Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson was born on 3rd January 1956 in Peekskill, New York, USA, is divorced and has 9 children. He is an actor and film producer/director.
When Mel was 12 years old, his family moved to Australia, where his grandmother originated from, for economic reasons. He studied drama and performed in stage plays, and continued doing so also after graduating in 1977. That same year, Mel made his movie debut and also started filming ‘Mad Max’, which was released 2 years later, with Mel starring in the role of the main character.
During the 80s, Gibson guest appeared in some TV series whilst also starring in several films like the 2 sequels of ‘Mad Max’, ‘Gallipoli’, ‘The River’, ‘Tequila Sunrise’ and ‘Lethal Weapon’, amongst many others. He also founded a film production company in 1989.
By this time, Mel was considered an ‘action hero’ and became an international star. In the next decade, he acted in more famous movies like ‘Forever Young’, ‘Maverick’, ‘Lethal Weapon 3’ and also produced and directed the epic historical drama film ‘Braveheart’ released in 1995. Other movies include ‘Ransom’, ‘Payback’, ‘Conspiracy Theory’ and ‘Lethal Weapon 4’.
Whilst continuing with his acting career, Mel concentrated a lot on producing and directing films. Apart from ‘Braveheart’ mentioned earlier, he produced and/or directed ‘The Man without a Face’, ‘The Passion of the Christ’, ‘Apocalyto’ and ‘Hacksaw Ridge’.
Apart from acting in/directing/producing films, Mel is also a property investor and owns various properties, not only in the US but also in Australia, Costa Rica and even an island in Fiji. He is also a huge philanthropist and made very generous donations to numerous charities supporting sick children, the environment and education towards teens with alcohol and drug abuse problems, amongst others.
During his long career, Mel received no less than 29 Awards, including 2 Academy, a Golden Globe and 6 People’s Choice.