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| Johnny Depp. Date unknown |
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| Johnny Depp |
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| Forecourt Ceremony held on Friday, September 16, 2005 |
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Born: June 9, 1963, in Owensboro, Kentucky
Age at the time of the ceremony: 42
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Johnny Depp is a genuine movie star. Seemingly without meaning to, he has meshed perfectly with the modern audiences interest in fantasy and odd stories and situations. Able to leap tall films in a single bound, Depp continues to amaze.
Depp is the youngest of four children and is of English heritage. With his father being a civil engineer, the family moved many times, finally settling in Miriamar Florida in 1970. A gift of a guitar when he was 12 caused Johnny to play in a number of garage bands. After his parents divorced, he dropped out of high school to become a rock musician.
Traveling to Los Angeles for that elusive "record contract," Depp's band broke up, but Depp somehow got to play Glen Lantz, who gets killed by Freddy Krueger in the original A Nightmare on Elm Street (released in November 1984). Meanwhile, Depp joined a glam metel band called Rock City Angels. He co-wrote the song "Mary" which appeared on the band's debut album, Young Man's Blues, released in 1988.
While waiting for the gravytrain, Depp got second billing in the sex comedy Private Resort (released in May 1985) with Rob Morrow, then played Lerner for director Oliver Stone in Platoon (released in February 1987) with Tom Berenger.
Veteran cop show producer Stephen J. Cannell cast Depp in a role in his ensemble show
21 Jump Street as Officer Tom Hanson, airing over the Fox Network from April 1987 to July 1990. Depp did 70 episodes of the show, eventually getting $45,000 per episode. But Depp disliked the "teen heartthrob" demographic the Fox show saddled him with; he left after four seasons.
To remedy this, director John Waters put Depp in the title role in Cry-Baby (released in April 1990) with Ricki Lake. After Jump Street went off the air Depp's first film for director Tim Burton was released to much box-office: Edward Scissorhands (released in December 1990) with Winona Ryder.
In what would become a pattern for Depp, he would do a mainstream film, but then do a small project — usually with talented directors. He
worked for director Emir Kusturica on Arizona Dream (released in January 1993) with Jerry Lewis, then did the romance Benny & Joon (released in April 1993) with Mary Stuart Masterson, and worked with Swedish director Lasse Hallstöm on What's Eating Gilbert Grape (released in March 1994) with Juliette Lewis.
Depp's second film for Tim Burton was the classic
Ed Wood (released in October 1994) with Martin Landau. He then starred with Marlon Brando in Don Juan DeMarco (released in April 1995). He starred for director Jim Jarmusch in Dead Man (released in May 1996) with Gary Farmer, then starred in the totally conventional thriller Nick of Time (released in November 1995) with Christopher Walken, and the mob picture Donnie Brasco (released in February 1997) with Al Pacino.
Re-teaming with Marlon Brando, Depp co-starred and directed The Brave (released in May 1997), but does anyone really direct Brando? For director Terry Gilliam Depp starred in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (released in May 1998) with Benicio Del Toro; for director Roman Polanski, he starred in The Ninth Gate (released in March 2000) with Frank Langella.
After
The Astronaut's Wife (released in August 1999) with Charlize Theron, Depp played Ichabod Crane for Tim Burton in Sleepy Hollow (which played the Chinese in November 1999) with Christina Ricci. He played a lead role again with Lasse Halström for Chocolat (released in December 2000) with Juliette Binoche, then appeared in the drug traffic film Blow (released in April 2001) with Penélope Cruz.
A new chapter opened for Depp in his portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow in
Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (released in July 2003) with Geoffrey Rush. The blockbuster film was fueled by Depp's performance, and he has starred in four more of the sequels.
For director Robert Rodriguez, he starred in the baroque western Once Upon a Time in Mexico (released in September 2003) with Antonio Banderas, then played Peter Pan author James Barrie in Finding Neverland (released in December 2004) with Kate Winslet. Depp stepped into Gene Wilder's shoes for Tim Burton once more in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (which played the Chinese in July 2005).
Depp was invited to come to the Chinese Theatre to make his impressions just prior to the opening of
the animated film he did the lead voice for: Corpse Bride (which played the Chinese in September 2005). Depp spent the next two years in harness for two Pirates films, Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest (released in July 2006), and Prirates of the Carribean: At World's End (released in May 2007), and doing the title role in Tim Burton's musical Sweeney Todd: The Deamon Barber of Fleet Street (released in December 2007) with Helena Bonham Carter.
After taking a slight break, Depp
played John Dillinger for director Michael Mann in Public Enemies (released in July 2009) with Christian Bale. Depp reportedly directed the garage movie Unloveable (which seems to have been shown only in the UK in November-ish 2009), then joined with Burton again to play the Mad Hatter to perfection in Alice in Wonderland (released in March 2010).
Depp
was billed under Angelina Jolie in The Tourist (released in December 2010), then did the voice for the title character in Rango (released in March 2011). He once again headlined Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides (released in May 2011), then co-produced and starred in the adaptation of another Hunter S. Thompson novel, The Rum Diary (released in October 2011) with Giovanni Ribisi.
Depp was one of the producers on Martin Scorsese's Hugo (released in November 2011), and co-produced and starred for Tim Burton in Dark Shadows (which played the Chinese in May 2012) with Michelle Pfeiffer. His very strange take on the character Tonto sort of derailed his co-producing effort, The Lone Ranger (released in July 2013), while the crybernetic character he played in Transcendence (which played the Chinese in April 2014) with Rebecca Hall, was perfect for his busy schedule.
Depp played the Wolf in the musical Into the Woods (released in December 2014) with Meryl Streep. He was a producer and starred in the comedy Mortdecai (released in January 2015) with Gwyneth Paltrow, and starred with his daughter Lilly-Rose Depp in director Kevin Smith's Yoga Hosers (released in September 2016). Depp played the title role in Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal: The Movie (streaming on Funny or die in February 2016) with Alfred Molina.
Depp
returned to the Mad Hatter character in Alice Through the Looking Glass (which played the Chinese in May 2016), and played the heavy Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (played the Chinese in November 2016). Remaining in blockbusterland, Depp returned as Captain Jack in Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (which played the Chinese in May 2017).
Depp has directed a film about one of his heroes, Untitled Keith Richards Documentary which doesn't seem to have been shown in public yet. Richard Says Goodbye (which has been shown at the Zurich Film Festival in October 2018) is still awaiting a US distributor, while Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (which played the Chinese in November 2018) with Eddie Redmayne, has Depp returning as Grindelwald.
Depp's City of Lies (which has been released in Italy in January 2019) with Forest Whitaker. The film awaits a US release. He co-starred with Mark Rylance in Waiting for the Bararians (released in August 2020, and Minamata with Hiroyuki Sanada (released in February 2021). |
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| Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, California. Johnny Depp Forecourt block. Executed by unknown, Friday, September 16, 2005. 47 x 35 inches. |
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| Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, California. Johnny Depp Forecourt ceremony, Friday, September 16, 2005. Johnny Depp begins his slab by placing his hands in the wet cement. |
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