Who

The pretty-boy actor who starred in Pretty Woman and the very first two-time winner of People's "Sexiest Man Alive" award, Gere is better known these days as Hollywood's most infamous Buddhist.

Backstory

Gere was raised in Philadelphia and started out his career as a musician, earning his first acting break on Broadway playing Danny Zuko in the musical Grease. In 1975, he made his big screen debut in Report to the Commissioner; during the latter part of the decade, he had roles in critically-respected dramas like Looking for Mr. Goodbar. But Gere didn't really find his niche until the early '80s when he landed suave leading roles in romantic dramas like American Gigolo and An Officer and a Gentleman. His smooth and unthreatening ladies-man persona soon made him a women's mag favorite—he was the first man to appear on the cover of Vogue—but rather improbably, he was the first choice for two of the iconic macho roles of the '80s: Michael Douglas's Gordon Gekko in Wall Street and Bruce Willis's John McLane in Die Hard. He turned both roles down. But he found his way to romantic comedy superstardom anyway, thanks to his role opposite Julia Roberts in 1990's Pretty Woman. Since then, he's branched out with turns in thrillers like Primal Fear and Unfaithful. Wimpy rom-com roles, though, remain his bread and butter—witness Runaway Bride in 1999 and Dr. T and the Women in 2000. He returned to his Broadway roots by tap-dancing through Rob Marshall's big-screen version of Chicago in 2002.

Of note

Aside from his ability to make women of a certain age swoon, Gere is best known for being proudly, vocally, obnoxiously Buddhist. Ever since an inspiring book about Tibetan Buddhism helped cured his depression in the '70s, he's been Hollywood's leading exponent of the religion, and a major activist for Tibet. He's been pals with the Dalai Lama since the '80s, founded Tibet House with Robert Thurman (noted Buddhist scholar and father of Uma Thurman), and also heads a non-profit called Healing the Divide. The group takes its mission from a quote from Gere: "Lasting and meaningful change in the world can only happen when people come together to boldly re-imagine what might be and to find creative solutions to the issues affecting them." Does this statement actually mean anything? We can't tell either.

Recently

Gere returned to his sexy leading man archetype in October 2008 when he starred opposite Diane Lane in the romantic drama Nights in Rodanthe.

Drama

Gere is fast on his way to becoming an international persona non grata. He has long been an enemy of the Chinese government due to his outspoken advocacy of Tibetan independence, and was banned from the Oscars in 1993 after making anti-China comments on air. Elsewhere, in a rare moment of decidedly un-Buddhist pro-military sentiment, he defended India's nuclear tests in 1998, saying that nukes would help India stand up to "bully and trouble-maker" China. But now even his relationship with India has gone south, as the nation's government issued a warrant for Gere's arrest in 2007, after he kissed Bollywood and reality TV star Shilpa Shetty on the cheek during an AIDS awareness event. The kiss violated India's strict obscenity and vulgarity laws, and led to angry mobs burning his DVDs.

Personal

Married to Cindy Crawford from 1991 to 1995, Gere is now married to Law & Order alum Carey Lowell. The couple has one son, Homer, and recently sold the West Village townhouse they'd had since 1998—which featured a meditation room built for the Dalai Lama—for $9 million; soon afterward, they spent $12 million for a spread at Julian Schnabel's pink Palazzo Chupi condo. They also own homes in Pound Ridge and Water Mill.