50 things you probably didn't know about Johnny Depp: His connection to Nicolas Cage

Johnny Depp is an award-nominated actor known for his portrayal of unique characters including Edward Scissorhands, Pirates of the Caribbean and The Rum Diary.

1. He was born John Christopher Depp in Owensboro, Kentucky, on June 9, 1963.

2. His father is John Christopher Depp, a civil engineer and his mother is Betty Sue Palmer (née Wells), a waitress. Johnny is the youngest of 4 children.

3. As a young child, his parents moved around a lot and he lived in 20 different cities before his parents settled down in n Miramar, Florida, in 1970.

4. His parents divorced when he was young and he had family problems. As a way to deal with the pain, he began to cut himself which resulted in self-inflicted scars which he still has today. In a 1993 interview, he reflected on this by saying "My body is a journal in a way. It's like what sailors used to do, where every tattoo meant something, a specific time in your life when you make a mark on yourself, whether you do it yourself with a knife or with a professional tattoo artist".

5. He dropped out of school at age 15 in the hopes of becoming a rock musician.

6. But just two weeks after dropping out, he went back to school but shockingly enough, the principal would not accept him back in. He advised Depp to pursue his musical career dream.

7. Johnny fronted a series of garage bands including The Kids, which once opened for Iggy Pop.

8. Depp collaborated with the band Rock City Angels and co-wrote their song "Mary".

9. He got married for the first time in 1983 to Lori Anne Allison, the sister of his band's bass player and singer. She was a makeup artist.

10. Johnny did odd jobs here and there to make ends meet while he pursued his music career. He was even a pen salesman for some time.

11. We have Nicolas Cage to thank for his acting career! He got into acting after a visit to Los Angeles, California, with his former wife, Lori who introduced him to actor. Nicolas advised him to pursue acting instead of music.

12. Depp and Lori were divorced two years later but he didn't stay single for long. He got engaged to Jennifer Grey which later fell through and then got engaged to actress Sherilyn Fenn. Wow, that's a lot of engagement rings!

13. Fenn and Depp auditioned for the 1986 film Thrashin' and they were both cast, with Depp being chosen by the film's director to star as the lead, which would have been Depp's second major role. Depp was later turned down by the film's producer, who rejected the director's decision.

14. In 1987 he shot to stardom when he replaced Jeff Yagher in the role of undercover cop Tommy Hanson in the popular TV series 21 Jump Street (1987).

15. After becoming a teen heartthrob, Depp decided it was time to move onto films and do some more serious acting. His first major role was in the 1984 classic horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street.

16. Depp has a long-standing working relationship with director Tim Burton and it all began when Depp starred in Edward Scissorhands. Depp later said that "within 10 minutes of hearing about the project, I was committed."

17. After the success of Edward Scissorhands, Johnny made a decision to never repeat the same characters but to always challenge himself with new and different roles to play.

18. While filming the movie, he began a relationship with co-star Winona Ryder, for whom he tattooed "Winona Forever" on his right arm. After breaking up, he changed it to "Wino Forever"

19. While filming What's Eating Gilbert Grape in 1993, he dared costar Leonardo DiCaprio to sniff a rancid pickled egg and paid DiCaprio $500 when he did.

20. In 1993, while filming Arizona Dream with Faye Dunaway, Johnny Depp learned she wanted to jump on a trampoline. During a break in shooting, he and a friend drove 80 miles to a sporting goods store and brought one back to the set.

21. He co-owned a nightclub in LA called The Viper Room which opened in 1993. It was outside this club that River Phoenix died from collapsed and died of drug-induced heart failure on the sidewalk.

22. While he owned The Viper Room, Depp would randomly give out $50 and $100 bills to homeless people outside the club.

23. In 1994, he began dating British supermodel Kate Moss and they were together for four years.

24. Suspected of being drunk and fighting with Moss, Depp was arrested in 1994 on suspicion of criminal mischief after trashing his $1,200-a-night room at New York City's Mark Hotel.

25. Depp began a relationship with Vanessa Paradis, in 1998 a French actress and singer whom he met while filming The Ninth Gate. "[She] walked towards me, directly at me, and just said 'Hi.' And then I just knew, you know, it's over with," he told Oprah. Meeting Paradis, he says, "changed [my life] completely."

