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Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson AO (born January 3 1956) is an American-born Australian actor, director, and producer. After establishing himself as a household name with the Mad Max and Lethal Weapon series, Gibson went on to direct and star in the Academy Award-winning Braveheart. Gibson's direction of Braveheart made him the sixth actor-turned-filmmaker to receive an Oscar for Best Director.[1] In 2004, he directed and produced The Passion of the Christ, a blockbuster movie[2] that portrayed the last hours of the life of Jesus.
Early lifeMel Gibson is the son of Hutton Gibson and Anne Reilly Gibson, who was born in Columcille Parish, County Longford, Ireland. His paternal grandmother was the Australian opera singer, Eva Mylott. Mel was born in Peekskill, New York, the sixth of eleven children. One of Mel's younger brothers, Donal, is also an actor.
Although Gibson is a native-born United States citizen, Hutton Gibson relocated his family to Sydney, Australia in 1968, after winning a work related injury lawsuit against New York Central. After a seven day trial on February 14, 1968, the jury awarded him $145,000.[4] The family moved when Gibson was twelve. This move was in protest of the Vietnam War, for which Gibson's elder brothers risked being drafted. It is also because Gibson's father, a devout Traditionalist Catholic, believed that the changes to American society which took place during the 1960s were immoral. Film careerGibson graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney in 1977. His acting career began in Australia with appearances in television series, including The Sullivans, Cop Shop and Punishment. Gibson's handsome boyish good looks made him a natural for leading male roles in action projects such as the "Mad Max" series of films, Peter Weir's Gallipoli, and the "Lethal Weapon" series of films. Later, Gibson expanded into a variety of acting projects including human dramas such as Hamlet, and comedic roles such as those in Maverick and What Women Want. His greatest artistic and financial success came with films where he expanded beyond acting into directing and producing, such as 1993's The Man Without a Face, 1995's Braveheart, 2004's Passion of the Christ and 2006's Apocalypto. Mad MaxGibson made his film debut as the leather-clad post-apocalyptic survivor in George Miller's Mad Max. The film was totally independently financed and had a reported budget of $300,000 AUD — of which $15,000 was paid to Mel Gibson for his performance. The film achieved incredible success, and went on to earn $100 million world wide. It held a record in Guinness Book of Records as the highest profit-to-cost ratio of a motion picture, and only lost the record in 2000 to The Blair Witch Project. The film was awarded four Australian Film Institute Awards in 1979.
The original film spawned two larger sequels: Mad Max 2 (known in North America as The Road Warrior), and Mad Max 3 (known in North America as Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome). A fourth movie, Mad Max 4: Fury Road, has been considered but has not been produced. The BountyIn 1984, starred as Fletcher Christian in The Bounty. Reportedly, Gibson and Anthony Hopkins, his costar on the film, did not get along during the shoot. At the time, Anthony Hopkins was a teetotaler, and Mel Gibson was struggling with alcoholism. Gibson frequently spent his evenings in local saloons and took to mixing two shots of Scotch with his beer. He dubbed the concoction "Liquid Violence". In one incident, Gibson's face was severely cut up in a bar room brawl and the film's shooting schedule had to be rearranged while he was flown to a hospital in Papeete. Lethal WeaponGibson moved into more mainstream commercial filmmaking with the popular Lethal Weapon series, in which he starred as LAPD Detective Martin Riggs, an emotionally unstable Vietnam veteran with a death wish and a penchant for violence and gunplay. In the films, he was partnered with the elder and more reserved Roger Murtaugh (played by Danny Glover). This series would come to exemplify the action genre's so-called buddy film. The two actors were trained in two different schools of acting. Gibson is classically trained and Glover is a method actor. Three sequels were produced. Hamlet
Gibson made the unusual transition from the action to classical genres, playing the melancholy Danish prince in Franco Zeffirelli's Hamlet. Gibson was cast alongside such experienced Shakespearean actors as Ian Holm, Alan Bates, and Paul Scofield. He described working with his fellow cast members as similar to being "thrown into the ring with Mike Tyson". The film met with critical and marketing success and remains steady in DVD sales. It also marked the transformation of Mel Gibson from action hero to serious actor and filmmaker. BraveheartGibson stated that when the Braveheart script arrived and was recommended by his agents, he rejected it outright because he thought he was too old to play the part. After careful thought, he decided to not only act in the film, but to direct it as