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Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp received his third Academy Award nomination for Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and won a Golden Globe Award for the role.

As Captain Jack Sparrow, Depp reprised the role for a third time in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, after Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest earned more than $1 billion, making it the third largest-grossing movie of all time. He received his first Academy Award nomination, as well as a Golden Globe Award nomination, a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award nomination and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his portrayal of Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

Depp has earned both critical and popular acclaim for his unique work in a variety of memorable feature films. In 2005, he collaborated with Burton on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, for which he received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical, and Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Film in 2006. In 2004, Depp starred opposite John Malkovich and Samantha Morton in Laurence Dunmore's The Libertine, as 17th-century womanizing poet John Wilmot, the Earl of Rochester.

Depp received his second Academy Award nomination, as well as a Golden Globe Award nomination, Screen Actors Guild Award nomination and BAFTA nomination for his role as J.M. Barrie in Marc Forster's Finding Neverland, in which he starred opposite Kate Winslet and Freddie Highmore.

Depp's other screen credits include David Koepp's Secret Window, Robert Rodriguez's Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Albert and Allen Hughes' From Hell, Ted Demme's Blow, Lasse Hallström's romantic comedy Chocolat, Julian Schnabel's Before Night Falls, Sally Potter's The Man Who Cried, Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow, Roman Polanski's The Ninth Gate and Terry Gilliam's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Hailed as the best actor of his generation for his performance in Mike Newell's Donnie Brasco with Al Pacino, Depp has also starred in Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man and in Jeremy Leven's Don Juan DeMarco, in which he starred as a man convinced he is the world's greatest lover, opposite actors Marlon Brando and Faye Dunaway.

It was his compelling performance in the title role of Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands that established Depp as one of Hollywood's most sought-after talents and earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor. He was honored with another Golden Globe Award nomination for his work in the offbeat love story Benny & Joon, directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik. Depp reunited with Burton for the critically acclaimed Ed Wood and his performance garnered him yet another Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor.

Other films inclusse Hallström's What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Emir Kusturica's Arizona Dream and John Badham's Nick of Time.

Depp began his career as a musician, joining a rock group named Kids, which eventually took him to Los Angeles. When the band broke up, he turned to acting and earned his first major acting job in A Nightmare on Elm Street. He went on to earn roles in several films including Oliver Stone's Academy Award-winning Platoon. Depp then won the role that would prove to be his breakthrough, as undercover detective Tom Hanson on the popular FOX television show 21 Jump Street. He starred on the series for four seasons before segueing to the big screen in the lead role of John Waters' Cry-Baby.

Depp starred and made his feature directorial debut opposite Marlon Brando in The Brave, a film based on the novel by Gregory McDonald. Depp cowrote the screenplay with his brother D.P. Depp.

Depp will next be seen in Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, as The Mad Hatter in Burton's Alice in Wonderland and in The Rum Diary, based on Hunter S. Thompson's first novel, for director Bruce Robinson. He also lends his voice to Gore Verbinski's Rango.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2009.
Read earlier biographies on this page.

Johnny Depp Facts

Birth NameJohn Christopher Depp II
OccupationActor, Director, Musician
BirthdayJune 9, 1963 (60)
SignGemini
BirthplaceOwensboro, Kentucky, USA
Height5' 10" (1m78)  How tall is Johnny Depp compared to you?
Awards2008 Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy (for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street)
2004 MTV Movie Awards: Best Male Performance (for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl)
2004 Screen Actors Guild Awards: Best Male Actor in a Leading Role (for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl)

Selected Filmography

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) as Jack Sparrow
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) as Jack Sparrow
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) as Willy Wonka
Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse of the Black Pearl (2004) as Jack Sparrow
Blow (2001) as George Jung
From Hell (2001) as Frederick Abberline
Chocolat (2000) as Roux
The Ninth Gate (2000) as Dean Corso
Sleepy Hollow (1999) as Ichabod Crane
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) as Raoul Duke
Don Juan DeMarco (1995) as Don Juan
What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) as Gilbert Grape
Cry Baby (1990) as Wade
Edward Scissorhands (1990) as Edward Scissorhands
21 Jump Street (1987) tv as Tom Hanson (breakthrough)
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