Johnny Depp Biography

Johnny Depp Despite his penchant for playing peculiar characters, Johnny Depp has always been a teen idol. This seems to make the actor of Irish, German, and Cherokee descent rebel more, which in turn causes his teenage fans to want even more from him.Born as John Christopher Depp II on June 9, 1963, in Owensboro, Kentucky, Depp is the youngest of four children, and admits that his surname means idiot in German. Early on in his life, his family moved frequently, but from the time he was seven, they lived in Miramar, Florida . Stressed out with insecurities from a young age, Depp often engaged in self-harm, and still bears many of the scars.Around the same time that his parents divorced, Depp dropped out of high school with big plans of becoming a rock star. He moved to Los Angeles , and found himself involved in an assortment of garage bands. Married at an early age to Lori Anne Allison, a makeup artist, she introduced him to Nicolas Cage, who convinced Depp to pursue acting. The marriage lasted only a few years.Depp made the jump into acting and landed his first role in A Nightmare on Elm Street, and after a string of forgettable roles, he landed a small part in Oliver Stone's Platoon, starring Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, and Charlie Sheen. This led to a starring role in the Fox television series 21 Jump Street, with Peter DeLuise, Richard Grieco, and Holly Robinson Peete. Depp didn t enjoy being in this teen idol role. And he made it a goal that after his time on the show was done, he would only do movies that he felt fit him.The first role he took on with this new outlook was the title role in the John Waters's film Cry-Baby, and the next was his first collaboration with Tim Burton, Edward Scissorhands, once again in the title role. Perhaps as homage to the film role that started it all out, Depp appeared in Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare, although he acted under the alias of Oprah Noodlemantra. In Benny Joon, Depp was back to working under his own name, and starring as an eccentric man who finds himself in a relationship with a woman who is developmentally challenged. However, in the movie What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Depp played the challenged person.In another Tim Burton collaboration, Depp once again took the title role, starring in Ed Wood, the biographical movie about the legendary director of B-movies. Depp stepped away from portraying odd characters, yet once again acted in the title role, starring in Donnie Brasco, alongside Al Pacino. This reprieve didn t last long as Depp starred as an eccentric writer traveling across the country with his equally bizarre lawyer in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, a movie based on the book by Hunter S. Thompson. Another Tim Burton movie, Sleepy Hollow, had Depp playing Ichabod Crane.Depp never seemed to slow his pace, and the movies came one after another for him, Chocolat, Blow, and more. At first look, it seemed he was going against his typical role by starring in a Disney movie, Pirates of the Caribbean. However, he turned the character of Pirate Jack Sparrow into one of his own, making the movie extremely successful, and spawning a sequel, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. This was followed by an appearance as a corrupt CIA agent in Once Upon a Time in Mexico, and another highly successful film, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Depp played Willie Wonka in this remake by Tim Burton.When not acting, Depp continues to work on his music, recording tracks for the soundtracks of both Chocolat and Once Upon a Time in Mexico. He has had his share of trouble, as part owner of the nightclub where River Phoenix died. He has also been arrested for trashing a hotel room and fighting with paparazzi. Since his marriage ended, he has been with a string of actresses and models, most notably Winona Ryder and Kate Moss. But it's Vanessa Paradis with whom he seems to have settled down and now has two children with.In May 2007 Johnny made his return to the big screen in the well received movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: 'At World's End' which also starred Keith Richards as Jack Sparrow's father, Keira Knightley as Elizabeth and Orlando Bloom as her love interest, Zoe Saldana and Bill Nighy as Davey Jones. With his naturally rugged looks Keith was the ideal father to Johnny's Jack.

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