American actor and filmmaker (born 1956) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson AO (born January 3, 1956)[2] is an American actor and film director.[3][4][5][6] He is mostly known for his roles in action. Among his most famous roles are in Mad Max (1979), Gallipoli (1981), The Bounty (1984), Lethal Weapon (1987), and Braveheart (1995).[2] He directed The Passion of the Christ in 2004. He loosely based it on the visions of St. Catherine Emmerich.
Mel Gibson | |
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Born | Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson January 3, 1956 |
Occupation(s) | Actor, film director |
Years active | 1979 - present |
Spouse(s) | Robyn Moore Gibson (m. 1980–2011)[1] |
Children | 8 |
Parent(s) | Hutton Gibson Anne Patricia (née Reilly) |
Signature | |
Gibson was born in Peekskill, New York, United States. His father, Hutton Gibson, was a veteran soldier during World War II, and was also a famous writer. His family moved to Australia in 1968, when he was 12.[7] He studied acting at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney. He also has Irish citizenship.[8]
During the 1980s, Gibson founded Icon Entertainment, a production company, which Atom Egoyan described as "an alternative to the studio system". When director Peter Weir cast him as a major character in World War I drama Gallipoli, he earned a Best Actor from the Australian Film Institute Awards,[9] which cemented him as an serious, versatile and recognisable actor.
In 1995, Gibson received the Academy Award for Best Picture and the Academy Award for Best Director for his work on Braveheart. He later directed and produced The Passion of the Christ in 2004, a controversial[10] drama regarding Jesus, which was viewed as antisemitic by many people. Allegations of antisemitism and racism by Gibson led to a downfall in his career,[11] and later revived his career, particularly with the 2016’s Hacksaw Ridge, which won two Academy Awards[12][13] and was nominated for an additional four.
Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson was born in Peekskill, New York, as the sixth of 11 children. He is of Irish descent, and the second son of Hutton Gibson, a writer, and Irish-born Anne Patricia (nee Reilly, died 1990).[14][15] Gibson’s paternal grandmother was opera contralto Eva Mylott (1875–1920), who was born in Australia, to Irish parents,[16] while his paternal grandfather, John Hutton Gibson, was a millionaire and tobacco businessman from the South.[17][18] One of Gibson's younger brothers, Donal, is also an actor.[19] Gibson's first name is derived from St. Mel’s Cathedral, located in his mother's hometown of Longford, Ireland.[20] His second name, Colmcille,[21] is also shared with an Irish saint. Because of his mother, Gibson possesses dual Irish and American citizenship.[22] Gibson is also an Australian permanent resident.[23][24]
Gibson's father was awarded US$145,000 in a work-related-injury lawsuit against the New York Central Railroad on Valentine's Day, 1968, and soon afterwards relocated his family to West Pymble, Sydney, Australia.[25] Gibson was twelve at the time. The move to his grandmother's native Australia was for economic reasons, and his father's expectation that the Australian Defence Force would reject his eldest son for the draft during the Vietnam War.[26]
During his years in high school, Gibson was educated by members of the Congregation of Christian Brothers at St Leo’s Catholic College in Wahroonga, New South Wales.[27][28]
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