well. Gibson received two Academy Awards, Best Director and Best Picture, for his 1995 direction of Braveheart. In the movie, Gibson starred as Sir William Wallace, a thirteenth-century Scottish freedom fighter. He said in interviews that he was attempting to make a film similar to the epics he had loved as a child, such as Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus and The Big Country. The filming began in the Scottish Highlands. After learning that the intended filming locations were among the rainiest spots in Europe, the shooting was moved to the Republic of Ireland, where members of the Irish Army Reserve worked as extras in the battle scenes. The Passion of the ChristGibson directed the The Passion of the Christ. The 2004 film was based on the last twelve hours of the life of Jesus according to the most widely recognized Christian gospels, rendered multilingually in Aramaic, Hebrew, and Latin. Gibson co-wrote the screenplay with writer Benedict Fitzgerald and financed the film himself, spending an estimated $40-$50 million of his own money. The filming took place on location in Matera, Italy and Cinecittá Studios in Rome. Reviews were mixed, with critics ranging from praising the film for its realistic depiction of Jesus' final hours from a Catholic point of view and criticism of violence, manipulation and charges of anti-Semitism.[5][6] Asked if his movie would "upset Jews", Gibson responded, "It's not meant to. I think it's meant to just tell the truth. I want to be as truthful as possible."[7] Accusations of anti-Semitism were fueled by news reports that Mel Gibson's father, Hutton Gibson, is a vocal Holocaust revisionist who has alleged that much of the Holocaust is "fiction".[8] On his decision to cut the scene in which Caiaphas says "his blood be on us and on our children" soon after Pontius Pilate washes his hands of Jesus, Gibson said:
The movie grossed US$611,899,420 worldwide and $370,782,930 in the US alone. It became the eighth highest-grossing film in history and the highest-grossing rated R film of all time. The ticket sales were boosted by the film attracting viewers who generally do not attend theaters, including entire church congregations.[12] The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Original Music Score, Best Cinematography, and Best Makeup at the 77th Academy Awards and won the People's Choice Award for Best Drama. The movie was the subject of the feature documentary 'Impact: The Passion of the Christ' (http://www.Impactthemovie.com) by writer/director Tim Chey (http://www.TimChey.net) which was released into the theaters and is now on DVD. ApocalyptoGibson's next historical epic, Apocalypto, was released to theaters on December 8, 2006. The film is set in Mesoamerica, during the period immediately before the Spanish conquest. It focuses on the decline of the Maya civilization which reached its zenith around 600 AD. Dialogue is spoken in the Yucatec Maya language. It features a cast of unknown actors from Mexico City, the Yucatán, and some Native Americans from the United States. While Gibson financed the film himself, Disney released it in specific markets. The film is set against the turbulent end times of the once great Maya civilization. The title is a Greek term which means "an unveiling" or "new beginning", but the movie is not religiously themed or connected to the biblical Apocalypse. Gibson pre-screened Apocalypto to two predominantly Native American audiences in Oklahoma, at the Riverwind Casino in Goldsby, owned by the Chickasaw Nation, and at Cameron University in Lawton.[13] Gibson is currently considering directing a film taking place in Panama shortly after the era of Apocalypto about the first Europeans to see the Pacific Ocean. FamilyOn June 7 1980, Gibson married Robyn Moore, a nurse whom he met through a dating service, in a Catholic Church in Forestville, New South Wales. He has referred to his wife as "my Rock of Gibraltar, only much prettier." They have seven children, one daughter and six sons: Hannah (born 1980), twins Edward and Christian (born 1982), Willie (born 1985), Louis (born 1988), Milo (born 1990), and Tommy (born 1999). Gibson is Roman Catholic and his wife is Anglican. He holds to the Catholic doctrine of "Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus", and when asked how this doctrine would affect his wife, he said: "There is no salvation for those outside the Church; I believe it. My wife is a saint. She's a much better person than I am. Honestly. ... She prays, she believes in God, she knows Jesus, she believes in that stuff. And it's just not fair if she doesn't make it; she's better than I am. But that is a pronouncement from the chair. I go with it.”[14] Hannah Gibson, Mel's eldest child and only daughter, married the musician Kenny Wayne Shepherd on September 16, 2006.[15] She had previously considered becoming a Catholic nun or religious sister.