Johnny Depp biography 2022

Johnny Depp biography

Johnny Depp was born June 9, 1963, in Owensboro, Kentucky, USA.

The son of John Christopher, a city engineer, and Betty Sue Palmer, a waitress and homemaker (He has a tattoo of his mother's name on his left arm), he relocated to Florida with his three siblings.

The family moved to Florida shortly after the death of his grandfather, with whom the future actor was close. Never the studious teenager and even more distraught by his parent's divorce, Depp delved into drugs and picked up a new passion: the guitar. The high-school dropout spent his days playing guitar in a garage band after he taught himself how to play with the instrument his mother bought him.

Johnny Depp joined a rock band called The Flame, with whom he toured the Florida nightclub circuit. The Flame dubbed themselves the Kids, and the band was hired as the opening act on an Iggy Pop tour.

Hoping to strike a chord as rockers, the Kids moved to Los Angeles. Depp took a job selling ballpoint pens over the phone to support himself, but he and his fellow rockers decided to break up and move on. More important things awaited Johnny Depp, who was married to makeup artist Lori Allison.

 At the time, their marriage was short-lived, but it did lead to something: Lori introduced Johnny to Nicolas Cage, who saw star potential in Depp. Thanks to their encounter, Depp was cast in his feature film debut, Nightmare on Elm Street, in 1984.

After a starring role in the campy Private Resort, a bit part in 1986's Platoon, and acting lessons at L.A.'s Loft Studio, Depp was cast as Officer Tom Hanson in 21 Jump Street.

Depp refused the role but accepted it and remained on the show for 3 years. To his dismay, Depp became a heartthrob posted on the wall of every teenage girl. Depp was allowed to prove his worth in the title role in Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands in 1990.

He starred in Cry-Baby that same year and even appeared in the final installment of Nightmare on Elm Street, Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare, in which he was credited as Oprah Noodlemantra.

The brooding actor made it a point to always take on different characterizations. Johnny Depp indeed never became pigeonholed, despite the oddball, wacky characters he usually portrayed, as seen in 1993's Benny & Joon and 1994's Ed Wood.

Depp made Hollywood and critics notice his incredible portrayal of a guy tired of his lifestyle in 1993's What's Eating Gilbert Grape.

While his work in 1995's Don Juan DeMarco and Nick of Time didn't garner much attention, Depp was highly praised for his turn as an FBI undercover agent who infiltrated the mob opposite Al Pacino in 1997's Donnie Brasco.

He also wrote, directed, and starred in The Brave that year. In 1998, Depp starred as Hunter S. Thompson in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, co-starring Benicio Del Toro, and tried his hand at sci-fi in 1999's The Astronaut's Wife, along with Charlize Theron.

He re-teamed with Tim Burton to star in Sleepy Hollow (1999), in a portrayal of constable Ichabod Crane.

Depp began the year with roles in The Man Who Cried (co-starring Christina Ricci), Before Night Falls, and the small film that could, Chocolat, as a gypsy who falls for Juliette Binoche.

While Depp has had his share of beautiful co-stars, he also had a wide variety of leading ladies in his life, such as ex-fiancées Sherilyn Fenn, Jennifer Grey, and Winona Ryder, with whom he was engaged for three years. The tattoo in honor of his Edward Scissorhands co-star once read Winona Forever; it has since been laser-altered to read Wino Forever.

Besides Winona, his most famous ex-fiancée is Kate Moss. Depp and the model were engaged from 1995 to 1997 and had an on - and off-ear relationship. Johnny Depp shares a house in France with Vanessa Paradis, a French actress, singer, and the mother of their daughter, Lily-Rose Melody, born in 1999.

The only reason Depp is ever away from home is to fulfill his film contracts; he loves his daughter so much that he doesn't even keep a picture of her in his wallet for fear of crinkling.

Despite Johnny Depp's critical acclaim as an actor, he has never won an Oscar. He has been honored with the 1996 London Critics Circle Actor of the Year award for Ed Wood and the 1998 Honorary Cesar.

And even with his acclaim as one of his generation's best actors, his name has had its share of smears, especially after River Phoenix died of a drug overdose in 1993 outside the Viper Room, the club Depp owns. Depp also became tabloid fodder when he was arrested for trashing the presidential suite of a Manhattan hotel in 1994.

Johnny Depp got rave reviews behind his lousy rep behind him for his portrayal of George Jung in 2001's Blow. He rounded up 2001 with the Jack the Ripper film, From Hell, alongside Heather Graham and can be seen in Robert Rodriguez's Once Upon a Time in Mexico.


last updated October 2022