- Born
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Birth nameMel Columcille Gerard Gibson
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Height5′ 9¾″ (1.77 m)
- Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson was born January 3, 1956 in Peekskill, New York, USA, as the sixth of eleven children of Hutton Gibson, a railroad brakeman, and Anne Patricia (Reilly) Gibson (who died in December of 1990). His mother was Irish, from County Longford, while his American-born father is of mostly Irish descent.
Mel and his family moved to Australia in the late 1960s, settling in New South Wales, where Mel's paternal grandmother, contralto opera singer Eva Mylott, was born. 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. Eventually, he was chosen to star in the films Mad Max (1979) and Tim (1979), co-starring Piper Laurie. The small budgeted Mad Max made him known worldwide, while Tim garnered him an award for Best Actor from the Australian Film Institute (equivalent to the Oscar).
Later, he went on to star in Gallipoli (1981), which earned him a second award for Best Actor from the AFI. In 1980, he married Robyn Moore and had seven children. In 1984, Mel made his American debut in The Bounty (1984), which co-starred Anthony Hopkins.
Then in 1987, Mel starred in what would become his signature series, Lethal Weapon (1987), in which he played "Martin Riggs". In 1990, he took on the interesting starring role in Hamlet (1990), which garnered him some critical praise. He also made the more endearing Forever Young (1992) and the somewhat disturbing The Man Without a Face (1993). 1995 brought his most famous role as "Sir William Wallace" in Braveheart (1995), for which he won two Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director.
From there, he made such box office hits as The Patriot (2000), Ransom (1996), and Payback (1999). Today, Mel remains an international superstar mogul, continuously topping the Hollywood power lists as well as the Most Beautiful and Sexiest lists.- IMDb mini biography by: TrendEkiD@aol.com -Rowspacing by Tony Hedlund
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SpouseRobyn Moore(June 7, 1980 - December 23, 2011) (divorced, 7 children)
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ChildrenTommy GibsonLucia GibsonLars Gibson
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ParentsAnne Patricia Gibson (Reilly)
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RelativesDonal Gibson(Sibling)
- Often acts and directs stories involving an individual who is persecuted, and fights for justice
- Has often portrayed a widower, in films such as Mad Max (the sequels), Lethal Weapon film series, Braveheart (1995), The Patriot (2000), Signs (2002), and Edge of Darkness (2010).
- Often portrays men who seek revenge for the murder of family or friends
- Rugged, chiseled features
- Rich, gravelly voice
- Almost turned down the role of William Wallace in Braveheart (1995) because he thought he was too old for the role. He asked the producers if he could direct it instead. A compromise was made, he could direct the movie if he agreed to portray Wallace.
- He was a mentor to the late actor Heath Ledger.
- For The Passion of the Christ (2004), which he directed, wrote and produced, he spent 25 million dollars of his own money. Back in 1992, he started doing research for the movie that was not released until 2004.
- His father, Hutton Gibson, moved the family from upstate New York to Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, in 1968 after winning as a contestant on Jeopardy! (1964).
- In interviews promoting The Passion of the Christ (2004), Gibson admitted that depression had led him to contemplate suicide, and that he made the film to "heal" himself.
- I like directing much better. It's more fun, that's all there is to it. It's essentially the same job, which is storytelling, but you have more control over the way you want to tell the story. It's a high. I love it.
- My fears: everything from being afraid that I'm going to run out of cream for my cornflakes right up to someone chopping my privates off.
- On his involvement in Braveheart (1995) as actor, director and producer: "If you're going to wear three hats, you'd better grow two more heads."
- There is no salvation for those outside the Church...I believe it. Put it this way. My wife is a saint. She's a much better person than I am. Honestly. She's like, Episcopalian, Church of England. She prays, she believes in God, she knows Jesus, she believes in that stuff. And it's just not fair if she doesn't make it, she's better than I am. But that is a pronouncement from the chair. I go with it.
- On his religious beliefs: "I'm not a done deal. I'm a work in progress. I'm still extremely flawed."
- Signs (2002) - $25,000,000
- We Were Soldiers (2002) - $25,000,000
- The Patriot (2000) - $25,000,000
- Chicken Run (2000) - £1,000,000
- Lethal Weapon 4 (1998) - $25,000,000
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