Gere first worked professionally at theSeattle Repertory Theatre and theProvincetown Playhouse on Cape Cod in 1969, where he starred inRosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. His first major acting role was in the 1971 rock operaSoon, written by Scott Fagan and Joe Kookoolis, which opened on Broadway at the Ritz Theatre and closed after three performances.[15][16] Following that, he appeared in the original London stage version ofGrease, in 1973.[8] Gere was one of the first notable Hollywood actors to play a homosexual character, starring as agay Holocaust victim in the 1979Broadway production ofBent, for which he earned aTheatre World Award.
Gere began appearing inHollywood films in the mid-1970s. Originally cast in a starring role inThe Lords of Flatbush (1974), he was replaced after fighting with his co-starSylvester Stallone. Gere played a small but significant part inLooking for Mr. Goodbar (1977) and starred in directorTerrence Malick's well-reviewed dramaDays of Heaven (1978).[8] The crime dramaAmerican Gigolo (1980) significantly boosted his profile and the romantic dramaAn Officer and a Gentleman (1982) (co-starringDebra Winger) cemented Gere's ascent to stardom, grossing almost $130 million[17] and winning twoAcademy Awards out of six nominations;[18] Gere himself received his firstGolden Globe Award nomination.[19] For the remainder of the 1980s, Gere appeared in films of varying critical and commercial reception.[20][21] His career rebounded with the releases ofInternal Affairs (1990) andPretty Woman (1990), the latter of which earned Gere his second Golden Globe Award nomination.[22] The 1990s saw Gere star in successful films includingSommersby (1993) (oppositeJodie Foster),Primal Fear (1996) andRunaway Bride (1999) (which reunited him with hisPretty Woman co-starJulia Roberts).[20] He also took a leading role in the action thrillerThe Jackal (1997), playing former IRA militant Declan Mulqueen; Gere affected an Irish accent for the role.[23]
Gere has said his politics regarding China, an important financial resource for major Hollywood studios, have made himunwelcome within Hollywood.[29] Gere embraced his apparent exile from Hollywood and instead appeared in independent films that garnered some of the best reviews of his career.[21] Gere was notably singled out for portraying businessman Robert Miller inArbitrage (2012), earning his fourthGolden Globe Award nomination. Among many positive reviews,[30]Peter Travers ofRolling Stone cited Gere's performance as "too good to ignore" and "an implosive tour de force".[31] Also in 2012, he received the Golden Starfish Award for Lifetime Achievement from theHamptons International Film Festival and the Career Achievement Award from theHollywood Film Awards.[32][33] Gere had earlier received an award from the34th Cairo International Film Festival in December 2010.[34]
Gere made a notable departure from his traditional screen persona withJoseph Cedar's political dramaNorman (2016). The film saw Gere portray Norman Oppenheimer, a small-time Jewishfixer. Gere himself described the character as an embodiment of the "sides of us we know are annoying and needy".[35] His portrayal of Oppenheimer was called "consistently, completely fascinating" byRogerEbert.com[36] and was singled out as a worthyAcademy Award contender byVariety.[37]
Gere composed and performed thePretty Woman piano theme and a guitar solo inRunaway Bride. He studied tap for three months to shoot half a day of dancing for his role as lawyer Billy Flynn inChicago.[38] He also studied karate forAn Officer and a Gentleman.[39]
Multiple film critics and media outlets have said Gere is one of the best actors never to have received anAcademy Award nomination.[40][41]
Political views and activism
Gere visiting theUSAID "Operation Lighthouse" Project in Mumbai
In 1993, Gere denounced the human rights abuses by theChinese government while announcing the nominees for best art direction during the65th Academy Awards. Afterwards he was permanently banned from being a presenter of the Academy Awards.[46][47]
In September 2007, Gere called for the boycott of the2008 Beijing Olympic Games to put pressure on China to make Tibet independent.[48][49] He starred in a Free Tibet-themedLancia commercial featuring theLancia Delta.[50] On June 27, 2011, Gere meditated inBorobudur Temple[51] inIndonesia. He actively supportsSurvival International, an organization dedicated to protecting the rights and lands of tribal peoples throughout the world.[52]
Gere campaigns for ecological causes andAIDS awareness. He currently serves on the board of directors for Healing the Divide, an organization that supports global initiatives to promote peace, justice and understanding.[53] Gere helped to establish the AIDS Care Home, a residential facility in India for women and children with AIDS, and also supports campaigns for AIDS awareness and education in that country. In 1999, he created the Gere Foundation India Trust to support a variety of humanitarian programs in India.[54]
On April 15, 2007, Gere appeared at an AIDS awareness rally inJaipur. During a live news conference to promote condom use among truck drivers, he embracedBollywood superstarShilpa Shetty,dipped her, and kissed her several times on the cheek. As a result of that gesture, a local court ordered the arrest of Gere and Shetty, finding them in violation of publicobscenity laws. Gere has said the controversy was "manufactured by a small hard-line political party". About a month later, a two-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice of India,K. G. Balakrishnan, described the case as "frivolous" and believed that such complaints against celebrities were filed for "cheap publicity" and have brought a bad name to the country. They ruled that Gere would remain free to enter the country.[55]
Gere contributed some of his writing for the bookWe Are One: A Celebration of Tribal Peoples, released in October 2009.[56] Gere discussed the persecution and loss of land of theJumma people as an example of a tragic story that repeats itself in different continents of the world, calling attention to the crime against their peaceful culture and how it reflects on humanity's relationship with nature and capacity to survive.[57] The royalties from the book's sale go to theindigenous rights organizationSurvival International.