26. He was arrested in 1998 after fighting with paparazzi who were following him while he was on a date with Vanessa.

27. They have two children together daughter Lily-Rose Melody Depp (born 1999), and son John "Jack" Christopher Depp III (born 2002).

28. The family lived in Paris and in Los Angeles. Between the two, he said he preferred Paris because he likes the anonymity of living in France and his simpler life there.

29. In 2011, Depp became a U.S. resident again, because France wanted him to become a permanent resident, which he said would require him to pay income tax in both countries.

30. He got in trouble in 2003 after saying "America is dumb, is something like a dumb puppy that has big teeth-that can bite and hurt you, aggressive." to Germany's Stern magazine. He later said they had taken his comments out of context.

31. In 2003, he starred as the flamboyant pirate Jack Sparrow in 2003's Pirates of the Caribbean. He admitted in an interview that his inspiration for this role was Keith Richards.

32. The movie become a huge summer hit and has since, been turned into a movie franchise. He earned his first ever Oscar nod with this role.

33. In 2007, Depp's daughter recovered from a serious illness, an E. coli infection that began to cause her kidneys to shut down and resulted in an extended hospital stay. To thank Great Ormond Street Hospital, Depp visited the hospital in November 2007, dressed in his Captain Jack Sparrow outfit, and spent four hours reading stories to the children. In 2008, he donate $2 million the hospital.

34. Following the death of Heath Ledger in 2008, Depp was one of three actors--along with Jude Law and Colin Farrell--that stepped in to play variations of Ledger's character, Troy, in Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus (2009), in order to finish the film.

35. The actors donated their salaries from the fantasy film to Matilda, Ledger's daughter.

36. Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy was so successful, the producers approached Depp to make a sequel. To make the offer irresistible for him to reject, they offered $55 million to do On Stranger Tides (2011).

37. Depp also voiced the character in the video game Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow.

38. In 2004, Depp formed his production company Infinitum Nihil to develop projects where he will serve as actor and/or producer. Depp is the founder and CEO, while his sister, Christi Dembrowski, serves as president

39. He lent his voice to a titular chameleon in the 3D animated NickeIodeon film Rango. Typically, voices for animation movies are recorded in a studio but for Rango, the actors will altogether in one room, acting out the scenes.

40. Depp played the title role of Sweeney Todd in Tim Burton's film adaptation of the musical, for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.

41. Following months of media speculation, Depp and Paradis announced their separation in June 2012. Depp has been dating actress and model Amber Heard since 2012 after the pair met on the set of the film The Rum Diary.The couple became engaged on Christmas Eve in 2013.

42. He may be retiring soon! During an interview with BBC in 2013, he said he hopes to be involved with "quieter things" at some point in the near future, implying that he will retire from acting. Depp explained in further detail during the interview: "I wouldn't say I'm dropping out any second, but I would say it's probably not too far away. When you add up the amount of dialogue that you say per year and you realise that you've said written words more than you've had a chance to say your own words, you start thinking about that as an insane option for a human being."

43. His production company's first movie was The Rum Diary, in 2011 which was adapted from the novel of the same name by Hunter S. Thompson.

44. Depp has around 13 tattoos. They include a Native American in profile, Lily-Rose" (his daughter's name) over his heart, "Betty Sue" (his mother's name) on his left biceps, and a sparrow flying over water with the word "Jack" (his son's name; the sparrow is flying towards him rather than away from him as it is in Pirates of the Caribbean) on his right forearm.

45. He is not religious but he says " have faith in my kids. And I have-I have faith, you know, that as long as you keep moving forward, just keep walking forward, things will be all right, I suppose, you know. Faith in terms of religion, I don't-religion is not my specialty, you know.

46. Depp believes he has Native American ancestry. "I guess I have some Native American [in me] somewhere down the line. My great-grandmother was quite a bit of Native American, she grew up Cherokee or maybe Creek Indian. Makes sense in terms of coming from Kentucky, which is rife with Cherokee and Creek."

47. He has been voted People's "Sexiest Man Alive" for two years, in 2003 and again in 2009.

48. Depp and Amber Heard get engaged in January 2014.

49. Depp and Tim Burton have worked together seven times in the films Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride,Sweeney Todd, and Alice In Wonderland.

50. His net worth is $350 million.

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