Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson was born on January 3, 1956, in Peekskill, New York, USA as the sixth of eleven children to parents Hutton Gibson, a railroad brakeman, and Ann Gibson, who was born in Australia and died in December of 1990. Though born in the US, Mel and his family moved to New South Wales, Australia. After high school, Mel studied at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, performing at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts alongside future film thespians Judy Davis and Geoffrey Rush. After college, Mel had a few stints on stage and starred in a few TV shows. Eventually, he was chosen to star in Mad Max and in a movie called Tim, co-starring Piper Laurie. The small budgeted movie Mad Max made him known worldwide, while Tim garnered him an award for Best Actor from the Australian Film Institute (equivalent to the Oscar). Later, he went on to star in Gallipoli, which earned him a second award for Best Actor from the AFI. In 1980, he married Robyn Moore and, as of today, they are still together and have seven children. In 1984, Mel made his American debut in The Bounty, which co-starred Anthony Hopkins. Then in 1987, Mel starred in what would become his signature series, Lethal Weapon, in which he played "Martin Riggs". In 1990, he took on the interesting starring role in Hamlet, which garnered him some critical praise. He also made the more endearing Forever Young and the somewhat disturbing The Man Without a Face. 1995 brought his most famous role as "Sir William Wallace" in Braveheart, for which he won two Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director. From there, he made such box office hits as The Patriot, Ransom, and Payback. Today, Mel remains an international superstar mogul, continuously topping the Hollywood power lists as well as the Most Beautiful and Sexiest lists. His $25 million paycheck for The Patriot is the latest milestone for actor's salaries.
Signs (2002): $25,000,000
We Were Soldiers (2002): $25,000,000
The Patriot (2000): $25,000,000
Chicken Run (2000): £ 1,000,000
Conspiracy Theory (1997): $20,000,000
Ransom (1996): $20,000,000
Maverick (1994): $15,000,000
Lethal Weapon 3 (1992): $10,000,000
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985): $1,200,000 (Australia)
Mad Max (1979): $15,000 (Australia)
Summer City (1977): $400 (Australian)
Ranked #12 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997] Born at 4:45pm-EST. Chosen by People (USA) magazine as one of the "50 Most Beautiful People" in the world. [1996] Educated at University of New South Wales, Australia. Attended drama school with Judy Davis. They played Romeo and Juliet together. Chosen by People magazine as one of the "50 Most Beautiful People" in the world. [1991] Chosen by People magazine as one of the "50 Most Beautiful People" in the world. [1990] Trained at NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Arts). As well as Judy Davis, other fellow students, during his time there, included Colin Friels and Dennis Olsen. Awarded the AO (Officer of the Order of Australia), Australia's highest honor, in mid-1997. Roommates with Geoffrey Rush in college. He took up acting only because his sister submitted an application behind his back. The night before an audition, he got into a fight, and his face was badly beaten, an accident that won him the role. Brother of actor, Donal Gibson. Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the "100 Sexiest Stars" in film history (#37). [1995] Chosen as People Magazine's first "Sexiest Man Alive." [1985] Is a big fan of The Three Stooges. First studied drama at the New Zealand Drama School, Toi Whakaari in Wellington, New Zealand. After getting accepted he completed the course and used this as a foot-in into NIDA in Australia in 1975. He and his wife met through a dating service. Has a horseshoe kidney (two kidneys fused into one). Owns a production company with branches in the USA, Australia and the UK. Ranked #15 in Premiere's 2003 annual "Power 100" list. Had ranked #17 in 2002. His voice in Mad Max was dubbed for the film's US release. The doctor who delivered him into the world is believed to be Charles Sweet, grandfather of filmmaker Jay Ruzicka. He was a part of the movment dubbed the "Australian New Wave" by the press. They were a group of filmmakers and performers who emerged from Down Under at about the same time in the early 1980's and found work in other parts of the world. Other members included actress Judy Davis and directors George Miller, Gillian Armstrong and Peter Weir. He was the first Australian actor to be paid $1,000,000 for a film role. Almost turned down the role of William Wallace in Braveheart because he thought he was too old for the role. He asked the producers if he could direct it instead. A compromise was made, he could direct the movie if he agreed to portray Wallace. Shares birthday with J.R.R. Tolkien. His father, Hutton Gibson, moved the family from upstate New York to Sydney, New South Wales, Australia in 1968 after winning as a contestant on Jeopardy!. For The Passion of the Christ, which he directed, wrote and produced, he spent 25 million dollars of his own money. Back in 1992, he started doing research for the movie that was not released until 2004. Has 7 children: daughter, Hannah Gibson (born 1980); twin sons, 'Edward Gibson' and Christian Gibson (born 1982); son, Willie Gibson (born 1985); son, Louis Gibson (born 1988); son, Milo Gibson (born 1990); son, Tommy Gibson (born 1999). Son, Christian Gibson, is a freshman at the University of Colorado at Boulder. [Fall 2001] Was considered for the role of James Bond in GoldenEye. Ranked #10 in Premiere's 2004 annual "Power 100" list. Had ranked #15 in 2003. He is the highest-ranked actor on the 2004 list. Has his own private chapel in his grounds, where he attends mass every day. He was voted the 48th "Greatest Movie Star" of all time by Entertainment Weekly. Ranked number 1 on Forbes 2004 "Celebrity 100 List". He was the highest paid celebrity in 2004 with a reported $210,000,000 salary from his The Passion of the Christ profits, plus a potential $150,000,000 that is yet to be accounted for. He made more money than Oprah Winfrey ($210,000,000), J.K. Rowling ($147,000,000), Tiger Woods & Michael Schumacher ($80,000,000 each) and Steven Spielberg ($75,000,000) in 2004. In Portuguese, his name means "honey." Was considered for the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne in Batman. Was considered for the role of Wolverine in X-Men. Son of the controversial