Richard Gere

Richard Tiffany Gere is an American actor born on August 31, 1949, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Raised Methodist in Syracuse, New York, he is the eldest son and second child of Doris Ann, a homemaker, and Homer George Gere, an insurance agent. His lineage includes Mayflower descendants and early English settlers. Gere graduated from North Syracuse Central High School in 1967, where he excelled at gymnastics and music and played the trumpet. He subsequently attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst on a gymnastics scholarship to study philosophy, leaving after two years without graduating.

Gere began his acting career in theatre, performing with the Seattle Repertory Theatre and the Provincetown Playhouse in 1969. His early stage work included a major role in the 1971 Broadway rock opera Soon, the original 1973 London stage production of Grease, and the 1979 Broadway production of Bent, in which he played a gay Holocaust victim and earned a Theatre World Award.

In the mid-1970s, Gere transitioned to film, appearing in Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977) and Terrence Malick's drama Days of Heaven (1978). His starring role in American Gigolo (1980) established him as a leading man and sex symbol. He followed this with the romantic drama An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), earning his first Golden Globe Award nomination. Throughout the 1990s, Gere starred in various prominent films, including Internal Affairs (1990), Pretty Woman (1990)—which brought his second Golden Globe nomination—Sommersby (1993), Primal Fear (1996), The Jackal (1997), Red Corner (1997), and Runaway Bride (1999).

In 2002, Gere starred as lawyer Billy Flynn in the musical film Chicago, winning a Golden Globe Award for his performance. His film credits in the 2000s and 2010s include The Mothman Prophecies (2002), Unfaithful (2002), Shall We Dance? (2004), I'm Not There (2007), Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009), Arbitrage (2012)—which earned him a fourth Golden Globe nomination—and Norman (2016). Beyond acting, Gere composed and performed music for Pretty Woman, played guitar for Runaway Bride, and studied tap dancing for Chicago.

Outside of his film career, Gere is a practicing Tibetan Buddhist and a prominent advocate for human rights in Tibet, serving as co-founder of Tibet House US, creator of the Gere Foundation, and Chairman of the Board for the International Campaign for Tibet. His political advocacy regarding Tibet led to a permanent ban from entering China and from presenting at the Academy Awards. Gere also supports AIDS awareness, ecological causes, and tribal rights organizations. In his personal life, he has been married three times—to Cindy Crawford, Carey Lowell, and Alejandra Silva—and has three biological children.