Posters: Mel Gibson

About Mel Gibson

By Cathy Richey, the Cathy Factor

Born Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson in Peekskill, New York on January 3, 1956, Gibson was the sixth of 11 children later reared in Australia, where his father moved the family in 1968 in protest of the Vietnam war.

Still holding American citizenship, Gibson later returned to the U.S. to take Hollywood by storm with a string of successful action movies and at least one attempt at Hamlet.

Although today world famous as a leading Hollywood actor, Gibson remains today at the center of controversy for his religious views as director of The Passion of the Christ.

Gibson began his acting career on Australian television and then went on to debut in one of his most famous roles as Mad Max (later resulting in two hit Hollywood sequels). His early Australian film career also included a critically acclaimed performance in Gallipoli.

His U.S. movie debut came with a starring role as Fletcher Christian, in The Bounty playing opposite Anthony Hopkins as Captain Bligh, later achieving superstar status with the release of the first in a series of action movies in which he starred as policeman Martin Riggs in Lethal Weapon alongside Danny Glover.

Gibson next took on the role of Hamlet in 1990, surprising the critics with a strong performance in the Shakespeare classic, then appeared throughout the decade in an eclectic mix of movie performances in such films as the screwball comedy Bird on a Wire opposite Golden Hawn, and in the sensitive drama Man without a Face, his directorial debut. Gibson also directed and starred in Braveheart. He won two Academy awards for Best Picture and Best Director in 1996.

In 2004, Gibson was at the center of worldwide controversy for his directing and producing role in The Passion of the Christ, recounting the last 12 hours of the life of Jesus Christ. The film spawned an international debate on its merits as historically accurate, with charges that Gibson's own Catholicism had colored the depiction of the Jews as violent antagonists within the story, and fomenting anti-Jewish sentiment. Despite the controversy, the film went on to take in more than $600 million in tickets worldwide to become the most successful independent film of all time.

Gibson came under fire from Jewish groups once again after he was stopped on a Los Angeles highway in July 2006 for driving while intoxicated, later reportedly spewing anti-Semitic remarks at police. According to portions of the police report, Gibson at one point reportedly asked if the officer was a Jew and in a state of deep intoxication shouted "all wars are started by Jews."

The report was published on TMZ.com, which hinted at a cover-up by LA police for excising Gibson's comments from the official record. The controversial actor later apologized for the remarks, which he described as "despicable".

Gibson went on to write and direct the action film Apoctolypto released in 2006. Offscreen, more headlines came in 2008 when it was reported that Gibson had played host to controversial pop star Britney Spears by inviting her for a vacation at his home in Costa Rica in May, 2008.

In 2009, Gibson was back in the headlines the devoutly Catholic actor and Robyn Gibson, his wife of 30 years, announced their plans to divorce citing "irreconcilable differences". For months beforehand it was rumored that Gibson and Oksana Pochepa, a Russian pop star, had begun an affair that had pushed Mrs. Gibson to file divorce proceedings, setting the stage for one of the most expensive break-ups in history. With no prenup agreement, Robyn Gibson was reportedly entitled to half of Gibson's fortune estimated at close to $1 billion.

Gibson and Oksana had a rocky relationship, and eventually split. In 2010, he narrowly avoided jail when Oksana alleged Mel had assaulted her during a vicious argument. A number of recordings of the incident made by Oksana have been leaked, and apparently show Mel using violent, racist and abusive language towards her.

Despite feeling he was betrayed when his arguments with Oksana were recorded and made public, Gibson insisted he regrets his outbursts.