American movie star John Christopher Depp III was born in Owensboro, Kentucky, on June 9, 1963. His father John Christopher Depp was a city engineer and his mother Betty Sue Palmer was a waitress and homemaker. Young Depp was later relocated to Florida soon after the death of his grandfather and there he was raised together with his sisters Debbie and Christi Dembrowski, who in the future is a personal manager; and his older brother D.P. Depp who in present day becomes a screenwriter. A year after his parents divorce at his 16-year-age, Depp dropped out of Loft Studio school in Los Angeles, California, in expectation of becoming a rock musician. In an attempt to follow his dream, he joined a band called The Flame, with whom he toured the Florida nightclub circuit and who at the end dubbed themselves The Kids, preceding their sign up as the opening act on an Iggy Pop tour.

Dreamt of becoming a famous rock band, the Kids moved to Los Angeles, where Depp took a sight job selling ballpoint pens over the phone in order to support himself. Unfortunately, he and his fellow rockers decided to break up and move on their personal life and career in separate ways. Apart from his band break, bigger and better things awaited Depp at the time he got married to makeup artist Lori Allison on December 20, 1983. Their marriage wasn't last longer than two years as in 1985 they split, but it did earn him something precious. By means of which Lori introduced him to Nicolas Cage, who saw star potential in him and thus suggested Depp to give it a shot. Thanks to both persons encounter that the man could get a cast for his feature film debut in the 1984 slasher flick "A Nightmare on Elm Street," a series of horror films that were exceptionally popular in the 1980s. After that the just-now becoming actor got a starring role in the campy "Private Resort" and a second role in the 1986's "Platoon."

Depp's acting career began to take flight in the year of 1987 when he replaced Jeff Yagher in the role of undercover cop Tommy Hanson in the Canadian-filmed TV series "21 Jump Street." Though at first refused to play the role, he eventually accepted it and remained on the show for 3 years. To Depp's surprise, that role had made him a famous actor whose picture posted on the wall on every teenage girl's bedroom, idolized by many of them in the universe. Valuing that "teen heartthrob" roles, he was given a chance to reveal his exhausting versatility in the title role of Tim Burton's fantasy "Edward Scissorhands" (1990). In succession to his previous films, this latest flick also became a hit, and so it taught Depp not to repeat himself in his subsequent characterizations. Such thought led him to star in "Cry-Baby" (1990) and even make an appearance in the final installment of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" entitled "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare" (1991), in which he was credited as Oprah Noodlemantra.

From that time on Depp continued gaining critical acclaim and increasing popularity for his work, most notably in "Benny & Joon" (1993), which saw him played a troubled young man who fancies himself the reincarnation of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. That same year he also played in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" (1993), which cast him as its title character, a young man dissatisfied with the confines of his small-town life. Following the film, Depp outdid himself in Burton's "Ed Wood" (1994), with his outrageous but lovable portrayal of the angora-sweater-worshipping World's Worst Film Director. The next year in 1995, he tried to play in "Don Juan DeMarco" and "Nick of Time," but failed to garner much attention until he landed his feet in the 1997's "Donnie Brasco" where he played as an FBI undercover agent who infiltrates the mob opposite Al Pacino. Highly praised for that role, Depp took time to write, direct and star in "The Brave" which was released in the same year. Three years later that was in 1998, the actor starred as the alter ego of buddy Hunter S. Thompson in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" co-starring Benicio Del Toro, as he also tried his hand at sci-fi in 1999's "The Astronaut's Wife," along with gorgeous Charlize Theron.

In the near future Depp re-teamed with Tim Burton to star in the magnificently gothic adaptation of the Halloween legend, "Sleepy Hollow" (1999) in a brilliant portrayal of constable Ichabod Crane. Next in the year 2000 he played in various films, like "The Man Who Cried" co-starring good friend Christina Ricci, "Before Night Falls", and "Chocolat". Shortly after his portrayal in those several movies, Depp for one more time got fame for his role as real-life cocaine kingpin George Jung in "Blow" (2001) before gearing up for roles in the Jack the Ripper thriller "From Hell" (2001) and Robert Rodriguez's "Desperado 2: Once Upon a Time in Mexico" (2003). In what perhaps his most valuable roles were the one he got in the 2003 adventure and romance movie entitled "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," which had been grossed at the box office for more than $653 million worldwide, the 21st highest grossing movie ever; and that in "Finding Neverland" which was released in 2004.

Off-screen, Depp also gained esteem for his romance with several female celebrities, including broken engagements to Winona Ryder, Sherilyn Fenn, and Kate Moss. Moreover, he has also fathered two children with French singer and actress Vanessa Paradis; Lily-Rose Melody, born May 27, 1999 and John "Jack" Christopher Depp III born on April 9, 2002. Beyond all, this actor also is known as the owner of the Viper Room, a popular L.A. nightspot which gained notoriety when actor River Phoenix died of a drug overdose on its doorstep in 1993. Besides, he also once put in jail for being involved in a fight with paparazzi in front of a restaurant in London in January 1999.

Intended to add more film projects to his resume, Depp involved himself in the highly and positively received fantasy adventure flick "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," which was an Academy Award-nominated family film, based on the 1964 popular children's novel of the same title by Roald Dahl. Released in the United States and Canada on July 15, 2005, the film directed by Tim Burton and starred Depp as the best and most magical, astounding chocolate maker in the world Willy Wonka, earned positive reviews from both critics and audience. Garnered US$55.4 million at the North American box office in its opening weekend, as of September 2005, the film has grossed $400 million in worldwide box office receipts. The success of this movie not only brought Depp to wider exposure but on top of all it made him a sought after Hollywood actor while at the same time brought him more film offers, naming those of "Sweeney Todd" (2007), "Shantaram" (2008), "The Rum Diary" (2008), and "Rex Mundi" (2009).

Already became a household name, Depp made a comeback to the second installment of "Pirates," "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," reprising his role alongside fellow cast members, including Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Jack Davenport and Jonathan Pryce. Released in Australia and the United Kingdom on July 6, 2006, and in the USA and Canada on the next day, the movie set several records in its first three days with an opening weekend of $135,000,000. As of November 2006, the film has made about $421,000,000 in the U.S. and became the third film to reach the $1,000,000,000 worldwide mark. The success of the first two movies later on led to the making of the third one, to be named "Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End" which was intended to meet a May 25th, 2007 release date and still featured its original star-studded cast.

Not resting on his acting laurels, Depp determinedly steered into other interest in filmmaking by establishing a production company called Infinitum Nihil in 2004 with Dembrowski and Sam Sarkar. It delightfully did not take long for the studio to quickly line up a handful of big screen projects to be developed under its banner with "Shantaram" to be the first to come out from its pit. Included in the list were "Affected Provincial's Companion", "Inamorata", and "The People's Act of Love" as well as an unnamed flick about the mysterious death of KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko, all slated to hit theaters in 2009. In addition, the actor has also been set to both produce and lend voice in an animated feature titled "How the Dead Love" based on four of Charles Bukowski's short stories, which is also expected for a 2009 release.