Mel Gibson Trivia: 45 fascinating facts about the actor!

Mel Gibson is an American actor and filmmaker.

Let’s see some interesting facts about him!

1. Mel Colmcille Gerard Gibson AO was born January 3, 1956 in Peekskill, New York.

2. He is the sixth of eleven children, and the second son of Hutton Gibson, a writer, and Irish-born Anne Patricia.

3. Gibson’s paternal grandmother was opera contralto Eva Mylott (1875–1920), who was born in Australia, to Irish parents, while his paternal grandfather, John Hutton Gibson, was a millionaire tobacco businessman from the American South.

4. One of Gibson’s younger brothers, Donal, is also an actor. Gibson’s first name is derived from Saint Mel, fifth-century Irish saint, and founder of Gibson’s mother’s native diocese, Ardagh, while his second name, Colmcille, is also shared by an Irish saint and is the name of the Aughnacliffe parish in County Longford where Gibson’s mother was born and raised. Because of his mother, Gibson retains dual Irish and American citizenship.

5. Gibson’s father was awarded US$145,000 in a work-related-injury lawsuit against the New York Central Railroad on February 14, 1968, and soon afterwards relocated his family to West Pymble, Sydney, Australia.

6. Mel Gibson was 12 years old at the time. The move to his grandmother’s native Australia was for economic reasons, and his father’s expectation that the Australian Defence Forces would reject his eldest son for the draft during the Vietnam War.

7. Gibson was educated by members of the Congregation of Christian Brothers at St Leo’s Catholic College in Wahroonga, New South Wales, during his high school years.

8. He studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art. During the 1980s, he founded Icon Entertainment, a production company which independent film director Atom Egoyan has called, “an alternative to the studio system.”[2] Director Peter Weir cast him as one of the leads in the critically acclaimed World War I drama Gallipoli (1981), which earned Gibson a Best Actor Award from the Australian Film Institute.[3] The film also helped to earn Gibson the reputation of a serious, versatile actor.

9. In 1995, Gibson produced, directed, and starred in the epic historical drama film Braveheart, for which he won the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Director, along with the Academy Award for Best Picture. In 2004, he directed and produced the financially successful and controversial, biblical drama film The Passion of the Christ. He received further critical notice for his directorial work of the 2006 action-adventure film Apocalypto, which is set in Mesoamerica during the early 16th century. In 2016, after a 10-year hiatus from directing, Gibson returned with the critically praised and financially successful Hacksaw Ridge.

10. Gibson is best known as an action hero, for roles such as Martin Riggs in the Lethal Weapon buddy cop film series, and Max Rockatansky in the first three films in the Mad Max post-apocalyptic action series.

11. Gibson graduated in 1977 and began working on the small screen, appearing in television series ‘The Sullivans’, ‘Cop Shop’) and ‘Punishment’.

12. He joined the South Australia Theatre Company and toured with ‘Waiting for Godot’.

13. In 1995, Gibson produced, directed, and starred in the epic historical drama film Braveheart, for which he won the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Director, along with the Academy Award for Best Picture.

14. During the 1990s, Gibson alternated between commercial and personal projects.

15. In 2004, he directed and produced the financially successful, but controversial, biblical drama film The Passion of the Christ.

16. Gibson received further critical notice for his directorial work of the 2006 action-adventure film Apocalypto, which is set in Mesoamerica during the early 16th century.

17. His paternal grandfather, John Hutton Gibson, was a millionaire tobacco businessman from the American South.

18. One of Gibson’s younger brothers, Donal, is also an actor.

19. Gibson’s first name is derived from Saint Mel, fifth-century Irish saint, and founder of Gibson’s mother’s native diocese, Ardagh, while his second name, Colm-Cille, is also shared by an Irish saint and is the name of the parish in County Longford where Gibson’s mother was born and raised.

20. Gibson gained very favorable notices from film critics when he first entered the cinematic scene, as well as comparisons to several classic movie stars.

21. Gibson’s roles in the Mad Max series of films, Peter Weir’s Gallipoli, and the Lethal Weapon series of films earned him theof “action hero”.

22. Later, Gibson expanded into a variety of acting projects including human dramas such as Hamlet, and comedic roles such as those in Maverick and What Women Want.

23. He expanded beyond acting into directing and producing, with: The Man Without a Face, in 1993; Braveheart, in 1995; The Passion of the Christ, in 2004; and Apocalypto, in 2006.

