11 things you didn’t know about Richard Gere

Full name is Richard Tiffany Gere

What’s not to love about Richard Gere? This handsome actor has been charming us since the 70s, and he’s still got it today – even at 66 years old.

Think you know Richard Gere? Well here are 11 things we bet you didn’t know before…

Here’s 11 things we bet you didn’t already know about Richard Gere (Full name is Richard Tiffany Gere):

He graduated from North Syracuse Central High School in 1967, and won a gymnastics scholarship at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and majored in Philosophy.

Richard studied Zen Buddhism for almost six years before traveling to Nepal in 1978, followed by India, before becoming a practicing Tibetan Buddhist.

Richard Gere has used his fortune to help others and is a big philanthropist. He traveled to Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador in the 1980s during the ongoing wars to visit refugee camps. He then established the Gere Foundation to sponsor human rights in Tibet and support the Dalai Lama.

In one of Richard’s most famous (and most loved) films, ‘Pretty Woman’, he often improvised during the scenes. For example, during the filming for the necklace scene, Julia Roberts wasn’t feeling well so to make her laugh, Richard shut the case on her without warning, and her reaction was so perfect they kept it in the movie!

Also in the 1990 film ‘Pretty Woman’, the multi-talented Richard Gere is seen playing the piano. The piece he is playing is one he had composed himself [swoon]!

When Richard Gere teamed up with Julia Roberts again in 1999 for ‘Runaway Bride’, he once again used his musical skills to add a nice touch to the movie. That scene where he’s playing his guitar alongside the locals as Maggie drives past? Richard is not only playing the guitar for real but it’s another one of his own musical compostions!

As well as being musically talented, Richard Gere is also trained in the art of Karate! Using

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the gymnastic skills he learned in school, Richard mastered the basic skills of Karate with Louis Gossett Jr. whilst rehearsing a scene for his 1982 film ‘An officer and a Gentlemen’.

Richard Gere is a triple threat, as not only is he an amazing actor, singer, and not to mention musically talented – he’s also a brilliant dancer! He even learnt to tap dance especially for his role in the movie ‘Chicago’ in 2002 – performing the whole tap routine to Tap Dancing Around the Witness, himself.

Talking of ‘Chicago’, did you know that the role of Billy Flynn was actually offered to John Travolta before Richard Gere? It followed a series of movies that Travolta turned down that Richard accepted instead including Days of Heaven in 1978, and ‘An Officer and a Gentleman’ in 1982. We don’t know about you, but we’re pretty pleased Richard took those roles instead… (sorry John)

Finally, and this seems impossible to believe, but Debra Winger did not get along well with Richard at ALL during the filming of ‘An Officer and a Gentlemen’. The pair disliked each other so much they had to have time apart when not filming!