Johnny Depp: The Illustrated Biography

Book Description

As a child, Johnny Depp was an outsider. He found expression through music, and by thirteen he was playing in bands at clubs. He had taken every kind of drug there was by the age of fourteen, and had found himself on the wrong side of the law in petty-crime offences. As an adult he turned to acting, but continued to live by his own rules, confounding and delighting critics and fans alike with his choice of roles. He has only played parts that speak to him ? from Edward Scissorhands to Captain Jack, a colorful array of misfits, outsiders and renegades ? and commits only to films that he believes posses value. And now, with the staggering box-office success of Pirates of the Caribbean, he has achieved a formidable position in Hollywood without compromising along the way. This book traces that extraordinary journey from wild-child rebel to Hollywood mogul. Compelling, charismatic and edgy, Johnny Depp has become one of the world's most bankable stars, but more despite his artistic in

Customer Reviews:

I love this book..........BUT!.......2007-08-21

On pages 62 and 63 there is a picture of Johnny Depp and Marlon Brando in a scene from The Brave. The caption indicates it's a scene from Don Juan DeMarco. I just got the book and skimmed through the pictures so I haven't really read it yet. But this error was as plain as day when I turned to those pages. It still wouldn't stop me from purchasing it. This book in hardback was very hard to get, but I got lucky. I'm sure there are other errors in the book but the fans know from the tons of bios out about him. This one's great for diehard fans.

He's lucky it's about Johnny.......2007-07-03

The only reason this gets fours stars instead of one or two is it has pictures of Johnny. First of all, the photo they picked for the cover makes Johnny look like he's on crack. The first time I picked it up, I found an error. The book has a print from the movie The Brave, and the caption says it's from Don Juan. If it was really an intimate look at Johnny, I would think it would tell the relationship between Don Juan and The Brave -- and Marlon Brando. It sometimes has its timeline off, also. I'm not fond of prints from movies unless they're really crisp. These are not.

WOW!!! WHAT A GREAT JD BIO.......2007-04-11

What a great find, very informative about Johnny's life from start to present. It begins from his beginnings and runs through 2006 so it has tons of info about how he got his start, what he was like as a child, teen years as well as his music passion and his moveis career. Lots of really great pictures as well.

Excellent Book To Own!.......2007-01-16

My daughter is a big time Johnny Depp fan. I bought the book for her as a Christmas gift. She found the book to be very informational and full of interesting infomation on the true life of Johnny Depp.

If you love Johnny! then you will really enjoy reading this wonderful book.

Excellant Value - Great Pictures and Accurate .......2007-01-10

Johnny Depp is from Owensboro, Ky and so am I. I have never met Johnny but I know his cousin Bob Depp. This book has great pictures and is worth the price if your a Johnny Depp fan.

People in the News - Johnny Depp (People in the News)

Average customer rating:

Johnny in DEPPth
Depply in love
Depply in love
A Look in Johnny Depp's Life
The best of Johnny Depp

People in the News - Johnny Depp (People in the News)
Kara Higgins
Manufacturer: Lucent Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1590185382

Book Description

In his rise to fame, Johnny Depp overcame an unstable childhood, drug abuse, and a series of public scandals. Today, with his troubled past behind him, Depp's talent for playing eccentric characters has made him one of the most respected actors in Hollywood.

Customer Reviews:

Johnny in DEPPth.......2005-12-02

This book is wonderful in seeing the real Johnny Depp. I found this book to be so fascinating.He is an extrodinary person. It took you from his childhood all the way through to today. I would recommend it to anyone who is even slightly intrested in it. You will learn a lot.

Depply in love.......2005-04-01

Johnny Depp,by Kara Higgins, is a great nonfiction piece. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who LOVES Johnny Depp <3.
This book is very informative of Johnny Depp's past and present life.
The book has great information about his past marriages, his music career, and other milestones of his life.
Christina T.