In 2010, Gere stated that thewar in Iraq was not supported by the American people and that thepresidency of George W. Bush had "bullied" Americans into the decision.[58] He calledGeorge W. Bush a "very poor president".[59] In a press conference held on the sidelines of the34th Cairo International Film Festival, Gere said, "I'm very sorry about what the U.S. has done in Iraq. This war has been a tragedy for everyone. I hope that the people of Iraq can rebuild their country."[60]
In 2017, Gere criticizedBenjamin Netanyahu's policies on the Palestinians andIsrael's expansion ofsettlements in the occupiedWest Bank, stating, "Settlements are such an absurd provocation and, certainly in the international sense, completely illegal—and they are certainly not part of the program of someone who wants a genuine peace process."[62]
In November 2002, Gere married model and actressCarey Lowell.[78] They have a son, Homer James Jigme Gere, who was born in February 2000 and is named for his grandfathers as well as the Tibetan name "Jigme".[8][79] In September 2013, the two separated after 11 years of marriage. They spent three years in highly contested divorce proceedings inNew York County Supreme Court.[80] The case was settled in October 2016.[81] In early April 2018, Gere married Spanish activistAlejandra Silva.[82] In August 2018, they announced that they were expecting their first child;[83][84] their son was born in February 2019.[85][86] In April 2020, the birth of their second son was reported.[87][88]
Gere's interest inBuddhism began when he was in his 20s.[89] Gere first studiedZen Buddhism[89] underKyozan Joshu Sasaki. After studying Zen for five or six years,[89] he and Brazilian painter Sylvia Martins traveled in 1978 toNepal, where Gere met many Tibetan monks and lamas.[52] He then met the14th Dalai Lama in India[89] and became a practicingTibetan Buddhist (specifically of theGelugpa school)[89] and an active supporter of the Dalai Lama.[8]
In February 2023, Gere was diagnosed and hospitalized withpneumonia during a family vacation inNuevo Vallarta inMexico. It was reported by his wife that he had fully recovered from his illness.[90]
Gere has often been included on lists of famous vegetarians. However, his status as a vegetarian is disputed.[91][92][93][94]
On May 17, 2012,Albanian President,Bamir Topi awarded theMedal of Gratitude to Gere with the citation: "With gratitude and honor outstanding personality of the world art, great humanist and activist for the protection of human rights, which unmasked and the American public made known, and further, inhuman crimes, ethnic cleansing inKosovo, in1999, the Serbian military machine against theAlbanian civilian population living in its land."[107] On February 16, 2012, theGeorge Eastman Museum honored Gere with theGeorge Eastman Award for distinguished contribution to the art of film.[108]
^Parsons, Rhea (March 24, 2011)."Breaking Up With Richard Gere".The 'V' Word.Archived from the original on October 12, 2017. RetrievedOctober 12, 2017.Richard Gere is all of these things but there is one thing he's not: a Vegan. He's not even vegetarian.
^"Henry & Me: Film Review".The Hollywood Reporter. August 21, 2014.Archived from the original on August 31, 2024. RetrievedAugust 31, 2024.
