Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson,
AO (born January 3, 1956) is an American Australian actor, film director and producer and screenwriter. Born in
Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to
Sydney when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the
National Institute of Dramatic Art.
After appearing in the
Mad Max and
Lethal Weapon series, Gibson went on to direct and star in the
Academy Award-winning
Braveheart. Gibson's direction of
Braveheart made him the sixth actor-turned-filmmaker to receive an
Academy Award for Best Director.
[1995 Academy Awards] In 2004, he directed and produced
The Passion of the Christ, a controversial
[Jesus helps Mel hit No. 1: Controversial film gives Gibson the most weight on Forbes power list; Britney off the chart again June 18, 2004] but successful
[Box Office Mojo.com Domestic Total Gross:$370,782,930 60.6% + Foreign: $241,116,490 39.4%] film that portrayed the last hours of the life of
Jesus Christ. The movies he has acted in have grossed more than two billion dollars in the US alone.
[boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/?view=Actor&id=melgibson.htm]
Early life
Gibson was born in
Peekskill, New York, the sixth of eleven children, and the second son of
Hutton Gibson and Irish-born Anne Reilly. His paternal grandmother was the Australian opera soprano,
Eva Mylott (1875–1920).
One of Gibson's younger brothers,
Donal, is also an actor. Gibson's first name comes from
Saint Mel, fifth-century Irish saint, and founder of Gibson's mother's native
diocese,
Ardagh, while his second name,
Colm-Cille,
is shared by an Irish saint
[Michael Dwyer, The Irish Times film critic, interviewed on RTÉ Radio 1's This week programme, August 6, 2006.] and is name of the parish in
County Longford where Anne Reilly was born and raised. Because of his mother, Gibson holds dual Irish and American citizenship.
