Johnny Depp
Celebrity Assignment
Angela Dhima
Media Studies 20
Mrs. K. Merriam
November 1st 2013
Biography
Early life
John Christopher “Johnny” Depp II, American actor, film producer and musician, was
born on June 9th 1963 in Owensboro, Kentucky. He was the youngest of four children of Betty
Sue Palmer, who was a waitress and John Christopher Depp, who was a civil engineer. He has
stated that he may have Native American ancestry. He might be either Cherokee or Creek Indian
from his grandmother’s side. The Indian Country Today Media Network, though, stated that J.
Depp has never inquired about his heritage, nor does the Cherokee Nation recognize him as a
member.
The Depp family moved a lot during Johnny’s childhood, when they settled in Miramar,
Florida in 1970. At the age of 15, his parents got divorced, but his mother remarried her second
husband Robert Palmer, whom Depp has called his inspiration. Johnny, because of some family
problems he was dealing with, engaged in self-harm, causing himself several self-inflicted scars.
In a 1993 interview, he reflected on his self-injury by saying “My body is a journal in a way. It’s
like what sailors used to do, where every tattoo meant something, a specific time in your life
when you make a mark on yourself, whether you do it yourself, with a knife or with a
professional tattoo artist”.
Depp’s relationship with music started at the age of 12, when his mother gave him a guitar as a
gift. He started playing in some garage bands and a year after his parents got divorced he
dropped out of school to be a rock musician. He attempted to go back to school two weeks later,
but the principal told him to follow his dream of being a musician. So that’s what he did. He
played with The Kids, a band that enjoyed modest local success. The Kids set out together for
Los Angeles, in pursuit of a record deal, changing their name to Six Gun Method, but the group
split up before signing a record deal. Then Depp collaborated with the band, Rock City Angels,
and co-wrote their hit song “Mary”, which appeared on Rock City Angels’ debut for Geffen
Records titled Young Man’s Blues.
Personal life
On December 24, 1983, Depp married Lori Anne Allison, the sister of his band’s bass
player and singer. His wife introduced him to actor Nicolas Cage, who advised Depp to pursue
an acting career. Johnny and his wife divorced two years after their marriage. He was later
successively engaged to actresses Jennifer Grey and Sherilyn Fenn in the late 80’s. In 1990 he
proposed to his Edward’s Scissorhands co-star, Winona Ryder, for whom he tattooed “WINONA
FOREVER” in his right arm. A few years later, separated from Winona, he had a four year
relationship, with the supermodel Kate Moss. After that he started a relationship with Vanessa
Paradis, whom he had his two kids with, his daughter Lily-Rose Melody Depp (born 1999) and
his son John “Jack” Christopher Depp III (born 2002). After months of media speculation,
Johnny and Vanessa announced their separation, in June 2012.
Tattoos
Depp has about 13 tattoos, many of them signifying important persons or events in his
life.
Music
As a guitar player, Depp has played slide guitar on the Oasis songs “Fade In-Out” and
“Fade away”. He also played acoustic guitar in the movie Chocolat and on the soundtrack of
Once Upon a Time in Mexico. He is also a friend of The Porgues’ Shane MacGowan and
performed on MacGowans’ first solo album. He is also a member of P, a group featuring singer
Gibby Haynes, bassist Flea and guitarist Steve Jones. He has appeared in Tom Petty and the
Heartbreakers’ music video “Into the Great Wide Open” and The Lemonheads “It’s a shame
about Ray” music video. He made a cameo appearance as the Mad Hatter in Avril Lavigne’s
music video “Alice” in 2010. He performed lead guitar and drums for the cover of Carly
Simon’s “You’re so vain” , which appeared as a bonus track on some editions of Marilyn
Manson’s 2012 album Born Villain, and performed live with Manson in the Revolver Golden
God’s Awards 2012. He also appeared in the music video of “My Valentine” from the Album
Kisses on the Bottom by Paul McCartney released in February 2012, along with Natalie Portman.
Acting Career
Television
Depp started with a lead role in the Fox television series, 21 Jump Street, which
premiered in 1987. He accepted this role to play with actor Frederic Forrest, who inspired him.
The series’ success turned Johnny Depp a popular teen idol in the 1980’s. Despite that, Depp felt
“forced into the role of product”. So that’s when he decided to appear only in films that felt right
for him.
Film Roles
Depp’s first major role was in the 1984 classic horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street.