Hutton Gibson and Anne Gibson. In the movie Forever Young, he needed to appear older in the last few scenes. Because his eyes were so bright blue, no matter how many wrinkles they put on him, he did not look authentically older. So, he had to wear gray contacts, in order to look old. Along with Warren Beatty, Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford, Richard Attenborough and Kevin Costner one of 6 people to win and Academy Award for "Best Director", though they are mainly known as actors. Was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles in May 2003, and gave the commencement address. Ranked #15 on Premiere's 2005 Power 50 List. Had ranked #10 in 2004. His favourite films include, The Big Country, Double Indemnity, and Spartacus His family line goes back several generations in Australia, but his ancestors originally came from Ireland and Scotland. Was offered the role of Eliot Ness in The Untouchables, but had to decline because he was already working on one of the Lethal Weapon films. He turned down the role of Harvey Dent/Two Face in _Batman Forever (1995)_ , due to scheduling conflicts with Braveheart. Owns a summer home in Branford, Connecticut. When Apocalypto is finished, he plans to donate six replicas of Mayan pyramids and several movie-set villages. Flew to Fiji in early December 2004 where he bought the 2,160 hectare island of Mago from a Japanese hotel chain for $15 million. He plans to turn the Pacific paradise, that is home to forty residents, mostly coconut farmers and their families, into his own personal retreat. The South Pacific island boasts two lagoons and stunning white-sand beaches. The sale was finalized in March 2005. Gibson has been widely perceived as a conservative Republican, even though he has never identified himself as such. In March 2004 he expressed doubts over the Iraq war, in particular the failure to find weapons of mass destruction, although he maintained that President George W. Bush had "done a lot of good" elsewhere. At the People's Choice Awards ceremony in January 2005, Gibson again condemned the Iraq war and praised the liberal director Michael Moore and his documentary film Fahrenheit 9/11. Many of Gibson's positions are in accordance with traditional Catholicism. He released a statement in March 2005 condemning the euthanasia of Terri Schiavo, and has criticized stem cell research. He is also a proponent of the death penalty, which many conservative Catholics support but which the Roman Catholic Church opposes. He was the original choice to play Jack Stanton in Primary Colors but lost out to John Travolta. He was named after the Church of St. Mel in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, Ireland where his mother's family is from. Was spoofed in both South Park and Family Guy, and both of the times he was spoofed, there was a reference to the Looney Tunes cartoons. In the South Park episode "The Passion of the Jew", his character acts a lot like Daffy Duck in the cartoon _Yankee Doodle Daffy (1943)_, while scaring Stan and Kenny, in the hopes that they will both torture him. And in the Family Guy episode "North by North Quahog", he chases Peter and Lois Griffin to the top of Mount Everest and is tricked into walking off a ledge, to which he plummets to the ground, very much like Wile E. Coyote does in several cartoons. Gibson has an estimated fortune of $850 million, according to the "Los Angeles Business Journal". The size of his fortune him the 47th richest person in the Los Angeles area and the wealthiest actor in the world. His performance as "Mad" Max Rockatansky in the "Mad Max" trilogy is ranked #78 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time. Braveheart is ranked #62 on the American Film Institute's 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time. Ranked #17 on Premiere's 2006 "Power 50" list. Had ranked #15 in 2005. Turned down the role of Sgt. John McLoughlin in World Trade Center to direct Apocalypto instead. On July 28, 2006, he was arrested for drunk driving in Malibu, California. Checked himself into a recovery program for alcohol abuse. [1st August 2006] Pleaded no contest to DUI on 17 August 2006 and was ordered to attend one year of Alcholics Anonymous meetings. For the first four-and-a-half months, he must attend those meetings five times a week, and for the remainder of the time, he must attend three times a week. Gibson was also ordered to pay $1200 in fines and penalties and $100 in restitution. Father-in-law of Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Played a pilot in three movies: Air America, Forever Young and Ransom. Has bipolar disorder. Moved to Sydney, Australia at age 12 with his family. Received the Chairman's Visionary Award from Latin Business Association Chairman Rick Sarmiento during the 2006 Latino Global Business Conference and Digital Expo in Beverly Hills, California, on 2 November 2006. Gibson's appearance marked his first public appearance since his DUI arrest on 28 July in Malibu. Director Martin Scorsese sent him the script for The Departed, offering him an unspecified role in the film. Gibson was unable to accept the role as he was starting production on Apocalypto that same year. Oliver Stone has tried casting him twice. Once as Jim Garrison in JFK, and another time as Sgt. John McLoughlin in World Trade Center. Cited as America's Favorite Movie Star in Harris Polls conducted in 1996 and 2003. A chain smoker for most of his career, in 2004 Gibson's wife persuaded him to limit his addiction to just three cigarettes a day. However this did not last. Turned down the role of the Terminator in James Cameron's "The Terminator" (1984). Actor Girard Swan formerly worked as his Stand In and Photo Double. Was considered for the role of Robert Clayton Dean in "Enemy of the State" (1998). On 27 January 1997, nine lesbian and gay filmmakers met with Gibson on the set of Conspiracy Theory. Conceived and sponsored by GLAAD, the day long event gave the filmmakers the opportunity to meet with director Richard Donner, producer Joel Silver, and co-stars Patrick Stewart and Julia Roberts. A 40-minute lunch with Gibson, however, found the filmmakers not only discussing the inner workings of the industry but also Gibson's troubled relationship with the lesbian and gay community. Endorsed the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor of California in the 2006 mid-term elections. In interviews promoting The Passion of the Christ, Gibson admitted that depression had led him to contemplate suicide, and that he made the film to "heal" himself.