Depp began his career as a musician performing in several amateur rock bands before making his feature film debut in the horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). He then acted in Platoon (1986) before rising to prominence as a teen idol on the television series 21 Jump Street (1987โ1990). Depp portrayed lead roles in Arizona Dream (1993), What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), Benny & Joon (1993), Dead Man (1995), Donnie Brasco (1997), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), The Ninth Gate (1999), Chocolat (2000), and Blow (2001).
During this time, Depp became known for his work with director Tim Burton, collaborating on eight films together, starting with Edward Scissorhands (1990), followed by Ed Wood (1994), Sleepy Hollow (1999), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Corpse Bride (2005), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), Alice in Wonderland (2010) and Dark Shadows (2012).
Depp gained worldwide stardom for his role as Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series (2003โ2017). He earned three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his roles as Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), J. M. Barrie in Finding Neverland (2004), and the title role in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007).
His other well-received films include Public Enemies (2009), Rango (2011), Into the Woods (2014), Black Mass (2015), Murder on the Orient Express (2017) and Minamata (2020). He portrayed Gellert Grindelwald in two films within the Wizarding World's Fantastic Beasts films in 2016 and 2018.
For his work in the film industry, he received an Honorary Cรฉsar and star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999. He was named People's Sexiest Man Alive twice, in 2003 and in 2009. Outside acting, Depp has produced films through his company Infinitum Nihil, which he founded in 2004. He also formed the rock supergroup Hollywood Vampires with Alice Cooper and Joe Perry.
Depp was married to the actress Amber Heard from 2015 to 2017. Afterward, the pair accused each other of domestic abuse and engaged in two lengthy and high-profile defamation cases. In the English Depp v News Group Newspapers Ltd (2020), the High Court of Justice ruled that Depp engaged in domestic abuse against Heard, while in the American Depp v.
Heard (2022), the Fairfax Circuit Court ruled that Heard had defamed Depp. The highly publicized case sparked widespread debate on defamation, domestic abuse, and male victims of domestic violence.
Early life
Depp was born on June 9, 1963, in Owensboro, Kentucky, the youngest of four children of waitress Betty Sue Depp (nรฉe Wells; later Palmer) and civil engineer John Christopher Depp. Depp's family moved frequently during his childhood, eventually settling in Miramar, Florida, in 1970. His parents divorced in 1978 when he was 15, and his mother later married Robert Palmer, whom Depp has called "an inspiration".
Depp's mother gave him a guitar when he was 12, and he began playing in various bands. He dropped out of Miramar High School at 16 in 1979 to become 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. In 1980, Depp began playing in a band called The Kids.
After modest local success in Florida, the band moved to Los Angeles in pursuit of a record deal, changing its name to Six Gun Method. In addition to the band, Depp worked a variety of odd jobs, such as in telemarketing. In December 1983, Depp married makeup artist Lori Anne Allison, the sister of his band's bassist and singer.
The Kids split up before signing a record deal in 1984, and Depp began collaborating with the band Rock City Angels. He co-wrote their song "Mary", which appeared on their debut Geffen Records album Young Man's Blues. Depp and Allison divorced in 1985.
Depp is of primarily English descent, with some French, German, Irish and distant African American ancestry. Elizabeth Key Grinstead, one of the first African Americans in the North American colonies to sue for her freedom and win, is an eighth great-grandmother. His surname comes from a French Huguenot immigrant, Pierre Dieppe, who settled in Virginia around 1700.
In interviews in 2002 and 2011, Depp claimed to have Native American ancestry, "I guess I have some Native American somewhere down the line. My great-grandmother was quite a bit of Native American. She grew up Cherokee or maybe Creek Indian. Makes sense in terms of coming from Kentucky, which is rife with Cherokee and Creek Indian."
Depp's claims came under scrutiny when Indian Country Today wrote that Depp had never inquired about his heritage or been recognized as a member of the Cherokee Nation. This led to criticism of Depp from the Native American community, as Depp has no documented Native ancestry, and Native community leaders consider him "a non-Indian" and a pretendian.
Depp's choice to portray Tonto, a Native American character, in The Lone Ranger was criticized, along with his choice to name his rock band "Tonto's Giant Nuts". During the promotion for The Lone Ranger, Depp was formally adopted as an honorary son by LaDonna Harris, a member of the Comanche Nation, making him an honorary member of her family but not a member of any tribe.
Career
1980s: Television and early film roles
Depp moved to Los Angeles with his band when he was 20. After the band broke up, Depp's then-wife Lori Ann Allison introduced him to actor Nicolas Cage. After they became drinking buddies, Cage advised him to pursue acting. Depp had been interested in acting since reading a biography of James Dean and watching Rebel Without a Cause.
