An Officer and a Gentleman, Pretty Woman, Chicago
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$100 Million
“The secret of my success is hairspray.” One ranked the “Sexiest Man Alive,” Richard Gere launched into the Hollywood scene in the 1970s with a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977). He skyrocketed to fame just three years later with his outstanding performance in American Gigolo (1980), which sealed his fate as an A-list actor and sex symbol. In the decades following, he cashed in on his talents and sex appeal with stunning performances in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), Pretty Woman (1990), Primal Fear (1996), Runaway Bride (1999), and many others. Now 69 years old, the former heartthrob is no longer worried about his sex appeal and happily takes offbeat roles like his latest work in Norma: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer (2016).
Early Life and Career Beginnings
A direct descendant of pilgrims on the Mayflower, Richard Tiffany Gere came into this world on August 31, 1949, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Raised in a blue-collar family with his father working in insurance, Gere attended North Syracuse Central High School and excelled at playing the trumpet and gymnastics. He was awarded a gymnastics scholarship to the University of Massachusetts Amherst and spent two years studying philosophy before he realized his true passion was far beyond the balance beams and tumbling mats.
The self-described shy boy from Philly had huge dreams and fought his inhibitions when he auditioned and won his first role in a 1969 production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead at the Seattle Repertory Theater. He appeared in the Cape Cod Provincetown Playhouse production and knew he found his true calling. “I think most actors start acting because they have an inability to fully express themselves,” he said. “I think that’s the first impulse that makes us want to play a character and get on stage—it’s a vehicle to express yourself. I think most actors are very shy. I was never the kid who always got up on the table to perform.”
In 1973, Gere caught another huge break when he starred as Danny in the first London stage production of Grease. His performance blew everyone away and garnered him widespread praise all the way back to Hollywood. He made his silver screen debut two years later in Report to the Commissioner (1975) and snagged a minor role in Baby Blue Marine (1976) with television credits in Chelsea D.H.O. (1975), Strike Force (1975), and Kojak (1976). Then, in 1977, he gave a stellar performance as Tony Lopanto in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, directed by Richard Brooks.
“I loved Richard Brooks,” Gere later said. “He was a real character, old Hollywood. He bridged old Hollywood and new Hollywood. He was a writer-director-producer, super smart, super energetic. He loved that character and we kept on pushing each other to go further with him.” Ironically, Gere didn’t know what the film was about since Brooks wrote the script but refused to show it to any of the actors. “I went over to his house at the appointed time and I was ushered into a room with a tea table and one straight back chair,” Gere recalled. “The script was placed on the tea table. He said, ‘You have half an hour.’ I discovered he blacked out everything that wasn’t my character. All I ever saw was what I was in.”
Rise to Fame
Gere followed up with a starring role in Days of Heaven (1978) and then turned heads in 1979 when he graced the Broadway stage as a homosexual Holocaust victim in Bent. The production marked the first time in history that an A-list actor took on a gay role on the stage. Gere’s performance paid off as he earned a Theatre World Award. A year later, he was at it again when he starred in American Gigolo (1980), which finally established him as a sex symbol in Tinsel Town.
Gere sustained his high-profile status throughout the 1980s and earned his first Golden Globe Award nomination for his work opposite Debra Winger in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982). The film grossed over $130 million at the box office and was Gere’s biggest hit of the decade as he added in credits in mildly successful flicks like The Honorary Consul (1983), Breathless (!983), The Cotton Club (1984), King David (1985), No Mercy (1986), Power (1986), and Miles from Home (1988).
In the 1990s, Gere’s career shifted back into overdrive when he found his niche as a romantic lead and a dramatic actor. He joined Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman (1990) and earned a Golden Globe Award nomination. Then, he proved his serious side in Internal Affairs (1990) and followed up with Rhapsody in August (1991) before he made his debut as an executive producer with Final Analysis (1992), Mr. Jones (1993), and Sommersby (1993). He spent the rest of the decade wowing audiences as the “Sexiest Man Alive” in Intersection (1994), Primal Fear (1996), The Jackal (1997), and Runaway Bride (1999).
By the new millennium, Gere was well established in the industry and returned to the silver screen in Autumn in New York (2000) and The Mothman Prophecies (2002). He then starred as Billy Flynn in the 2002 musical adaptation of Chicago (2002) and appeared in Shall We Dance? (2004), The Flock (2007), Nights in Rodanthe (2008), Amelia (2009), The Double (2011), Arbitrage (2012), and Time Out of Mind (2014).
Over the last several years, Gere turned a lot of his attention to activism and is an outspoken advocate for human rights in Tibet. He founded the Tibet House and The Gere Foundation for the International Campaign for Tibet. His stance on Tibetan rights caused a few issues for his career since he was banned from presenting at the Academy Awards after he denounced the Chinese government on stage at the 1993 ceremony. “There are definitely movies that I can’t be in because the Chinese will say, ‘Not with him,’” Gere admits.
Outside of his activism, the 69-year-old Gere is completely settled in his life and career, no longer worrying about maintaining his status as the “Sexiest Man Alive.” This gives him the freedom to pursue other, more interesting projects including films like Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer (2016), The Dinner (2017), and Three Christs (2017). He also returned to television in eight episodes of MotherFatherSon in 2019.
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