After that, he was cast in the 1986 American skater drama film Thrashin’, chosen and cast by the
director, but ultimately rejected by the film’s producer. In 1990 he undertook the quirky title role
of the Tim Burton film, Edward Scissorhands. The film’s success began his long association
with Burton.
Johnny was a fan and long-time friend of the writer Hunter S. Thomson, and they
worked together in some projects. When Thomson died, Depp paid for most of his memorial
event. He returned to Thomson’s work, with a film adaptation of the novel The Rum Diary,
released in 2011.
The 2003 Walt Disney Pictures film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black
Pearl, was a major success, in which Depp’s performance as the suave but shambling pirate,
Jack Sparrow, was highly praised and still remains one of his most known roles. The film
director Gore Verbinski, has said that Depp’s character closely resembles the actor’s personality,
but Depp said that he modeled the character after The Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards.
Depp was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for the role. Depp reprised the role
of Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels Dead Man’s Chest (2006), At Worlds
End (2007) and On Stranger Tides (2011). Depp has said that Sparrow is “definitely a big part of
me”. His swashbuckling sword talents, as developed for the character of Sparrow, were
highlighted in the documentary film Reclaiming the Blade. Within the film, sword master Bob
Andreson shared his experience working with Depp on the choreography for The Curse of the
Black Pearl. He described Depp’s ability as an actor to pick up the sword to be “about as good as
you can get”.
In 2004, he was nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award for his performance as
Scottish author J. M. Barrie in the film Finding Neverland. Then Depp, in 2005, starred as Willy
Wonka in the film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which was a major box office success and
earned him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy.
Depp played the title role of Sweeney Todd in Tim’s Burton film adaptation of the musical, for
which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor-Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. Depp
thanked the Hollywood Foreign Press Associetion and praised Tim Burton for his “unwavering
trust and support”. Depp played Heath Ledger character in the 2009 film The Imaginarium of
Doctor Parnassus along with Jude Law and Colin Farrell. All three actors gave their film salaries
to Ledger’s daughter, Matilda. Depp has also portrayed Mad Hatter in Burton’s Alice in
Wonderland and was the protagonist in Rango. In 2007, he accepted Warner Brother’s proposal
to make a film of the gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, a series that aired on ABC from 1966 to
1971, he had been a fan of as a kid. Depp and Graham King produced the movie with David
Kennedy. Depp also starred as Tonto in 2013’s The Lone Ranger, opposite Armie Hammer as
the title character.
Paparazzi
Depp’s relationship with the paparazzi does not always run smoothly. In 1999 for
example, he was arrested for brawling with paparazzi outside a restaurant while dining in
London with his (at the time) pregnant wife. Depp has stated about this, that all they wanted
were photographs of him and Vanessa and the belly. He usually doesn’t care about them being
around but this was his first baby and he wouldn’t let them ruin this wonderful life-changing
experience. So he went and talked to them, trying to make them leave. Then the situation got
‘wild’ and that’s where he whacked a paparazzi’s hand. No charges were laid, and he was
released a few hours later. Generally, Depp gets upset when his children are involved, otherwise
he usually ignores the paparazzi.
Paparazzi-My opinion
We all have heard about how the paparazzi, are constantly ‘chasing’ celebrities for one
good photograph! We have also heard how some celebrities are complaining about that. Well,
that’s it is a two side story. The paparazzi’s job is to take a great photo, that might reveal some
sort of a story and would hopefully pay well. So thinking that, yes they have to do everything to
be good at their job, like a teacher for example wants to be good at hers/his. The problem is that
sometimes they cross the lines. They climb trees, houses, run, chase and puss people just for one
shot! They follow celebrities everywhere; in the grocery store, in the supermarket, at coffee
places and restaurants. All that hoping that they might find something worth photo shooting. It’s
just not right to invade people’s life like that. Yes they are famous and yes they’re worth a lot,
but that doesn’t mean they are not normal people that want a little privacy sometimes. There are
some moments in life, like having a child or getting married, that you want only certain people
beside you, not the whole universe! These are times that the paparazzi should understand that
they do not need to be there. They never do that of course, so many celebrities, to avoid having
all these paparazzi at their private moments, they choose a certain magazine and sell their
photographs there. It’s not perfect, but it is definitely better.
Summing up, I don’t think the paparazzi will ever stop invading celebrities privacy and
I’m afraid the celebrities have to accept that. At a certain point of course.
Bibliography
Johnny Depp Talks About the Paparazzi-Depp Impact
http://www.deppimpact.com/about_paparazzi.php
Johnny Depp-Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Depp