Johnny Depp Bio

If you’re a director who needs a quirky or eccentric leading man who will still pull in the ladies, look no further than Johnny Depp. From a socially outcast boy with scissors for fingers to a Keith Richards-influenced pirate, no role is too ‘out there’ for daring Depp. Johnny’s long, strange trip to stardom began in Owensboro, Kentucky, on June 9, 1963.

At the age of 12, Johnny’s mother gave him a guitar. Inspired by playing with various garage bands, Depp dropped out of high school and went to L.A. to pursue his rock star dreams. Johnny’s first wife, a makeup artist, introduced the future movie idol to Nicolas Cage, who encouraged young Johnny to give acting a shot. He did, landed a small but memorable role in 1984’s Nightmare on Elm Street, which led to a slightly meatier appearance in Oliver Stone’s Vietnam War epic Platoon.

In 1987, Johnny took on the lead as a high-school undercover cop on FOX’s drama 21 Jump Street. Not fulfilled as a teen idol, Johnny ditched the show after four seasons and took his chances in Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands. With the 1990 flick, Tim and Johnny began a working relationship and friendship that has spanned the decades. Johnny has taken the lead in Burton's equally-off-beat Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride and 2007’s Sweeney Todd.

The actor has found mainstream success while still expanding the boundaries of his craft as rouge pirate Jack Sparrow in the 2003 Disney blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean, co-starring Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom. The box-office smash spawned two sequels. Johnny is one of the least predictable and most enjoyable movie stars in the biz.