[citation needed] Personal and political viewsReligionBased on many of his positions, Gibson can be considered a traditionalist Roman Catholic. In 2004, he publicly condemned taxpayer-funded embryonic stem-cell research that involves the cloning and destruction of human embryos. In March 2005, he issued a statement condemning the ending of Terri Schiavo's life, referring to her death as "state-sanctioned murder" on Sean Hannity's radio show.[16] He is a proponent of the death penalty, which the traditional doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church allows for under specific circumstances, but which post-Vatican II Popes have said is rarely justifiable in modern society.[17] Gibson has expressed the belief that God is pointing out his path, particularly with respect to the making of The Passion of the Christ. In 2003 he told The New Yorker "There are signals. Signal graces, they are called. It's as clear as a traffic light. Bing! I mean, it just grabs you and you know you have to listen to that and you have to follow it."[18] At a screening of the film for clergy, he stated that the Holy Spirit was making the film through him, "I was just directing traffic".[18] PoliticsSee paeleoconservatism. While having never identified himself as being a conservative Republican, Gibson has been referred to as one in The Washington Times, and WorldNetDaily once reported that there was grassroots support among Republicans for "a presidential run".[19] Gibson praised exposé director Michael Moore and his documentary film Fahrenheit 9/11.[20] Gibson's Icon Productions originally agreed to back Moore's film, but abruptly sold the rights to Miramax Films. Moore has claimed that "top Republicans" intimidated Mel Gibson into relinquishing the film.[21] In a July 1995 interview with Playboy magazine, Gibson said President Bill Clinton was a "low-level opportunist" because someone was "telling him what to do". He said he thought Clinton and other politicians who had won Rhodes Scholarships were part of a "stealth" trend of Rhodes scholars becoming politicians who were striving for a "new world order." He said this was a form of Marxism.[22][23] In 2006 Gibson told the UK film magazine Empire that the "fearmongering" depicted in his film Apocalypto "reminds me a little of President Bush and his guys."[24] He has criticized the Iraq War in interviews. [1] His criticsGibson and his critics have often expressed strong opinions of each other. In an interview with Playboy, he said of Wensley Clarkson, the author of an unauthorized biography, "I don't think God will put him in my path. He deserves death."[22] Clarkson's biography had referred to Traditionalist Catholics as "callow reactionaries" opposed to "progress in most forms." In addition, Clarkson had also accused Gibson of multiple infidelities during the course of his marriage. After Frank Rich of the New York Times wrote that Gibson's Passion of the Christ would inflame anti-Semitism and accused Gibson of "protecting a Holocaust denier" by refusing to denounce his father, Gibson told The New Yorker, "I want to kill him. I want his intestines on a stick. I want to kill his dog."[18] Gibson's Traditionalist Catholic beliefs have also been the target of attacks, especially during the controversy over his film The Passion of the Christ. When the film premiered in France, the newspaper Libération, considered the voice of French liberalism, dubbed Gibson's religious beliefs "the Shiite version of Christianity." Gibson has recently stated in an interview with Diane Sawyer that he feels that his "human rights were violated", by the often vitriolic attacks on his person, his family, and his religious beliefs which were sparked by The Passion. ControversyAccusations of homophobiaSome gay rights groups accused Gibson of homophobia, after a 1992 interview in the Spanish newspaper El País. Asked what he thought of gay people, he said, "They take it up the ass." Gibson gestured descriptively, continuing, "This is only for taking a shit." When the interviewer recalled that Gibson previously had expressed fear that people would think he is gay because he's an actor, Gibson replied, "Do I sound like a homosexual? Do I talk like them? Do I move like them? I think not." However, when reminded that he had worked closely with gay students at university, he said they were "kind people." Additionally, he later defended his comments on Good Morning America, saying, "Those remarks were a response to a direct question. If someone wants my opinion, I'll give it. What, am I supposed to lie to them]?"[25][26] In the Playboy interview, he responded to GLAAD's protests over his comment with "I'll apologize when hell freezes over. They can fuck off".[22] Eventually, however, to make amends with the gay community and show he was not homophobic, Gibson joined GLAAD in hosting 10 lesbian and gay filmmakers for an on-location seminar on the set of the movie Conspiracy Theory.[27] Although Gibson did not write the screenplay for Braveheart,[28] the depiction of a homosexual character in the film drew accusations of homophobia.