Mel Gibson
Mel Colmcille Gerard Gibson (born 3 January 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker, and producer. Acting roles include in the Mad Max and Lethal Weapon film series and in Braveheart. He directed and produced the film The Passion of the Christ, sometimes accused of being anti-Semitic. See also Judaism on depictions of Jesus in Judaism. Another film directed and produced by Gibson is Apocalypto, sometimes accused of being less politically correct regarding Amerindians.
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Life
Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art. His father Hutton Gibson is a noted religious scholar. In 1985, Gibson was named as People magazine's first Sexiest Man Alive. Because of his mother, Gibson retains dual Irish and American citizenship. Gibson is also an Australian permanent resident.
During his youth Gibson showed respect for most of his father's beliefs by following the biblical principle: "honor thy father and mother". He says:
- "My father never denied the Holocaust... He just said there were fewer than six million [killed]". His father also had written that Germany lacked the resources to kill and cremate so many bodies, and that many of those millions weren't killed, but instead "fled to countries like Australia and the United States".
When asked whether he believed the Holocaust happened, the younger Gibson replied:
- "Yes, of course. Atrocities happen. War is horrible. World War II killed tens of millions of people. Some of them were Jews in concentration camps".
After appearing in the Mad Max and Lethal Weapon series, Gibson went on to direct and star in the Academy Award-winning Braveheart. In 2004, he directed and produced The Passion of the Christ, a highly successful film portraying the last hours in the life of Jesus Christ who was crucified by the Romans at the instigation of the Jewish authorities. For this Gibson was hounded and persecuted by B'nai B'rith and World Jewry for two years, leading to a break-down in his personal life. Steven Spielberg and Joe Eszterhas accused him of being anti-Semitic.
Politics
The conservative Gibson declared himself a Donald Trump supporter and rejected woke leftist Kamala Harris as a presidential nominee in 2024:
Gibson as producer and director
| Year | Title | Academy Awards | BAFTA Awards | Golden Globe Awards | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins | ||
| 1995 | Braveheart | 10 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| 2004 | The Passion of the Christ | 3 | |||||
| 2006 | Apocalypto | 3 | 1 | 1 | |||
| 2016 | Hacksaw Ridge | 6 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 3 | |
| Total | 22 | 7 | 13 | 4 | 8 | 1 | |
External links
- Gibson defends father over Holocaust
- The Elephant(s) in the Room - The section on Mel Gibson.
- The Jewish Hand in the World Wars, Part 1