Depply in love.......2005-04-01

A Look in Johnny Depp's Life.......2005-03-25

I highly recommend this book for people who like Johnny Depp and what he's done. This book pointed out that like a lot of hollywood stars some of them came from a hard childhood, to a hard teenlife and has turned into a well respected adult. This includes Johnny Depp. Most people wouldn't have figured out that he once owned a club, used to drugs, and even had a beautiful daughter. If you love some of the movies that Johnny Depp has stared in then you will find a new respect for Johnny Depp in this biography.
-Cathy C.

The best of Johnny Depp.......2005-03-24

I would recommend the book Johnny Depp, because if you like Johnny Depp this tells you all about his career. I wouldn't say it's the best because it does not tell you about his personal life or anything about him, except when he filmed in his movies.
And what movies he filmed in, and that his idol and who helped him start a career and his friends.

Nicole H.

Average customer rating:

again.... its johnny
He is Gorgeous
disappointment
wonderful book

What's Eating Johnny Depp?
Nigel Goodall
Manufacturer: John Blake Publishing, Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1857825128

Book Description

Johnny Depp, Hollywood’s most famous outsider, is one of this generation’s most impassioned, highly lauded stars. Nigel Goodall looks at his often turbulent life, his highprofile love affairs, and his extraordinary career in film.

Customer Reviews:

again.... its johnny.......2007-01-07

Another book for a collection if you are a true johnny fan. good read

He is Gorgeous.......2005-11-25

Okay, so the book isn't that well written. It's pretty bland and is organized a bit confusingly.
But, then again, there are gorgeous pictures of a gorgeous man, and we get to learn about his life, so do we really care about the literary content?
Nope.

If you love Johnny Depp and just want to learn some more facts about him (and look at lots of good pictures of him!), you'll enjoy this. But if you're looking for a biography that's a good read, this isn't it. Go read...something else that isn't this.;-)

disappointment .......2004-08-30

Really disappointed in this book! Too much jibber jabber going on! Who cares? I wanted to read about JOHNNY! Way too little info on HIM!! too much junk.

wonderful book.......2004-08-13

i loved this book and it is a great biography for johnny depp fans and admirers.

Average customer rating:

if you love burton
Complete satisfaction
An Awesome Director
Where does he get those wonderful toys?
A good editorial job

Burton on Burton, 2nd Revised Edition
Tim Burton
Manufacturer: Faber & Faber
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0571229263

Book Description

A revised edition of the only book to explore the unique brilliance of director Tim Burton's work, including a new chapter on the making of Sleepy Hollow.

Still only in his thirties, Tim Burton has established himself in the past fifteen years as one of the great visionaries of film. With the Batman films, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, and, most recently, Sleepy Hollow, he has continually broken new ground both visually and thematically, exploring the dark anguish--as well as the dark humor--that animates many of his characters while also creating a densely textured, sometimes bizarre look specific to each film.

In Burton on Burton, Burton talks to Mark Salisbury about his training as an animator at Disney, the importance of design in his films, and the recurring themes present in his work. In this revised edition, he also discusses the influence of 1950s sci-fi and 1970s disaster films on Mars Attacks! as well as how he conceived his highly stylized approach to the content and setting of Sleepy Hollow, his acclaimed retelling of the Washington Irving story that stars Johnny Depp, perhaps the actor most identified with Burton's work. Enhanced by stills from the films, storyboards, and illustrations of set designs for all his major films, Burton on Burton provides insights and information about the man and his work, throwing light on both his unique artistic vision and on the extraordinary films that have been the result.

Customer Reviews:

if you love burton.......2007-02-17

bought this for my son, who's a burton fan. he liked that it's a window into burton's thoughts, but would have liked more illustrations/pics.

