Johnny Depp - Biography, Trivia, Selected filmography

Actor, born in Owensboro, Kentucky, USA. He dropped out of high school and played with several rock bands before turning to acting. He made his feature film debut in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and appeared in the television series 21 Jump Street (1987). Often playing unconventional roles, his later films include Platoon (1986), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Donnie Brasco (1997), and Sleepy Hollow (2000). He received Best Actor Oscar nominations for Pirates of the Caribbean (2003, sequel 2006) and Finding Neverland (2004).

Johnny Depp
Birth name	John Christopher Depp II
Born	June 9, 1963 (age 43) Owensboro, Kentucky, U.S.A.
Height	5 ft 10 in / 1.78 m
Notable roles	Edward Scissorhands in Edward Scissorhands Edward D. Wood Jr. in Ed Wood, Raoul Duke in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Academy  Awards	Nominated: Academy Award for Best Actor (2004) for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl for playing Jack Sparrow, Academy Award for Best Actor (2005) for Finding Neverland for playing J. Barrie

Johnny Depp (born John Christopher Depp II on June 9, 1963) is an iconic Academy Award-nominated American actor, known for his affinity for strange character roles.

Biography

Early life

Johnny Depp was born in Owensboro, Kentucky to John Christopher Depp Sr. The book "Johnny Depp: A Kind of Illusion" (ISBN 1905287046) states that the Depp family originated with a French huguenot Pierre Deppe or Dieppe who settled in Virginia around 1700. (As he explained on Inside the Actors Studio, he attempted to go back two weeks later, but the principal told him to follow his dream of being a musician, which Depp said was "really sweet.") Depp's mother bought him a guitar at the age of twelve, and he began playing in garage bands.

Depp's film characters have been described by the press as "iconic loners," and Depp has noted that this period of his career was full of "studio defined failures" and films that were "box office poison," stating that he believes film studios never "understood" the films he appeared in and did not know how to properly market them.

Depp's status as a major star was solidified with the success of the 2003 Walt Disney Pictures film, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, where he was highly praised for his lead performance as the suave pirate Captain Jack Sparrow. The film's director, Gore Verbinski, has said that Depp's Jack Sparrow character closely resembles Depp's own personality, although Depp himself said that he modeled the character after Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards.

Depp's most recent film is the sequel Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, which opened on July 7, 2006 and grossed $135.5 million in the first three days of its U.S. release, breaking a box office record in reaching the highest weekend tally ever.

In late June 2006, several reports indicated that Depp has joined the cast of the upcoming science fiction-action film, I Am Legend, which also stars Will Smith and will begin filming in September of 2006, although this has since been proven to be a false rumor. Depp is now in a long-term relationship with French singer and actress Vanessa Paradis, whom he met while filming The Ninth Gate in 1998 The couple have two children, daughter Lily-Rose Melody Depp (b. Depp had the tattoo altered after his breakup with Winona Ryder.)

Trivia

Born on the same day as David Koepp (rhymes with Depp), who directed Depp in Secret Window. nominations

Selected filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008	The Rum Diary	Paul Kemp
2007	Sweeney Todd	Sweeney Todd
	Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End	Jack Sparrow
2006	Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest	Jack Sparrow	The first time Depp has portrayed the same character in more than one film.
2005	The Libertine	John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester	More information at Do You Like Me Now?
	Corpse Bride	Victor Van Dort
	Charlie and the Chocolate Factory	Willy Wonka
2004	Finding Neverland	Sir James Matthew Barrie	Academy Award nomination
	Secret Window	Mort Rainey
2003	Once Upon a Time in Mexico	Sands	He wrote his own theme music for this movie.
	Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl	Jack Sparrow	Academy Award nomination
2001	From Hell	Inspector Frederick Abberline
	The Man Who Cried	Cesar	limited release
	Blow	George Jung
2000	Chocolat	Roux
	Before Night Falls	Lt. Victor + Bon Bon
	The Ninth Gate	Dean Corso
1999	Sleepy Hollow	Constable Ichabod Crane
	The Astronaut's Wife	Commander Spencer Armacost
1998	Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas	Raoul Duke
1997	Donnie Brasco	Donnie Brasco/Joseph D. 'Joe' Pistone
	The Brave	Raphael	The one and only film Johnny directed himself.
1995	Nick of Time	Gene Watson
	Dead Man	William Blake
	Don Juan DeMarco	Don Juan
1994	Ed Wood	Ed Wood
1993	What's Eating Gilbert Grape	Gilbert Grape
	Benny & Joon	Sam
	Arizona Dream	Axel
1991	Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare	Teen on TV	credited as "Oprah Noodlemantra"
1990	Edward Scissorhands	Edward Scissorhands
	Cry-Baby	Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker
1986	Platoon	Private Gator Lerner
1985	Private Resort	Jack
1984	A Nightmare on Elm Street	Glen Lantz