| Mel Gibson |
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| Name: Mel Gibson Birth Name: Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson Date of Birth: January 7, 1956 Birth Place: Peekskill, New York, USA Sign: Sun in Capricorn, Moon in Virgo Occupation: Actor, Director, Producer Education: National Institute of Dramatic Arts, Sydney, Australia Siblings: he's number 6 out of 11 children Spouse: Robyn Moore (dental-nurse) Children: 7; Hannah (1980), Edward (1983), Christian (1983), William (1985), Louis, Milo (1990) and Thomas(1999) |
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| Actor, director and producer Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson may have started out as just another actor but he justly earned the status of being a superstar.He is generally considered an Australian because he has adopted the country's native accent, although he was born in Peekskill, NY, USA on January 3, 1956 and raised there till the age of twelve. He is the sixth of eleven children. The family then moved to Sydney because his father wanted to protect his boys from being draft to serve in Vietnam. Mel originally wanted to become a journalist but instead he attented the National Institite of Dramatic Arts in Sydney to study Drama. Initially, he suffered from terrible stage fright |
| and was so nervous in his first play that he was unable to stand and had to play the role sitting down. He debuted onscreen in Summer City (1976), after which he joined the South Australian Theatre Company, and appeared in a number of classical and contemporary productions before neophyte director George Miller invited Mel to audition for the titular role in the action movie "Mad Max". Although the film was moderately populair outside Australia (it was the nations biggest commercial success in history), its sequel "The Road Warrior"(1981), hit in big internationally and made Mel Gibson a star. His star status was bolstered by his next film "Gallipoli". |
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| Since then Mel has starred in dozens of movies (see filmography) and has gone to conquer serious roles, including the title role in "Hamlet" (1990) co-starring Glenn Close. He has, although, sustained his career with action roles such as the three ultra-popular "Leathel Weapon" films and his ever popular "Mad Max" sequels. Mel made his directional debut (and also starred) in "The Man Without A Face" (1993). In 1995 he starred, produced and directed the epic "Braveheart", in which |
| he won the oscar for best director and best actor. He also won several Australian acting awards, including best actor for his performence in "Gallipoli". Mel is an devoted family man and brings his family of seven children and wife with him on location whenever he is working. When he is not working, the Gibson's live on a ranch in Australia. |