Complete satisfaction.......2005-10-24

This book covers everything. It's a serious must for film students. I got a complete idea of how to put ideas on the screen and how it affects peoples views. This book never covers up anything. I enjoyed it and it's worth the money

An Awesome Director.......2005-10-12

I've Only been living for a little more than 12 years but i can tell tou how great of a director Tim Burton is.
i havnt read the book yet but i know for sure its gona be good.
think about it this way, tim burton has made all these great movies, like Edward Scissorhands(my personal favorite), the nightmare before christmas, corps bride, and a lot more so if he made all those awesome movies, its gona be good

Where does he get those wonderful toys?.......2005-09-01

"Burton on Burton" acts more like an interview than it does an autobiography. Most of it is written by Burton but it sounds like a transcript of a television special. However, the book is very thorough and presents many interesting anecdotes concerning the inspiration for and production of all of Tim's films up to Sleepy Hollow. They even go so far as to comment on the progres they made on Superman Lives! which was to star Nicholas Cage and be written by Kevin Smith.

For the majority of the book, an italicized summary of a series of events, written by Salisbury, will be followed by a page or two by Burton on that same topic. This is then followed by another paragraph, or so, by Salisbury on a following event and so on and so forth.

Johnny Depp's Prologue, though shorter than expected, is very well written and provides a very interesting look at the actor's view of Burton before he met him, during Edward Scissorhands, after, and then during Ed Wood (and possibly Sleepy Hollow, I can't quite remember). He has some quite nice things to say about Tim and provides an eloquent intro for both the casual Tim fan and the die-hard Burtonite.

Definetly a must for all interested in Tim's work.

A good editorial job.......2005-07-11

Being the Tim Burton fan I am, when I heard of this book I ordered it immediately. The book opens with a foreword written by Johnny Depp (which is more of a `I love Tim because he saved my career' speech) that is told from Johnny's perspective on how he met and admires Tim.

The editorial job Mark Salisbury has made for this book is a very good one. The chapters are divided by movie titles, starting on the first chapter with his childhood in Burbank.

This is basically a compilation of notes, interviews and chats with Tim Burton with notations from the editor. Even though the chapters are named after the movies and are accommodated in chronological order, every chapter covers the period of time in which the movie was being made, so for instance, in the `Mars Attacks' chapter we get to read how close Burton was to start filming a new Superman film with a script written by Kevin Smith.

Everything Burton has done until `Sleepy Hollow' is reviewed and told here, his involvement in other projects, his book (`The melancholy death of oyster boy') and even TV shows (`Family dog' and `Beetlejuice')

For a Tim Burton fan this might not be a very necessary item (a fan should know all this things), however, I enjoyed all the anecdotes and unknown facts presented here, the level of detail given by the editor definitely gives you another vision of how Tim works, in the interviews and chats with him you get to see why is he considered as the genius he indeed is.

Secret World of Johnny Depp: The Intimate Biography of Hollywood's Best Loved Rebel

Average customer rating:

Johnny Depp Biography
dont waste you money !!

Secret World of Johnny Depp: The Intimate Biography of Hollywood's Best Loved Rebel
Nigel Goodall
Manufacturer: John Blake Publishing, Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1857825977

Book Description

Johnny Depp, Hollywood's most famous outsider, is one of this generation's most impassioned, highly praised stars. Nigel Goodall looks at his often turbulent life, his love affairs, and his extraordinary career in film.

The star of some of the best and most unconventional American films in recent history, Johnny Depp has also been a source of media fascination since the nineties. His film roles have always been idiosyncratic, earning him international respect and adoration—from Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, and Donnie Brasco to his Oscar-nominated turns as Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean films and as J.M. Barrie in Finding Neverland. His good looks, oddball charm, and tempestuous love affairs have helped push him into the limelight and kept him there. Now, in this updated biography (originally titled What's Eating Johnny Depp?), Nigel Goodall looks at his bad-boy image, his rise to fame, and his high-profile romances.