[29] Although historians agree that Prince (later King) Edward II of England was a mere puppet of Piers Gaveston, Hugh Despenser and Isabella of France, they dispute the portrayal of Edward as effeminate. Edward I of England, never threw his son's male lover out of a window as portrayed in the movie. Gibson was accused of homophobia once more in his movies with his portrayal of Herod Antipas in The Passion of the Christ. Antipas is portrayed as an effeminate homosexual wearing makeup and having "boy toys". The character was a similar portrayal of the same character in the film Jesus Christ Superstar. This was a common caricature of Herod in medieval Passion plays, and is in accord with the historical record regarding Antipas. In the Greek text Christ describes Herod as a "vixen", or female fox, rather than "fox" in the Gospel.[30][31] Gibson has, however, enjoyed a long term business relationship with legendary Italian director Franco Zeffirelli, who is openly gay. Accusations of anglophobiaGibson was accused of anglophobia by English audiences and press based on his direction of Braveheart and the liberties taken with historical content in the film. In addition, Gibson was further criticized for The Patriot.[32][33] The film Braveheart made use of the concept of Droit de seigneur although this is historically inaccurate. Gibson has stated that it was more cinematically compelling to falsely include the Droit de seigneur because it portrayed Edward Longshanks, the King of England played by Patrick McGoohan as a sinister tyrant. Gibson was further accused of anglophobia following the release of The Patriot in 2000, despite neither directing or writing the script for the film. The movie depicted the British in an extremely negative light and took many liberties in its depiction of the American character played by Gibson, who was loosely based on "The Swamp Fox", Francis Marion. According to Wensley Clarkson's unauthorized biography, the Gibsons, like many Irish-American families, have always been openly anti-British. Clarkson further cites family friends and relatives who allegedly told him that Gibson's maternal grandmother was raped by the Black and Tans during the Irish War of Independence.[34] However, Mel Gibson did voice a British character, John Smith, in Disney's Pocahontas. Accusations of anti-SemitismGibson has been accused of anti-Semitism on two occasions. In 2004, his film The Passion of the Christ was criticized for alleged anti-Semitic imagery and overtones. Gibson strongly denied that the film was anti-Semitic, but critics, many of whom are Jewish, remain divided. Most agree that the film was consistent with a strict interpretation of the Gospels and traditional Catholic teachings, while others argued that it reflected a selective reading of the Gospels,[35] and failed to comply with recommendations for dramatization of The Passion[36] issued by either the Vatican or the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.[37] On July 28, 2006, Gibson was arrested in California for speeding and on suspicion of drunk driving (see: Mel Gibson DUI incident). According to a leaked police report, he was abusive to the arresting officers and remarked "...Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world", asking one of them, “Are you a Jew?”[38] He later issued, through his publicist, two apologies for the incident. In his second statement, he specifically denied being an anti-Semite and apologized to the Jewish community.[39] Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham Foxman issued a statement accepting Gibson's apology and expressing a willingness to help in Gibson's rehabilitation.[40] Accusations of racismGibson engaged in an angry confrontation during a Q & A session following a presentation to a film class at Cal State University at Northridge on March 22, 2007. Alicia Estrada, an Assistant Professor of Central American Studies at the University, asked Gibson if he researched the culture before making the film, including contemporary sources, to which Gibson responded in the affirmative. When Estrada asserted that the movie's depiction of sacrificial ceremonies and "bloodthirsty tendencies" were both inaccurate and racist, Gibson reportedly responded, "Lady, fuck off." Members of the Mayan community who were present became emotional, and were escorted from the room after they refused to relinquish the microphone, during which Gibson screamed, "Make your own movie!" Gibson's publicist, Alan Nierob, later told TMZ.com, "This person was a heckler who was rude and disrupted the event, so much so that the event organizers had to escort her out."[41] Estrada defended herself, saying, "In no way was my question aggressive in the way that he responded to it," Estrada said. "These are questions that my peers, my colleagues, ask me every time I make a presentation. These are questions I pose to my students in the classroom." Estrada added that she, her students and the Mayan community deserved an apology from Gibson. According to SFGate.com, Lauren Robeson, editor-in-chief of the campus newspaper, The Daily Sundial, said Gibson denounced Estrada as a "troublemaker". University spokesman John Chandler commented, "The students were very appreciative of Mr. Gibson being there. He spent a lot of time answering questions about moviemaking." SFGate.com also reported that Gibson expressed regret at the incident before the session ended.