Happy Birthday Richard Gere: 5 Films of the Actor One Must Watch

An actor who first came into prominence in 1980 for the film American Gigolo, catapulting him into being America's leading man and a sex symbol, Richard Gere celebrated his birthy on August 31. Born in 1949, the actor who never graduated from college, first worked professionally in theatre before starting to appear in Hollywood films in the mid-1970s. Gere was one of the first notable Hollywood actors to play a homosexual character, starring as a gay Holocaust victim in the 1979 Broadway production of Bent, a performance which earned him a Theatre World Award.

On the actor's 70th birthday, here are 5 movies one must watch:

American Gigolo (1980)

The neo-noir film was one of the first mainstream Hollywood movies to include male frontal nudity from its male star and starred Lauren Hutton apart from Gere. The film is about a high-priced male escort in Los Angeles, who becomes romantically involved with a politician's wife while also becoming the prime suspect in a murder case.

Pretty Woman (1990)

The Garry Marshall directorial starred Richard Gere and Julia Roberts as the main characters. The film's story centers around a down-on-her-luck sex worker who is hired by a wealthy businessman to be his escort and how they develop a relationship.

Runaway Bride (1999)

Another Gary Marshall film starring Gere and Roberts is about a spirited and attractive young woman who had a number of unsuccessful relationships, leaving a trail of grooms waiting for her at the alter on their wedding day. Richard Gere plays a columnist who has been assigned to write an article on her. How the two fall in love and what happens next forms the crux of the story.

Chicago (2002)

The musical crime-comedy starred Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Richard Gere in pivotal roles and explored themes of scandal, and corruption in Chicago during the Jazz Age. Zeta-Jones and Zellweger play two murderesses who find themselves in jail awaiting trial in the 1920s while Richard Gere played Billy Flynn, a smooth-talking lawyer who turns his clients into celebrities to gain public support for them.

Shall We Dance? (2004)

The romantic comedy starred Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez, and Susan Sarandon and is about a strange relationship that develops between Gere and Lopez, who become dance partners after he signs up for ballroom dancing lessons.

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