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Richard Gere

Richard GereAKA Richard Tiffany Gere

Born: 31-Aug-1949
Birthplace: Philadelphia, PA

Gender: Male
Religion: Buddhist
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Actor

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: American Gigolo

Richard Gere attended college on a gymnastics scholarship, studying philosophy and drama for three years before dropping out to pursue a career in acting. He started on stage with the Seattle Repertory Theatre and New York's Provincetown Playhouse. On Broadway, Gere understudied the lead in the original Broadway production of Grease (Barry Bostwick starred), and Gere took the lead when the play went to London.

In his film debut, 1975's Report to the Commissioner, Gere had a small role as a pimp in Times Square. In his most famous roles, he played a doped-up hustler in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, a high-priced hooker in American Gigolo, a preening car thief in Breathless, a psychotic cop in Internal Affairs, and a tap-dancing shyster in Chicago.

In 1979, Gere became one of the first big-name Hollywood actors to play gay, starring as a homosexual Holocaust victim in the Broadway play Bent. He had a brief nude scene, and his character fantasized aloud about oral sex. Gere won a Theatre World Award for his performance. But this was more than a decade before Tom Hanks' role in Philadelphia, and the notion that Gere might have been only acting was inconceivable to many Americans. A persistent yet completely unfounded rumor runs that he had been in the emergency room at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles to have a gerbil removed from his rectum.

Gere is an activist for Tibetan independence. Gere is presently a devout Buddhist, and associated with the Dalai Lama. With composer Philip Glass and several others, Gere co-founded Tibet House, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of Tibetan culture, headquartered in New York's Greenwich Village.

Father: Homer Gere (owned a small insurance company)
Mother: Doris Gere (housewife)
Girlfriend: Dawn Steel (later President of Columbia Pictures, dated 1975-78)
Girlfriend: Penelope Milford (actress, together 7 years 1970s-80s)
Wife: Cindy Crawford (model, m. 12-Dec-1991, div. 1995)
Girlfriend: Sylvia Martins-Niarchos (painter and party girl, dated in 1980s)
Girlfriend: Tina Chow (model, dated in 1980s, d. 1992 AIDS)
Girlfriend: Laura Bailey (model, b. 1972, dated 1990s)
Girlfriend: Elizabeth Nottoli (model, dated 1990s)
Girlfriend: Diane von Furstenberg (fashion designer, dated 1990s)
Slept with: (reportedly) Kim Basinger, Julia Roberts, Diana Ross, Barbra Streisand, and Uma Thurman.
Wife: Carey Lowell (actress, b. 11-Feb-1961, m. 9-Nov-2002, one son)
Daughter: Hannah Dunne (stepdaughter, b. 9-Dec-1989 to Lowell and Griffin Dunne)
Son: Homer James Jigme Gere (b. 6-Feb-2000)

    High School: North Syracuse Central High School, North Syracuse, NY (1967)
    University: Philosophy and Drama, University of Massachusetts (dropped out)

    amfAR National Council
    Amnesty International
    Friends of Hillary
    Obama for America
    Endorsement of Visa
    Converted to Buddhism from Judaism
    Birthday: Elizabeth Taylor (1992)
    Wedding: Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes (2006)
    Obscenity excessive kisses on Shilpa Shetty 15-Apr-2007, charges later overturned
    Irish Ancestry
    Risk Factors: Vegetarian, Lyme Disease

    FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
    Norman (3-Sep-2016)
    The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (26-Feb-2015)
    Movie 43 (1-Jan-2013)
    Arbitrage (21-Jan-2012)
    The Double (28-Oct-2011) · Paul Shepherdson
    When the Dragon Swallowed the Sun (5-Feb-2010) · Himself
    Amelia (23-Oct-2009) · George Putnam
    Hachiko: A Dog's Story (13-Jun-2009)
    Brooklyn's Finest (16-Jan-2009) · Eddie
    Nights in Rodanthe (26-Sep-2008)
    The Flock (13-Sep-2007) · Errol Babbage
    The Hunting Party (3-Sep-2007)
    I'm Not There (3-Sep-2007)
    The Hoax (15-Oct-2006)
    Bee Season (3-Sep-2005)
    Shall We Dance? (15-Oct-2004)
    Chicago (10-Dec-2002) · Billy Flynn
    Unfaithful (10-May-2002)
    The Mothman Prophecies (25-Jan-2002) · John Klein
    Dr. T & the Women (12-Sep-2000) · Dr. T
    Autumn in New York (11-Aug-2000) · Will
    Runaway Bride (25-Jul-1999)
    The Jackal (14-Nov-1997) · Declan Mulqueen
    Red Corner (31-Oct-1997) · Jack Moore
    Primal Fear (3-Apr-1996) · Martin Vail
    First Knight (7-Jul-1995) · Lancelot
    Intersection (21-Jan-1994) · Vincent Eastman
    Mr. Jones (8-Oct-1993) · Mr. Jones
    And the Band Played On (11-Sep-1993)
    Sommersby (5-Feb-1993) · Jack
    Final Analysis (7-Feb-1992) · Isaac Barr
    Rhapsody in August (May-1991)
    Pretty Woman (23-Mar-1990)
    Internal Affairs (12-Jan-1990) · Dennis Peck
    Miles From Home (12-Sep-1988) · Frank Roberts
    No Mercy (19-Dec-1986)
    Power (9-May-1986)
    King David (19-Jul-1985)
    The Cotton Club (14-Dec-1984) · Dixie Dwyer
    The Honorary Consul (30-Sep-1983)
    Breathless (22-Jun-1983) · Jesse
    An Officer and a Gentleman (28-Jul-1982) · Zack Mayo
    American Gigolo (8-Feb-1980) · Julian
    Yanks (19-Sep-1979) · Matt
    Bloodbrothers (15-Sep-1978)
    Days of Heaven (14-Sep-1978) · Bill
    Looking for Mr. Goodbar (7-Jan-1977)
    Baby Blue Marine (5-May-1976)
    Strike Force (12-Apr-1975)
    Report to the Commissioner (5-Feb-1975)


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