He began acting in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, and a starring role in Days of Heaven. He came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol. Gere’s mother, Doris Ann (née Tiffany, born 1924), was a homemaker, and his father, Homer George Gere (born 1922), was an insurance agent for the Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company and had originally intended to become a minister. He attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst on a gymnastics scholarship, majoring in philosophy, but did not graduate, leaving after two years. Gere’s status as a leading man was again solidified, and he went on to star in several successful films throughout the 1990s, including Sommersby (1993), Primal Fear (1996), and Runaway Bride (1999) which reunited him with his Pretty Woman co-star Julia Roberts. Gere was Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ “Man of the Year” for 2006. Gere was married to supermodel Cindy Crawford from 1991 to 1995. Gere was raised by Methodist parents; his interest in Buddhism began when he traveled to Nepal in 1978 with the Brazilian painter, Sylvia Martins.

He began acting in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, and a starring role in Days of Heaven. He came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol. Richard also took a leading role in the 1997 action movie The Jackal, playing Declan Mulqueen. in 2002, he appeared in three major releases: the horror thriller The Mothman Prophecies, the drama Unfaithful, and the Academy Award-winning film version of Chicago, for which he won a Golden Globe as “Best Actor – Comedy or Musical”. Gere was Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ “Man of the Year” for 2006.

However, after 1982, Gere’s career was dogged by several box office failures. Richard also took a leading role in the 1997 action movie The Jackal, playing Declan Mulqueen. in 2007, he co-starred with Jesse Eisenberg and Terrence Howard in The Hunting Party, a comic thriller in which he played a journalist in Bosnia. The same year he also starred with Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, and Cate Blanchett in Todd Haynes’ semi-biographical film about Bob Dylan, I’m Not There. Gere was banned as an Academy Award presenter in 1993 after he denounced the Chinese government in his capacity as presenter. On April 15, 2007, Gere appeared at an AIDS awareness rally in Jaipur, India. This is the end of the matter.” in June 2008, Gere appeared in a Fiat commercial for the European market, driving a new Lancia Delta from Hollywood to Tibet. The commercial was reported in Chinese newspapers, and Fiat apologized to the PRC.