50 facts about Richard Gere, actor and activist

Richard Gere began acting in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar and a starring role in Days of Heaven. Learn 50 facts you missed about Gere.

1. Richard Tiffany Gere is not only an actor but also an activist.

2. He began acting in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar and a starring role in Days of Heaven.

3. He came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol.

4. He went on to star in several hit films, including An Officer and a Gentleman, Pretty Woman, Primal Fear, Runaway Bride, Arbitrage and Chicago.

5. He won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and a Screen Actors Guild Award for part of the Best Cast for his role in Chicago.

6. Gere was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

7. His mother, Doris Ann was a housewife.

8. His father, Homer George Gere was an insurance agent for the Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, and had originally intended to become a minister.

9. Gere is the eldest son and second child.

10. His paternal great-grandfather had changed the spelling of the surname from "Geer".

11. Both of his parents were Mayflower descendants.

12. Gere's ancestors include Pilgrims Francis Eaton, John Billington, George Soule, Richard Warren, Degory Priest, Francis Cooke and William Brewster.

13. In 1967, Gere graduated from North Syracuse Central High School, where he excelled at gymnastics and music, playing the trumpet.

14. He attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst on a gymnastics scholarship, majoring in philosophy, but did not graduate, leaving after two years.

15. Gere first worked professionally at the Seattle Repertory Theatre and Provincetown Playhouse on Cape Cod in 1971, where he starred in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.

16. His first major acting role was in the original London stage version of Grease in 1973.

17. He began appearing in Hollywood films in the mid-1970s, playing a small but memorable part in Looking for Mr. Goodbar and starring in the director Terrence Malick's well-reviewed 1978 film, Days of Heaven.

18. In 1980, he became a major star with the film American Gigolo, followed in 1982 by the romantic drama An Officer and a Gentleman with Debra Winger, which grossed almost $130 million.

19. Experiencing several box office failures after 1982, Gere's career strengthened with the releases of Internal Affairs and Pretty Woman in 1990.

20. His status as a leading man was solidified and he went on to star in several successful films throughout the 1990s, including Sommersby, Primal Fear and Runaway Bride.

21. He also took a leading role in the 1997 action movie The Jackal, playing Declan Mulqueen.

22. Gere was named People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" in 1999.

23. In 2002, he appeared in three major films, including The Mothman Prophecies, Unfaithful and the Academy Award-winning film version of Chicago, for which he won a Golden Globe as "Best Actor - Comedy or Musical".

24. Gere's 2004 ballroom dancing drama Shall We Dance? was also a solid performer that grossed $170 million worldwide though his next film, Bee Season, was a commercial failure.

25. By 2007, Gere was co-starring with Jesse Eisenberg and Terrence Howard in The Hunting Party a thriller in which he played a journalist in Bosnia, as well as with Christian Bale, Heath Ledger and Cate Blanchett in Todd Haynes' semi-biographical film about Bob Dylan, I'm Not There.

26. In 2008, Gere co-starred with Diane Lane in the romantic drama Nights in Rodanthe. The film was widely panned by critics but grossed over $84 million worldwide.

27. Later in his career, Gere was honored twice for his lifetime achievement.

28. He received an award from the 34th Cairo International Film Festival in December 2010.

29. Gere was married to supermodel Cindy Crawford from 1991 to 1995.

30. In November 2002, he married model and actress Carey Lowell.

31. The couple has a son, Homer James Jigme Gere, who was born in February 2000 and is named after Gere's and Lowell's fathers, as well as the Tibetan name Jigme.

32. In September 2013, the two separated after 11 years of marriage.

33. Gere was raised attending a Methodist church.

34. His interest in Buddhism began when he was in his twenties.

35. He first studied Zen Buddhism under Kyozan Joshu Sasaki.

36. He met the 14th Dalai Lama in India and became a practicing Tibetan Buddhist of the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism and an active supporter of the political figure of free Tibet movement Dalai Lama.

37. Gere regularly visits Dharamsala, the headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

38. Gere is also an advocate for human rights in Tibet.

39. He is a co-founder of the Tibet House, creator of The Gere Foundation and Chairman of the Board of Directors for the International Campaign for Tibet.

40. Because he supports the Tibetan Independence Movement, he is permanently banned from entering the People's Republic of China.

41. He starred in a Free Tibet-themed Lancia commercial featuring the Lancia Delta.

42. Gere actively supports Survival International, an organization dedicated to protecting the rights and lands of tribal peoples throughout the world.

43. He contributed some of his writing for the book, We Are One: A Celebration of Tribal Peoples, released in October 2009.

44. Gere discussed the persecution and loss of land of the Jummas 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 humankind's own relationship with nature and capacity to survive.

45. The royalties from the sale of the book go to the indigenous rights organization, Survival International.

46. Gere campaigns for ecological causes and AIDS awareness.

47. He currently serves on the board of directors for Healing the Divide, an organization that supports global initiatives to promote peace, justice and understanding.

48. He 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.

49. In 1999, he created the Gere Foundation India Trust to support a variety of humanitarian programs in India.

50. On April 15, 2007, Gere appeared at an AIDS awareness rally in Jaipur, India.

Source: Wikipedia.org