Richard Gere

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Richard Gere

Richard Tiffany Gere (born August 31, 1949) is a famous American actor. He first was discovered during the 1980s, after appearing in several successful Hollywood films, including An Officer and a Gentleman; and again during the 1990s and 2000s, when he starred in the movies Pretty Woman, Primal Fear, and Chicago for which he won a Golden Globe award as Best Actor. Mr. Gere is a buddhist.

He strives to support the independence and well-being of Tibetans by his Gere Fundation.

Richard Gere Biography

Gere was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is a descendant of Mayflower passengers Francis Eaton, John Billington, George Soule, Richard Warren, Degory Priest, William Brewster and Francis Cooke. Gere's father, Homer George Gere, worked as an insurance agent for the Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. His mother, Doris Anna Tiffany, was a stay-home Mom. Richard has three sisters, a brother, and a half brother, Henry who lives in Germany. Richard graduated from North Syracuse Central High School in 1967. His favorites were gymnastics and music, as well as playing the trumpet. He attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, on a gymnastics scholarship, majoring in Philosophy, but did not graduate from the program. After only two years of college life, he headed for Hollywood, to pursue an acting career.

Richard Gere's Career

Gere's first major acting role was in the London staged 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 was boosted after 1980, first with the movie American Gigolo, then by the popular romantic drama An Officer and a Gentleman. The latter movie generated over $100 million income in 1982. Richard is the first man ever to appear on the cover of Vogue magazine! In 1980 Gere particpated in Bent, on Broadway.

Gere's career in the 1980s fluctuated between success and failure. After the release of both Internal Affairs and the huge hit Pretty Woman in 1990, Gere's status as a leading actor was ensured. He continued to star in high quality movies throughout the 1990s, among these in 1993's Sommersby, 1996's Primal Fear and 1999's Runaway Bride, which brought Gere together with Pretty Woman co-star, Julia Roberts. People magazine named him 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 (2005) can be perceived as a mis-match between his acting abilities and the dull role.

Gere was Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals' "Man of the Year" for 2006. A comic thriller in which he will play a journalist in Bosnia will be released this year.

Richard Gere's Life Behind the Curtains

Gere was married to supermodel Cindy Crawford for 4 years, from 1991 to 1995. In 2002 he married actress Carey Lowell. They have a son, Homer James Jigme Gere, born in 2000, and is named after Gere's father. The couple settled down in Pound Ridge, New York.

Gere is a well-known Buddhist and an active supporter of the Dalai Lama. He has been advocating for human rights in Tibet; he was a co-founder of the Tibet House and served on the Board of Directors for the International Campaign for Tibet. He also campaigns for ecological causes and AIDS awareness, and has expressed his concern for AIDS problems in India. Because he strongly supports the Tibetan Independence Movement, he is permanently banned from entering China.

Gere currently serves on the Board of Directors for Healing the Divide, which concerns itself with global initiatives that promote peace, justice and understanding. Gere was banned as an Academy Award presenter in 1993 after he used the opportunity to condemn the Chinese government.

In 2006, Gere, his wife and one of their neighbors decided to turn a group of 18th century buildings located on a 14-acre farm in Bedford Hills, New York, into a 125-seat complex of a restaurant, lodge, cafe and yoga studio. The facilities also include stables and horse trails. The business was incorporated as Squirrelly Acres L.L.C.

Richard the Lionheart?

In April 2007, Gere kissed Indian actress Shilpa Shetty on the neck and cheeks repeatedly, during an AIDS-awareness event. They had appeared together at a press conference in New Delhi to campaign for safe sex and increase AIDS awareness in India. After this unfortunate mishap, protesters burned Gere shaped objects in the northern town of Meerut hundreds of thousands chanted "Down with Shilpa Shetty!" The protests did not turn violent. Gere has profoundly apologized citing cultural differences and lack of language skills in Hindi as an explanation for his spontaneous act. A judge who issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Gere was later transferred to a different city.

All above information source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Gere