It goes without saying that
Johnny Depp is, if not my favorite actor. His depth and versatility says it all and he has no ounce of fear when taking on new roles.
My ultimate crush celebrates his 49th birthday and though he is 10 years older than me, I'm still going to say Yes! I wish! Hahaha!
Oh well, I'm sure I'm not the only one so this is for all Johnny Depp fans out there! Toink! :o)
Complete name:
John Christopher Depp IIOccupation: Film Actor, Director
Birth date: June 09, 1963 (Age: 49)
Education: Loft Studio Los Angeles
Place of Birth: Owensboro, Kentucky
Zodiac Sign: Gemini
Synopsis
Actor Johnny Depp was born June 9, 1963 in Owensboro, Kentucky. After several small roles, Depp landed his first legitimate movie role in the film Nightmare on Elm Street (1984).Afterwards, Depp started studying acting. The lessons paid off in 1987, when he landed a role on the TV show 21 Jump Street. He has since starred in and received award nominations for several popular films.
Early Life
Actor, director, musician. Born John Christopher Depp, Jr. in Owensboro, Kentucky, on June 9, 1963, to parents John and Betty Sue Depp. Johnny's father worked as a civil engineer, and his mother came from full-blooded Cherokee stock, and worked as a waitress and homemaker. The youngest of four children, Depp was withdrawn and a self-admitted oddball. "I made odd noises as a child," he later revealed in an interview. "Just did weird things, like turn off light switches twice. I think my parents thought I had Tourette's syndrome."
Johnny and his family moved frequently to accommodate his father's job, finally landing in Miramar, Florida, when Johnny was seven years old. The family lived in a motel for nearly a year, until his father found a job. Depp hated his new home and, by the age of 12 began smoking, experimenting with drugs, and engaging in self-harm due to the stress of family problems. "Puberty was very vague," he has said. "I literally locked myself in a room and played guitar."
In 1978, when Depp was 15, Johnny's parents divorced. As the youngest of four, it became Johnny's job to go to his father's office and pick up the weekly child-support money. The split caused a rift between Johnny and his father.
At 16, Depp dropped out of high school and joined the garage band, The Kids. The group became successful enough to open for the Talking Heads and the B-52s, but they barely made ends meet. Depp lived for months in a friend's '67 Chevy Impala.
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| Although Depp made a name for himself as an A-list actor, his first love remains music. He continues to perform live, and several of his instumental works have appeared on his film soundtracks.(Getty Images) |
Introduction to Acting
In 1983, at the age of 20, Johnny met and married 25-year-old makeup artist Lori Allison. That same year, the couple moved to L.A. with Depp's band in the hopes of striking it big. Still living on a shoestring budget, Depp and his band mates supported themselves by selling pens for a telemarketing firm.
A year later, Depp fell into acting when his wife introduced him to her ex-boyfriend, actor
Nicolas Cage. Cage saw potential in Depp, and introduced the hopeful musician to a Hollywood agent. After several small roles as a film extra, Depp landed his first legitimate movie role in the horror film Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). By 1985, the Kids had broken up—and so had Depp's marriage. After his split with Allison, Depp met actress Sherilyn Fenn, whom he met on the set of the short film, Dummies (1985). The couple dated, and were briefly engaged, but split shortly after. After their break-up, Depp then met and proposed to actress Jennifer Grey; their romance was also short-lived.
Depp started to study acting in earnest, first in classes at the Loft Studio in Los Angeles and then with a private coach. The lessons paid off in 1987, when he replaced actor Jeff Yagher in the role of undercover cop Tommy Hanson in the popular Canadian-filmed TV series
21 Jump Street. The role thrust Depp into almost immediate stardom. Johnny Depp became a teen idol overnight; a title that he greatly resented. When his contract on Jump Street expired in 1989, he leapt at the opportunity to pursue weightier roles.