Customer Reviews:

Johnny Depp Biography.......2006-11-10

This is a well written book by someone who is quite familiar with his subject. There are things inside the book I had not known before even though I am a very big fan of Johnny Depp. The book is very well researched and written in a friendly knowledgeable manner. I really enjoyed it and it is an asset to my library of Depp books.

dont waste you money !!.......2006-07-13

if you are interested in reading about the plots for all of johnnies movies i suggest you buy this book---to call it an intimate BIOGRAPHY is a joke---i can find more interesting info about johnny depp browsing the internet. there were of course a few facts about his life sprinkled in among the details of his movies---i SAW all of his movies i didnt need a synopsis of them all over again----look around, folks, i am sure there is something much more interesting than this book.

Average customer rating:

A Good Book about Johnny Depp
Revised and updated
good enough
fantastic
Johnny Depp: A modern Rebel

Johnny Depp: A Modern Rebel
Brian J. Robb
Manufacturer: Plexus Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0859653854

Book Description

Known for his quirky, edgy roles and smoldering good looks, Johnny Depp is one of Hollywood's most obsessively followed superstars. Although Depp has been making movies for over 20 years, he's clearly still in the prime of his career: his recent roles, in The Man Who Cried, Blow, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory show an actor at the top of his game, oozing the sex appeal and intense sensitivity with which he first mesmerized audiences in earlier oddball classics such as Cry Baby, Edward Scissorhands, and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? Currently ensconced in a quiet quarter of France with partner Vanessa Paradis, Depp's sturdy persona is penetrated in Johnny Depp. Updated to include the films Depp has made since the last edition, plus future projects and his several short-lived marriages and assorted romances, this book provides a thorough look at one of Tinseltown's least-understood actors.

Customer Reviews:

A Good Book about Johnny Depp.......2007-03-08

It's a well written and comprehensive book about a great actor. It also has a lot of really nice photos.

Revised and updated .......2006-10-15

Perfectly timed for the latest 'Pirates of the Caribbean' blockbuster film is Johnny Depp: A Modern Rebel: a biography of the quirky actor whose good looks and lively adventures hide a rebellious young man whose drug-filled adolescence seemed unlikely to create a celebrity. From his volatile relationships and life to his evolving career and interest in independent, adventure-laden roles, is Johnny Depp: A Modern Rebel is revised and updated and comes packed with black and white and color photos.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

good enough.......2006-08-03

I'd give 4 stars to that book just because I wanted to know more about Depp's childhood n stuff, but this book tells mainly about the movies Johnny has chosen. Still, it was an interesting read ! I think I would recommend.

fantastic.......2005-10-12

This book's format of Johnny Depp's life, movies and unique story is wonderful. I couldn't put it down. Each chapter is a movie title, showing how each part of his life changed during that movie experience. I didn't want to give it 5 stars, it deserves 10 stars!!!!

Johnny Depp: A modern Rebel.......2005-09-03

I thought this book was very well written. It was informative and the many photos were great. I have read other autobiographies and quite a few were not well written and could not keep my attention. This book was able to keep me wanting to read it to the end. I would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Johnny Depp.

Average customer rating:

An unexpected goldmine
Johnny Depp Bio

Johnny Depp
Stone Wallace
Manufacturer: Icon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1894864174

Customer Reviews:

An unexpected goldmine.......2007-05-29

I knew very little about Johnny Depp before reading this book, but thoroughly enjoyed every page of it. There are photos galore and an amazing amount of information for a man so young. I immediately began renting discs of his movies to see that versatility the book keeps talking about. Sure 'nuff! It's there. Depp is an amazing actor. After watching his movie "Chocolat", though, I realize he's an even better musician. Now I understand why music is one of his great loves. Bravo, author Wallace!

Johnny Depp Bio.......2006-01-30

This Bio by Stone Wallace is one of the very best I have read and I have read nearly all of them. Straigtforward and to the point. Written in a nice flowing way-learned a lot I didn't know and read the book in one sitting. It was that good.

Average customer rating:

if you don't think about five stars, you probably won't buy it
No regrets
Depending on what youare looking for...
3 for HST, 2 for everybody else
Worth every Penny!!!!

