Depp, John(ny) Christopher (1963– )

US actor. He became famous as a teen idol in the television series 21 Jump Street (1987–90) and went on to gain critical acclaim in film roles, often as lost, brooding eccentrics. He has collaborated on several films with US film director Tim Burton, starring in the films Edward Scissorhands (1990), Ed Wood (1994), and Sleepy Hollow (1999). His performance as an eccentric pirate in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) and as writer J M Barrie in Finding Neverland (2004) earned him an Academy Award nomination.

His feature film debut was in Wes Craven's cult horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). Avoiding standard leading hero roles, he played quirky characters in such comedies as What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), Benny and Joon (1993), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1999), and Chocolat (2000), and crime thrillers Donnie Brasco (1997), Blow (2001), and Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003). Pirates of the Caribbean achieved great commercial success, spawning sequels in 2006 and 2007, as well as a multi-billion dollar enterprise including theme park rides, books, and video games.

Depp was born in Owensboro, Kentucky, and grew up in Florida. He dropped out of school at the age of 17 to pursue a career as a musician, and played in a number of garage bands, the most successful of which once opened for Iggy Pop. After meeting actor Nicolas Cage during a trip to Los Angeles, California, he began to pursue a career in acting.