[42] PranksterGibson has a reputation for being a prankster on the set of his movies.[43] Helena Bonham Carter, who appeared alongside him in Hamlet, said of him: "He has a very basic sense of humor. It's a bit lavatorial and not very sophisticated."[44] While filming Conspiracy Theory, he played several pranks on co-star Julia Roberts, one of which included gift wrapping a dead rat.[45] Alcohol abuseAccording to Gibson biographer Wensley Clarkson, Gibson's alcoholism dates to his teenage years. Clarkson also states that Gibson's repeated attempts to stop drinking have led to relapses whenever his stress level increased. A feature article on Gibson published on the DailyCatholic website March 17 2004, described as having been written four years previously and before The Passion of The Christ, states, "He has made it known that from an early age he suffered from being manic depressive, but through his strong faith and appropriate medicines he has been able to overcome these shortcomings to attain the heights of stardom."[46] This disorder is often linked with alcohol abuse and/or self-destructive behavior. Image:Mel Gibson taken July-28-2006.jpg Mugshot taken after arrest on DUI charges In 1984, Gibson was arrested for drunk driving after he rear-ended a car in Toronto. According to Clarkson, when the other driver exited his vehicle and began shouting profanity at him, Mel Gibson laughed and offered him a drink. He was fined $400 and banned from driving in Canada for 3 months.[47] In a 2004 Primetime interview with Diane Sawyer, Gibson admitted to alcohol abuse. He also said that his addictions have led him to contemplate suicide.[48] On August 17, 2006, he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor drunken-driving charge and was sentenced to three years on probation. He could have been sentenced to as long as six months in jail. He admitted making anti-Semitic remarks during his arrest and apologized, saying the comments were "blurted out in a moment of insanity." When pressed for what his thoughts were at the time in a later interview with Diane Sawyer, he cited the vitriolic attacks on his film The Passion of the Christ and Israel's activities in Lebanon. He announced he was entering a recovery program to battle alcoholism, and he asked to meet with Jewish leaders to help him "discern the appropriate path for healing." Gibson did not appear in court, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office said. Superior Court Judge Lawrence Mira ordered Gibson to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings five times a week for four and a half months and three times a week for the remainder of the first year of his probation. He was fined $1,300 and his license was restricted for 90 days. He also volunteered to record a public service announcement on the dangers of driving drunk and volunteered to immediately enter into a rehabilitation program.
PhilanthropyAlthough the Gibsons have avoided publicity over their philanthropy, they are believed to spend much money on various charities.[49] One known charity is Healing the Children. According to Cris Embleton, one of the founders, the Gibsons have given millions to provide lifesaving medical help to needy children worldwide.[50][51] While filming the movie Apocalypto in the jungles of Mexico's Veracruz state, Mel Gibson donated one million money to the Rotary Club ([52]) to build houses for poor people in the region after some severe flooding wiped out many homes, stating: "[T]hey had a lot of floods down there. It was like Louisiana down there in the southern regions. They had severe flooding and something like a million people were displaced and washed out. I've always been of the opinion that if you go into someone else's country to make a film you don't just go in there and stomp all over the place. You bring a gift. It's like going to somebody's house. You bring them a bottle of wine or a bunch of flowers or a box of chocolates and it's the same sort of thing on a big scale when you're going in to somebody's country and they are going to help you make your film. You help them first somehow or you give them a gift or you help in what way you can. So we sort of assisted with the flood relief stuff down there."[53] Quotations
Trivia
Filmography Main Filmography of Mel Gibson
as Actor: Mad Max (1979) • Mad Max 2 (1981) • Gallipoli (1981) • The Year of Living Dangerously (1982) • The Bounty (1984) • Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) • Lethal Weapon (1987) • Tequila Sunrise (1988) • Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) • Hamlet (1990) • Air America (1990) • Lethal Weapon 3 (1992) • Maverick (1994) • Ransom (1996) • Conspiracy Theory (1997) • Lethal Weapon 4 (1998) • Payback (1999) • What Women Want (2000) • The Patriot (2000) • Signs (2002) • We Were Soldiers (2002) as Actor / Director: Braveheart (1995) as Director: The Man Without a Face (1993) • The Passion of the Christ (2004) • Apocalypto (2006) Awards and accomplishments
References
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