John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for three Academy Awards and two British Academy Film Awards. His films, in which he has often played eccentric characters, have grossed over $8 billion worldwide.
Depp began his career as a musician performing in several amateur rock bands before transitioning into film. He made his feature film debut in the horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and appeared in Platoon (1986), before rising to prominence as a teen idol on the television series 21 Jump Street (1987–1990). In the 1990s, Depp portrayed lead roles in Arizona Dream (1993), What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), Benny & Joon (1993), Dead Man (1995) and title characters Ed Wood (1994), Don Juan DeMarco (1995) and Donnie Brasco (1997). He also portrayed Hunter S. Thompson in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) and Dean Corso in Roman Polanski's The Ninth Gate (1999). In 1999, Depp received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the motion picture industry. In the early 2000s, he appeared in the romance Chocolat (2000), crime film Blow (2001), action film Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003), drama Finding Neverland (2004), and horror films From Hell (2001) and Secret Window (2004).