Mel Gibson's Real Name: Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson

Quick answer: Mel Gibson's real name is Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson. He was born on January 3, 1956, in Peekskill, New York.

Real name and early life

Britannica lists him in full as Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson, born January 3, 1956, in Peekskill, New York. Biography.com matches that full name. When he was 12, his family moved to Australia. He enrolled at Sydney's National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1974, made his film debut in Summer City (1977), and joined the State Theatre Company of South Australia after graduating.

Australian Film Institute best-actor awards for Tim (1979) and Gallipoli (1981) marked him as a rising star at home before global fame.

Quick facts

• Real name: Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson
• Known as: Mel Gibson
• Born: January 3, 1956, in Peekskill, New York
• Known for: Actor, director, producer
• Notable work: Mad Max, Lethal Weapon, Braveheart, Hacksaw Ridge
• Sources checked: Britannica, Biography.com

Career highlights

Mad Max (1979) and especially Mad Max 2 / The Road Warrior (1981) made him an international action star. The Lethal Weapon series beginning in 1987 cemented box-office status. He earned critical notice in The Year of Living Dangerously (1982) and Hamlet (1990), the first film from his ICON Productions.

As a director he debuted with The Man Without a Face (1993), then won Oscars for best picture and best director with Braveheart (1995). Later directing credits include The Passion of the Christ (2004), Apocalypto (2006), and Hacksaw Ridge (2016), which brought further Oscar nominations. Acting returned in films such as Edge of Darkness (2010), Blood Father (2016), and Daddy's Home 2 (2017). Offscreen controversies in the 2000s damaged his public standing even as he continued to work.

Name notes

Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson is his birth name. Columcille reflects Irish Catholic naming traditions in his family. He has not used a separate stage surname. Fan sites often copy names from one another, so we checked this page against Britannica and Biography.com.