Richard Tiffany Gere (born August 31, 1949) is an American actor and activist. He grew up in Syracuse, New York. He has been acting for over 20 years. In favour with 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, Gere is a devout Tibetan Buddhist, which he converted to in 1978. He has three sisters and a brother. Gere was married to model Cindy Crawford from 1991 until 1995, when the two divorced. 