Originally known for his status as a TV teen heartthrob in his role on 21 Jump Street, Depp later went on to become a serious adult actor respected for his choice of offbeat roles and sensitive, multi-textured performances.

He began his career as a Kentucky-born high school dropout with dreams of making it as a musician, but later fell into acting with a debut performance in the horror shocker, A Nightmare on Elm Street in 1984, which later led to his winning the TV role on 21 Jump Street.

With his teen following assured, Depp's breakthrough performance came in 1990 in the title role of Tim Burton's film Edward Scissorhands.

Johnny Depp in The Tourist

Since then, the actor has varied his roles enormously in such star turns as the cross-dressing director Ed Wood, as an undercover FBI agent in Donnie Brasco, as Ichabod Crane in Sleepy Hollow, and as a flamboyant over-the-top pirate in Pirates of the Caribbean.

In 2005, Depp won a Golden Globe nomination for his starring role in Finding Neverland and in early 2005 took home the Favorite Male Movie Star award at the People's Choice Awards (and won yet again in the same category in 2006).

Depp reprised his role as Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest which opened in July 2006.