Gonzo
Hunter S Thompson
Manufacturer: AMMO Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 097860766X

Book Description

Gonzo is a tour de force that will take you into the world of American writer and iconoclast Hunter S. Thompson.

Customer Reviews:

if you don't think about five stars, you probably won't buy it.......2007-09-11

It is a limited numbered edition, housed in a boxed cover, itself housed in a protective, printed "gonzo" cardboard and Amazon will wrap it once more.
Considering that a standard, non large sized, edition of the book will be published in due course, you have to like the subject and know that you are paying the quality of the edition itself, otherwise wait for the standard edition.
Lovely pictures in great quality printing and a binding the edition deserves is what you pay for and what you get. You also get a separate printing which should be exclusive to this edition.
I do hope you got the point.
More a Christmas gift than a coffee table, unless you have on your table numbered editions which I don't do.

No regrets.......2007-05-21

I must admit I was incredibly hesitant about this purchase and my finger hovered over the 'confirm' button for a few seconds before biting the bullet and clicking. As soon as this book arrived all of my fears were immediately washed away. This is presented so beautifully, even the plain brown box feels special. Along with the book, the electric blue presentation box also contains a numbered print from Hunters Big Sur days.
The book itself is incredible, extremely well presented and it carries high production values throughout. The intro by Johnny Depp is a great touch.
Its a must have for any HST fan, but also for those who can appreciate how good books can be.

Depending on what youare looking for..........2007-05-14

This is either a treasure trove or an expensive dissapointment. It is essentially an enormous photoessay of periods of Dr. Thompson's life, reminiscent of the Life magazine photo collections. It is sparse in terms of text and explaination, leaving the photos to speak for themselves. It attempts to paint portraits of eras of his life, but if you are unfamiliar with these eras, the photos are devoid of meaningful context. For those who have read biographies and extensive amounts of Thompson's work, however, it is meaningful and powerful imagery. Be certain of your audience and their degree of interest before investing in this; it is genuinely rewarding only for those exquitely sensitive to the photoessay or intimately familiar with the Doctor's life.

3 for HST, 2 for everybody else.......2007-03-18

Hey, everybody...? Are we all now being like sharks? The guy's dead, leave him alone! The inundation of "books" post his passing reeks of necrophlia. Go eat some mushrooms, drink some Wild Turkey, and make a fool out of yourself, but leave the good Doctor's...ashes, I guess...alone.

Worth every Penny!!!!.......2007-03-09

Don't worry about the price. It is sure to be worth a lot more down the road. Amazing quality. RIP Hunter. CAZART

Average customer rating:

America's Sexiest Man?

Johnny Depp
Randi Reisfeld
Manufacturer: St Martins Mass Market Paper
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0312916299

Customer Reviews:

America's Sexiest Man?.......2003-03-02

Johnny Depp might be, could be the one. (I know for sure it's not Ben Affleck.) And this book has all sorts of info about Mr Depp.
It's difficult to believe Johnny Depp was born in Owensboro, Kentucky as his voice does not betray that location. And he's also the youngest of four children. And how about that really short marriage?
Want to know more? Read this well written biography to find out all you could want to know about Johnny Depp.

Average customer rating:

I'm sorry I bought this book!
Excellent Depp and film resource!
An Unusual Love Affair Revealed
Tedious!
Excellent Study of Depps Acting, NOT intended as a biography

Johnny Depp Starts Here
Murray Pomerance
Manufacturer: Rutgers University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0813535662

Book Description

"Pomerance is the inimitable lyric poet of cinema scholars, bringing the imagination of a creative artist and the rigor of an exacting intellect to these masterly riffs on Depp's complexities and conundrums. The protean actor could not have found a commentator more in tune with his mercurial career and elusive, mesmerizing self."—David Sterritt, author of Mad to Be Saved: The Beats, the '50s, and Film

"Johnny Depp Starts Here offers an important contribution to the field of star studies. . . . Pomerance's passion is highly contagious."—Michael DeAngelis, DePaul University

From beloved bad-boy to cool and captivating maverick, Johnny Depp has inspired media intrigue and has been the source of international acclaim since the early 1990s. He has attracted attention for his eccentric image, his accidental acting career, his beguiling good looks, and his quirky charm. In Johnny Depp Starts Here, film scholar Murray Pomerance explores our fascination with Depp, his riddling complexity, and his meaning for our culture. Moving beyond the actor's engaging and inscrutable private life, Pomerance focuses on his enigmatic screen performances from A Nightmare on Elm Street to Secret Window.