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| Johnny got his big break in 1987 when he replaced actor Jeff Yagher in the role of undercover cop Tommy Hanson in the popular TV series 21 Jump Street. The baby-faced star became a teen heartthrob almost overnight.(© CinemaPhoto/Corbis) |
Mainstream Success
In 1990, Depp starred in the John Waters 50s-kitsch musical, Cry-Baby (1990), which became a cult hit, and succeeded in changing his image. That same year, he received an opportunity to exhibit his versatility as an actor in the title role of Tim Burton's fantasy film, Edward Scissorhands. The movie not only established Depp as an A-list actor, but it also grossed more than $54 million at the box office. Following the film's success, Depp carved a niche for himself as a serious, somewhat dark, idiosyncratic performer, consistently selecting roles that surprise critics and audiences alike.
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| Depp made his foray into feature films with the John Waters musical, Cry-Baby. The movie became a cult hit and succeeded in changing his teenybopper image. |
It was during shooting for Edward Scissorhands that Depp finally met co-star Winona Ryder, whom he'd been eyeing since a brief meeting at the premier for her film Great Ball of Fire (1989). The two began dating on the set, and soon became a Hollywood power couple. Five months after their first date, Depp and Ryder became engaged. To solidify their love, Depp even had "Winona Forever" tattooed on his right arm. The couple split, however, in 1993 after Ryder's parents forbade their daughter to marry.
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| In 1990. Depp landed the lead in Tim Burton's smash hit, Edward Scissorhands. After meeting co-star Winona Ryder on set, Depp and Ryder became Hollywood's hottest couple.(© Frank Trapper/Corbis) |
Outside of his personal life, Depp continued to flourish, gaining critical acclaim and increasing popularity for his work. Several of his most notable roles included his role as the social misanthrope Sam inBenny & Joon (1993), which earned him a Golden Globe nod, and Gilbert in What's Eating Gilbert Grape? (1993), which cast him as a young man dissatisfied with the confines of his small-town life.
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| Depp's career continued to flourish as he played outcasts and loners, including a Buster Keaton imitator in Benny and Joonand a social misanthrope in What's Eating Glibert Grape? |
Personal Life
In August of that year, he and two business partners bought The Viper Club in L.A., which instantly became the hippest spot on the Sunset Strip. Depp began using the club as an opportunity to introduce patrons to music from his newly formed band, P, which offered popular shows at the venue. But tragedy hit the club on October 31 of that same year, when teen heartthrob and critically acclaimed actor River Phoenix suffered a drug overdose outside the club. Phoenix died later that evening.
Depp's life began losing control as the star dabbled with drugs and spiraled into a deep depression. Around this time he also started a very public, destructive relationship with the waifish supermodel Kate Moss. Depp and Moss constantly made headlines for their passionate and unpredictable behavior; in 1994, Depp famously trashed a New York hotel room after one of the couple's many fights.
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| Depp fully embraced his reputation as a romantic lead in films such as 1995's Don Juan DeMarco and 2000's Chocolat. But off-screen, his tempestuous relationship with super model Kate Moss made national headlines.(WireImage) |
Johnny Depp's wild behavior didn't seem to have an effect on his professional life. In 1994 he re-teamed with Burton in the biopic Ed Wood, about the famously awful B-movie director. The film won Depp critical acclaim, and another Golden Globe nomination. Other notable films in the late 90s include Don Juan DeMarco (1995), in which Depp plays a character who believes he is the famous fictional character Don Juan, and Donnie Brasco (1997), which featured Depp as an undercover FBI agent seeking to infiltrate the Bonano crime family.
In 1998, Depp split from long-time girlfriend Moss, and took the role of journalist Hunter S. Thompson's alter ego in Terry Gilliam's adaptation of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. During filming, Depp cultivated a strong friendship with Thompson, which lasted until Thompson's death in 2005. Depp would later finance the writer's funeral.
Around this time, Depp also met another person who would become an important figure in his life; while filming the sci-fi dramaThe Ninth Gate (1999) in France, Johnny met French actress, singer and model Vanessa Paradis. Paradis became pregnant with the couple's first child later that year. In May of 1999, the couple welcomed daughter Lily-Rose Melody Depp. Depp and Paradis had their second child, son Jack John Christopher Depp III, three years later. In 2012, stories began to circulate that Depp and Paradis had split up.
