Richard Gere - Career

Career

Gere first worked professionally at the Provincetown Playhouse on Cape Cod in 1971 where he starred in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. His first major acting role was in the original London stage version of Grease in 1973. He began appearing in Hollywood films in the mid 1970s, co-starring in the thriller Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977) and playing the leading role in director Terrence Malick's well-reviewed 1978 film, Days of Heaven. In 1980, Gere appeared in the Broadway production of Bent. He became a major star that year with the film American Gigolo, followed by the romantic drama An Officer and a Gentleman, which grossed almost $130 million in 1982.

Experiencing several box office failures since 1982, Gere's career strengthened with the releases of Internal Affairs and Pretty Woman in 1990. Gere's status as a leading man solidified and he went on to star in several successful films throughout the 1990s, including Sommersby (1993), Primal Fear (1996), and Runaway Bride (1999) (which reunited him with his Pretty Woman co-star Julia Roberts). Gere also took a leading role in the 1997 action movie The Jackal, playing Declan Mulqueen.

Richard Gere was named People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" in 1999. In 2002, he appeared in three major releases: the horror thriller The Mothman Prophecies, the drama Unfaithful, and the Academy Award-winning film version of Chicago, for which he won a Golden Globe as "Best Actor – Comedy or Musical". Gere's 2004 ballroom dancing drama Shall We Dance? was also a solid performer that grossed $170 million worldwide though his next film, 2005's Bee Season, was a commercial failure.

By 2007, Gere was co-starring with Jesse Eisenberg and Terrence Howard in The Hunting Party (a comic thriller in which he played a journalist in Bosnia) as well as with Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, and Cate Blanchett in Todd Haynes' semi-biographical film about Bob Dylan, I'm Not There.

In 2008, Gere co-starred with Diane Lane in the romantic drama Nights in Rodanthe. The film was widely panned by critics (making #74 on The Times Worst Films of 2008 list), but grossed over $84 million worldwide.

Late in his career, Gere was honored twice for his lifetime achievement. He received an award from the 34th Cairo International Film Festival in December 2010, and was the 67th recipient of The George Eastman Award for distinguished contribution to the art of film in 2012, for his acting career and his global humanitarian leadership.