The actor's image is studied in terms of its many strange nuances: Depp's ethnicity, his smoking, his tranquility, his unceasing motion, his links to the Gothic, the Beats, Simone de Beauvoir, the history of rationality, Impressionist painting, and other ambiguities. In a series of treatments of his key roles, including Rafael in The Brave, Bon Bon in Before Night Falls, Jack Kerouac in The Source, and the long list of acclaimed performances from Gilbert Grape to Cap'n Jack Sparrow, we learn of Johnny onscreen in terms of male sexuality, space travel, optical experience, Roland Barthes, nineteenth-century American capitalism, Orientalism, the vulnerability of performance, the perils of sleep, comedy, the myth of the West, Scrooge McDuck, François Truffaut, and more.

Both deeply intriguing and perpetually elusive, Depp is revealed as the central screen performer of the contemporary age, the symbol of performance itself.

Customer Reviews:

I'm sorry I bought this book!.......2006-03-26

This idiot believes he can write, but he is very good at using big words that makes him think he is intelligent, but he's not! He sounds stupid and he doesn't have a clue what he is talking about! Of course, none of his readers do either!!! He is obviously a fan of Johnny Depp's (aren't we all?), but that's the nicest thing I can say about Mr. Pomerance. Sorry.

Excellent Depp and film resource!.......2005-10-10

'Johnny Depp Starts Here' is definitely an excellent resource for the serious film scholar. Pommerance synthesizes multiple strands of theory with the multiplicity/performativity of identity and works of Johnny Depp in an engaging and accessible manner. Having done previous film projects on Depp, I tend to be skeptical about texts purporting to address the actor and his works as what I have found up to this date, for the most part, more resembles an extended issue of 'Teen Beat' than an address of film, theory, or any scholarly engagement. This book, however, does not disappoint -- easily the best book-length text on Depp theory and film I have found so far.

An Unusual Love Affair Revealed.......2005-10-05

Murray Pomerance's book is nothing one can be prepared for. It is not a filmography, not a biography. It's not an analysis of Johnny's films, nor of his characterizations. Yet it is partially all of these - Pomerance's book is a love letter to an illusion - the screen presence of Johnny Depp. Pomerance is in love with that elusive vision and raptures about the hidden and lyric meanings of that image. He could as well have written about Garbo's screen presence.

The book is not for everyone and definitely not for simple fans of Mr. Depp's screen work. It is a book written by and for film scholars, not film fans. The book is esoteric and complicated - Mr. Pomerance loves stringing descriptive words together (and the more obscure words the better). One is sent to one's dictionary almost at every paragraph. Sentences must be re-read (like poetry) to capture the images and meanings of Mr. Pomerance's words.

That said, it is a great book and Johnny -if he ever reads it - should be right proud that he has evoked such a serious, thoughtful and well felt tribute.

Tedious!.......2005-08-30

I was very disappointed in this book. I found it tedious, rambling, and disjointed. There were a few interesting facts thrown in for good measure, but you have to slog through so much drivel that the trip just isn't worth your time.

Excellent Study of Depps Acting, NOT intended as a biography.......2005-07-20

I highly recommend this unusual study of Johnny Depp's ability to disappear into character. By using specific examples from some of Depps finest roles (Gilbert Grape, Ed Wood..etc...), the author illustrates the art behind the mask, without destroying the mystery. Interesting reflections on Depps refusal to be catagorized or defined, combined with an innate talent, reminds me more of Bob Dylan everyday!!

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