Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon (1987)
British postcard by Box Office, no. BO 1112. Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon (Richard Donner, 1987).
American-Australian actor Mel Gibson (1956) became known worldwide thanks to the small-budgeted action film Mad Max (1979). He went on to star in such acclaimed films as Gallipoli (1981) and The Bounty (1984). In 1987, he became a superstar with the buddy cop action-comedy film series Lethal Weapon (1987-1998). As director of Braveheart (1995), he won both the Academy Award for best director and best film. Gibson also produced and directed The Passion of the Christ (2004) about the last phase of Jesus Christ's life on earth.
Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson was born in 1956 in Peekskill, New York, USA. He was the sixth of eleven children of Hutton Gibson, a railroad brakeman, and Anne Patricia (Reilly) Gibson. His mother was Irish, from County Longford, while his American-born father is of mostly Irish descent. His father moved the family from upstate New York to Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, in 1968 after winning as a contestant on the game show Jeopardy! The family settled in New South Wales, where Mel's paternal grandmother, contralto opera singer Eva Mylott, was born. 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. Here, he starred opposite Judy Davis in a production of 'Romeo and Juliet'. After college, Mel had a few stints on stage and starred in TV shows. Eventually, he was chosen to star in the films Mad Max (George Miller, 1979) and Tim (Michael Pate, 1979), co-starring Piper Laurie. The small-budgeted Mad Max made him known worldwide, while Tim garnered him an award for Best Actor from the Australian Film Institute, the Australian equivalent to the Oscar. Gibson got a reputation as a serious, versatile actor. He was a part of the movement 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 and found work in other parts of the world. Other members included actress Judy Davis and directors George Miller, Gillian Armstrong and Peter Weir.
Mel Gibson went on to star in the World War I drama Gallipoli (Peter Weir, 1981), which earned him a second award for Best Actor from the AFI. In 1980, he married Robyn Moore and had seven children. In 1984, Mel made his American debut in The Bounty (Roger Donaldson, 1984), which co-starred Anthony Hopkins. Then in 1987, Mel starred in what would become his signature series, Lethal Weapon (Richard Donner, 1987), in which he played Martin Riggs. In 1990, he took on the starring role in Hamlet (Franco Zeffirelli, 1990) with Glenn Close, which garnered him some critical praise. He also made the more endearing Forever Young (Steve Miner. 1992) with Jamie Lee Curtis and the somewhat disturbing The Man Without a Face (Mel Gibson, 1993). 1995 brought his most famous role as Sir William Wallace in Braveheart (Mel Gibson, 1995), for which he won two Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director. From there, he made such box office hits as Ransom (Ron Howard, 1996), Payback (Brian Helgeland, 1999) and The Patriot (Roland Emmerich, 2000). His later films include Signs (M. Night Shyamalan, 2002), and Edge of Darkness (Martin Campbell, 2010). For The Passion of the Christ (2004), which he directed, wrote and produced, he spent 25 million dollars of his own money. Back in 1992, he started doing research for the film that was not released until 2004. That year, he was the highest-paid celebrity with a reported $210,000,000 salary from his The Passion of the Christ (2004) profits, plus a potential $150,000,000 that is yet to be accounted for. The way Gibson portrayed the suffering of Christ caused however much controversy. He received further critical notice for his directorial work of the action-adventure film Apocalypto (2006), which is set in Mesoamerica during the early 16th century. He separated from his wife Robyn in June 2006. At the end of July 2006, Gibson was arrested for drunk driving in Malibu, California. During his arrest, he made derogatory comments about Jews and women. On 1 August 2006, he checked himself into a recovery program for alcohol abuse. He did three-year probation following the misdemeanour drunken driving arrest. Robyn finally filed for divorce in April 2009 but it wasn't finalised until December 2011, reportedly because it took them all that time to divide Gibson's estimated assets of $850 million. It is considered the biggest divorce payout in Hollywood history. In 2009, he made a first public appearance together with his girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva who was then three months pregnant with his daughter Lucia. The couple split in 2010. In 2014, he started a relationship with Rosalind Ross with whom he had his ninth child.
Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon (1987)
British postcard by Box Office, no. BO 1112. Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon (Richard Donner, 1987).
American-Australian actor Mel Gibson (1956) became known worldwide thanks to the small-budgeted action film Mad Max (1979). He went on to star in such acclaimed films as Gallipoli (1981) and The Bounty (1984). In 1987, he became a superstar with the buddy cop action-comedy film series Lethal Weapon (1987-1998). As director of Braveheart (1995), he won both the Academy Award for best director and best film. Gibson also produced and directed The Passion of the Christ (2004) about the last phase of Jesus Christ's life on earth.
Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson was born in 1956 in Peekskill, New York, USA. He was the sixth of eleven children of Hutton Gibson, a railroad brakeman, and Anne Patricia (Reilly) Gibson. His mother was Irish, from County Longford, while his American-born father is of mostly Irish descent. His father moved the family from upstate New York to Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, in 1968 after winning as a contestant on the game show Jeopardy! The family settled in New South Wales, where Mel's paternal grandmother, contralto opera singer Eva Mylott, was born. 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. Here, he starred opposite Judy Davis in a production of 'Romeo and Juliet'. After college, Mel had a few stints on stage and starred in TV shows. Eventually, he was chosen to star in the films Mad Max (George Miller, 1979) and Tim (Michael Pate, 1979), co-starring Piper Laurie. The small-budgeted Mad Max made him known worldwide, while Tim garnered him an award for Best Actor from the Australian Film Institute, the Australian equivalent to the Oscar. Gibson got a reputation as a serious, versatile actor. He was a part of the movement 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 and found work in other parts of the world. Other members included actress Judy Davis and directors George Miller, Gillian Armstrong and Peter Weir.
Mel Gibson went on to star in the World War I drama Gallipoli (Peter Weir, 1981), which earned him a second award for Best Actor from the AFI. In 1980, he married Robyn Moore and had seven children. In 1984, Mel made his American debut in The Bounty (Roger Donaldson, 1984), which co-starred Anthony Hopkins. Then in 1987, Mel starred in what would become his signature series, Lethal Weapon (Richard Donner, 1987), in which he played Martin Riggs. In 1990, he took on the starring role in Hamlet (Franco Zeffirelli, 1990) with Glenn Close, which garnered him some critical praise. He also made the more endearing Forever Young (Steve Miner. 1992) with Jamie Lee Curtis and the somewhat disturbing The Man Without a Face (Mel Gibson, 1993). 1995 brought his most famous role as Sir William Wallace in Braveheart (Mel Gibson, 1995), for which he won two Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director. From there, he made such box office hits as Ransom (Ron Howard, 1996), Payback (Brian Helgeland, 1999) and The Patriot (Roland Emmerich, 2000). His later films include Signs (M. Night Shyamalan, 2002), and Edge of Darkness (Martin Campbell, 2010). For The Passion of the Christ (2004), which he directed, wrote and produced, he spent 25 million dollars of his own money. Back in 1992, he started doing research for the film that was not released until 2004. That year, he was the highest-paid celebrity with a reported $210,000,000 salary from his The Passion of the Christ (2004) profits, plus a potential $150,000,000 that is yet to be accounted for. The way Gibson portrayed the suffering of Christ caused however much controversy. He received further critical notice for his directorial work of the action-adventure film Apocalypto (2006), which is set in Mesoamerica during the early 16th century. He separated from his wife Robyn in June 2006. At the end of July 2006, Gibson was arrested for drunk driving in Malibu, California. During his arrest, he made derogatory comments about Jews and women. On 1 August 2006, he checked himself into a recovery program for alcohol abuse. He did three-year probation following the misdemeanour drunken driving arrest. Robyn finally filed for divorce in April 2009 but it wasn't finalised until December 2011, reportedly because it took them all that time to divide Gibson's estimated assets of $850 million. It is considered the biggest divorce payout in Hollywood history. In 2009, he made a first public appearance together with his girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva who was then three months pregnant with his daughter Lucia. The couple split in 2010. In 2014, he started a relationship with Rosalind Ross with whom he had his ninth child.
Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.