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| Richard Gere as John Clark in Shall We Dance?, released in October, 2004 |
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| Richard Gere |
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| Forecourt Ceremony held on Monday, July 26, 1999 |
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Born: August 31, 1949, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Age at the time of the ceremony: 49
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The ever-present Richard Gere has been finding audiences since his arrival on the big screen in 1977. Directors have placed him in a wide variety of roles, where he always makes a good accounting in each film.
Born in Philadelphia, Gere is decended from passengers on the Mayflower. Moving to the New York area, Richard attended North Syracuse Central High School, where he excelled at gymnastics and music. Attending the University of Massachusetts at Amherst on a gymnastics scholarship, Gere dropped out to persue acting.
He spent time at Seattle Repertory Theatre and at the Provincetown Playhouse, then he drifted down to New York, where his musical chops got him a part in the rock opera Soon, co-starring Barry Bostwick, which unfortunately flopped in January 1971.
A year later, Gere was the catch-all male understudy (including for Barry Bostwick's Danny Zuko) in the first New York production of Grease, beginning in February 1972. He was chosen to take on the lead role of Danny in the first London production of Grease, in June 1973. Just then, Gere's first television appearance on Chelsea D.H.O. aired over ABC.
Returning to New York, he was cast by acting guru Milton Katselas, who was directing the crime picture
Report to the Commissioner (released in February 1975) with Michael Moriarty. In November, 1975, Gere was on Broadway once more in the comedy Habeas Corpus, with Celeste Holm.
Gere had a small part as a Marine Raider in
Baby Blue Marine (released in May 1976) with Jan-Michael Vincent, then captured a lot of attention as a hyper-physical murdering one-night stand at the end of Looking for Mr. Goodbar (released in October 1977) with Diane Keaton.
Directors started coming around. Terrence Malick cast him as the lead in his
Days of Heaven (released in October 1978) with Brooke Adams; veteran director Martin Ritt put him in Bloodbrothers (released in September 1978) with Paul Sorvino, and John Schlesinger cast him in his personal project Yanks (released in November 1979) with Lisa Eichhorn.
As Yanks was being released, Gere undertook the role of Max in the Broadway previews and first six months of the run of Bent. During this run, director Paul Schrader's film with Gere, American Gigolo (released in February 1980) with Lauren Hutton came out; the film was a success, with Gere now riding very high.
Director Taylor Hackford put him in An Officer and a Gentleman (released in August 1982) with Debra Winger, which became a huge hit. Director Jim McBride put him in a remake of Breathless (released in May 1983) with Valérie Kaprisky, which sort-of flopped. Director Francis Coppola put Gere in the lead for his ill-fated The Cotton Club (released in December 1984) with Gregory Hines.
Director Bruce Beresford put him in the title role of King David (released in March 1985) with Edward Woodward as Saul. Director Mike Figgis put him in his cop mystery Internal Affairs (which played the Chinese in January 1990) with Andy Garcia, which did well, and became a hit on video. Then director Garry Marshall put him with Julia Roberts in what became Gere's biggest hit ever: Pretty Woman (released in March 1990). Financially, it has become the most successful romantic comedy ever.
Director Phil Joanou cast Gere as a psychiatrist in Final Analysis (which played the Chinese in February 1992) with Kim Basinger. Director Jon Amiel put him in a remake of The Return of Martin Guerre called Sommersby (which played the Chinese in February 1993) with Jodie Foster. The film is an acquired tatse. Director Roger Spottiswoode cast him as The Chroeographer in And the Band Played On aired over HBO in September 1993 with Matthew Modine. Director Jerry Zucker put Gere in as Lancelot to Sean Connery's King Arthur in First Knight (released in July 1995).
Director Gregory Hoblit cast Gere as an attorney in Primal Fear (which played the Chinese in April 1996) with Laura Linney, then director Michael Caton-Jones put him in as the lead detective in his remake of The Day of the Jackal called The Jackal (released in November 1997) with Bruce Willis. Reteaming with director Garry Marshall and Julia Roberts, Gere cemented his reputation as a rom-com lead in Runaway Bride (released in July 1999).
For Robert Altman's comedy about a gynocologist, who else but Richard Gere? Dr. T & the Women (released in October 2000) with Helen Hunt, came and went, as they say, but when director Rob Marshall cast him as Billy Flynn in the musical Chicago (released in December 2002) with Renée Zellweger, Gere finally returned to his musical roots and wowed everyone.
Gere played Patrick Henry in an episode of the star-studded Freedom: A History of Us aired over PBS in February 2003, then had the lead in Shall We Dance? (released in October 2004) with Jennifer Lopez. He played Clifford Irving for director Lasse Hallström in
The Hoax (released in April 2007) with Alfred Molina, and was recruited by director Todd Haynes for I'm Not There (released in December 2007) with Cate Blanchett.
Director Mira Nair put him in as husband to Amelia (released in October 2009) with Hilary Swank as Amelia Earhart; he starred as a hedge fund executive in Arbitrage (released in September 2012) with Susan Sarandon; he became a new character living at The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (released in March 2015) with Judy Dench, and he played a fixer for director Joseph Cedar in Norman (released in April 2017) with Lior Ashkenazi.
Downshifting,
he led the ensemble cast in director Owen Moverman's The Dinner (released in May 2017) with Laura Linney, and director Jon Avnet cast him as a psychiatrist in Three Christs (released in September 2017) with Peter Dinklage. Gere starred as Max Finch in the mini series MotherFatherSon, airing over the BBC and Starz! in March 2019. He co-stars in the ensemble film Maybe I Do (released in January 2023). |
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| Mann's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, California. Richard Gere Forecourt block. Executed by unknown, Monday, July 26, 1999. 48 x 42 inches. |
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| Mann's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, California. Richard Gere Forecourt ceremony, Monday, July 26, 1999. Richard Gere gives the camera a smile as he places his hands in the wet cement. |
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