Mel Gibson Net Worth

Biography of Mel Gibson

Mel Gibson is a famous Hollywood actor, director and producer of Irish origin, winner of the Academy Award for Best Director for the film Braveheart. Gibson especially succeeds in men who are desperate from grief, who decide to take revenge on their offenders, or in fundamental struggles for justice – courageous and fearless. His blue eyes and Apollonian appearance still continue to fall in love with women around the world.

Childhood and youth

Mel Columsill Gerard Gibson was born on January 3, 1956, the sixth of eleven children in an Irish Catholic family. The actor received his name in honor of the saint, who is the patron saint of Ardag – his mother’s homeland, and the second, double name Colm-Kille, was given to him in honor of the Irish Saint Columbus.

In the early 60s, when the Vietnam War broke out, Mel’s father Hutton Gibson moved the Gibson family to Australia – he did not want his sons to be taken to this senseless slaughter. Already in Australia, Hutton and Anna Patricia Gibson had five more children. The Gibsons lived there in a small town in New South Wales, where Mel’s grandmother, opera singer Eva Mylott, was born.

After graduating from Catholic and public schools in Sydney, Mel was going to become a journalist, but unexpectedly for him, his sister sent an application on his behalf to enter the Sydney National Institute of Theater Arts. Despite not having any acting experience, Gibson ventured into an audition, which he successfully passed. It’s funny that before that the guy had a big fight, but it was this “textured” appearance that the casting managers liked.

Acting and directing career

Soon after entering the theater institute, Gibson made his stage debut in the production of Romeo and Juliet, and in 1977 he made his screen debut in the Australian TV series The Sullivan Family (1976-83) and the film Hot Summer. In parallel with the filming, Mel played leading roles in classic theatrical productions, for example, in the tragedy Oedipus and the historical drama Henry IV, then he even managed to collaborate with Judy Davis and Geoffrey Rush.

The young actor pulled out his lucky ticket very soon – in 1979, George Miller invited him to play the lead role in the post-apocalyptic action movie Mad Max, where Gibson played a brutal “future” police officer who came into conflict with a local biker gang.

The atmospheric road movie became the most successful Australian film (more than $100 million worldwide) and quickly became a cult among connoisseurs of the genre, while Mel Gibson received his first big fee – $15,000 and, most importantly, gained fame. The continuation of the story about Max was not long in coming – two years later the second part was released under the title “Mad Max: Road Warrior”, and the “salary” of the actor increased by almost 10 times.

Between these box office projects, Mel had another, more chamber work – the role of a mentally retarded man in the melodrama “Tim”, which tells the story of the “unequal” love of an unusual Gibson character and a woman much older than him (Piper Laurie). It was for his work in this picture that Mel Gibson received his first acting award from the Australian Film Institute.

In 1981, Gibson’s talent was noticed by another well-known Australian director, Peter Weir, who invited the actor to his military drama Gallipoli about the bloodiest battle during the First World War, and a year later, to the historical melodrama The Year Dangerous for Life, where Gibson played with Sigourney Weaver.

But Mel got to Hollywood all the same thanks to George Miller and Mad Max – in 1984 he was invited to play the main role in the adventure drama Bounty about a real mutiny on the ship of the same name. The young actor’s partners on the set were Anthony Hopkins and Laurence Olivier, Daniel Day Lewis and Liam Neeson.

In 1985, the final part of the Max story with the participation of Mel Gibson followed – Mad Max: Under Thunderdome, where singer Tina Turner also played one of the main roles.

Gibson’s second major breakthrough in mainstream cinema was the role of fearless cop Martin Riggs in Richard Donner’s crime thriller Lethal Weapon (1987). The film about two cops of the Los Angeles police – “bad” and “good”, reckless and respectable – became a hit at the box office and still arouses admiration among the audience.

Within just a few years, the continuation of the picture was filmed, which turned out to be no less successful than the original. By the way, it was in the image of Martin Riggs that Mel Gibson made such an impression on director Franco Zeffirelli that he later invited him to the role of Hamlet in the film adaptation of the same name with Glenn Close, Ian Holm and Helena Bonham Carter.

In 1993, Gibson, along with his set partner Danny Glover, won the MTV Award for Best On-Screen Duo in Lethal Weapon 3. But he was well aware that he needed to move on – in the same year, Mel founded the film company Icon Productions and shot his first picture – the drama “The Man Without a Face”.

True, his second directorial work was much more successful than the first – it was the epic drama “Braveheart” about the struggle of the Scottish people for independence. Thanks to the work and talent of Mel Gibson, many have learned the story of the brave Scottish rebel William Wallace.

In 1996, Braveheart was presented at the Oscar ceremony in ten categories at once, of which it won half, including best director and best film. Winning two main nominations at once is generally a rarity for the Oscars, but here the film academy had no other choice.

