Richard Gere started his acting career 50 years ago. But the Hollywood star, who is celebrating his 75th birthday, has more to show than just his successes on the screen.
Seducer, sex symbol, man with that certain something – and so on. American actor Richard Gere (75) has had this reputation since time immemorial. This is also due to his silvery hair, which has adorned him for decades – let’s say: since “Pretty Woman”. That was in 1990.
His hair is now snow white, but his face is still narrow, even and – at least from a distance – not lined with deep furrows like other men of the same age. He still has the famous gentle, sometimes mischievous smile that millions of women love so much. And why not? After all, he’s only turning 75 on August 31st, and life has been pretty good to him up until then.
Moreover, a man who is said by everyone to be one of the greatest women whisperers or women understanders of all time can suffer worse than the reputation he has honestly earned.
Hollywood star and “Sexiest Man Alive”
Since Gere played a handsome (not yet gray) high-class callboy in “The Man for Certain Hours” in 1980, the list of these roles has never ended. This was followed by “Breathless” (1983), “Pretty Woman” (1990), “Runaway Bride” (1999, again with Julia Roberts), “Unfaithful” (2002) and the musical film adaptation “Chicago” (2002). In 1999, Richard Gere was voted “Sexiest Man Alive” by “People” magazine.
The star has also made a lasting impression on women in Germany. A survey by the magazine “Look” (from 2006) showed that German women over 20 attributed the most sex appeal to Richard Gere. He was ranked number one ahead of George Clooney (63), who is twelve years younger, and Brad Pitt (60), who is 15 years younger.
The list of his actual conquests and on-off loves is also impressive: Gere is said to have had relationships with actresses Penelope Milford (76), Tuesday Weld (81), Carole Mallory (82), Barbara Carrera (78), Kim Basinger (70), Priscilla Presley (79) and Barbra Streisand (82). He is also said to have been in relationships with Brazilian painter Sylvia Martins (70), jewelry designer Loree Rodkin (75) and models Laura Bailey, Tina Chow, Dalila Di Lazzaro and Padma Lakshmi, at least for a time.
Richard Gere is married for the third time
From 1991 to 1995 he was married to supermodel Cindy Crawford (58). Wife number two was actress Carey Lowell (2002-2016, one son). In 2018 he married Spanish publicist and political activist Alejandra Silva (41), with whom he has two sons. The age difference of more than 30 years is “no problem for her. He promised me 20 good years. He has more energy than me, is more active, it’s hard to keep up!”
When asked about his experiences with women, he gave the “Lufthansa Magazine” an answer in 2017 that did not sound like a bon vivant at all: “I don’t know what women think, but I know how I should behave. A relationship is not a trade where each person weighs up what he gives to the other. Real love requires selflessness, like with mothers and their children. That is not always easy, I admit that.”
That is one, the famous side of Richard Gere, about the other, the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” wrote: “It’s hard to believe, but Richard Tiffany Gere wasn’t born a confident, smiling silverback either. He wasn’t always the unobtrusive pretty boy.” Gere, born in Philadelphia in 1949, comes from a family rich in tradition that goes back to the first immigrants to America. His English ancestors arrived on the east coast in 1620 on the famous “Mayflower”.
Richard Gere knows a lot about music
After abandoning his philosophy studies, he actually wanted to devote himself to music, as he had learned to play several instruments at an early age, including piano, guitar, trumpet and drums, and had also composed for the student theater. Gere is a very accomplished musician, having written the piano theme in “Pretty Woman” and a guitar solo in “Runaway Bride.” And he shone with a singing part in “Chicago.”
In his career spanning over 50 years, the Hollywood star has not only played the romantic heartthrob and womanizer, but also corrupt police officers (“Internal Affairs”), a sleazy Wall Street banker (“Arbitrage”), an IRA activist (“The Jackal”), CIA agents (“The Double”) and a homeless man (“Time Out Of Mind”). He turned down the role of Gordon Gekko in the film “Wall Street” in 1987, something he later regretted.
In the Broadway play “Bent” he played a gay prisoner in the Dachau concentration camp, for which he was awarded the “Theatre World Academy Award”. And in the film “Norman” he very convincingly portrayed the tragic downfall of a Jewish businessman in New York City, making him the critics’ favorite for an Oscar for best actor. He never won it. Apart from a Golden Globe for his role in “Chicago”, he was eluded by all the usual Hollywood awards.
Excluded from the Oscars
Richard Gere is not the only one who has been excluded from the Oscars for many years. In 1993, he was asked to present the award for “Best Production Design” to Luciana Arrighi and Ian Whittaker for “Howard’s End”. Gere, however, did not stick to the script and instead used the stage to criticize the Chinese government for its treatment of Tibetans and the Chinese people. This breach of protocol left those responsible fuming with rage and resulted in a decades-long Oscar ban for Gere.
A report from “The Hollywood Reporter” statesthat Gere, who has been a Buddhist for decades, is a personal friend of the Dalai Lama and is therefore officially banned from entering China, is paying the price for his opinion “as Hollywood creeps ever closer to the authoritarian superpower and studios are careful not to anger the government that oversees what is now the second-largest cinema market in the world.”
Gere himself is quoted as saying: “There are definitely films I can’t act in because the Chinese would say: ‘Not with him!’ Recently, someone told me he couldn’t finance a film with me because it would upset the Chinese.”
“How the editorial team works” informs you when and what we report on, how we deal with errors and where our content comes from. In reporting, we adhere to the guidelines of the Journalism Trust Initiative.
