Johnny Depp is perhaps one of Hollywood’s most versatile performers of his generation. On June 9, 1963, in Owensboro, Kentucky, he was born John Christopher Depp II to Betty Sue (Wells), a waitress, and John Christopher Depp, a civil engineer.
Depp was born and reared in the state of Florida. He dropped out of school at the age of 15 and went on to head a number of music-garage bands, including ‘The Kids.’ To support himself and his wife, Johnny got a job as a ballpoint-pen salesman after he married Lori Anne Allison (Lori A. Depp).
A trip to Los Angeles, California, with his wife, turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as he met actor Nicolas Cage, who advised him to pursue acting. This led to Depp’s film debut in the low-budget horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), in which he played a teenager who is stalked by the demon Freddy Krueger in his dreams.
In 1987, he catapulted to fame when he took over the role of undercover officer Tommy Hanson from Jeff Yagher in the hit TV series 21 Jump Street (1987).
Depp has portrayed a variety of characters throughout his career, notably the charming, deceitful, and roguish Captain Jack Sparrow in the fantastic family movie Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), a role that only Depp could pull off. The film’s huge popularity has led to a number of opportunities for him, including an Oscar nomination.
Depp was one of the top movie stars in the world in 2012, and he was named the world’s highest-paid actor by Guinness World Records, with earnings of US$75 million.
Depp has a net worth of over $150 million. Johnny Depp’s several successful films have made over $3.4 billion in the United States and $8.7 billion globally.
