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| Real Name: Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson | ||||
| Birthday: January 3, 1956 | ||||
| Place of Birth: Peekskill, NY | ||||
| Education: National Institute of Dramatic Art, Sydney, Australia | ||||
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Introduced to American movie goers as Australian, the remarkably gorgeous, blue-eyed Mel Gibson actually came from Peekskill, New York. After a season onstage with Sydney's South Australian Theatre Company where he played both Oedipus and Henry IV, Gibson made his introduction as the post-apocalyptic action star of George Miller's "Mad Max" (1979) and in the very unique "Tim" (1979), for which he picked up his first of two Australian Film Institute Awards as Best Actor, portraying the role of a retarded handyman in love with Piper Laurie. Peter Weir's World War I production "Gallipoli" and "Mad Max 2" (both 1981), Miller's follow-up to "Mad Max" (released in the United States as "The Road Warrior"), established Gibson as an international sexy celebrity super star. "The Year of Living Dangerously" with Sigourney Weaver (1982), a film about the political unrest of 1960s Indonesia, gave Gibson his first romantic lead opposite Sigourney Weaver and launched him as a sex symbol.
Gibson then appeared in "Tequila Sunrise" with Michelle Pfieffer (1988) and then "Bird on a Wire" with Goldie Hawn (1990). Gibson next had a role in the sequel and smash hit "Lethal Weapon 2" (1989), but his trademarked charm could not save the action-comedy dud "Air America" (1990) from the poor writing and slow script. Next, in a surprising career move, Mel chose to take a role in Franco Zeffirelli's "Hamlet" starring Glenn Close (1990). While the film had problems, Gibson turned in a delicately played role of the famed prince in the first project produced by his Icon Productions. Mel continued in a more sappy role with "Forever Young" starring Jamie Lee Curtis (1992), then scored another gigantic hit with "Lethal Weapon 3" featuring Rene Russo (1993), then made his directorial debut with "The Man Without a Face" opposite a young Nick Stahl (1993), a drama where he hid his good looks behind the heavy makeup of a burn victim. After this sad and touching role, Gibson returned with "Maverick" with Jodie Foster (1994), working for a fourth time with "Lethal Weapon" director Richard Donner for a 1990's variation of the 1960's television Western comedy series. Gibson returned to the director's chair for "Braveheart" (1995), a project far bigger than any with which he had been previously involved in any role. Dressed in a kilt, wearing blue war paint and wielding a huge sword, Gibson starred as Sir William Wallace, a 13th-century Scottish nobleman persecuted for his efforts to free Scotland from English rule. The Academy Awards felt it worthy, voting it five awards including Best Picture and honoring Mel Gibson as Best Director. Later that same year, in addition to providing the voice for John Smith in Disney's animated comedy "Pocahontas” with Christian Bale (1995), Gibson made his screen singing introduction. His work with Ron Howard in "Ransom" with Rene Russo (1996), another box-office hit that earned $40 million its first week, preceded "Conspiracy Theory" (1997), his fifth film with Donner and a surprising commercial flop compared to their previous work, especially with Julia Roberts starring opposite Gibson. The actor-director pair rebounded with "Lethal Weapon 4" (1998).
Mel Gibson next starred as a murderous thief determined on getting his "Payback" (1999), a variation of the same Donald Westlake story that had inspired John Boorman's 1967 classic thriller "Point Blank". Playing to Gibson's strengths, the urban Western veered wildly from dark and disturbing to comic and funny but still managed a respectable box office draw. Gibson's sexy star power could not make Wim Wenders' "The Million Dollar Hotel" (2000) a mainstream hit. Gibson then joined Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich for the Revolutionary War drama "The Patriot" starring Heath Ledger (2000). Basically a Western, "The Patriot" cast him in the role of a retired cowboy still afraid of his memories of the French and Indian War, who clings to his pacifism until his son falls into enemy hands, beginning his course of revenge. After voicing Rocky the Rooster in the animated "Chicken Run" (2000), a a comedy escape drama with a touch of passion set on a sinister chicken farm in 1950's England, he ended the busy year as star of Nancy Meyers' romantic comedy "What Women Want" (2000). In 2002, Gibson was hired and cast in a role in "We Were Soldiers," directed by Gibson's "Braveheart" partner Randall Wallace. Next was the mystery thriller "Signs," the much anticipated M. Night Shyamalan film about crop circles. Mel Gibson was almost unrecognizable behind a wig of thinning hair and giant prosthetics in the 2003 film adaptation of Dennis Potter's acclaimed "The Singing Detective" featuring Katie Holmes.
