| Richard Gere
Humanitarian and actor, Richard Gere was born on August 29, 1949 in Philadelphia. The second of five children, his father was Homer, an insurance salesman, and Doris. 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. Richard won a gymnastics scholarship to the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, where he majored in philosophy. He left college after 2 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.Above all, Richard is a humanitarian. He's a founding member of "Tibet House," a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of Tibetan culture. Richard has been an active supporter of "Survival International" for several years; that's 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 Indians 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. And Richard has been prominent in their charity advertising campaigns. Humanitarian Richard says, "If people lose their land, they have nothing. You lose your land -- you lose your culture, you lose self." As for the duty of rich nations helping developing countries, Richard says, "This planet can't exist anymore unless all peoples are taken into account." (If one person suffers, ultimately all people suffer.) Richard says, "The suffering does not limit itself to one body; it goes through the entire body." |
Breathless
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Mel Gibson
Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson was born on January 3, 1956, in Peekskill, NY, USA as the sixth of eleven children to parents Hutton Gibson, a railroad brakeman, and Ann Gibson, who was born in Australia and died in December of 1990. Though born in the US, Mel and his family moved to South Wales, Australia after his father won as a "Jeopardy!" (1964) contestant, in part because he wanted to avoid having his sons drafted in the Vietnam War. Eventually, he was chosen to star in Mad Max (1979) and in a movie called Tim (1979) costarring Piper Laurie. The small budgeted movie Mad Max made him known worldwide, while Tim (1979) garnered him an award for Best Actor from the Australian Film Institute (equivalent to the Oscar). After high school Mel studied at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, performing at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts alongside future film thespians Judy Davis and Geoffrey Rush. After college, Mel had a few stints on stage and starred in a few TV shows. Later he would go on to star in Gallipoli, which would earn him a second award for Best Actor from the AFI. Some sources give 1951 as the year of birth. Studied Acting at NIDA (National Insitutute of Dramatic Art), University of New South Wales, NSW, Sydney, Australia. (October 1997) Ranked #12 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. Born at 4:45pm-EST (1996) Chosen by People (USA) magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world. His father, Hutton Gibson, moved the family from upstate NY to Sydney, New South Wales, Australia in 1968 after winning as a contestant on "Jeopardy". Gibson has 7 children with his wife Robyn: Hannah, twins Edward and Christian, William, Louis, Milo and Tommy. |
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| Cuba Gooding Jr.
(1991) Listed as one of twelve "Promising New Actors of 1991" in John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 43. Older brother of Omar Gooding. (1997) Chosen by "People" magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world. Break danced in the 1984 closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Los Angeles Son of Cuba Gooding Sr., lead singer of "The Main Ingrediant." Son of Cuba Gooding, lead singer of The Main Ingredient singing group ("Everybody Plays The Fool"). Son of Cuba Gooding Suggested by Roger Moore to replace Pierce Brosnan as James Bond. You can see him nude in the movies Daybreak and Jerry Maguire. |
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