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| By 2001, Depp was known to audiences as a versatile and complex actor. To become immersed in the lives of his gritty characters— such as drug kingpin George Jung in Blow— Depp's clean-cut looks were often masked with long hair and a five o'clock shadow.(WireImage) |
Box Office Star
For Depp's next film project, he tried his hand at sci-fi horror withThe Astronaut's Wife in 1999. The same year, he teamed up with Burton once again on Sleepy Hollow, starring as a prim, driven Ichabod Crane. He appeared the following year in the small but popular romantic drama Chocolat, followed by a big-budget role as real-life cocaine kingpin George Jung in Blow in 2001. Depp's next film was the terror drama From Hell in 2001 and Robert Rodriguez's Once Upon a Time in Mexico in 2002. In April of that year, Paradis gave birth to the couple's second child, Jack.
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| Depp met French singer and actress Vanesssa Paradis during filming for The Ninth Gate. The couple now has two children together: Lily and Jack.(Getty Images) |
In 2004, Depp earned an Academy Award nomination for his starring role as Captain Jack Sparrow in the family adventure Pirates of the Caribbean. The film was a box office smash, and led to the creation of a Pirates franchise. At the end of that year, Depp also turned in a critically acclaimed performance in Finding Neverland, in which he starred as Peter Pan creator J.M. Barrie. The film earned him more than 10 award nominations, including both Academy and Golden Globe nods.
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| At the end of 2004, Depp continued with his critically acclaimed work by taking on the role of Peter Pan creator J.M. Barrie in the biopic Finding Neverland. The film earned him more than 10 award nominations, including both Academy and Golden Globe nods. |
In 2006, Depp returned as Captain Jack Sparrow for the sequel Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, which broke a box office record in reaching the highest weekend tally ever. The third installment fared well too. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End(2007) was released on Memorial Day weekend, bringing in $138.8 million.
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| Depp earned an Academy Award nomination in 2004 for his starring role as Captain Jack Sparrow in the family adventurePirates of the Caribbean. |
Saying goodbye to Captain Jack, Depp took on one of theater's most notorious characters in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, also in 2007. Directed by Tim Burton and co-starring Helena Bonham Carter, the dark and gory musical tells the tale of a barber kills some of his customers who then turned into pies made by his downstairs neighbor. Depp netted a Golden Globe Award for his work on the film.
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In 2007, Depp returned to his musical talents in the film version of the Broadway musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Depp netted a Golden Globe for his work on the film.(WireImage) |
In 2009, two Depp films—The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Public Enemies—premiered with mixed results. He returned to box office success with the 2010 film adaptation of the Lewis Carroll classic, Alice in Wonderland. For the project, Depp again teamed up with Tim Burton to take on the character of the Mad Hatter. The film, starring Mia Wasikowska as Alice, brought in more than $116 million in its opening weekend.
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| The Pirates film blossomed into a box-office franchise, with Depp producing several more films as Captain Jack. Depp's unique style also took a nautical turn with jaunty hats, vintage jewelry and scarves. |
Once again roving on the high seas, Depp reprised his role of Jack Sparrow in the latest installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean film series in 2011. He returned to independent film that same year with The Rum Diaries, based on the book by Hunter S. Thompson.
Depp also starred in the Tim Burton comedy
Dark Shadows (2012). In the film, he plays Barnabas Collins, a vampire who escapes imprisonment and returns to his family home. There Collins tries to help his descendants played by Michelle Pfeiffer, Chloë Grace Moretz and Jonny Lee Miller. Depp was a longtime fan of the film's source material—the late 1960s gothic soap opera Dark Shadows—and encouraged friend Burton to bring it to the big screen.
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| Depp's long and successful career shows no signs of slowing down. Most recently, three Depp films— The Lone Ranger, Dark Shadows, and 21 Jump Street— are all slated to premiere in 2012.(FilmMagic) |
Bio courtesy of
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