24. As students, Gibson and actress Judy Davis played the leads in Romeo and Juliet, and Gibson played the role of Queen Titania in an experimental production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

25. After his success in Hollywood with the Lethal Weapon series, Gibson began to move into producing and directing.

26. With partner Bruce Davey, Gibson formed Icon Productions in 1989 in order to make Hamlet.

27. In addition to producing or co-producing many of Gibson’s own star vehicles, Icon has turned out many other small films, ranging from Immortal Beloved to An Ideal Husband.

28. Gibson has also produced a number of projects for television, including a biopic on The Three Stooges and the 2008 PBS documentary Carrier.

29. In June 2010, Gibson was in Brownsville, Texas, filming scenes for the movie, How I Spent My Summer Vacation, about a career criminal put in a tough prison in Mexico.

30. Gibson directed, produced, co-wrote, and funded the 2004 film The Passion of the Christ, which chronicled the passion and death of Jesus. The film was shot exclusively in Aramaic, Latin, and Hebrew.

31. Although Gibson originally intended to release the film without subtitles; he eventually relented for theatrical exhibition. The film sparked divergent reviews, ranging from high praise to criticism of the violence.

32. Gibson met Robyn Denise Moore in the late 1970s, soon after filming Mad Max, in Adelaide. At the time, Robyn was a dental nurse and Mel was an unknown actor working for the South Australian Theatre Company.

33. On June 7, 1980, Mel and Robyn Gibson were married in a Roman Catholic church in Forestville, New South Wales.

34. They have one daughter, Hannah (b. 1980), and six sons: Edward (b. 1982), Christian (b. 1982), William (b. 1985), Louis (b. 1988), Milo (b. 1990), Thomas (b. 1999); and three grandchildren as of 2011.

35. After 26 years of marriage, Mel and Robyn Gibson separated on July 29, 2006.[111][112] In a 2011 interview, Gibson stated that the separation began the day following his arrest for drunk driving in Malibu.

36. Robyn Gibson filed for divorce on April 13, 2009, citing irreconcilable differences. In a joint statement, the Gibsons declared, “Throughout our marriage and separation we have always strived to maintain the privacy and integrity of our family and will continue to do so.”

37. The divorce filing followed the March 2009 release of photographs appearing to show him on a beach embracing Russian pianist Oksana Grigorieva. Gibson’s divorce was finalized on December 23, 2011, and the settlement with his ex-wife was said to be the highest in Hollywood history at over $400 million.

38. On April 28, 2009, Gibson made a red carpet appearance with Grigorieva. Grigorieva, who had previously had a son with actor Timothy Dalton, gave birth to Gibson’s daughter Lucia on 30 October 2009. In April 2010, it was made public that Gibson and Grigorieva had split.

39. On June 21, 2010, Grigorieva filed a restraining order against Gibson to keep him away from her and their child. The restraining order was modified the next day regarding Gibson’s contact with their child. Gibson obtained a restraining order against Grigorieva on June 25, 2010. In response to claims by Grigorieva that an incident of domestic violence occurred in January 2010, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department launched a domestic violence investigation in July 2010.

40. On July 9, 2010, some audio recordings alleged to be of Gibson were posted on the internet. The same day Gibson was dropped by his agency, William Morris Endeavor.Civil rights activists alleged that Gibson had shown patterns of racism, sexism, and anti-Semitism and called for a boycott of Gibson’s movies.

41. Gibson’s estranged wife, Robyn Gibson, filed a court statement declaring that she never experienced any abuse from Gibson, while forensic experts have questioned the validity of some of the tapes. In March 2011, Mel Gibson agreed to plead no contest to a misdemeanor battery charge.

42. In August 2011, Gibson settled with Grigorieva and she was awarded $750,000, joint legal custody and a house in Sherman Oaks, California until their three-year-old daughter Lucia turns 18.

43. In 2013, Grigorieva sued her attorneys accusing them of advising her to sign a bad agreement, including one with Gibson that holds her taking legal action against him would compromise her financial settlement.

44. As of 2014, Gibson is in a relationship with former champion equestrian vaulter and writer Rosalind Ross. Gibson announced that he’s expecting his ninth child, the first with Ross.

45. Ross gave birth to their son, Lars Gerard on January 20, 2017 in Los Angeles.