Mel Gibson

Born: 3rd January 1956
Where: Peekskill, New York

The actor and director created an international furore when he decided to film the Passion of Christ in the original Aramaic.

The brutally violent result incensed Jewish groups at his perceived anti-semitic take on the gospels as well as upset critics who objected to the unremitting gore.

Gibson first blazed a trail as Mad Max, the post-apocalyptic maverick perpetually in search of petrol.

After adding the mega-successful Lethal Weapon series to his canon, he went behind the camera for Braveheart, which landed five Academy Awards.

The object of desire for countless female film fans, the Australian heartthrob was actually born in the US, emigrating Down Under at the age of 12.

After winning as a contestant on Jeopardy, his father moved the family to Sydney, Australia in 1968, partly because he was afraid his sons would be drafted during the Vietnam War.

He took up acting only because his sister submitted an application to the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney behind his back.

The night before an audition, he got into a fight, and his face was badly beaten, an accident that won him the role of Mad Max.

The film became the highest grossing Aussie movie in history, and in 1982, the even more successful sequel was released in the States.

He went on to win plaudits for the romantic drama Tim and the First World War movie Gallipoli

His American movie debut came in 1984 in The River opposite Sissy Spacek, and the following year he completed the Mad Max trilogy with Beyond Thunderdome.

Gibson took two years off to concentrate on his family, returning to the screen in Lethal Weapon alongside Danny Glover.

Gibson made his directorial debut with The Man Without a Face, then returned to the director's chair for historical epic Braveheart, which broke box office records and took five Academy awards, including Best Picture.

In 1996 he was rushed to hospital for an emergency appendectomy during filming of Ron Howard's Ransom.

He followed a couple of years later with Leathal Weapon 4 and later Payback, and Revolutionary War drama The Patriot.

After voicing Rocky the Rooster in the animated feature Chicken Run, he rounded out the year as star of Nancy Meyers' romantic comedy What Women Want.

In 2002, Gibson appeared in the gung-ho war film We Were Soldiers and as a farmer tormented by aliens in M. Night Shyamalan's Signs.

Recent work has included the cameo of Dr Gibbon the America remake of The Singing Detective starring Robert Downey Jr.

Upcoming projects include his controversial The Passion of Christ, his third time in the director's chair.