Johnny Depp

Born John Christopher Depp in Owensboro, Kentucky, on June 9th, 1963, Johnny Depp was raised in Florida. Though highly successful now, Depp's early life, strangely, was as a rebel, and he took to vandalism and narcotics. He dropped out of school when he was 15, and he fronted a series of music-garage bands. He married Lori Anne Allison, and he took up the job of being a salesman to support himself and his wife. A visit to Los Angeles, California, with his wife, however, happened to be a blessing in disguise, when he met up with actor Nicolas Cage, who advised him to turn to acting, which culminated in Depp's film debut in the low-budget horror film, A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), where he played a teenager who falls prey to dream-stalking demon Freddy Krueger.

Acting career
In 1990, after numerous roles in teen-oriented films, his first of a handful of great collaborations with director Tim Burton came about when Johnny Depp played the title role in Edward Scissorhands. Following the film's success, Depp carved a niche for himself as a serious performer. Consistently selecting roles surprised critics and audiences alike. He continued to gain critical acclaim and increasing popularity by appearing in many features before re-joining with Burton in the lead role of Ed Wood (1994). In 1997 he played an undercover FBI agent in the fact-based film Donnie Brasco, opposite Al Pacino. In 1998 he appeared in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, directed by Terry Gilliam; and then, in 1999, he appeared in the sci-fi / horror film The Astronaut's Wife. The same year he teamed up again with Burton in Sleepy Hollow, brilliantly portraying Ichabod Crane. In 2003 he starred in the marvelous family blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, playing a character that only the likes of Depp could pull off: the charming and roguish Captain Jack Sparrow. Johnny Depp has played many characters in his career.

Awards
Some of the awards that Depp has won include honors from the London Film Critics Circle (1996), Russian Guild of Film Critics (1998),Screen Actors Guild Awards (2004) and a Golden Globe for Best Actor. At the 2008 MTV Movie Awards, he won the award for "Best Villain" for his portrayal of Sweeney Todd and "Best Comedic Performance" for Jack Sparrow. Depp has been nominated for threeAcademy Awards, in 2004 for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, in 2005 for Finding Neverland, and in 2008 forSweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Depp won his first Golden Globe for his portrayal of Sweeney Todd in 2008.

Family and relationships

Depp was married to Lori Anne Allison from 1983 to 1985. He was later successively engaged to actresses Jennifer Grey and Sherilyn Fenn in the late 1980s before proposing in 1990 to his Edward Scissorhands co-star Winona Ryder, for whom he tattooed "WINONA FOREVER" on his right arm. In 1998, following a four-year relationship with British supermodel Kate Moss, Depp began a relationship with Vanessa Paradis, a French actress and singer whom he met while filming The Ninth Gate. After months of media speculation, Depp and Paradis announced their separation in June 2012. Depp has two children with Vanessa: daughter Lily-Rose Melody Depp (born 1999), and son John "Jack" Christopher Depp III (born 2002). Although Depp has not remarried, he has stated that having children has given him "real foundation, a real strong place to stand in life, in work, in everything."