Richard Gere (Edward) is one of America’s foremost actors, known for his roles in such films as “The Mothman Prophecies,” “An Officer and a Gentleman,” “Days of Heaven,” “American Gigolo,” “Yanks,” “Pretty Woman,” and the highly successful courtroom drama “Primal Fear. ” He recently starred in two popular romantic comedies: Robert Altman’s “Dr. T and the Women,” in which he appeared with Helen Hunt, Liv Tyler, Farrah Fawcett and Kate Hudson, and Garry Marshall’s “Runaway Bride,” where he created boxoffice chemistry with Julia Roberts as a cynical reporter writing about a commitment-phobic woman.
Gere began acting at the University of Massachusetts, where he was a philosophy major. After spending full sessions with the Provincetown Playhouse and Seattle Repertory Theatre, he performed in a number of New York plays, notably the title role in “Richard Farina: Long Time Coming and Long Time Gone,” in addition to two plays by Sam Shepard, “Back Bog Beast Bait” and “A Killer’s Head. ”
His career was established with performances in the Broadway rock opera “Soon” and the New York production of “Habeus Corpus,” and he won widespread recognition playing Danny Zuko in the Broadway and London productions of the hit musical “Grease. ”