Richard Tiffany Gere was born on August 31,1949 in Philadelphia. His father was an insurance salesman, and his mother was Doris. Richard had a musical background and he played many instrutments in high school. He also wrote music for the high school productions. Richard attended the University of Massachusetts but dropped out after two years to pursue acting. He landed a leading role in the London production of the musical "Grease" in 1973.Richard was in a movie with Julia Roberts that became a blockbuster movie known as "Pretty Woman" in 1990. The movie captured the heart of the nation and won the People's Choice award for best movie. Everyone wanted to see a sequel to Pretty Woman and fan's got their wish when Runaway Bride (1999) came out and was a huge success. Many more movies have followed such as "Chicago" in 2002. He trained for nearly 5 months for the dance scene in that movie. Another great movie of his that starred him as a dancer was "Shall We Dance?" in 2004.
People magazine picked Richard Gere as one of the 50 most Beautiful People in the world in 1991 and also as their Sexiest Man Alive in 1999. Some of his earliest photo's were taken by a boyhood friend and struggling photographer Herb Ritts. People handing Gere were so impressed with the photos, they began hiring Ritts for other assignments and he is now a top photographer.
In private life Richard was romantically linked with a Brazilian painter Sylvia Martins. Richard married Cindy Crawford on December 12,1991 but they were divorced 4 years later. Richard dated actress Carey Lowell and they had a son named Homer James Jigme Gere on February 6, 2000. The name "Jigme" means "fearless" in Tibetian.
Richard is known as a humanitarian. He's a founding member of the "Tibet House", a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of Tibetian culture. Richard has been connected with "Survival International" a worldwide organization supporting tribal peoples,and human rights. One of the famous quotes of Richard is "If people lose their land, they have nothing". You lose your land--you lose your culture, you lose self.
Filmography
- Emperor Zhender (in production) (2005)
- Bee Season (2005)
- Shall We Dance (2004)
- Chicago (2002)
- Unfaithful (2002)
- The Mothman Prophecies (2002)
- Dr.T & the Women (2000)
- Autumn in New York (2000)
- Runaway Bride (1999)
- The Jackal (1997)
- Red Corner (1997)
- Primal Fear (1996)
- First Knight (1995)
- Intersection (1994)
- Mr.Jones (1993)
- Ant the Band Played On (1993)
- Sommersby (1993)
- Final Analysis (1992)
- Hachi-gatsu no kyoshik (as Richado Gia) (1991)
- Pretty Woman (1990)
Reference: Richard Gere
Email: Nancy