Cage helped Depp secure an audition with Wes Craven for A Nightmare on Elm Street; Depp, who had no acting experience, said he "ended up acting by accident". Due to Depp being noticed by Craven's daughter, he landed the role of the main character's boyfriend, one of Freddy Krueger's victims.
Although Depp said he "didn't have any desire to be an actor", he continued to be cast in films, making enough to cover some bills that his musical career left unpaid. After a starring role in the 1985 comedy Private Resort, Depp was cast in the lead role of the 1986 skating drama Thrashin' by the film's director, but its producer overrode the decision.
Instead, Depp appeared in a minor supporting role as a Vietnamese-speaking private in Oliver Stone's 1986 Vietnam War drama Platoon. He became a teen idol during the late 1980s, when he starred as an undercover police officer in a high school operation in the Fox television series 21 Jump Street, which premiered in 1987.
He accepted this role to work with actor Frederic Forrest, who inspired him. Despite his success, Depp felt that the series "forced [him] into the role of product".
1990s: Diversification
Disillusioned by his experiences as a teen idol in 21 Jump Street, Depp began taking roles he found more interesting, rather than those he thought would succeed at the box office. His first film release in 1990 was John Waters's Cry-Baby, a musical comedy set in the 1950s. Although not a box-office success upon its release, over the years it has gained cult classic status.
Also in 1990, Depp played the title character in Tim Burton's romantic fantasy film Edward Scissorhands opposite Dianne Wiest and Winona Ryder. The film was a commercial and critical success with a domestic gross of $53 million. In preparation for the role, Depp watched many Charlie Chaplin films to study how to create sympathy without dialogue.
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praised Depp's performance, writing that he "artfully expresses the fierce longing in gentle Edward; it's a terrific performance", while Rita Kempley of The Washington Post wrote that he "brings the eloquence of the silent era to this part of few words, saying it all through bright black eyes and the tremulous care with which he holds his horror-movie hands".
Depp earned his first Golden Globe nomination for the film. Owing to this role, a species of extinct arthropod with prominent claws was named after Depp as Kootenichela deppi (chela is Latin for claws or scissors).
Depp had no film releases in the next two years, except a brief cameo in Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991), the sixth installment in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. He appeared in three films in 1993. In the romantic comedy Benny and Joon, he played an eccentric and illiterate silent film fan who befriends a mentally ill woman and her brother; it became a sleeper hit.
Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote that Depp "may look nothing like Buster Keaton, but there are times when he genuinely seems to become the Great Stone Face, bringing Keaton's mannerisms sweetly and magically to life". Depp received a second Golden Globe nomination for the performance. His second film of 1993 was Lasse Hallstrรถm's What's Eating Gilbert Grape, a drama about a dysfunctional family co-starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Juliette Lewis.
It did not perform well commercially, but received positive notices from critics. Although most of the reviews focused on DiCaprio, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance, Todd McCarthy of Variety wrote that "Depp manages to command center screen with a greatly affable, appealing characterization".
Depp's last 1993 release was Emir Kusturica's surrealist comedy-drama Arizona Dream, which opened to positive reviews and won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.
In 1994, Depp reunited with Burton, playing the title role in Ed Wood, a biographical film about one of history's most inept film directors. Depp later said that he was depressed about films and filmmaking at the time, but that "within 10 minutes of hearing about the project, I was committed". He found that the role gave him a "chance to stretch out and have some fun" and that working with Martin Landau, who played Bela Lugosi, "rejuvenated my love for acting".
Although it did not earn back its production costs, Ed Wood received a positive reception from critics, with Maslin writing that Depp had "proved himself as an established, certified great actor" and "captured all the can-do optimism that kept Ed Wood going, thanks to an extremely funny ability to look at the silver lining of any cloud". Depp was nominated for a third time for a Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe for his performance.
The next year, Depp starred in three films. He played opposite Marlon Brando in the box-office hit Don Juan DeMarco, as a man who believes he is Don Juan, the world's greatest lover. He starred in Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man, a Western shot entirely in black-and-white; it was not a commercial success and had mixed critical reviews.
And in the financial and critical failure Nick of Time, Depp played an accountant who is told to kill a politician to save his kidnapped daughter.
In 1997, Depp and Al Pacino starred in the crime drama Donnie Brasco, directed by Mike Newell. Depp played Joseph D. Pistone, an undercover FBI agent who assumes the name Donnie Brasco to infiltrate the Mafia in New York City. To prepare, Depp spent time with Pistone, on whose memoirs the film was based. Donnie Brasco was a commercial and critical success, and is considered one of Depp's finest performances.