Long before it was released, “The Passion of the Christ” came under extreme scrutiny from some religious groups and was criticized early on for intimations of anti-Semitism in the way Jews were shown to contribute to Jesus' persecution, an element that was not helped by some unwise, prejudiced sounding comments made by Mel Gibson's father, Hutton, who had said publicly that the Holocaust was logistically impossible. Critics were stunned by the film, many citing the violence and blood as unnecessary, while others praised Gibson's persistent portrayal. With interest in the controversial film at a fever pitch when in opened, "The Passion of the Christ" debuted to box office blockbuster income, thanks to the millions of true believers who boarded church busses and ran to theaters in droves. “The Passion of the Christ” became a runaway sensation, and perhaps the most profitable independent film of all time, taking in over $370 million in domestic box office and putting Mel Gibson into the fortunate position being able to make anything he wanted for his next project. Some hoped that he would return to “Braveheart” terrain, but Gibson instead chose to direct “Apocalypto” (2006), a rambling and rather peculiar looking film set in the ancient Maya civilization that focused on a young man’s hazardous journey into a world ruled by fear and cruelty where a traumatic end awaits him. Details about the story remained under tight wraps, though it became known that Gibson shot the entire film in the unheard of Mayan language, again risking the distancing of American theatergoers irritated with reading subtitles. Gibson also shot the film with unknown actors, adding further problems to an already problematic release for Disney. But little did the distributor know what lay ahead. On July 28, 2006, Gibson was pulled over in his Lexus on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, CA for doing 87 mph in a 45 mph zone. The police conducted a roadside sobriety test, including a breathalyzer that indicated a blood-alcohol level of 0.12, well over California’s 0.08 limit. Cuffed and stuffed for drunk driving, Gibson railed against the arresting officers, one of whom the actor believed was Jewish, spouting anti-Semitic slurs and blaming Jews for “all the wars in the world.” While in jail, a loud-mouthed Gibson continued his racist rants while trying to urinate in his cell and demeaning a female officer by calling her “sugar tits - all while trying to avoid the DUI charges.”
Released on $5000 bond, Gibson was cursed from all corners in the media once word spread of the incident on the Internet. Gibson blamed his outburst on a relapse into alcoholism, he had publicly admitted problems with booze and drugs in the past. Gibson later released a statement through his publicist that began: “I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested and said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable.” Many, particularly in Hollywood, felt his words were disingenuous, though Disney’s President of Production, Oren Aviv, himself Jewish, accepted Gibson’s apology. Meanwhile, Gibson went straight into rehab and after nearly three months of sobriety, he gave his first interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer, who asked a humbled Gibson about what happened that evening. Though he never claimed to be a racist, Gibson did confirm that his remarks were anti-Semitic. Attempting to crawl his way back into the hearts of movie goers, Gibson has three projects currently slated for release during the 2008-2009 movie season. First, the crime drama "Under And Alone" (2008) set in Southern California, where an ATF agent infiltrates the notorious Mongols motorcycle gang. Next is the drama "Sam And George" (2008) about two old friends who reunite after one of them (Mel Gibson) is released from prison after serving twenty years for a crime he didn't commit. And finally, the drama "Edge Of Darkness" (2009) about a police officer who investigates the death of his activist daughter.
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After a role as
a grudgingly mutinous Fletcher Christian opposite Anthony Hopkins' Captain
Bligh in "The Bounty", Gibson made an bad American debut
in "The River" (1984), playing a character so unemotionally stubborn
that few could sympathize. The well made but depressing "Mrs. Soffel"
(1984) followed quickly before Gibson returned to Australia to finish up the
"Mad Max" series with "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome"
(1985), a awkward spoof with less action, a bigger budget, Tina Turner
and Max, looking like a nomadic prophet. Gibson then took
two years off to focus on his family, returning to the movie screen in
"Lethal Weapon" (1987), where he created his most admired character, Martin Riggs, an
hotheaded homicide cop teamed with the co-star Danny Glover. The film shot Gibson to
super stardom, yielded three sequels and allowed him to fit in his natural playfulness as part of
a rich characterization for a modern
action hero. 
