One of Hollywood's greatest actors Mel Gibson will be celebrating his 56th birthday.

He was born Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson in Peekskill on 3rd January 1956 in upstate New York.

Mel Gibson has played a diverse range of characters, including Hamlet, William Wallace in "Braveheart" (which he also directed), and the cocky detective, Martin Riggs in the "Lethal Weapon" series.

The world knows Mel Gibson as an actor, director, winner of two Academy Awards and "The Sexiest Man Alive", according to a People Magazine poll in 1996. He has also won three "Australian Film Institute" awards, two "Blockbuster Entertainment" awards for "Favorite Actor", Four "People's Choice" awards for "Favorite Motion Picture Actor" and a
"Golden Globe" for "Best Director of Braveheart" .

In the late '90s, Gibson starred in a handful of crime thrillers, including "Ransom" (with Renee Russo and Gary Sinise), "Conspiracy Theory" (with Julia Roberts), and the independent film "Payback" .

In 2000, he headlined the highly anticipated war saga "The Patriot", in which he played a reluctant hero during the American Revolution. Also that year, he starred in the romantic comedy "What Women Want", co-starring Helen Hunt, Lauren Holly, and Bette Midler. In 2002, Gibson headlined another box-office hit, M. Night Shyamalan's "Signs", where he plays a rural Pennsylvania farmer whose life takes a drastic turn when 500-foot crop circles appear in his cornfields.

Having won an Academy Award for Best Director for his work on "Braveheart" Gibson took on another project close to his heart—"The Passion of the Christ". It wound up being a huge hit, grossing over US$370 million at the domestic box office alone.

He has since directed "Apocalypto" a film about the Mayan culture, spoken in Yucatec Maya. "Apocalypto" opened in the top spot at the weekend box office in December 2006. His last two releases were "The Edge of Darkness" and "Beaver".


FridayMoviez wishes Mel Gibson a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!