RICHARD GERE (Edward) is one of America’s foremost actors, known for his roles in such films as "The Mothman Prophecies," "An Officer and a Gentleman," "Days of Heaven," "American Gigolo," "Yank," "Pretty Woman," and the highly successful courtroom drama "Primal Fear." He recently starred in two popular romantic comedies: Robert Altman’s "Dr. T and the Women," in which he appeared with Helen Hunt, Liv Tyler, Farrah Fawcett and Kate Hudson, and Garry Marshall’s "Runaway Bride," where he created box-office chemistry with Julia Roberts as a cynical reporter writing about a commitment-phobic woman.
Gere began acting at the University of Massachusetts, where he was a philosophy major. After spending full sessions with the Provincetown Playhouse and Seattle Repertory Theatre, he performed in a number of New York plays, notably the title role in "Richard Farina: Long Time Coming and Long Time Gone." in addition to two plays by Sam Shepard, "Back Bog Beast Bait" and "A Killer’s Head."
His career was established with performances in the Broadway rock opera "Soon" and the New York production of "Habeus Corpus," and he won widespread recognition playing Danny Zuko in the Broadway and London productions of the hit musical "Grease."
Gere has many credits as an accomplished classical actor, including the Lincoln Center presentation of "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" and London’s Young Vic Theatre production of "The Taming of the Shrew."
His motion picture debut came in 1978 with the Oscar®-winning "Days of Heaven," for which he received the Italian equivalent of the Academy Award®. Among his subsequent films were Richard Brooks' "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" (filmed after but released before "Days of Heaven"), Robert Mulligan’s "Bloodbrothers," John Schlesinger’s "Yanks," and Paul Schrader’s "American Gigolo." Gere then returned to the Broadway stage in "Bent," winning the Theatre World Academy Award and rave reviews for his role as a homosexual prisoner at the Dachau concentration camp who loses his life rather than deny his identity.
His next film was the 1982 blockbuster "An Officer and a Gentleman." This was followed by "Breathless," "Beyond the Limit," "The Cotton Club," "Power," "No Mercy," and "Miles From Home." In 1990, he starred with Andy Garcia in Mike Figgis’s hit "Internal Affairs" as well as with Julia Roberts in that year’s top-grossing film, Garry Marshall’s "Pretty Woman." The following year, he made a guest appearance in Japanese director Akira Kurosawa’s "Rhapsody in August."
Gere has also executive-produced three of the films in which he has starred: "Final Analysis," "Mr. Jones," and "Sommershy." He was the first actor to agree to appear in And the Band Played On," the HBO adaptation of Randy Shilts’s book about the first five years of AIDS in America. Gere played the fictional role of a choreographer.
Gere’s first book, "Pilgrim," published in 1997 by Little, Brown and Company, is a collection of images that represent his twenty-five-year journey into Buddhism. With a foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the book is Gere’s personal vision of this ancient and spiritual world. An outspoken human rights advocate, Gere has done much to draw attention to the tragedy that has been unfolding in Tibet under Chinese occupation. He is the founder of the Gere Foundation, which contributes to numerous health, education, and human rights projects and is especially dedicated to promoting awareness of Tibet and its endangered culture.
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