Mel Gibson
Born: 3
January 1956
Birthplace: Peekskill, New York
Best Known As: Star of the Lethal Weapon movies
Mel Gibson got his start as an action
hero in Mad Max (1979), a low-budget thriller which cast him as a grim, leather-clad ex-cop in a barren Australian future. When he reprised the Mad Max character in a bigger-budget sequel, The Road Warrior (1981), Gibson became an international star. His turn as a
goofy rogue cop in 1987's Lethal Weapon cemented his status as Hollywood's leading young
blue-eyed action
hero. He made three more films in the Lethal Weapon series (1989, 1992 and 1998) and starred in other
big-budget action flicks like Air
America (1990, with Robert Downey, Jr.) and The Patriot (2000, with Heath Ledger). Gibson also showed a thoughtful side, taking the lead in Hamlet (1990) and directing and starring in the sentimental
drama The Man Without a Face (1993). In 1995 he directed, produced and starred as historical
hero William Wallace in the swords-and-Scotsmen epic Braveheart, for which Gibson took home Oscars for best director and best picture. His
2004 film about the last hours of Jesus, The Passion of the Christ (starring Jim Caviezel), was a surprise hit but stirred up controversy after critics accused it of anti-semitism. Gibson was born in New York and raised in
Australia, which he has continued to make his home. He and his
wife, the former Robyn Moore, have
seven children.
A devout Catholic, Gibson directed, co-wrote, co-produced and self-financed the $25 million The Passion of the Christ... The Road Warrior was followed by Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome in 1985... Gibson played another historical figure, mutineer Fletcher Christian, in The Bounty (1984); Christian also has been played on-screen by Marlon Brando (Mutiny on the Bounty, 1962) and Clark Gable (Mutiny on the Bounty, 1935).