Also in 1997, Depp debuted as a director and screenwriter with The Brave. He starred in it as a poor Native American man who accepts a proposal from a wealthy man, played by Marlon Brando, to appear in a snuff film in exchange for money for his family. It premiered at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival to generally negative reviews. Variety called it "a turgid and unbelievable neo-western", and Time Out wrote that "besides the implausibilities, the direction has two fatal flaws: it's both tediously slow and hugely narcissistic as the camera focuses repeatedly on Depp's bandana'd head and rippling torso". Due to the reviews, Depp did not release The Brave in the U.S.
Depp was a fan and friend of writer Hunter S. Thompson, and played his alter ego Raoul Duke in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Terry Gilliam's film adaptation of Thompson's pseudo-biographical novel of the same name. It was a box-office failure and polarized critics. Later that year, Depp made a brief cameo in Mika Kaurismรคki's L.A. Without a Map (1998).
Depp appeared in three films in 1999. The first was the sci-fi thriller The Astronaut's Wife, co-starring Charlize Theron, which was not a commercial or critical success. The second,The Ninth Gate, starred Depp as a seller of old books who becomes entangled in a mystery. It was moderately more successful with audiences but received mixed reviews.
The third was Burton's adaptation of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, where Depp played Ichabod Crane opposite Christina Ricci and Christopher Walken. For his performance, Depp took inspiration from Angela Lansbury, Roddy McDowall and Basil Rathbone, saying he "always thought of Ichabod as a very delicate, fragile person who was maybe a little too in touch with his feminine side, like a frightened little girl". Sleepy Hollow was a commercial and critical success.
2000s: Worldwide recognition
Depp's first film release of the new millennium was British-French drama The Man Who Cried (2000), directed by Sally Potter and starring him as a Roma horseman opposite Christina Ricci, Cate Blanchett, and John Turturro. It was not a critical success. Depp also had a supporting role in Julian Schnabel's critically acclaimed Before Night Falls (2000).
His final film of 2000 was Hallstrรถm's critically and commercially successful Chocolat, in which he played a Roma man and the love interest of the main character, Juliette Binoche. Depp's next roles were both based on historical persons. In Blow (2001), he starred as cocaine smuggler George Jung, who was part of the Medellรญn Cartel in the 1980s.
The film underperformed at the box office and received mixed reviews. In the comic book adaptation From Hell (2001), Depp portrayed inspector Frederick Abberline, who investigated the Jack the Ripper murders in the 1880s London. The film also received mixed reviews but was a moderate commercial success.
In 2003, Depp starred in the Walt Disney Pictures adventure film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which was a major box office success. He earned widespread acclaim for his comic performance as pirate Captain Jack Sparrow, and received Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations. He won a Screen Actor's Guild Award as well as the MTV Movie Award for Best Actor in a Movie.
Depp has said that Sparrow is "definitely a big part of me", and that he modeled the character after The Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and cartoon skunk Pepรฉ Le Pew. Studio executives had at first been ambivalent about Depp's portrayal, but the character became popular with audiences. In his other film release in 2003, Robert Rodriguez's action film Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Depp starred as Sheldon Sands, a corrupt and eccentric CIA agent.
Depp's performance as the CIA agent recruiting El Mariachi was a central part of this final installment of Rodriguez's Mexico Trilogy. A moderate box-office success, it received average to good reviews, with Depp's performance in particular receiving praise.
Depp next starred as an author with writer's block in the thriller Secret Window (2004), based on a short story by Stephen King. It was a moderate commercial success but received mixed reviews. Released around the same time, the British-Australian independent film The Libertine (2004) saw Depp portray the seventeenth-century poet and rake, the Earl of Rochester.
It had only limited release, and received mainly negative reviews. Depp's third film of 2004, Finding Neverland, was more positively received by the critics, and earned him his second Academy Award nomination as well as Golden Globe, BAFTA, and SAG nominations for his performance as Scottish author J. M. Barrie.
Depp also made a brief cameo appearance in the French film Happily Ever After (2004), and founded his own film production company, Infinitum Nihil, under Warner Bros. Pictures.
Depp continued his box-office success with a starring role as eccentric candy maker Willy Wonka in Tim Burton's adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005). It also had a positive critical reception, with Depp being nominated again for the Golden Globe for Best Actor - Musical or Comedy. Chocolate Factory was followed by another Burton project, the stop-motion animation Corpse Bride (2005), in which Depp voiced the main character, Victor Van Dort.
Depp reprised the role of Jack Sparrow in the Pirates sequels Dead Man's Chest (2006) and At World's End (2007), both of which were major box office successes. He also voiced the character in the video game Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow. According to a survey taken by Fandango, Depp in the role of Jack Sparrow was the main reason for many cinema-goers to see a Pirates film.
