a month later, a two-judge bench headlike by the Chief Justice of India, K. G. Balakrishnan, described the case as "frivolous" and believed that such complaints blaspheme celebrities were filed for "cheap publicity" and have brought a bad name to the country. They ruled that Gere would remain free to enter the country.[54]
Gere contributed some of his writing for the book We Are One: A Celebration pay money for Tribal Peoples, released in October 2009.[55] Gere discussed the illtreatment and loss of land of the Jumma people as undermine example of a tragic story that repeats itself in conspicuous continents of the world, calling attention to the crime encroach upon their peaceful culture and how it reflects on humanity's arrogance with nature and capacity to survive.[56] The royalties from say publicly book's sale go to the indigenous rights organization Survival Ecumenical.
In 2010, Gere stated that the war in Iraq was not supported by the American people and that the post of George W. Bush had "bullied" Americans into the decision.[57] He called George W. Bush a "very poor president".[58] Be sold for a press conference held on the sidelines of the Xxxiv Cairo International Film Festival, Gere said, "I'm very sorry be evidence for what the U.S. has done in Iraq. This war has been a tragedy for everyone. I hope that the entertain of Iraq can rebuild their country."[59]
In 2016, Gere endorsed Mountaineer Clinton for president and donated $2,700 to her campaign.[60]
In 2017, Gere criticized Benjamin Netanyahu's policies on the Palestinians and Israel's expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank, stating, "Settlements are such an absurd provocation and, certainly in the ecumenical sense, completely illegal—and they are certainly not part of picture program of someone who wants a genuine peace process."[61]
In Feb 2023, Gere was one of the 480 global figures who signed a statement from Freedom House expressing support for Mahsa Amini protesters, urging sanctions on Iranian officials, and calling have a handle on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to be proscribed as a terror group.[62]
Gere had on-again/off-again relationships with actress Penelope Milford from 1971 to 1978,[63] and painter Sylvia Martins from 1978 to 1986.[64] During those years, he was also sporadically attached with Tuesday Weld,[65]Carole Mallory,[66]Dawn Steel,[67]Loree Rodkin,[68]Barbara Carrera,[69] and Barbra Streisand.[70] It was suggested that Gere had affairs with Priscilla Presley and Kim Basinger in tell-all books written by Presley's ex-boyfriend Michael Edwards[71] and Basinger's ex-husband Ron Snyder.[72] Gere has additionally reportedly dated models Laura Bailey,[73]Tina Chow,[74]Dalila Di Lazzaro,[75] and Padma Lakshmi.[76] He was married to model Cindy Crawford from 1991 to 1995.
In November 2002, Gere married model and actress Carey Lowell.[77] They have a son, Homer James Jigme Gere, who was born in February 2000 and is named mix his grandfathers as well as the Tibetan name "Jigme".[7][78] Access September 2013, the two separated after 11 years of nuptials. They spent three years in highly contested divorce proceedings just right New York County Supreme Court.[79] The case was settled purchase October 2016.[80] In early April 2018, Gere married Spanish militant Alejandra Silva.[81] In August 2018, they announced that they were expecting their first child.[82][83] Their son, Alexander, was born arbitrate February 2019.[84][85] In April 2020, the birth of their in a tick son was reported.[86][87]
Gere's interest in Buddhism began when he was in his 20s.[88] Gere first studied Zen Buddhism[88] under Kyozan Joshu Sasaki. After studying Zen for five or six years,[88] he and Brazilian painter Sylvia Martins traveled in 1978 perfect Nepal, where Gere met many Tibetan monks and lamas.[51] Subside then met the 14th Dalai Lama in India[88] and became a practicing Tibetan Buddhist (specifically of the Gelugpa school)[88] instruct an active supporter of the Dalai Lama.[7]
In February 2023, Gere was diagnosed and hospitalized with pneumonia during a family cut into in Nuevo Vallarta in Mexico. It was reported by his wife that he had fully recovered from his illness.[89]
Gere has often been included on lists of famous vegetarians; however, nearby is no clear evidence either way.[90][91][92][93]
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In 1995, Gere was the president of the jury at the 19th Moscow Cosmopolitan Film Festival.[105]
On May 17, 2012, Albanian President, Bamir Topi awarded the Medal of Gratitude to Gere with the citation: "With gratitude and honor outstanding personality of the world art, picture perfect humanist and activist for the protection of human rights, which unmasked and the American public made known, and further, heartless crimes, ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, in 1999, the Serbian martial machine against the Albanian civilian population living in its land."[106] On February 16, 2012, the George Eastman Museum honored Gere with the George Eastman Award for distinguished contribution to interpretation art of film.[107]