In 1995, Gibson diversified his filmography by working on the cartoon “Pocahontas”, voicing the main character John Smith. This was followed by roles in thrillers such as “Ransom” by Ron Howard and “Conspiracy Theory” with Julia Roberts, where Mel again worked with director Richard Donner.

In 1998, “Lethal Weapon” returned to the big screen again – the fourth part about the police officers of Los Angeles was released, such stars as Joe Pesci, Jet Li and Chris Rock joined Glover and Gibson.

The audience fell in love with the role of Mel Gibson in the historical drama “The Patriot” about a family tragedy against the backdrop of the Civil War between North and South, where the young Heath Ledger made a couple of the actor. And in the comedy “What Women Want” with Helen Hunt, Gibson demonstrated his comedic talent and fearlessness before waxing on camera.

In the 2000s, the actor began to act less and less – here we can only highlight his work in the films of M. Night Shyamalan “Signs” (2002) and “We Were Soldiers” (2002).

At this time, Mel Gibson increasingly went into his own projects, where he already fully occupied the director’s chair. In 2004, he shocked many viewers and believers with a drama about the last day of Jesus, The Passion of the Christ. Gibson and the team managed to recreate the Palestine of the beginning of our era in detail, the actors in the frame spoke Aramaic, Hebrew and Latin.

The picture was replete with violent scenes – the lead actor James Caviezel later admitted that he received real injuries on the set. Despite the indignation of critics and those who disagree with the concept of the film, The Passion of the Christ was highly appreciated by Pope John Paul II.

Mel Gibson wrote the screenplay for the 2006 film Apocalypse. He again turned to the historical epic, this time to the period of Mayan civilization. In 2006, Gibson almost crossed out his career due to anti-Semitic statements (read about this below) and practically disappeared from view for a whole 10 years, only to return in 2016 with his own film, the anti-war drama “Habit Happiness” with Andrew Garfield as a real-life guy who saved 75 soldiers during World War II. The return was judged on merit – the picture received the main nominations for Oscar and Golden Globe, and even the Reputation Restoration Award.

Religious views and scandals

In 1984, Mel Gibson was fined $400 and had his driver’s license suspended for driving under the influence of alcohol. In 2006, the celebrity was again arrested for drunk driving. During the arrest, Mel shouted out anti-Semitic remarks. The man shouted that the cause of all wars in history were the Jews.

For this, Gibson’s Hollywood colleagues, TV commentators and, of course, Jewish organizations began to criticize him. The actor received harsh remarks from some film companies. Mel Gibson later publicly apologized and admitted that he found his behavior “ugly” and that he had “temporarily lost his mind”.

Mel Gibson supports traditionalist Catholics. In particular, he opposes stem cell research. At the same time, intolerance coexists in the actor with religiosity and passion for charity. After the release of The Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson stated that “he has signs, signs that are as clear as traffic lights.” Later, the director even stated that the Holy Spirit helped him shoot the picture.

Mel Gibson’s personal life

In the 1970s, the then aspiring actor Mel Gibson met his future wife, Robin Moore, through a marriage agency. Mel and Robin married in Adelaide in 1980. During their married life they had seven children – two daughters and five sons.

In the spring of 2009, information appeared that Mel Gibson had not lived with his wife Robin Moore for three years. At the same time, the wife of the famous actor filed for divorce, and a few days later the director came to the premiere of X-Men: Wolverine with Oksana Grigorieva.

In the fall of 2009, Gibson and Grigorieva had a daughter, but the couple was never able to build a full-fledged family. Already in the spring of 2010, information appeared that one of the most talked about couples in the world intends to leave. In June, a series of court cases began between Mel and Oksana – the parents could not decide who should raise the child. In addition, doctors found a concussion in Grigorieva, which they accused her ex-husband of. In the spring of 2011, the actor was sentenced to three years of probation and a fine of $400. This whole story pretty much patted the already leaky reputation of the actor.

Now Mel Gibson is happy again in his personal life – his girlfriend, screenwriter and actress Rosalind Ross, in 2017 gave birth to a son from him, whom happy parents named Lars Gerard.

Mel Gibson now

After a long break, Mel Gibson – actor, director and producer – is back in the ranks. He is involved in a variety of projects, among which are shooting in the films “The Professor and the Madman” with Natalie Dormer and Sean Penn and “The Last Level” with Naomi Watts. The artist is not going to forget about the director’s chair either: the film “Berserk” is in the pre-production stage, as well as the continuation of the sensational film “The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection”. Recently, Gibson also announced his intention to make a film based on the script of his beloved Rosalind Ross about the Battle of Okinawa during the Second World War.

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