Mel Gibson

Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson  (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor and film director. He is mostly known for his roles in action. Among his most famous roles are in Mad Max (1979), Gallipoli (1981), The Bounty  (1984), Lethal Weapon (1987), and Braveheart (1995). He directed The Passion of the Christ in 2004. He loosely based it on the visions of St. Catherine Emmerich.

Gibson was born in Peekskill, New York, United States. His father, Hutton Gibson, was a veteran soldier during World War II, and was also a famous writer. His family moved to Australia in 1968, when he was 12. He studied acting at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney. He also has Irish citizenship.

During the 1980s, Gibson founded Icon Entertainment, a production company, which Atom Egoyan described as "an alternative to the studio system". When director Peter Weir cast him as a major character in World War I drama Gallipoli, he earned a Best Actor from the Australian Film Institute Awards, which cemented him as an serious, versatile and recognisable actor.

In 1995, Gibson received the Academy Award for Best Picture and the Academy Award for Best Director for his work on Braveheart. He later directed and produced The Passion of the Christ in 2004, a controversial drama regarding Jesus, which was viewed as antisemitic by many people. Allegations of antisemitism and racism by Gibson led to a downfall in his career, and later revived his career, particularly with the 2016’s Hacksaw Ridge, which won two Academy Awards and was nominated for an additional four.

Early life 
Mel Colme-Cille Gerard Gibson was born in Peekskill, New York, as the sixth of 11 children. He is of Irish descent, and the second son of Hutton Gibson, a writer, and Irish-born Anne Patricia (nee Reilly, died 1990). Gibson’s paternal grandmother was opera contralto Eva Mylott (1875–1920), who was born in Australia, to Irish parents, while his paternal grandfather, John Hutton Gibson, was a millionaire and tobacco businessman from the South. One of Gibson's younger brothers, Donal, is also an actor. Gibson's first name is derived from St. Mel’s Cathedral, located in his mother's hometown of Longford, Ireland. His second name, Colmcille, is also shared with an Irish saint. Because of his mother, Gibson possesses dual Irish and American citizenship. Gibson is also an Australian permanent resident.

Gibson's father was awarded US$145,000 in a work-related-injury lawsuit against the New York Central Railroad on Valentine's Day, 1968, and soon afterwards relocated his family to West Pymble, Sydney, Australia. Gibson was twelve at the time. The move to his grandmother's native Australia was for economic reasons, and his father's expectation that the Australian Defence Force would reject his eldest son for the draft during the Vietnam War.

During his years in high school, Gibson was educated by members of the Congregation of Christian Brothers at St Leo’s Catholic College in Wahroonga, New South Wales.

Awards and accomplishments
 Australian Film Institute Awards: Best Actor in a Lead Role, for Tim (1979) and Gallipoli (1981)
 Academy Award: Best Picture, for Braveheart (1995)
 Academy Award: Best Director, for Braveheart (1995)
 People's Choice Awards: Favorite Motion Picture Actor (1991, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2004)
 People's Choice Awards: Favorite Motion Picture Star in a Comedy (2001)
 ShoWest Award: Male Star of the Year (1993)
 ShoWest Award: Director of the Year (1996)
 American Cinematheque Gala Tribute: American Cinematheque Award (1995)
 Hasty Pudding Theatricals: Man of the Year (1997)
 Australian Film Institute Awards: Global Achievement Award (2002)
 Honorary Doctorate Recipient and Undergraduate Commencement Speaker, Loyola Marymount University (2003)
 World's most powerful celebrity by US business magazine Forbes (2004)
 Hollywood Reporter Innovator of the Year (2004)
 Honorary fellowship in Performing Arts by Limkokwing University (2007)
 Outstanding Contribution to World Cinema Award at the Irish Film and Television Awards (2008)

References

Other websites 
 Gibson, Mel at the Open Directory Project

 
1956 births
Living people
Academy Award winning actors
Actors from New York (state)
American movie actors
American television actors
Movie directors from New York (state)
Movie producers from New York (state)
Order of Australia
People from Peekskill, New York
People's Choice Award winners
Screenwriters from New York (state)
Republicans (United States)